Building upon the success of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera, Universal Studios entered a Golden Age of monster movies in the '30s, releasing a string of hit horror movies beginning with Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931 and including the controversial Freaks and a Spanish version of Dracula that is often thought to be superior to the English-language version. Germany continued its artistic streak in the early '30s, with Vampyr and the Fritz Lang thriller M, but Nazi rule forced much of the filmmaking talent to emigrate. The '30s also witnessed the first American werewolf film (The Werewolf of London), the first zombie movie (White Zombie) and the landmark special effects blockbuster King Kong.
1931: Dracula
1931: Drácula
1931: Frankenstein
1931: M
1931: Vampyr
1932: Freaks
1932: The Mask of Fu Manchu
1932: The Mummy
1932: The Old Dark House
1932: White Zombie
1933: The Invisible Man
1933: Island of Lost Souls
1933: King Kong
1934: The Black Cat
1935: The Bride of Frankenstein
1935: The Werewolf of London
