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    Universal Classic Monsters Reviewed (2020): Brands of Terror
    Universal Classic Monsters Reviewed (2020): Brands of Terror
    Universal Classic Monsters Reviewed (2020): Brands of Terror
    Ebook253 pages25 minutes

    Universal Classic Monsters Reviewed (2020): Brands of Terror

    By Steve Hutchison

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    About this ebook

    Horror critic Steve Hutchison analyzes 31 Universal classic monster movies. How many have you seen? Each article includes a synopsis, five different ratings, and a review.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSteve Hutchison
    Release dateFeb 16, 2023
    ISBN9781778870880
    Universal Classic Monsters Reviewed (2020): Brands of Terror
    Author

    Steve Hutchison

    Artist, developer and entrepreneur in film, video games and communications Steve Hutchison co-founded Shade.ca Art and Code in 1999, then Terror.ca and its French equivalent Terreur.ca in 2000. With his background as an artist and integrator, Steve worked on such games as Capcom's Street Fighter, PopCap's Bejeweled, Tetris, Bandai/Namco's Pac-Man and Mattel's Skip-Bo & Phase 10 as a localization manager, 2-D artist and usability expert. Having acquired skills in gamification, he invented a unique horror movie review system that is filterable, searchable and sortable by moods, genres, subgenres and antagonists. Horror movie fans love it, and so do horror authors and filmmakers, as it is a great source of inspiration. In March 2013, Steve launched Tales of Terror, with the same goals in mind but with a much finer technology and a complex engine, something that wasn’t possible initially. He has since published countless horror-themed books.

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      Book preview

      Universal Classic Monsters Reviewed (2020) - Steve Hutchison

      BrandsOfTerror2020_UniversalClassicMonsterReviewed_Cover.jpg

      Tales of Terror’s

      Universal Classic Monsters Reviewed

      2020 Edition

      INTRODUCTION

      Horror critic Steve Hutchison analyzes 31 Universal classic monster movies. How many have you seen? Each article includes a synopsis, five different ratings, and a review.

      #1

      The Phantom of the Opera

      1925

      A mad disfigured composer seeks the love of an opera singer.

      Stars

      4/8

      STORY

      5/8

      CREATIVITY

      6/8

      ACTING

      5/8

      QUALITY

      4/8

      With its rich wardrobes, its surreal sets and its creepy effects, The Phantom of the Opera never ceases to amaze. It is ahead of its time considering it is a silent film with title cards and close-ups of various letters exchanged between characters. It was re-issued with muffled voices in 1929. The narrative is ground-breaking considering the technical constraints of such a complex production.

      For a while, the phantom is nothing but a shadow projected on a wall. Then, he hides behind a mask. Clever use of silhouettes helps dramatize and stylize some key events, adding to the film’s elegance. Moments of joy, grace, beauty and slapstick comedy lighten the atmosphere every so often. The multiple opera sets; the basement, the stage and the rooftop, namely, allow a wide range of ambiances.

      There is a subplot about an impossible love that interferes with the phantom’s plans to conquer an opera singer’s heart. The romance sometimes feels forced because some performers overact and because we bathe in surrealism. There is a thrilling mystery surrounding the phantom’s identity. How can he be a ghost and write threatening letters? Does he predict misfortunes or does he cause them?

      #2

      Dracula

      1931

      A travelling solicitor is preyed upon by a hermit who drinks human blood.

      Stars

      4/8

      STORY

      5/8

      CREATIVITY

      8/8

      ACTING

      6/8

      QUALITY

      5/8

      Forty years prior to this, a novel by the same name was

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