Customer Reviews

Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been a fan of Universal Horror films for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories are of a local channel here in the Detroit area that used to show a different Universal horror film every afternoon in the week leading up to Halloween. And then there was local horror host Sir Graves Ghastly who played the old classics every Saturday afternoon from the late 60's and into the early 80's. The past 10 years have seen a big renewed interest in these classic horror films with so many being released on DVD and with toys, sculptures, and great new books such as this one from Ballantine/Del Rey books.

Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios is a fantastic new hardcover book celebrating Universal's classic horror films. The book doesn't cover all of the Universal Horrors but does spotlight the major ones such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf man, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the silent version of The Phantom of the Opera. The book features essays on each of these films by either noted actors or directors as well as the family members of the horror film stars.

Sara Karloff and Bela Lugosi Jr., each take their turn writing about their famous fathers and the roles which made them stars. Ron Chaney discusses his great-grandfather Lon Chaney, Director John Landis provides an essay on the Wolfman, and actress Gloria Stuart talks about the Invisible Man, a film she co-starred in over 70 years ago! In addition, makeup master Rick Baker looks at the Universal Monster movie makeup and the legendary Jack Pierce, who designed the look of the Frankenstein Monster, The Mummy, The Wolfman, and many more terrors. There is also a look at the Abbott and Costello monster films, a Universal horror film chronology, and a detailed bibliography.

Now all of this would more than make the day of any fan of classic horror films but there is even more to be found in this fantastic book. Forrest J, Ackerman, Uncle Forry himself, longtime editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland provides the book's Foreward and a better person could not have been chosen. After all, who else could make the claim to have seen Phantom of the Opera when it opened in 1925, not to mention being friends with Karloff, Lugosi, and Wolfman writer Curt Siodmak? Ackerman even owns one of the capes worn by Lugosi in Dracula.

But perhaps the greatest feature of the book is the photography. The photos are simply dazzling! I was surprised to find many photos that I had never seen before in previous books or horror magazines, such as Lugosi taking a break from filming and resting his foot on a stage light or the magnificently shadowed photo of Karloff sitting in his actor's chair and reading his script from The Mummy. The photos are simply breathtaking!

Ballantine/Del Rey has produced a book that any fan of Universal's Classic horrors will be rising out of their tombs to own!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Universal Pictures has long been famous for making the greatest horror classics of all time,and this beautiful book shows why.The people who made these beloved films knew how to do it best,and here we see them at their peak.The makers of today's so-called "horror films" would do well to look at this book and see how to do it right.Universal's people,from
talented directors like James Whale and Tod Browning to others like art director Charles D.Hall and legendary makeup guru Jack Pierce,all knew that restraint is key in a horror film(You don't have to show somebody being brutally murdered every five seconds).Often,it's not what you see in these films,but what you DON"T see that really scares you.Granted,they didn't have the technology available today.But they knew how to do more with less.That's not the case today,which is why all those gorefests that
call themselves "horror films" are so bad.
Back to the book.The photographs,many never seen before,are excellent.
There are wonderful tributes from such notable fans as Rick Baker and
John Landis.I loved Gloria Stuart's article on "The Invisible Man".
There are wonderful tributes to Boris,Bela,and both Lons from their children.All the boys and girls are here in their glory.What a delight!
Enjoy!

As the previous reader's posts have mentioned, this book is packed with excellent pictures from the universal archives. The articles are very interesting and insightful. HOWEVER, there are clearly SEVERAL mistakes in the book that any avid monster fan can spot. For instance, a picture's caption of Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein in "Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man" states that it is Lon Chaney! A second caption on a picture reads " Gwen Conliffe and her Fiance "Glenn Talbot". Glenn Talbot? Not even a character in the film! Gwen's fiance was named Frank Andrews! Many other mistakes plague the book as well, such as when they quote Maria Ouspenskaya's Chilling epitath of the Doomed Larry Talbot, they state it as saying".....evil enters the sea"! What!! It's correct transcript should be "..as the rain enters the soil, the RIVER enters the sea"! This is an unexcusable mistake on a VERY famous quote! Another has a Mummy sequel as having music from "Son of Frankenstein" when it was music taken from "Frankenstein meets the wolf man" and/or "The Wolf Man! (the musical ques are very evident).and , Finally a mistake on page 123, the film "Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man, states it as having ALL three monsters in it ( Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man). The film did NOT have Dracula in it. So the text itself has several mistakes that slightly tarnish an otherwise amazing book. I still reccomend it to all those who love the classic Universal monsters as i do, and at $19.99 it's a bargain!

As a longtime fan of Univeral Monster movies, I have to say I'm delighted with the quality of the many photographs--many of them full-page--in this book. And what is most surprising is that I had never seen many of them. These aren't just the familiar publicity stills that you can find all over the place.

The brief essays by filmmakers such as John Landis, and descendants of the great Universal actors like Karloff and Lugosi are mostly well-written. You can tell the authors have great affection for these films. As someone else has pointed out, there are some errors in the accounts given by uncredited Universal Studios employees. For example, it is said that FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN includes both the title creatures, as well as Dracula. This, of course, did not happen until HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

If there's any other real problem with this beautiful book, it's that the text is too brief. Yes, the pictures are the real star of this show, and the book is certainly worth owning for these alone. But as this is an official publication from the studio that made these beloved films, it seems like more time should have been spent discussing the films. Virtually all the sequels--save for BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN--are glossed over with just a few lines. I hope Univeral will consider publishing another volume, and expand on the content of this book.

If you're a fan, you should definitely have this one. It's a fine "coffee table" book, and likely to attract attention from people who've never even seen the films. I bought this one just before having surgery, and a friend who visited me in the hospital (and who only has a passing familiarity with these films) tried to take the book away from me!

If you're looking for a nice family photo album of the Universal Monsters, this is the book. If you're looking for inside info, then I would suggest "Hollywood Horror" by Vieira, a book that actually has clearer stills and is in a slightly larger format. For most people, this will do fine.
One thing I noticed that annoyed me and I spotted it right away, as I thumbed through: on page 63, there's a pic of the Frankenstein monster, and the caption reads, "Lon Chaney Jr. as Frankenstein's monster in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man." It is clearly Bela Lugosi in the Frankenstein make-up.

If you're a fan of Universal's Monster movies, buy this today! (I gave this 5 stars, though I must admit I haven't read the minimal text.) This is mainly a picture book with beautiful photos from the Phantom, Frankenstein's, Dracula, Mummy, Invisible Man, the Bride, Wolfman, and the Creature. It's hardcover, "coffee-table-book" style, glossy B&W pics...I think it's worth every penny! Even if you are just a little bit of a fan, you won't be unsatisfied with this purchase.

Like a previous reviewer commented you are not going to get a lot of details from this book that you didn't already know nor is there a vast array of films looked at. This book features just the Universal Horror movies from The Phantom of the Opera to The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Each movie has its own chapter with an overview of the making of the film and then an essay by someone connected w/the film. Also, there is an essay at the end from make-up artist Rick Baker followed by a short chapter entitled Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters. Overall this is a very nice book w/some great photographs. It's definitely worth it for any Universal Monster fan hence the 5 stars.

What "Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios" lacks in size, a mere 166 pages, it more than makes up for in qualiy. Universal could easily have produced a 1000+ page coffee table book showcasing the worlds most famous and beloved monsters and slapped on a price tag that only the die hard horror fan would go for. Instead they have produced a wonderful, affordable little book jammed full of beautiful production stills, promo shots and essays by some of our favorite members of the horror-fan family.
What monster movie book would be complete without a foreward, or rather "fearword" by the legendary Forrest J. Ackerman of Famous Monsters of Filmland fame? From there the book goes on to showcase the most famous of the Universal monsters: The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Each section has a color reproduction of a movie poster or lobby card followed by some beautiful black and white pictures from the films, some of them filling the whole page. These alone are worth the cost of the book but they are also accompanied by text by Roy Milano and interesting essays from Sara Karloff, Bela G. Lugosi, Gloria Stuart, Ron Chaney, Rick Baker and more. The photos make up the bulk of the book but the text and essays are very interesting and entertaining and touch on many of the Universal sequels as well as the careers of the actors.
The book closes with a piece by Rick Baker on legendary makeup artists Lon Chaney and Jack Pierce. Another great little article entitled "Abbott and Costello Meet The Monsters" remembers those great comedies featuring Bud and Lou and the Universal Monsters including the likes of Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney.
This book will certainly appeal to horror fans of every age. Everyone from my 88 year old father who saw most of these films during their first run, to my 13 year old nephew who recently discovered the Abbott and Costello movies, loved this book. It is aso a perfect companion to the numerous Universal horror dvds released over the last few years. If you don't own any of them you will probably reconsider after experiencing this book.

I will echo the feelings of other customer reviewers who point out that the photos are worth the price of admission...or at least are the primary reason for wanting this book. I, too, have been a Universal monster-film devotee since I was a kid and the Universal "Shock Theater" package was sold to local TV stations...in my case WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, where John Zacherle paraded as "Roland" every Friday and Saturday night, introducing these gems that are the subject of the current book.

The problem I have with the book, hence only two stars, is that the text is woefully inadequate -- and wrong in at least one instance. (Dracula was not in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN.) This is a very cursory introduction to the films, apparently aimed at those with only a casual or passing interest in the films. But then, why would such people spend this kind of money on a subject they don't hold near and dear to their hearts? The chapters by the likes of Sara Karloff (who has made a career out of remembering her father), Bela Lugosi, Jr., Lon Chaney's great-grandson, and so forth, are interesting. Some (like Jennifer Beals) seem somewhat self-promoting.

But the photos! These are wonderful. Many are the standard publicity photos that Forrest Ackerman used to publish in his Famous Monsters of Filmland. But there are dozens of others that I'd never seen before in the 50 years since I first fell in love with the Universal monsters.

In all, this is a worthwhile addition to my library, but I sure wish it had been done better, and not just as a "coffee table" book.

Length:: 0:54 Mins

What to tell you about this book? If you like those books that base their contents on 90% image and 10% text than you have a great little book in front of you. I think about this book as a great supplement to other Universal Monsters books like Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946 and Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror. It is loaded with beautiful photographic material and every chapter is focused on one monster. At the beginning and on the end of every chapter you have a little essay about particular monster. Some of them are written by family members of famous actors like Lugosi and Karloff. Book is in black and white printed on glossy paper and it is one of those books that you come to from time to time and enjoy. If you are a fan of Universal Classic Horror or you like nice books with a lot of amazing photographic material inside it than this book is certainly for you. Enjoy!

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