Universals classic monster cycle petered out in the 1950s when its creatures, having fought against each other, were either humanized (like the creature from the black lagoon in The Creature Walks Among Us) or, worse, selected to appear against Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Any attempt to reimagine the films that favours overly slavish imitation will go down a similar path of ludicrous plot contrivances and self-parody unless (to paraphrase Samuel Goldwyn) Universal develops some brand new clichés. Its not enough just to restage Bride Of Frankenstein in colour with Angelina Jolie in the title role (as has been suggested will she also play Mary Shelley?), you also require some brand new ingredients. Whatever Chris Morgan and Alex Kurtzman bring to the party, hopefully itll allow the new movies to work as stand-alone pictures instead of transitions between instalments or pale imitations of the originals. Weve enough of those already. What do you want to see in the new Universal Monsters shared universe? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
