(Photo by Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection. The Mummy Returns.)
50 Universal Classic Monster Movies Ranked
The latest: Can you smell what The Scorpion King is cooking? It joins our list of Universal Classic Monster movies!
Before your cinematic universes and extended galaxies and interconnected constellations, there were the Universal Classic Monster movies. A loose confederation of sequels and spinoffs, they were the biggest motion picture events in the early life of cinema. The 1920s kicked things off with The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera before the franchise moved into its 1930s golden era. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Invisible Man all released between 1931 and 1933, and they remain masterpiece staples of the horror genre.
In the 1940s, Universal ramped up production, frequently outpacing quality control. Among the sequels was the introduction of The Wolf Man in 1941, as well as Universal’s turn to self-parody with the arrival of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The comedy duo would Meet Frankenstein in 1948, carrying well into the mid-’50s. Creature from the Black Lagoon was the final hurrah for the original line of Universal monster movies.
In 1999, The Mummy was revived in the summer blockbuster era, bringing in enough fans young and old to encourage two sequels. Van Helsing and The Wolfman also arrived in the decade or so after the Mummy relaunch, though the lackluster returns on those meant Universal was ready to try something new (read: what Marvel was doing).
2014’s Dracula Untold was to be the start of a so-called Dark Universe of connected monster movies. After that movie failed to draw much blood out of the box office, 2017’s The Mummy was going to be the “new” new start of the Dark Universe. Until that movie also bombed spectacularly.
And so we arrive at 2020’s The Invisible Man, which reportedly cost 30 times less than The Mummy to make, and with no aspirations to be tied to any larger universe. In 2023, the studio released a comedic follow-up to Dracula with Renfield, all about the Count’s poor beleaguered aide. Then the studio took a few bites: First with The Last Voyage of the Demeter in 2023, based on a chapter from the Bram Stoker Dracula novel, and then in 2024 with Abigail, a loose re-imagining of Dracula’s Daughter. Now, we rank all Universal Monster movies by Tomatometer! —Alex Vo
Critics Consensus: Bela Lugosi's timeless portrayal of Dracula in this creepy and atmospheric 1931 film has set the standard for major vampiric roles since.
Synopsis: The dashing, mysterious Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), after hypnotizing a British soldier, Renfield (Dwight Frye), into his mindless slave, travels [More]
Critics Consensus: James Whale's classic The Invisible Man features still-sharp special effects, loads of tension, a goofy sense of humor, and a memorable debut from Claude Rains.
Synopsis: While researching a new drug, Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) stumbles on a potion that can make him invisible. When [More]
Critics Consensus: Still unnerving to this day, Frankenstein adroitly explores the fine line between genius and madness, and features Boris Karloff's legendary, frightening performance as the monster.
Synopsis: This iconic horror film follows the obsessed scientist Dr. Henry Frankenstein as he attempts to create life by assembling a [More]
Critics Consensus: Smart, well-acted, and above all scary, The Invisible Man proves that sometimes, the classic source material for a fresh reboot can be hiding in plain sight.
Synopsis: After staging his own suicide, a crazed scientist uses his power to become invisible to stalk and terrorize his ex-girlfriend. [More]
Critics Consensus: A handsomely told tale with an affecting performance from Lon Chaney, Jr., The Wolf Man remains one of the classics of the Universal horror stable.
Synopsis: When his brother dies, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney) returns to Wales and reconciles with his father (Claude Rains). While there, [More]
Critics Consensus: Decades later, it still retains its ability to scare -- and Lon Chaney's performance remains one of the benchmarks of the horror genre.
Synopsis: Aspiring young opera singer Christine Daaé discovers that she has a mysterious admirer intent on helping her become a lead [More]
Critics Consensus: Relying more on mood and atmosphere than the thrills typical of modern horror fare, Universal's The Mummy sets a masterful template for mummy-themed films to follow.
Synopsis: A team of British archaeologists led by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron) discover the mummified remains of the ancient Egyptian [More]
Critics Consensus: Carrying off well-worn vampire tropes with a balletic flourish, Abigail dances around the familiarity of its premise with a game cast and slick style.
Synopsis: After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to [More]
Synopsis: Wrongly accused of murdering his brother, Geoffrey Radcliffe (Vincent Price) is found guilty and sentenced to die. But when sympathetic [More]
Synopsis: While in Tibet researching a mysterious flower that purportedly takes its strength from the moon, botanist Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) [More]
Critics Consensus: Though it lives beneath the 1925 version, Claude Rains plays title character well in this landmark color version of the classic tragedy.
Synopsis: Talented Christine (Susanna Foster) is unaware that her singing lessons are being funded by a secret admirer, Enrique (Claude Rains), [More]
Critics Consensus: Despite an occasionally imbalanced mix of romance and overly grotesque scares, Dracula offers chilling atmosphere in spades and a seductively enigmatic turn from Frank Langella as the legendary vampire.
Synopsis: A man washes ashore in England after a shipwreck and is found by Mina Van Helsing (Jan Francis). The man [More]
Critics Consensus:Dracula's Daughter extends the Universal horror myth in an interesting direction, but the talky script and mild atmosphere undermine its ambition.
Synopsis: Although Count Dracula was destroyed by Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan), who is now being tried for his murder, Dracula's [More]
Critics Consensus: It's difficult to make a persuasive argument for The Mummy as any kind of meaningful cinematic achievement, but it's undeniably fun to watch.
Synopsis: The Mummy is a rousing, suspenseful and horrifying epic about an expedition of treasure-seeking explorers in the Sahara Desert in [More]
Critics Consensus: Although it fails to take full advantage of its committed stars and killer premise, Renfield's batty horror-comedy blend sinks in just enough to leave an impression.
Synopsis: In this modern monster tale of Dracula's loyal servant, Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men franchise) stars as Renfield, [More]
Critics Consensus:The Last Voyage of the Demeter finds a fresh angle on Dracula's oft-told tale, although lackluster execution often undercuts the story's claustrophobic tension.
Synopsis: Based on a single chilling chapter from Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula, The Last Voyage of the Demeter tells the [More]
Critics Consensus: Director Leigh Whannell's attempt at bringing a fresh psychological dimension to the Wolf Man comes at the expense of proper scares, although fans of body horror will still find some tasty morsels to chew on.
Synopsis: From Blumhouse and visionary writer-director Leigh Whannell, the creators of the chilling modern monster tale The Invisible Man, comes a [More]
Critics Consensus: Suitably grand and special effects-laden, The Wolfman suffers from a suspense-deficient script and a surprising lack of genuine chills.
Synopsis: Though absent from his ancestral home of Blackmoor for many years, aristocrat Lawrence Talbot (Anthony Hopkins) returns to find his [More]
Critics Consensus: Lacking the campy fun of the franchise's most recent entries and failing to deliver many monster-movie thrills, The Mummy suggests a speedy unraveling for the Dark Universe.
Synopsis: Nick Morton is a soldier of fortune who plunders ancient sites for timeless artifacts and sells them to the highest [More]
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