1930 & 1931 - Frankenstein
8.5 / 7.4
8.0
8.31
Mordaunt Hall gave Frankenstein 1931 a very positive review and said that the film "aroused so much excitement at the Mayfair yesterday that many in the audience laughed to cover their true feelings." "There is no denying that it is far and away the most effective thing of its kind. Beside it "Dracula" is tame and, incidentally, "Dracula" was produced by the same firm . . ."
Frankenstein has received acclaim from critics and is widely regarded as one of the best films of 1931, as well as one of the greatest movies of all time. In 1991, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". In 2004, The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list.
Frankenstein also received recognition from the American Film Institute. It was named the 87th greatest movie of all time on 100 Years. . . 100 Movies. The line "It's alive! It's alive!" was ranked as the 49th greatest movie quote in American cinema. The film was on the ballot for several of AFI's 100 series lists, including AFI's 10 Top 10 for the sci-fi category, 100 Years. . . 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition), and twice on 100 Years. . . 100 Heroes and Villains for both Dr. Henry Frankenstein and the Monster in the villains category.
The film was ranked number 56 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies. It was also ranked number 27 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Additionally, the Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 14th scariest film ever made.
1932 - Island of Lost Souls
7.9 / 7.6
7.6
7.63
Island of Lost Souls is an American science fiction horror film starring Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi and Kathleen Burke as the Panther Woman. Two films have since been made based on the same H. G. Wells novel. The first was released in 1977 and stars Burt Lancaster as the doctor. The in 1996, with Marlon Brando as Moreau.
The film was directed by Erle C. Kenton and produced by Paramount Pictures from a script co-written by science fiction legend Philip Wylie, the movie was the first film adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, published in 1896. Both book and movie are about an obsessed scientist who is secretly conducting surgical experiments on animals on a remote island.
The film was examined and refused a certificate three times by the British Board of Film Censors, in 1933, 1951, and 1957. The reason for the initial ban was due to scenes of vivisection; it is likely that the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937, which forbade the portrayal of cruelty to animals in feature films released in Britain, was a significant factor in the BBFC's subsequent rejections.
The film was eventually passed after cuts were made with an 'X' certificate on 9 July 1958. It was later classified as a PG on DVD in 2011 with the cuts reinstated. Original author H. G. Wells was outspoken in his dislike of the film, feeling the overt horror elements overshadowed the story's deeper philosophies. The censors also objected to Dr. Moreau saying "Do you know what it means to feel like God?"
1933 - King Kong
9.0 / 7.2
8.0
8.35
I hesitated including King Kong as a sci-fi film, some resources say no, some say yes it's sci-fi. Numerous resources do include the sci-fi genre for Mighty Joe Young and it's essentially a spin off of King Kong, so I decided to include this landmark film. The film made approximately $2 million in its initial release, with an opening weekend estimated at $90,000.
Kong did not receive any Academy Awards nominations. Selznick wanted to nominate O'Brien and his crew for a special award in visual effects but the Academy declined. Such a category did not exist at the time and would not exist until 1938. Sidney Saunders and Fred Jackman received a special achievement award for the development of the translucent acetate/cellulose rear screen the only Kong-related award.
The film has since received some significant honors. In 1975, Kong was named one of the 50 best American films by the American Film Institute, and, in 1991, the film was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 1998, the AFI ranked the film #43 on its list of the 100 greatest movies of all time.
Other All Time lists for King Kong include AFI's 1 100 Years...100 Thrills #12, 100 Years...100 Passions #24, 100 Years of Film Scores #13, 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) #41, and AFI's 10 Top 10 #4 Fantasy film.
1934 & 1935 - The Bride of Frankenstein
9.0 / .6
7.9
8.37
The Bride of Frankenstein 1935 was profitable for Universal, with a 1943 report showing that the film had by then earned approximately $2 million ($26.5 million as of 2013) for the studio, a profit of about $950,000 ($12.6 million as of 2013). The film was critically praised upon its release, although some reviewers did qualify their opinions based on the film's being in the horror genre.
The New York Times called Karloff "so splendid in the role that all one can say is 'he is the Monster.'" The Times praised the entire principal cast and Whale's direction in concluding that Bride is "a first-rate horror film", and presciently suggested that "The Monster should become an institution, like Charlie Chan."
Bride was nominated for one Academy Award, for Best Sound Recording (Gilbert Kurland). The film's reputation has persisted and grown since its release. In 1998, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry, having been deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Frequently identified as James Whale's masterpiece, the film is lauded as "the finest of all gothic horror movies".
Time rated The Bride of Frankenstein in its "ALL-TIME 100 Movies", in which critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel declared the film "one of those rare sequels that is infinitely superior to its source". In 2008, Bride was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Also in 2008, the Boston Herald named it the second greatest horror film after Nosferatu. Entertainment Weekly considers the film superior to Frankenstein.
1936 - The Devil-Doll
7.8 / 6.8
7.0
7.20
The Devil-Doll is a sci-fi horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring a cross-dressing Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan as his daughter, Lorraine Levond. The movie was adapted from the novel Burn Witch Burn! by Abraham Merritt.
Paul Lavond (Barrymore), who was wrongly convicted of robbing his own Paris bank and killing a night watchman more than seventeen years ago, escapes Devil's Island with Marcel (Henry B. Walthall) a scientist who is trying to create a formula to reduce people to one-sixth of their original size. The intended purpose of the formula is to make the Earth's limited resources last longer for an ever-growing population. The scientist dies after their escape.
Lavond joins the scientist's widow, Malita (Rafaela Ottiano), and uses the shrinking technique to obtain revenge on the three former business associates who had framed him and to vindicate himself. Lavond clears his name and secures the future happiness of his estranged daughter, Lorraine (O'Sullivan), in the process. Malita isn't satisfied, and wants to continue to use the formula for personal gain. She tries to kill Paul when he announces that he is finished with their partnership, having accomplished all he intended, but she ends up blowing up their lab and killing herself.
1937 & 1938 - Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
7.0
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars is a serial film of 15 episodes, based on the comic strip Flash Gordon. It is the second of three Flash Gordon serials made between 1936 and 1940. The main cast from first serial reprise their roles: Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon, Jean Rogers as Dale Arden, Frank Shannon as Dr. Alexis Zarkov and Charles B. Middleton as Ming the Merciless.
Also in the principal cast are Beatrice Roberts as Queen Azura, Donald Kerr as Happy Hapgood, C. Montague Shaw as the Clay King, and Wheeler Oakman as Ming's chief henchman. This serial, the first sequel to Flash Gordon, was based on the 1936 "Big Little Book" adaptation of the strip "Flash Gordon and the Witch Queen of Mongo".
According to Harmon and Glut, the location was changed to Mars to capitalise on Orson Welles' famous War of the Worlds broadcast. According to Stedman, this serial preceded that broadcast, which made Universal hastily release a feature version of the serial as Mars Attacks the World to capitalise on the publicity.
Universal Pictures also prepared a feature length edited version of this serial and ready for release in October 1938 when Orson Welles astounded the country with his radio production of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. As an exploitation film tie in, Universal had the feature's title changed to Mars Attacks the World, and opened it at a Broadway theater as a major premiere event. Time magazine declared the serial to be "a Grade A cinemedition of the famed King Features strip.
1939 - Son of Frankenstein
7.3 / 7.0
7.1
7.13
After the dissolve of the Laemmles with Universal and the British embargo on American horror films in 1936, Karloff and Lugosi found themselves in a career slump. For two years, horror films were out of the New Universal Studios line up.
On April 5, 1938, a nearly bankrupt theatre in Los Angeles staged a desperate stunt by booking Frankenstein and Dracula on a double bill. The result became a phenomenon and soon, Universal decided to make a big budget version of the next Frankenstein sequel.
As director James Whale was similarly in a slump and did not wish to make any more horror films, Universal selected Rowland V. Lee to direct Son. Lee's film explores dramatic themes: family, security, isolation, responsibility and father-son relationships.
Son of Frankenstein marks changes in the Monster's character from Bride of Frankenstein. The Monster is duller and no longer speaks. The monster also wore a giant fur vest, not seen in the first two Frankenstein films. He is fond of Ygor and obeys his orders. Unlike the previous two films, the Monster only shows humanity in two scenes: first when he discovers Ygor's body, letting out a powerful scream and later when he contemplates killing Peter but changes his mind.
Peter Lorre was originally cast as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, but he had to leave the production when he became ill. Replacing Lorre was Basil Rathbone, who had scored a major triumph in The Adventures of Robin Hood.
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