1930’s Dracula, Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, Commemorated At L.A. Comic Con
By
Mike Lera
Oftentimes horror fans and gothic storytellers can fail to appreciate the roots of today’s popular monsters and macabre arts, forgetting (or even unaware) of where scary films likeSinners, Halloween and Psycho or iconic characters like Jason, Freddy and Pinhead pay tribute and homage to.
At L.A. Comic Con this past Halloween weekend, Antonia Carlotta, host of Universally Me and the great, great niece ofUniversal Studios’ founder Carl Laemmle, Sr., and author Julian David Stone held panels commemorating the 95th anniversary of Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931) and the 90thanniversary of The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – amongst the first of Classic Universal Monsters – discussing their history, their impact on the horror genre today and helping fright fans and filmmakers gain a deeper understanding and respect for these three major predecessors of dark cinema.
Universal Studios had dabbled in the horror space during the 1920’s with films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. However, these films, according toStone, all had that “Scooby Do” ending where it was always “someone causing trouble” and not an actual ghost or goblin. When Carl Laemmle, Sr. appointed his son as head of production for his 21st birthday present, Junior (as he was often called) decided to lean in on the more supernatural and crazier things and became the driving force of what is now known as the studio’s Classic Monsters, including The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein, and of course the GOATs, Dracula and Frankenstein.
“Junior knew the film business inside and out, but he was really young and had a pulse on what younger people wanted to see, and so he felt that would be new and exciting for the masses… Carlotta spoke of her great uncle’s son. “Everyone, including his dad, thought he was crazy, and yet Junior believed in these movies and knew there was something to them. He also had a lot of his own pain and suffering he was working through, his mother dying when he was eleven, as well as having anxiety and O.C.D., and these monster movies were a way for him to grapple with the things he was dealing with. And so this is what helped give us Frankenstein and Dracula.”
Though finding success as a novel and on stage, Dracula was deemed as too repulsive, morbid and frightening for the big screen and was passed up by major movie studios in the 1920’s. Nevertheless, Laemmle Jr. took a chance and purchased the official screen rights from author Bram Stoker’s widow, Florence Stoker, for around $40,000 to $60,000 and immediately casted Lon Chaney, Sr. – a huge name amongst horror films at the time – as Count Dracula. However, Chaney unfortunately died of throat cancer and lung hemorrhage in 1930 before the production of Dracula, and thus the role went to Bela Lugosi, who played the Count on Broadway.
photo – Mike Lera at Universal Studios
”When you see all the grotesque and terrifying faces that Chaney played compared to the sleek, elegant and seductive vampire we got from Lugosi, it makes you wonder what sort of Dracula would have been forever established in our minds had Chaney taken the part,” commented Stone.
After the box office triumph of Dracula, Universal went right to work on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, instantaneously slatingLugosi for the role as the square headed monster. Lugosi, however, rejected the part, feeling the role was beneath him as it was without any dialogue. The part was then given to Boris Karloff, an unknown starving actor in his mid-forties who by chance met director James Whale while eating lunch in Universal’s commissary. Karloff was initially hurt when showing up for the audition in a suit and asked to play a monster. However, he followed a piece of advice that Lon Chaney, Sr. gave him while driving him home one day: “Find something no one else is doing, then do it better than anyone else can.”Kaloff’s performance as Frankenstein’s creation, complete with Jack Pierce’s makeup design, transformed him into one of the most famous pop-culture icons in the world and in history.
photo: Mike Lera at Universal Studios…
Of course, Carlotta was asked what her thoughts were on the recent Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, released in 2025.
“I wanted to love the movie,” she said. “I know del Toro’s a monster kid and has been trying to get Frankenstein made for twenty years, and at one point it was going to be with Universal, but balls were dropped. I thought the movie was gorgeous, but I also thought it was kind of…boring. A beautiful car with no engine.”
Capping on the success of its blockbuster predecessor, The Bride of Frankenstein hit theaters in 1935, a unique blend of gothic horror, dark humor and bazaar campiness brought to the screen with James Whale returning as director. Starring ElsaLanchester, a British actress with an extensive career in theatre, film and television, Bride of Frankenstein allowed a sense of closure for devout readers of Shelley’s novel which had included the creation of the monster’s mate, and although The Bride only appears in the final four minutes of the film, the sequel is often thought of as superior to the original.
Asked why classic monster films like Dracula and Frankenstein still stand as pillars within the horror genre today, Stone gave this answer. “For one, there’s the humor. The offbeat sense of humor of James Whale adds so much to it. The other thing is that each of those original classic horror films have a supporting actor that gives a performance that practically steals the movie. And that’s the magic.”
“These movies are not just about monsters, but also incredibly human stories that everyone can relate to,” commented Carlotta. “Whether it’s feeling unaccepted, cursed with something you can’t control or having to overcome something. Things that are sadly missing in a lot of today’s remakes.”
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