{"id":1605,"date":"2018-10-12T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T16:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=1605"},"modified":"2018-10-12T12:00:29","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T16:00:29","slug":"universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Re-Posted from October 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A friend of mine at work is a movie fan.\u00a0 But being a Gen X aged guy he hasn\u2019t been exposed to the full gamut of classic Hollywood films from the \u201830s and \u201840s.\u00a0 Recently he\u2019s begun a systematic review of these films.\u00a0 For instance, he just finished up an exhaustive viewing of all Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s films in chronological order.\u00a0 He even watched the early silent films Hitchcock made.\u00a0 Now that is dedication.\u00a0 On the whole he seemed impressed by Hitchcock\u2019s body of work.\u00a0 While he recognized weaker efforts he also felt that Hitchcock was an extremely competent craftsman who produced quality work.\u00a0 And he noted that Hitchcock innovated over the course of his career and broke new ground in several ways.\u00a0 He did chide him for birthing the slasher films with Psycho.\u00a0 But all in all he was a great director.<\/p>\n

This month he started on a smaller project.\u00a0 He\u2019s watching the Universal Classic Monster films.\u00a0 He just finished up on Dracula, Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein.\u00a0 When I spoke to him he was surprised and disappointed at what he judged a lack of quality.\u00a0 I told him I predicted he\u2019d really be shocked once he\u2019d watched the Wolfman.\u00a0 He is soldiering on but I could see he was let down.<\/p>\n

After my comment, my friend questioned whether I disliked the Universal series.\u00a0 I told him I have a fondness for them but have no illusions about the artistry they represent.\u00a0 My exact words were, \u201cPeter, they were made to scare children and simple people.\u00a0 They were wildly successful at doing this.\u00a0 And if you watch them in the right frame of mind they still can entertain.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure if I convinced him but it got me thinking about what those movies could say to an audience today.<\/p>\n

First off, let\u2019s see how they do with today\u2019s kids.\u00a0 I have a 13-year-old grandson who has been fed a steady dose of these films from about the time he was five.\u00a0 Now, they may have become tame fare for him now but he still likes watching them.\u00a0 He probably recognizes the relation to such modern fixtures as the Count on Sesame Street and Hotel Transylvania.\u00a0 And basically kids are still kids and monsters are great fun for kids.\u00a0 So, one audience still exists for these movies.<\/p>\n

For those of us who grew up watching these movies their charm although thinned by use still survives.\u00a0 They\u2019re like old relations who diminish in importance as we grow up but still are fondly regarded and maintain an association in our minds with the happiness of childhood (if your childhood was happy).\u00a0 This audience is shrinking but is still a large population.<\/p>\n

And finally, there are those who are fans of all things fantastic.\u00a0 If you are a SF&F fan then how can you not, at least, have a curiosity about the origin of all those First Blood and Underworld stories?\u00a0 Sure, the 1930\u2019s models were vastly less cool, what with their crosses and holy water, but even if just from an historical perspective, they should be viewed and discussed.<\/p>\n

Being solidly in the second and third camps I feel entitled to give my opinion.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what I\u2019ll do.\u00a0 I\u2019ll plow through the canon and give the pluses and minuses as honestly and objectively as I can.\u00a0 It should be fun.\u00a0 Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Re-Posted from October 2017   A friend of mine at work is a movie fan.\u00a0 But being a Gen X aged guy he hasn\u2019t been<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,238,237,4,243],"tags":[418,419,354,422,421,375,417,420],"class_list":["post-1605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-classic-movie-reviews","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-movie-reviews","tag-dracula","tag-frankenstein","tag-horror","tag-invisible-man","tag-mummy","tag-sff","tag-universal-classic-monster-movies","tag-wolfman"],"yoast_head":"\nUniversal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1 - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1 - Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Re-Posted from October 2017   A friend of mine at work is a movie fan.\u00a0 But being a Gen X aged guy he hasn\u2019t been\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-12T16:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-12T16:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"photog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\"},\"headline\":\"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-12T16:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-12T16:00:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/\"},\"wordCount\":592,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Dracula\",\"Frankenstein\",\"horror\",\"Invisible Man\",\"Mummy\",\"sf&F\",\"Universal Classic Monster Movies\",\"Wolfman\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Movie Reviews\",\"OCF Classic Movie Reviews\",\"Reviews\",\"Science Fiction \/ Fantasy\",\"SF&F Movie Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/\",\"name\":\"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1 - Orion's Cold Fire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-12T16:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-12T16:00:29+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"description\":\"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"width\":4022,\"height\":1419,\"caption\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\",\"name\":\"photog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"caption\":\"photog\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1 - Orion's Cold Fire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1 - Orion's Cold Fire","og_description":"Re-Posted from October 2017   A friend of mine at work is a movie fan.\u00a0 But being a Gen X aged guy he hasn\u2019t been","og_url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/","og_site_name":"Orion's Cold Fire","article_published_time":"2018-10-12T16:00:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-10-12T16:00:29+00:00","author":"photog","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_site":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"photog","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/"},"author":{"name":"photog","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3"},"headline":"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1","datePublished":"2018-10-12T16:00:01+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-12T16:00:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/"},"wordCount":592,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Dracula","Frankenstein","horror","Invisible Man","Mummy","sf&F","Universal Classic Monster Movies","Wolfman"],"articleSection":["Movie Reviews","OCF Classic Movie Reviews","Reviews","Science Fiction \/ Fantasy","SF&F Movie Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/","name":"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1 - Orion's Cold Fire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-10-12T16:00:01+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-12T16:00:29+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/universal-classic-monster-movies-an-ocf-classic-movie-review-part-1\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Universal Classic Monster Movies \u2013 An OCF Classic Movie Review \u2013 Part 1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","description":"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","width":4022,"height":1419,"caption":"Orion's Cold Fire"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3","name":"photog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","caption":"photog"},"url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1605"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4743,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1605\/revisions\/4743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}