I recently noticed that Amazon.ca was selling the "Legacy Collection" sets
of Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. at about CDN$32 each, but they were also
offering the 3-in-1 "Gift Set" -- which includes the Dracula, Frankenstein
and Wolf Man sets, plus some utterly gratuitous collectible busts of the
various monsters' heads -- for a mere CDN$48.  So, since I have been
eyeing the Frankenstein set for some time, and since D was interested in
the Dracula set and she needed a birthday present last week ...

Now that the sets are all here, I got curious about the various films on
these DVDs, and did some snooping at the IMDB.  In particular, I clicked
on "movie connections" to see how many direct sequels and the like there
are, as indicated by the films tagged "Follows" and "Followed by".

And what do I discover?  It seems the three "Legacy Collection" sets have,
between them, *all* the movies in their franchises -- including the films
where characters from different franchises meet -- with one exception.

Here are the films from the three different franchises, arranged in
chronological order, with asterisks (*) indicating if they belong to the
Dracula (D), Frankenstein (F), and/or Wolf Man (W) franchises.

                                                     D   F   W
   1931  Dracula                                     *
   1931  Frankenstein                                    *
   1935  Bride of Frankenstein                           *
   1936  Dracula's Daughter                          *
   1939  Son of Frankenstein                             *
   1941  The Wolf Man                                        *
   1942  The Ghost of Frankenstein                       *
   1943  Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man                 *   *
   1943  Son of Dracula                              *
   1944  House of Frankenstein                       *   *   *
   1945  House of Dracula                            *   *   *
   1948  Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein   *   *   *

The only film from this list that is *not* included in one of the "Legacy
Collection" DVDs I got this week is the Abbot & Costello movie.

I should note, BTW, that the DVD set for The Wolf Man also includes two
films that are not part of the franchise, but have similar themes -- and
despite their titles, apparently these two films aren't tied to each
other, either:  Werewolf of London (1935) and She-Wolf of London (1946).

So the question facing me now is this:  In what order do I watch these
movies?  Strictly chronological?  Or should I, say, follow Dracula up to
1943, then follow Frankenstein up to 1942, then watch The Wolf Man, then
watch the 1943 film where Frankenstein and The Wolf Man meet, and then
watch the two or three films where *all three* characters meet?

FWIW, these sets were all released in 2003, partly to promote the new (and
utterly stupid) movie Van Helsing, which featured all three monsters.  In
2004, Universal released three more "Legacy Collection" sets, featuring
The Mummy (featuring all five films made between 1932 and 1945), The
Invisible Man (five films between 1933 and 1944) and, uh, Creature from
the Black Lagoon (three films between 1954 and 1956), which I wouldn't
exactly put in the same category as these other franchises.

I definitely want The Invisible Man; I've already borrowed and watched my
priest's copy of that set, and it's a hoot.  Not sure about the others.

--- Peter T. Chattaway ------------- http://filmchatblog.blogspot.com/ ---
Nothing tells memories from ordinary moments; only afterwards do they
   claim remembrance, on account of their scars. -- Chris Marker, La Jetee

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