Hooptober 9 from Outer Space
#19: 8 decades (8)
Peacock

Try to imagine how much this blew peoples' minds in 1931. In one fell swoop Mary Shelley invented both the horror and science fiction genres, and James Whale's masterpiece adaptation must have melted brains in theater after theater. A monster fashioned out of human corpse parts, strung together by stitches and metal bolts, with the damaged brain of a criminal madman, brought new life with a spark of lightning, lumbering across the countryside trying to make sense of the world around him.

Everyone knows this story, whether they've actually read it or seen it themselves. While I saw BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN a few years ago, I'd never actually sat down and watched FRANKENSTEIN. While I knew the basic story I was surprised by the humor and humanity. While everyone watches it for the monster --and Karloff steals the show, of course -- I learned a lot more about the mad scientist than I thought I would. A guy with an obsessive need to complete his experiment at all costs. When he finally does complete it, he realizes with horror what he's really done.

I didn't come close to reaching my Hooptober goals this year. We moved into a new house, our daughter is over a year old now, and I had to travel for work and family. But the important thing is I had fun, and I knocked a bunch of films off my watchlist. After this I settled in with some of my seasonal favorites and had a nice little Halloween in our new home. I'm glad I was able to finish my Hooptober viewing with this masterpiece.

I'll be back next year for another Hooptober. I'm toying with the idea of continuing this list in the meantime. Peacock has a great selection of classic Universal monster movies and I may hit that up as well. Happy Hooptober to all!