The Dark Universe may have been a disaster that almost impressively killed a franchise set to feature Tom Cruise, Javier Bardem, Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe and potentially Angelina Jolie in one fell swoop when The Mummy was savaged by critics and under-performed at the box office, but the Universal Monsters are already on their way back to our screens.
Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man proved that smaller, more intimate filmmaker-driven projects were the best way to update the creatures for modern audiences, and the studio has responded in kind by placing a slew of re-imaginings into development. As well as Whannell’s own The Wolfman with Ryan Gosling, Karyn Kusama and Chloe Zhao are both tackling Dracula, Nicholas Holt will headline violent comedy Renfield, Overlord‘s Julius Avery is rebooting Van Helsing, and the list goes on.
Universal’s streaming service Peacock has now added 22 titles from the monstrous back catalogue to the platform, which includes both famed and renowned classics, as well as some deeper cuts. You can check out the full list below, which makes for ideal viewing throughout the upcoming spooky season.
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
- Dr. Cyclops (1940)
- Dracula’s Daughter (1936)
- The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
- Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943)
- The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
- The Invisible Man (1933)
- The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944)
- The Invisible Woman (1941)
- It Came From Outer Space (1953)
- The Mummy (1932)
- The Mummy’s Curse (1944)
- The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
- The Mummy’s Hand (1940)
- The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)
- Night Monster (1942)
- Phantom of the Opera (1943)
- Phantom of the Opera (1962)
- Son of Dracula (1943)
- Son of Frankenstein (1939)
- Werewolf of London (1935)
The Universal Monsters remain incredibly popular almost a century after first making their mark on cinema, which is a testament to how audiences connect with these tragic figures on a generational basis. We don’t need $150 million blockbusters painting them as action heroes, when the appeal has always largely been derived from tragedy and pathos.
