Monsters — Season 8 — The Black Case Diaries

The Case of Gravity Falls

As we creep further into the Halloween season, we’re turning our attention to one of our all-time favorite supernatural TV shows. This series has it all, including zombies, ghosts, telepathy, multiverses, and even time travel; all crammed into one mysterious town in Oregon: Gravity Falls.
Gravity Falls is an animated show that aired on The Disney Channel in the early 2010’s. It ran for two planned seasons, and covered one complete story about a pair of twins living with their Great Uncle Stan in a rural Oregon town for the summer. But of course, nothing is as it seems, and these two kids end up spending their summer fighting off gnomes, solving ghostly mysteries, and even battling the weird-pocalypse. So let’s hop on the bus to Gravity Falls and uncover the mystery of how it was made!

The Case of Young Frankenstein (1974)

In December of 1974, comedy fans were treated to the latest parody by Mel Brooks. It was a farce poking fun at possibly the most classic horror story in English literature, the book that jump-started the science-fiction genre and made Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley a household name: Frankenstein.

Brooks first saw James Whale’s Frankenstein when he was just five years old, and he found it to be a fairly traumatic experience, haunting him for years to come. It turned out that Gene Wilder, Brooks’ friend and collaborator, had a similar experience. So when Wilder approached Brooks about a possible project parodying the horror classic, the men got started on what Mel Brooks would consider their biggest triumph together.

Wilder had already named the film Young Frankenstein, taking title inspiration from the 1940 film, Young Tom Edison which he saw as a child. He created an outline based on what he thought would happen if he were the great-grandson of Victor Frankenstein. He had several pages written before Mel Brooks got involved, and together they created one of the most beloved comedies of all time.
So, grab your lab coat and let’s all head down to Dr. Frankenstein’s (it’s pronounced FRONK-EN-STEEN) laboratory, where we’ll learn the electrifying history of Young Frankenstein.

The Case of the Universal Monsters Part 2

The last time we gathered together, we talked about the history of the Universal Monster movies and their impact on film. We also covered the first two films of Universal’s monster verse: Dracula and Frankenstein. This week, we’re continuing to look at the other influential Universal Monster movies that made a lasting mark on horror media!

So grab your popcorn and get ready to pull the blanket up to your eyes, it’s time for another dive into the Monsterverse!

The Historical Case of Universal Monsters (Part 1)

Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Universal achieved fame for producing popular low-budget serials starting in 1914. And although it didn’t produce the most prestigious film content of the time, Universal developed a reputation as a studio that catered to its audience. So, when other studios turned up their noses at a genre that focused on thrilling movie-goers with grotesque visuals and terrifying tales, Universal had found what would become their most well-known niche: monster movies.