There have been eras of horror icons before, with Jason, Michael and Freddy in the eighties, and Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in the fifties and sixties, but no era created more bona fide horror stars than Universal's monster era. With the recent release of KARLOFF & LUGOSI HORROR CLASSICS, it's time to pick your favorite icon from the bygone era.
I am enjoying the Frankenstein Legacy Collection on this cold crappy fall day...so I gotta go with Karloff.
God, I feel like such a Judas. I LOVE Karloff in everything from FRANKENSTEIN to MAD MONSTER PARTY? but this time around I went with Lon Chaney, Jr. Karloff may have been the best, but Chaney was the master at playing the tragic sad sack. Everytime this poor guy is on screen, I feel like he needs a big hug.
Much as I enjoy Lugosi and Chaney Jr, my favorite is Boris Karloff. He had the most range as an actor from Frankenstein and The Mummy to his mad scientist pictures to Val Lewton productions (especially The Body Snatcher) to The Grinch to final films like Targets.
Shit! I meant to pick Karloff but somehow hit Lugosi. Whatever, it's not like that's a TERRIBLE choice, but Karloff is without question the best Universal horror icon, and one of the best character actors ever.
I voted Bela. I wish Lugosi could have lived to see the major gothic revival of the sixties. Maybe he could have appeared in a bunch of movies with guys like Lee, Karloff, Cushing, Price, etc... for Hammer, Amicus or AIP. He'd have been really, really old, but it never stopped Karloff.
I went Lon Chaney Jr because of all the Universal monster movies the Wolfman was always my favorite and I really liked him in the part. IMO they are all great though.
That's really a tough call.I'll go with Karloff but largely because he had a much wider range of roles than his contemporaries. Lugosi was typed as either a Dracula like character or mad scientist.Chaney Sr. was amazing but most of his films were really creepy melodramas,only a handful were true horror pics.Chaney Jr.was very endearing but was stuck in the era where Universal was largely making sequels,building on originals that Lon wasn't around for.Lanchester was iconic but her horror identification was more of a sidebar to her career as a great character actress.Raines was one of the greatest character actors EVER,but like Lanchester,horror was just a sidebar to his great career.Chapman (and Ricou Browning) made a great impression as the Gill Man (who gets my vote as Universal's coolest looking monster) but outside of the series he's not widely known for horror genre work. Karloff had a great range,cast a great presence and was a class act.He had the good fortune to have been cast in a wider range of roles than Universal's other icons and he ran with it.Every actor on this list is worthy of high praise but Karloff is (I think) the most representative of the glory days of Universal Studios.
Karloff hands down! A nuanced actor, never over the top or self indulgent, always on character and spot on, and with a wide range to boot.He was da man!
Boris has been my favorite since I was a small lad so I voted for him. Not much of a fan of Chaney Jr though. I never really felt sorry for the dope. Although that's his characters that I don't empathize with. Him as a person I find to be a very interesting and tragic figure.
Agree! And not only that, but he's the only actor out of the lot to have played ALL of the major monsters: The Wolfman, Dracula, The Frankenstein Monster, and The Mummy!
