Universal Monsters

Original films

Phantom of the Opera

Dracula

Frankenstein

Edgar Allan Poe

Mummy

Invisible Man

Werewolf / Wolf Man

Paula, the Ape Woman / Gorilla Girl

Inner Sanctum Mysteries

Creeper

Abbott & Costello

Gill Man / Creature from the Black Lagoon

1920s

Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

In 1923, Universal produced the drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Lon Chaney as Quasimodo. The production sets were built to evoke 15th-century Paris, including a re-creation of the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral.

Chaney stars as The Phantom in 1925's horror film, The Phantom of the Opera, based on the mystery novel by Gaston Leroux. The interior of the Opéra Garnier was recreated to scale and was used again in the 1943 remake with Claude Rains.

	Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Cast	RT[1]	IMDb[2]
	The Hunchback of Notre Dame	September 2, 1923	Wallace Worsley	Lon Chaney, Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, Brandon Hurst	95%	7.3
	The Phantom of the Opera	November 25, 1925	Rupert Julian	Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland	90%	7.7
	The Cat and the Canary	September 9, 1927	Paul Leni	Laura La Plante, Forrest Stanley, Creighton Hale, Flora Finch	93%	7.2
	The Man Who Laughs	April 27, 1928	Paul Leni	Mary Philbin, Conrad Veidt, Brandon Hurst, Olga V. Baklanova, Cesare Gravina, Stuart Holmes, Samuel de Grasse, George Siegmann, Josephine Crowell	100%	7.8
	The Last Warning	January 6, 1929	Paul Leni	Laura LaPlante, Montagu Love, Margaret Livingston, John Boles	N/A	7.5
	The Last Performance	November 1929	Paul Fejos	Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin	N/A	6.8

1930s

Bela Lugosi as Dracula

Boris Karloff in Bride of Frankenstein

In 1931, Bela Lugosi starred in Universal's Dracula and Boris Karloff in Frankenstein. Actors Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan, who played major supporting roles in both films, made several film appearances in this decade. Make-up artist Jack Pierce created several monsters' make-up starting in the 1930s.

The Mummy, starring Karloff, was produced in 1932. This was followed by a trilogy of films based on the tales of Edgar Allan Poe: Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) starring Lugosi, The Black Cat (1934), and The Raven (1935), the latter two of which teamed Lugosi with Karloff. Universal began releasing sequels including Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Dracula's Daughter (1936) and sequels for The Invisible Man (1933). The first mainstream werewolf picture, Werewolf of London (1935) starring Henry Hull, was not a box office triumph despite being revered by audiences today.

The end of Universal’s first run of horror films came in 1936. The monster movies were dropped from the production schedule altogether and would not re-emerge for another three years. In the meantime, a theatre owner revived Dracula and Frankenstein as a resoundingly successful double feature, prompting the studio to re-release the original movies. Son of Frankenstein (1939), starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Bela Lugosi, was filmed as a result of the unexpected resurgence.

	Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Cast	RT[1]	IMDb[2]
	The Cat Creeps (lost film)	November 10, 1930	Rupert Julian and John Willard	Helen Twelvetrees, Raymond Hackett, Neil Hamilton, Elizabeth Patterson	N/A	7.0
	La Voluntad del muerto (lost film)	1930	George Melford and Enrique Tovar Ávalos	Antonio Moreno, Lupita Tovar, Andrés de Segurola, Roberto E. Guzmán, Paul Ellis, Lucio Villegas, Agostino Borgato, Conchita Ballesteros, María Calvo, Soledad Jiménez	N/A	N/A
	Dracula (English-language film)	February 12, 1931	Tod Browning	Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan	91%	7.6
	Dracula (Spanish-language film)	April 24, 1931	George Melford	Carlos Villarías, Lupita Tovar, Barry Norton, Pablo Álvarez Rubio, Eduardo Arozamena	N/A	7.2
	Frankenstein	November 21, 1931	James Whale	Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Boris Karloff, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Frederick Kerr	100%	7.9
	Murders in the Rue Morgue	February 21, 1932	Robert Florey	Bela Lugosi, Sidney Fox, Leon Ames, Bert Roach, Brandon Hurst, Noble Johnson, D'Arcy Corrigan	83%	6.4
	The Old Dark House	October 20, 1932	James Whale	Boris Karloff, Melvin Douglas, Gloria Stuart, Charles Laughton, Lilian Bond, Ernest Thesiger, Eva Moore, Raymond Massey, Brember Wills, John Dudgeon	100%	7.3
	The Mummy	December 22, 1932	Karl Freund	Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan, Arthur Byron	93%	7.2
	Secret of the Blue Room	July 20, 1933	Kurt Neumann	Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart, Paul Lukas, Edward Arnold		6.6
	The Invisible Man	November 13, 1933	James Whale	Gloria Stuart, Claude Rains, William Harrigan, Dudley Digges, Una O'Connor, Henry Travers, Forrester Harvey	100%	7.7
	The Black Cat	May 18, 1934	Edgar G. Ulmer	Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Jacqueline Wells, Lucille Lund, Egon Brecher, Harry Cording, Henry Armetta, Albert Conti	87%	7.2
	The Mystery of Edwin Drood	February 4, 1935	Stuart Walker	Douglass Montgomery, Claude Rains, Heather Angel, David Manners, Francis L. Sullivan, Valerie Hobson	N/A	6.7
	Bride of Frankenstein	April 22, 1935	James Whale	Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Elsa Lanchester, Una O'Connor, Ernest Thesiger, E. E. Clive	100%	7.9
	Werewolf of London	May 13, 1935	Stuart Walker	Henry Hull, Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson, Lester Matthews, Spring Byington, Clark Williams, Lawrence Grant	77%	6.5
	The Raven	July 8, 1935	Lew Landers	Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Irene Ware, Lester Matthews, Inez Courtney	100%	7.1
	The Invisible Ray	January 20, 1936	Lambert Hillyer	Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton	80%	6.6
	Dracula's Daughter	May 11, 1936	Lambert Hillyer	Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Churchill, Edward Van Sloan, Irving Pichel, Nan Grey	46%	6.4
	Night Key	April 18, 1937	Lloyd Corrigan	Boris Karloff, J. Warren Hull, Jean Rogers, Alan Baxter, Hobart Cavanaugh, Samuel Hinds, David Oliver, Ward Bond, Frank Reicher, Edwin Maxwell	N/A	6.3
	The Phantom Creeps (serial film)	January 7, 1939	Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkind	Bela Lugosi, Robert Kent, Dorothy Arnold, Regis Toomey, Edward Van Sloan	N/A	4.6
	Son of Frankenstein	January 13, 1939	Rowland V. Lee	Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Josephine Hutchinson, Donnie Dunagan	89%	7.2
	Tower of London	November 17, 1939	Rowland V. Lee	Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Barbara O'Neil, Ian Hunter, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, John Sutton, Leo G. Carroll, Miles Mander, Lionel Belmore, Rose Hobart	N/A	6.7

1940s

During the 1940s, Universal released The Wolf Man (1941), with Lon Chaney, Jr. The junior Chaney became the studio's leading monster movie actor in the 1940s, just as his father had been two decades earlier, supplanting the 1930s' Karloff and Lugosi by a wide margin in terms of the number of leading roles that he played. Chaney, Jr. physically resembled his father apart from usually being somewhat overweight, which the senior Chaney never was. The studio dropped the "Jr." from the junior Chaney's billing almost immediately to confuse some in the audiences into assuming that this was the same actor. In 1943, the studio created a remake of Phantom of the Opera, this time starring Nelson Eddy and Susanna Foster with Claude Rains as the Phantom.

The Frankenstein and Wolf Man series continued with The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), in which Chaney, Jr. played Frankenstein's monster and Lugosi reprised his role as Ygor, and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) with Lugosi as the Frankenstein monster and Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man. Son of Dracula (1943) featured Chaney, Jr. in Lugosi's original role as the Count. The Mummy series was also continued with The Mummy's Hand (1940), The Mummy's Tomb (1942), The Mummy's Ghost and The Mummy's Curse (both 1944) with Chaney, Jr. as the Mummy in the last three films. House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945) featured many of the monsters from the studio's previous films. As the decade drew to a close, the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) features Lugosi in his second movie as Count Dracula, starring alongside Chaney, Jr. as Larry Talbot (the Wolf Man), and Glenn Strange as Frankenstein's monster.

	Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Cast	RT[1]	IMDb[2]
	The Invisible Man Returns	January 12, 1940	Joe May	Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, John Sutton, Cecil Kellaway	80%	6.5
	Black Friday	April 12, 1940	Arthur Lubin	Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Stanley Ridges, Anne Nagel, Anne Gwynne, James Craig	N/A	6.3
	The Mummy's Hand	September 20, 1940	Christy Cabanne	Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, Wallace Ford, Cecil Kellaway, Eduardo Ciannelli, George Zucco, Tom Tyler	67%	6.1
	The Invisible Woman	December 27, 1940	A. Edward Sutherland	Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, John Howard, Charlie Ruggles, Oscar Homolka	N/A	6.1
	Man Made Monster	March 28, 1941	George Waggner	Lionel Atwill, Anne Nagel, Frank Albertson, Samuel S. Hinds, Lon Chaney, Jr.	N/A	6.3
	Horror Island	March 28, 1941	George Waggner	Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo, Peggy Moran, Fuzzy Knight, Lewis Howard, Walter Catlett	N/A	6.0
	The Black Cat	May 2, 1941	Albert S. Rogell	Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert, Brod Crawford, Bela Lugosi, Gale Sondergaard, Anne Gwynne, Gladys Cooper, Cecelia Loftus, Claire Dodd	N/A	6.3
	The Wolf Man	December 12, 1941	George Waggner	Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya, Evelyn Ankers, Lon Chaney, Jr.	94%	7.4
	The Mad Doctor of Market Street	February 27, 1942	Joseph H. Lewis	Lionel Atwill, Una Merkel, Nat Pendleton, Claire Dodd, Richard Davies, Anne Nagel, Hardie Albright	N/A	5.2
	The Ghost of Frankenstein	March 13, 1942	Erle C. Kenton	Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Ralph Bellamy, Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi, Evelyn Ankers, Lon Chaney, Jr.	75%	6.1
	The Strange Case of Doctor Rx	April 17, 1942	William Nigh	Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill, Anne Gwynne, Mona Barrie, Paul Cavanagh, Samuel S. Hinds	N/A	5.2
	The Mystery of Marie Roget	April 23, 1942	Phil Rosen	Maria Montez, Patric Knowles, Maria Ouspenskaya, John Litel, Edward Norris, Lloyd Corrigan	N/A	6.0
	Invisible Agent	July 31, 1942	Edwin L. Marin	Ilona Massey, Jon Hall, Peter Lorre, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, J. Edward Bromberg, John Litel, Albert Bassermann	N/A	6.1
	Night Monster	October 20, 1942	Ford Beebe	Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Leif Erickson, Irene Hervey, Ralph Morgan, Don Porter, Nils Asther, Frank Reicher	N/A	6.4
	The Mummy's Tomb	October 23, 1942	Harold Young	Lon Chaney, Jr., Dick Foran, John Hubbard, Elyse Knox, George Zucco, Wallace Ford, Turhan Bey	29%	5.7
	Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man	March 5, 1943	Roy William Neill	Ilona Massey, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lon Chaney, Jr.	25%	6.6
	Captive Wild Woman	June 4, 1943	Edward Dmytryk	Evelyn Ankers, John Carradine, Milburn Stone, Lloyd Corrigan, Martha MacVicar, Vince Barnett, Acquanetta	40%	5.7
	Phantom of the Opera	August 27, 1943	Arthur Lubin	Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster, Claude Rains, Edgar Barrier, Leo Carrillo, Jane Farrar, J. Edward Bromberg, Fritz Feld, Hume Cronyn	74%	6.5
	Son of Dracula	November 5, 1943	Robert Siodmak	Louise Allbritton, Robert Paige, Evelyn Ankers, Frank Craven, J. Edward Bromberg, Samuel S. Hinds, Lon Chaney, Jr.	60%	6.2
	The Mad Ghoul	November 12, 1943	James P. Hogan	Turhan Bey, Evelyn Ankers, David Bruce, George Zucco, Robert Armstrong, Milburn Stone	N/A	5.8
	Calling Dr. Death	December 17, 1943	Reginald Le Borg	Lon Chaney, Jr., Patricia Morison, J. Carrol Naish, Ramsay Ames, David Bruce	N/A	6.1
	Weird Woman	March 1, 1944	Reginald Le Borg	Lon Chaney, Jr., Anne Gwynne, Evelyn Ankers, Lois Collier, Ralph Morgan, Elisabeth Risdon, Elizabeth Russell	N/A	6.5
	Jungle Woman	June 1, 1944	Reginald Le Borg	Evelyn Ankers, J. Carrol Naish, Lois Collier, Milburn Stone, Douglass Dumbrille, Acquanetta	N/A	5.3
	The Invisible Man's Revenge	June 9, 1944	Ford Beebe	Jon Hall, Leon Errol, John Carradine, Alan Curtis, Evelyn Ankers, Gale Sondergaard	N/A	5.8
	The Mummy's Ghost	July 7, 1944	Reginald Le Borg	Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, Ramsay Ames, Barton MacLane, George Zucco, Robert Lowery	33%	5.8
	The Climax	October 20, 1944	George Waggner	Susanna Foster, Turhan Bey, Boris Karloff, Gale Sondergaard, June Vincent, Thomas Gomez, George Dolenz, Jane Farrar, Ludwig Stössel	N/A	5.4
	Dead Man's Eyes	November 10, 1944	Reginald Le Borg	Lon Chaney, Jr., Jean Parker, Paul Kelly, Thomas Gomez, Jonathan Hale, George Meeker, Acquanetta	N/A	6.1
	House of Frankenstein	December 1, 1944	Erle C. Kenton	Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, J. Carrol Naish, Anne Gwynne, Peter Coe, Elena Verdugo, Lionel Atwill	55%	6.3
	The Mummy's Curse	December 22, 1944	Leslie Goodwins	Lon Chaney, Jr., Peter Coe, Kay Harding, Martin Kosleck, Virginia Christine, Kurt Katch	44%	5.6
	The Frozen Ghost	June 1, 1945	Harold Young	Lon Chaney, Jr., Evelyn Ankers, Elena Verdugo, Tala Birell, Martin Kosleck, Douglass Dumbrille, Milburn Stone	N/A	5.9
	The Jungle Captive	June 29, 1945	Harold Young	Otto Kruger, Amelita Ward, Phil Brown, Jerome Cowan, Vicky Lane, Rondo Hatton	N/A	5.5
	Strange Confession	October 5, 1945	John Hoffman	Lon Chaney, Jr., Brenda Joyce, J. Carrol Naish, Lloyd Bridges, Milburn Stone, Addison Richards	N/A	6.9
	House of Dracula	December 7, 1945	Erle C. Kenton	Lon Chaney, Jr., Martha O'Driscoll, John Carradine, Lionel Atwill, Onslow Stevens, Glenn Strange, Jane Adams, Ludwig Stössel	50%	5.8
	Pillow of Death	December 14, 1945	Wallace Fox	Lon Chaney, Jr., Brenda Joyce, J. Edward Bromberg, Rosalind Ivan, Clara Blandick	N/A	6.1
	The Spider Woman Strikes Back	March 22, 1946	Arthur Lubin	Gale Sondergaard, Kirby Grant, Brenda Joyce, Milburn Stone, Rondo Hatton	N/A	6.5
	House of Horrors	March 29, 1946	Jean Yarbrough	Bill Goodwin, Robert Lowery, Virginia Grey, Martin Kosleck, Alan Napier, Joan Fulton, Rondo Hatton	N/A	6.3
	She-Wolf of London	May 17, 1946	Jean Yarbrough	June Lockhart, Don Porter, Sara Haden, Eily Malon	17%	5.2
	The Cat Creeps	May 17, 1946	Erle C. Kenton	Lois Collier, Fred Brady, Paul Kelly, Noah Beery, Jr., Douglass Dumbrille, Rose Hobart	N/A	5.5
	The Brute Man	October 1, 1946	Jean Yarbrough	Tom Neal, Jane Adams, Jan Wiley, Peter Whitney, Donald MacBride, Rondo Hatton	N/A	3.8
	Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein	June 15, 1948	Charles Barton	Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney, Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Lenore Aubert, Jane Randolph	88%	7.6
	Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff	August 22, 1949	Charles Barton	Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff	N/A	7.1

1950s

Abbott and Costello appeared in films featuring characters such as the Mummy and the Invisible Man. Creature from the Black Lagoon, directed by Jack Arnold, was released in 1954. Dracula and Frankenstein were re-released as double features in theatres, and were later broadcast in syndication on American television in 1957 as part of the Shock Theater package of Universal Monster Movies.^[3] Magazines such as Famous Monsters of Filmland covered the monster films. Universal spent the last half of the decade issuing a number of one-shot monster films.

	Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Cast	RT[1]	IMDb[2]
	Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man	March 19, 1951	Charles Lamont	Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Nancy Guild, Adele Jergens, Arthur Franz, William Frawley, Sheldon Leonard	78%	7.0
	The Strange Door	December 8, 1951	Joseph Pevney	Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Sally Forrest, Richard Stapley	N/A	6.3
	The Black Castle	December 25, 1952	Nathan H. Juran	Richard Greene, Boris Karloff, Stephen McNally, Rita Corday, Lon Chaney, Jr., John Hoyt, Michael Pate, Nancy Valentine	N/A	6.4
	It Came from Outer Space	May 25, 1953	Jack Arnold	Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Russell Johnson, Kathleen Hughes, Joe Sawyer	81%	6.6
	Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	August 10, 1953	Charles Lamont	Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff, Helen Westcott, Craig Stevens, Reginald Denny	71%	6.7
	Creature from the Black Lagoon	February 12, 1954	Jack Arnold	Richard Carlson and Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, Whit Bissell	84%	7.0
	Revenge of the Creature	March 23, 1955	Jack Arnold	John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield, Nestor Paiva	25%	5.5
	Cult of the Cobra	May 30, 1955	Francis D. Lyon	Faith Domergue, Richard Long, Marshall Thompson, Kathleen Hughes, William Reynolds, Jack Kelly, Myrna Hansen, David Janssen	N/A	5.8
	This Island Earth	June 1, 1955	Joseph M. Newman and Jack Arnold	Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller, Russell Johnson	71%	5.8
	Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy	June 23, 1955	Charles Lamont	Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Marie Windsor, Michael Ansara, Peggy King	27%	6.5
	Tarantula	December 14, 1955	Jack Arnold	John Agar, Mara Corday, Leo G. Carroll, Nestor Paiva, Ross Elliott	92%	6.5
	The Creature Walks Among Us	April 26, 1956	John Sherwood	Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, Leigh Snowden, Gregg Palmer, Maurice Manson	43%	5.8
	Curucu, Beast of the Amazon	December 1956	Curt Siodmak	John Bromfield , Beverly Garland, Larri Thomas, Tom Payne, Harvey Chalk	N/A	3.9
	The Mole People	December 1956	Virgil W. Vogel	John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, Hugh Beaumont, Nestor Paiva, Alan Napier	N/A	4.7
	The Incredible Shrinking Man	February 22, 1957	Jack Arnold	Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton, Raymond Bailey	89%	7.7
	The Deadly Mantis	May 26, 1957	Nathan H. Juran	Craig Stevens, Alix Talton, William Hopper, Florenz Ames, Donald Randolph	38%	4.7
	The Land Unknown	October 30, 1957	Virgil W. Vogel	Jock Mahoney, Shawn Smith, William Reynolds, Henry Brandon, Phil Harvey, Douglas Kennedy	N/A	5.8
	The Monolith Monsters	December 18, 1957	John Sherwood	Grant Williams, Lola Albright, Les Tremayne, Phil Harvey, Trevor Bardette	N/A	6.5
	The Thing That Couldn't Die	June 27, 1958	Will Cowan	William Reynolds, Andra Martin, Carolyn Kearney, Jeffrey Stone	N/A	3.4
	Monster on the Campus	December 17, 1958	Jack Arnold	Arthur Franz, Joanna Moore, Judson Pratt, Nancy Walters, Troy Donohue, The Beast	N/A	5.8
	Curse of the Undead	May 1959	Edward Dein	Eric Fleming, Kathleen Crowley, Michael Pate, John Hoyt, Bruce Gordon	N/A	5.9
	The Leech Woman	May 1960	Edward Dein	Coleen Gray, Grant Williams, Gloria Talbott, Phillip Terry	N/A	4.3