Dracula & The Wolfman

February 3
Universal Monsters Collection
Dracula
(NR, 1931, 75 min)
Relive the horror, the mystery, and the intrigue of the original 1931 vampire masterpiece starring Bela Lugosi and directed by Tod Browning.  Enter Professor Van Helsing, Renfield, Mina, Lucy, Jonathan Harker and all the characters who have now become classics.  If you’re a true horror aficionado, you owe it to yourself to experience Dracula in 35mm on the big screen.

The Wolf Man
(NR, 1941, 70 min)
The original horror classic that introduced one of the screen's most infamous monsters! Lon Chaney, Jr. portrays Larry Talbot who, on one fateful night, is bitten by a werewolf and suffers the classic fate of the victims of lycanthropy.  During the next full moon, he turns into a werewolf; a transformation ingeniously devised by makeup maestro Jack Pierce.

What Jim says…
Many of horror’s well-known conventions like creaking staircases, the swirling mist, and creepy cobwebs originated from these Universal Pictures’ films. There are so many opportunities out there to see the Friday the 13ths, Halloweens, and Evil Dead trilogies of the world in theatres. Some people believe they’re improving their film backgrounds by attending these trusty stand-bys, as if seeing The Exorcist on the big screen during Halloween is a unique film-going experience. They’re fun movies, to be sure; but nothing rare.  In March 2011, we screened 1942’s Cat People.  It was the oldest film we’d ever shown (as well as one of the hardest 35mm prints to obtain) and, unfortunately, one of the lowest-attended programs in the series’ history. Is there a paying audience for these types of B&W films, I wonder?  Why bang my head against these fortress walls if so few people care to see “old movies” on the big screen?  No self-respecting horror series can hold its head high until they’ve screened the Universal Monsters series, that’s why.