Dark Universe park debuts animatronics
When Universal Studios new attraction Dark Universe, part of the larger Epic Universe, opens on May 22, 2025, park goers will find some of the most advanced animatronics around in the Universal Monsters-themed experience. The premiere ride, Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, features most of the Universal Monsters in updated designs that both recall their 1930s and 40s versions, but reinvent them for a modern audience.
The spooky ride that takes you through Frankenstein's castle involves an ancestor of Henry Frankenstein (from the first two movies), the monster, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Wolf Man, the Bride and more.
I'm happy with all of the updated designs. Creature and Frankenstein's monster are pretty close to their classic versions. Dracula is pretty far from Lugosi, but this is clearly a modern version that wouldn't have lent itself to Lugosi's take (althought that is still my favorite version). The Wolf Man is harder to like. I understand what they're going for, but it's a miss for me. Only recently have I really started to appreciate the Lon Chaney Jr. version or even the Wolf Man himself. But the classic Chaney version is scary because he looks like a man as much as he looks like a beast. These modernizations look too much like a beast and leave the humanity out.
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