The Mahoning Drive-In announces Monster Mash X for October, featuring a Ladies of Universal Night

Image courtesy of the Mahoning Drive-In

Get ready to do the mash, the monster mash.

The Mahoning Drive-In in Leighton, Pennsylvania just announced a killer line-up for Monster Mash X, which will take place October 23-24. Like previous years, the event will feature all Universal Monster movies, projected in 35 mm on the drive-in's huge outdoor screen. This year is unique because Saturday will feature "The Ladies of Universal Night," which, as the name implies, entails all female monster movies.

What movies are playing at the Mahoning Drive-In's Monster Mash X?

What makes Monster Mash X unique is certainly the Ladies of Universal Night, but also some of the deeper cut sequels that sometimes don't get the love that the first wave movies from the 1930s receive. Here's the line-up.

Friday, October 23

The Phantom of the Opera (1943)

Monster Mash X kicks off with 1943's The Phantom of the Opera. Directed by Arthur Lubin, the movie is loosely based on the 1910 novel and the famous 1925 adaptation, which starred Lon Chaney. This version stars Susanna Foster, Nelson Eddy, and Claude Rains, who also starred in Universal's The Invisible Man in 1933. It was his breakout role.

Though The Phantom of the Opera (1943) initially received mixed reviews, it's since gained a more positive reception. Believe it or not, it's the only classic Universal horror movie to win an Oscar for Art Direction and Cinematography. Additionally, it's the first color Universal Monster movie.

The Mummy's Curse (1944)

The Mummy's Curse, directed by Leslie Goodwins, is the fifth, yes, the fifth entry in Universal's initial Mummy franchise. It's a sequel to The Mummy's Ghost, and the film marks Lon Chaney Jr.'s final performance as Kharis, the Egyptian mummy. The plot continues the story of Kharis and his Princess Ananka (Virginia Christine).

The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)

The Creature Walks Among Us is the third film in The Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy. Directed by John Sherwood, who was recommended by Jack Arnold, director of the first two films in the series, the movie stars Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, Leigh Snowden, Gregg Palmer, and Don Megowan as the Gill-man on land and Ricou Browning as the Gill-man underwater. The film's plot centers around an evil scientist (Morrow), who surgically transforms the Gill-man to make him more human-like. Of course, this doesn't go as planned and the Gill-man eventually wreaks havoc.

Friday, October 24

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

The Bride of Frankenstein is one of the best Universal Monster films. James Whale returned to direct the sequel, and in this film, the Monster, played again by Boris Karloff, learns to speak and is much more intelligent compared to the 1931 film. He also wants a mate, and so, Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and the uber campy, yet sinister Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) do indeed create the Bride, played by the wonderful and mesmerizing Elsa Lanchester, who also doubles as the novel's creator, Mary Shelley, during the film's opening sequence.

Everyone in this film is great. Karloff gives the Monster even more humanity in this sequel, but it's Lanchester's performance as the Bride that truly stands out, even though she's only in the movie for about a total of ten minutes. The movie also has a powerful and tragic ending. This is the rare example of a sequel that just may be better than the original.

Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Dracula's Daughter has become a queer horror classic, but it's still not talked about nearly enough in the broader context of the Universal Monsters, maybe because it doesn't feature Bela Lugosi's iconic Dracula. It's also a much slower burn compared to the other monster movies of its era. Directed by Lamber Hillyer, the film stars Gloria Holden in the main role as Countess Marya Zaleska, the daughter of Count Dracula. She, of course, is also a vampire. Following her old man's death, she hopes to destroy his body and free herself of his influence. This doesn't work, so she enlists the help of Dr. Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger), and she also kidnaps his assistant, Janet (Marguerite Churchhill), taking her to Transylvania. This movie was absolutely ahead of its time for its depictions of female sexuality.

The Invisible Woman (1940)

Finally, Monster Mash X concludes with The Invisible Woman. The third film in Universal's initial The Invisible Man series, this movie is much more of a comedy. It follows Kitty Carroll (Virginia Bruce), a model who becomes invisible after testing an invisibility machine, created by Professor Gibbs (John Barrymore). Further complications occur when three gangsters steal the machine to use it on their boss.

Monster Mash X is part of a stellar line-up of horror movie programming from the Mahoning Drive-in this autumn. This weekend is Camp Blood, which is a marathon of slasher movies, and on October 9-10, they're hosting horror legend Tom Atkins as part of Halloween-a-Thon IV, a marathon of Halloween movies. Atkins starred in Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

To purchase tickets to Monster Mash X, or other Mahoning events, click here.