Editorials
5 Underseen Universal Studios Horror Films Ripe for Reboot
In an age where Marvel made shared universes trendy, it makes sense that Universal would be interested in rebooting Hollywood’s first shared universe, the Universal Classic Monsters.
From the 1920s-1950s, Universal Pictures’ well-known horror cycle kicked off with The Phantom of the Opera. They continued to have success with Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man. These core iconic monsters became the foundational fixtures of the brand, and the starting point for Universal’s recent revamp dubbed the Dark Universe. The lackluster reception of the 2017 reboot The Mummy, however, derailed those new cinematic shared universe plans.
Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man looks to bring the iconic monster back to its terrifying roots, operating as a standalone film. Free from the shackles of a shared universe, The Invisible Man can potentially pave the way for future Universal Classic Monster reboots. If it does, there’s two decades worth of material for Universal to dust off and revive.
Many Universal monster movies beyond the core six are worth revisiting. Here are five.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
The first film of several to feature the comedic duo encountering monsters from Universal’s horror catalog. In this instance, Abbott and Costello must contend with Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange), Dracula (Bela Lugosi), and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.). Also, a tease of the Invisible Man (Vincent Price) at the closing hook. Who needs a shared universe when you can assemble an all-star monster team in one movie? The Abbott and Costello monster mashups are loads of fun, bring the horror and comedy in a big way, and offer the perfect gateway into horror for kids. Meaning, an ideal vessel for a reboot. The Abbott and Costello titles are far from underseen on a wider scale, but they don’t get mentioned near enough when discussing classic horror. Besides, the world needs more monster movies, especially ones with heart.
The Black Cat (1934)
Based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe, this one sees honeymooners trapped in the Hungarian home of a Satan-worshipping priest after the bride suffers an accident. It stars notable Universal Monsters actors Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, with Lugosi playing a good guy for once. The plot is very convoluted and dense, but it’s such an atmospheric, creepy film that its style more than makes up for that. While it’s not technically a Universal Monsters flick -it is a Universal Horror movie, though- the subject matter is perfect for a modern retelling. Black magic, characters that are skinned alive, sacrifices, and more. It was popular upon theatrical release, and still plays often on TCM; but again, this one could use more love.
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
From the director of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Jack Arnold, comes this ‘50s sci-fi horror gem based on Richard Matheson’s novel The Shrinking Man. While on his brother’s boat, a strange cloud passes over and coats Scott’s skin. Cut to six months later, when Scott begins to notice his clothes are far too big. He’s shrinking, and no amount of medical expertise can stop it. Poor Scott keeps getting smaller and smaller, turning his life into a horror tragedy. The title doesn’t do a great job hinting at the bleak hopelessness within. Scott’s stages of grief, and the frightening encounters with things that wouldn’t otherwise be so frightening. It’d be fascinating to see this story translated into a modern setting.
Werewolf of London (1935)
Universal’s first attempt at a werewolf movie became quickly overshadowed by its much more popular and influential sibling, 1941’s The Wolf Man. Much of that had to do with Jack Pierce’s werewolf makeup design, which he intended to use for this film. Except, actor Henry Hull felt that his werewolf needed to still resemble the human underneath for the sake of the plot. Pierce got his second chance to do the makeup he wanted just a few years later, and Werewolf of London became far lesser seen in comparison to The Wolf Man. Hull plays Dr. Glendon, a botanist in search of a Tibetan flower whose bitten by a lycanthrope in the process. This flower can keep lycanthropy at bay. To be blunt, The Wolf Man is the more exciting Universal Classic Monster of the two, but this is still fun, and the world could use more werewolf movies anyhow.
Dracula’s Daughter (1936)
Picking up right after Dracula ends, this sequel follows his daughter, Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden). Unlike dad, though, Countess Zaleska doesn’t want to be a vampire. She struggles with her perpetual thirst for blood while searching out possible cures, including burning the stolen body of her father. While the blood-sucking prince of darkness might be the embodiment of evil, his daughter presents a much more compassionate take on the vampire. One that puts her in the same conversation as sympathetic beasts like the Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s Monster.
Some movies are just so beloved that you can experience them through cultural osmosis without ever sitting down to actually watch them. From loving parodies to meticulous recreations of iconic scenes, memorable filmmaking lives on even after the curtains close on the silver screen. And when it comes to horror, few films can compete with the massive impact that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining had on popular culture as a whole.
Whether or not you think the flick is a good adaptation of Stephen King’s seminal novel, 1980’s The Shining slowly but surely grew into one of the most influential genre movies ever made, inspiring everything from surprisingly heartfelt sequels to classic episodes of The Simpsons. However, not all The Shining references are created equal, and today I’d like to shine a light on six unexpected homages to Kubrick’s iconic film.
In this list, we’ll be focusing on references and Easter eggs that either came out of the blue or came from creators that you wouldn’t expect to be fans of this classic ghost story. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite references to the Torrance family and the Overlook Hotel if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. A Nightmare on FaceTime – South Park (2012)
Regardless of the brand’s iffy reputation among former employees, the death of Blockbuster Video was a serious blow to fans of physical media. Of course, some folks were more affected by this than others, and South Park’s Randy Marsh definitely took things a little too far in the twelfth episode of the show’s sixteenth season.
Titled A Nightmare on FaceTime, the main plot of this 2012 story is a surprisingly faithful recreation of The Shining where Randy purchases an empty Blockbuster store and begins to go mad once he realizes that his investment may not have been a very good idea due to the rise of streaming and the now-defunct RedBox storefronts.
4. The Overlook Hotel Level – Ready Player One (2018)
I was never really a fan of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, so I viewed Stephen Spielberg’s divisive adaptation of the novel as an improvement over the source material despite having its own narrative issues. In fact, I actually prefer how Spielberg changed the story by removing several references to his own work and replacing a lengthy Blade Runner detour with an over-the-top homage to The Shining.
A CGI-heavy recreation of the film’s most iconic moments that feels like a big-budget ghost train ride set within the Overlook Hotel, this intense sequence is more of a recreation of the freaky aesthetics of The Shining rather than its mind-bending narrative. However, it’s still fun to see Spielberg make a heartfelt tribute to a filmmaker that was once his close personal friend.
3. IKEA Singapore Halloween Ad (2014)
It makes sense that commercials don’t typically borrow from the horror genre, as it might be a bad idea to scare away potential customers, but some references are just too much fun to pass up.
That’s probably why the publicists behind this Ikea ad from Singapore were allowed to turn their commercial into a genuinely unsettling recreation of Danny’s tricycle scene from The Shining. After all, nobody cares if your store is haunted so long as it offers late-night shopping hours and a large selection of merchandise that you can become lost in forever and ever…
2. The End of ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’ – Community (2014)
Community is no stranger to recreating iconic movie moments within the show, and the series had previously tackled horror tropes in episodes like the fan-favorite Epidemiology. However, the most laugh-out-loud moment on this particular list comes from a brief gag towards the end of the season five episode ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’.
The majority of this episode has nothing to do with scary movies, but there’s a brief subplot involving supporting character Chang and a possible encounter with ghosts that leads him to question his own existence. This subplot culminates in the episode’s hilarious ending where the camera zooms in on a black-and-white photograph of Chang in period clothing at some kind of celebration, just like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining.
However, the picture’s subtitle eventually reveals that it’s merely a conveniently placed keepsake from the ‘Old Timey Photo Club’.
1. The Overlook Hedge Maze Sequence – Zootopia 2 (2025)
Disney movies are pretty far removed from both the gruesome horror of Stephen King and the heady filmmaking of Stanley Kubrick, so I don’t think anyone was expecting the climax of last year’s Zootopia sequel to take place in an animated version of the snowy hedge maze from The Shining.
In this unexpectedly intense sequence, friend-turned-villain Pawbert Lynxley (an unhinged lynx cat played by Andy Samberg) chases our protagonists through a creepy labyrinth in a loving recreation of Jack Nicholson’s icy demise outside the Overlook Hotel. The actual ending here might be a little more child-friendly than what’s being referenced, but it’s amazing that the filmmakers were able to push the horror elements as far as they did – especially since the scene doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the movie.
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