Starting out 2017 the right way

As the few of you who read this blog already know, I posted a pretty gigantic piece on Hammer's Frankenstein movies from the '50s, '60s, and '70s, and after that I found myself slightly sad. I loved watching through those movies, thinking about them and doing some light research to learn some background on the development of them. It was an enlightening experience that I would love to recreate fairly soon. So, I'm announcing my plans to do this same thing (with a few minor alterations, of course) again with the Universal series. But there are a few things I might need to do first.

The Frankenstein series starting back in the 1930s eventually blended in with Wolf Man and Dracula once they released Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man and the follow-ups. While I don't see much of a connection to the Dracula series, especially considering the casting of John Carradine as opposed to bringing back Bela Lugosi for the part, I feel I need to flesh this whole series out with a bit of a background on each of these serieses. Frankenstein went 4 movies before entering into crossover territory, Wolf Man only 1, and the first Dracula was followed up with 2 semi-sequels and a Spanish alternate version (I'll go into that later), so I'll probably cover everything over several posts something like this:

#1. Universal Frankenstein
- Frankenstein
- Bride of Frankenstein
- Son of Frankenstein
- The Ghost of Frankenstein

#2. Universal Dracula
- Dracula
- Dracula (Spanish version)
- Dracula's Daughter
- Son of Dracula

#3. Universal Monster Mash
- The Wolf Man
- Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man
- House Of Frankenstein
- House Of Dracula

You may notice the lack of Abbott and Costello movies, which I also plan on covering at some point, but that isn't on the agenda -- someday, though. I figure with 4 movies to cover in each post, I'll be able to get through my ideas quicker and not spend 2 weeks watching and researching for each post, and that will make it a lot more manageable for me, especially with life's perpetual distractions. But don't expect these within the next month, for the end of the year beckons me.

As far as 2016 movies go, I have roughly 15 more movies I would like to see before I put together my countdowns for the year. This is putting me on a rough release of this content throughout most of January, when I will actually have a chance to watch some movies I refuse to leave out of consideration for this year's countdowns. So here are the upcoming lists I will definitely release -- I'm not including a few possible lists I might make if I find the time and inspiration to do so:

- Top 25 Favorite movies of 2016 (2 parts)
- Top 10 Male Performances of 2016
- Top 10 Female Performances of 2016
- Top 10 UGH Movies of 2016

So there you have it, my January plans all written out for you. But wait, there's more! In February, I'll be doing some blaxsploitation (mostly horror like Sugar Hill, Blacula, Blackenstein, etc.), so that's another thing to look forward to. So many movies, so little time! Alright, Merry Christmas everyone, I'll be back again before you know it.