Last week saw the release of The Invisible Man, a contemporary reimagining of the 1933 film, itself based on the novel by H.G. Wells. Elisabeth Moss stars as Cecilia Kass, a woman whose abusive and controlling boyfriend Adrian Griffin (The Haunting of Hill House’s Oliver Jackson-Cohen) commits suicide, leaving her his home and vast fortune. However, Cecilia soon finds herself tormented by a presence that she can’t see, and begins to wonder whether Adrian is truly dead or not.
The film is far from the first attempt to reintroduce the classic Universal Monster characters to a new generation; Universal tried to create a shared universe with these characters starting with 2017’s The Mummy. When that film bombed with critics and at the box office, the studio decided to scrap those plans and go the stand-alone route with these characters, as is the case with The Invisible Man. However, a horror-themed shared universe sounds enticing, and if Universal could eventually pull it off like they did years ago with such films as Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, then there could be something worth exploring here. Better yet, why not let other horror franchises get in on the fun?
Here are 10 Horror Crossovers We Want to See After The Invisible Man.
Wolf Man/Predator
The Predator species have always been at their best when they’re up against a worthy opponent, whether that’s Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch from the first film or the Xenomorphs from the Alien vs. Predator crossovers. We’d like to see the Wolf Man step up to the plate as a challenger for the camouflaging, spine-snatching alien warrior.
Imagine a scenario where a Predator is stalking a man (whether that’s Larry Talbot or an original character) in a jungle/forest setting, only for the man to suddenly go off-radar. It isn’t long before they’ve transformed into a vicious animal with equally-honed tracking skills and a taste for blood, with the hunter (Predator) now becoming the hunted.
Frankenstein’s Monster/Halloween
While they’re quite different in many ways, serial killer Michael Myers owes a lot of his character to Boris Karloff’s version of The Creature. Both are mute (at first, in The Creature’s case), physically towering beings who have a childlike sense of curiosity about their surroundings, with violence usually following them. But while that violence in Michael’s case is intentional, The Creature’s violence is unintentional, and he grows angry because of it. Seeing these two characters interact with each other could make for an interesting character study, and a few fights between them wouldn’t be bad, of course.
Invisible Man/Gremlins
Since the new Invisible Man film is based more in contemporary science, we’re gonna go with the classic version of the character here. While Griffin is in the midst of finally figuring out how to reverse his invisibility, a couple of Gremlins happen to wander into his lab and start messing around inside. Sooner or later, the little green monsters have made off with the lot of Griffin’s potions and elixirs; some of them have even ingested the contents, resulting in the Gremlins either turning invisible themselves or being affected in other ways (think Gremlins 2’s lab scene).
Griffin, against his wishes, would have to track down the Gremlins and find the potions he needs to become visible again, growing more and more insane along the way. Whether he succeeds or not would make for a tantalizing story regardless.
Bubba Ho-Tep/Leprechaun
2002’s Bubba Ho-Tep, which starred Bruce Campbell as Elvis Presley facing off against a soul-sucking mummy, has a cult following but hasn’t gotten a sequel despite talks in the past (unless you count the comic crossover with another Bruce Campbell-led series, Evil Dead), but we think pitting Campbell’s Presley against Warwick Davis’s devious Leprechaun could be a whole lot of fun. Just thinking of seeing these two over-the-top personalities bounce off each other has us brainstorming like mad.
Evil Dead/Child’s Play
Speaking of Evil Dead, can you imagine how fun a clash between Deadite slayer Ash and possessed doll Chucky could be? Perhaps in his search for another voodoo spell to get into a human body, the Good Guy comes across the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis and unleashes all sorts of evil with it. Taking a page from Cult of Chucky, the flesh-bound book could allow Chucky to make duplicates of himself to spread his reign of terror, with only Ash standing in his way. Since both series are known for their cheeky blend of horror and comedy, there would be plenty of opportunities for inspired splatstick-style violence, not to mention verbal sparring from Ash and Chucky.
Phantom of the Opera/The Mummy
Two classic monsters who aren’t appreciated as much as their contemporaries, The Phantom and the mummy Imhotep aren’t all that different. Both of them, while capable of monstrous actions, are motivated from a place of love. The fact that both their definitions of the term “love” varies could make for a fascinating dichotomy between them, whether they’re on the same side or pitted against each other.
Van Helsing/Aliens
Abraham Van Helsing has proved himself as an equal match for the head vampire Dracula time and time again. We wonder, however, how his smarts and expertise would fare against the brutal and horrifying xenomorphs from the Alien franchise.
To say this would be a challenge for the good doctor would be an understatement, but with every challenge comes potential for a riveting story experience. Van Helsing would truly be put to his limits against a foe not of this world, one who could surprise him at every turn.
Hatchet/Pumpkinhead
Two monstrous creatures originating from the South, a showdown between Victor Crowley and Pumpkinhead would be absolutely bonkers. While Pumpkinhead certainly towers over his opponent, that certainly wouldn’t stop Victor Crowley at all; he’s come back from much worse and then some. We just pity the guy who summoned Pumpkinhead and has to take the equal share of Crowley’s damage.
Jekyll and Hyde/Saw
John Kramer/Jigsaw from the Saw franchise has made a career out of playing psychologically-based games of torture with dozens of unfortunate victims, but what if one such victim wasn’t just one person, but actually two? Dr. Henry Jekyll and his sinister alter ego Edward Hyde would make for an intriguing victim of Jigsaw’s, with their differing personalities working either against them or in their favor in terms of surviving: a choice made by Hyde would have to be accepted and worked off of by Jekyll and vice-versa.
Count Dracula/Candyman
Candyman in many ways is like the successor to Dracula, as both are tragic figures who have a charm and charisma that sets them apart from their contemporaries but makes them no less vicious or malevolent. Some kind of interaction between these two characters would be immensely entertaining, and could peel back the layers in ways that previous adaptations and films haven’t always done.
