Monster Mash Parody: Frankenstein’s Monster vs Psychotic Killers
“Is it too much to ask to have some monsters dance?”
While horror storytellers can stretch out all over the map and send us stories about characters we can’t care about—slashers and psychotics and the like—the classic monsters carry so much weight that we can’t stop loving them. It’s about time the original icons of horror make a comeback.
The folks at Key of Awesome created a fun reboot of the classic pop song “Monster Mash,” with the Frankenstein’s Monster singing about the good old days of monsters—and complaining about the newer versions hitting us these days. The playlist below includes the original (and hilarious) music video, plus videos that take us behind the scenes of the making of—and reacting to—their work.
Video Playlist: Modern Monster Mash + Behind the Scenes
In the video, Frankenstein’s monster is celebrating the classic stories—so many of which are connected to the Universal Monsters. The film series focused on classic characters like Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, Phantom of the Opera, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and more. These characters aren’t simply movie cutouts, but at times came from great works in literature, as well as supernatural folktales and the like.
As Universal Pictures put these monsters in front of movie audiences, they accelerated the characters’ connection to popular culture. Long before there was a Marvel Cinematic Universe, the major characters from Universal Monsters spawned multiple sequels, spinoffs, and crossovers (or “monster rallies”), along the likes of Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and even Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. In fact, we talk more about what they accomplished here: Universal Monsters Movies: The Original Shared Cinematic Universe.
While there have been failed attempts to sort of restart the Universal Monsters collection, we will always have the original set of connected films. Universal found a gothic way to sympathize—even humanize—many of their monsters. If modern storytellers can focus on the same goals, they might still finally be able to reboot the Universal Monsters world.
If you want more articles on classic monsters—Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, Wolf Man, and more!—check out Monster Complex’s UNIVERSAL MONSTERS category for related movies, books, TV shows, comic books, and more!
More Music from Monster Complex
Megan Thee Stallion on “Crazy” Addams Family + She-Hulk twerking
Beetlejuice The Musical + Alternate Versions of “The Whole Being Dead Thing”
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”—Blue Oyster Cult says it’s not what you think
Everything Wrong with The “Trashfire Sequel” to Phantom of the Opera
Marvin Gaye: “A Funky Space Reincarnation” is from this unusual album
More about Frankenstein’s Monster
The creation of Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s Monster—who, since he is considered to be Frankenstein’s son, means it’s OK to call him by the same name—was introduced in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. A new kind of person stitched together from the body parts of dead humans, Frankenstein’s monster has been featured in lots of media, including films, television, stage productions, video games, and everything else. The most popular version of the character comes from his appearances in Universal Monsters films, starting with 1931’s Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff.
More about the Wolf Man
Inspired by folktales and legends, much of what we think about werewolves today came from the Universal Monsters. Their 1941 film The Wolf Man was written by Curt Siodmak, who introduced many elements of the legend. The film starred Lon Chaney Jr. as the man cursed to become a wolf when the moon was full. Although not Universal’s first werewolf film, this was the one that led to multiple sequels, as Chaney would replay his classic role four times.
