The Universal Story
Genres
Overview
Richard Dreyfuss hosts a celebration of the 80 year history of Universal Studios. Founded as IMP by Carl Leammle to oppose Edison's Motion Picture Tust, it soon grew under the leadership of 21 year old production head Irving Thalberg with classic silents from artists like John Ford, Erich Von Stroheim, and Lon Chaney and prospered further in the Sound Era under the leadership of Carl Leammle Jr. with such classics as "All Quiet on The Western Front," "Showboat," and the studio's signature monster franchises, "Frankenstein" and "Dracula."
Details
Budget
$0
Revenue
$0
Runtime
120 min
Release Date
1996-04-21
Status
Released
Original Language
English
Vote Count
3
Vote Average
7.7
Richard Dreyfuss
Self
Kirk Douglas
Self (archive footage)
Michael J. Fox
Self (archive footage)
Tom Hanks
Self (archive footage)
Alfred Hitchcock
Self (archive footage)
Boris Karloff
Self (archive footage)
Spike Lee
Self (archive footage)
Steven Spielberg
Self (archive footage)
7.9
To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story
To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story is the harrowing story of a stuntman overcoming a dehumanizing childhood filled with torment and bullying in Sparks, Nevada. After surviving a near-death burn accident, he worked his way up through Hollywood, leading to his ultimate rise as Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th series and making countless moviegoers forever terrified of hockey masks and summer camp. Featuring interviews with cinema legends, including Bruce Campbell (Ash vs. Evil Dead), Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), To Hell and Back peels off the mask of Kane Hodder, cinema's most prolific killer, in a gut-wrenching, but inspiring, documentary. After decades of watching Kane Hodder on screen, get ready to meet the man behind the mask in To Hell and Back - an uniquely human story about one of cinema's most vicious monsters.
2017-08-26 | en
5.0
Dog Days: The Making of 'Cujo'
Documentary about the making of the 1983 thriller "Cujo"
2007-09-01 | en
7.3
Horror Movie: A Low Budget Nightmare
A filmmaker's lifelong dream quickly becomes his worst nightmare when he attempts to make a low budget horror film about an aborted fetus that seeks revenge on its family.
2017-10-13 | en
6.6
King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen
A feature-length documentary focusing on the acclaimed work and eclectic career of maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen, writer-director of "Black Caesar," "It's Alive," "God Told Me To," "Q," "The Stuff," and many more.
2018-07-07 | en
5.8
Into the Pit: The Shocking Story of Deadpit.com
Prestonburg, KY is a small blue-collar town with hunting, fishing, coal mining, and two of the biggest names in online horror talk radio: Wes Vance and Aaron Frye (aka "The Creepy Kentuckian" and "Uncle Bill") The two self-proclaimed "redneck geeks" bonded at a young age while their weekends devouring horror films. They now use their extensive horror knowledge to record a weekly podcast on DEADPIT.com and have found a worldwide audience through their candid conversation, quick wit, and lots of swearing. What started as an outlet to express their love for horror films has evolved into an online industry with millions of followers and the ability to talk to their childhood heroes. But what happens when your childhood pursuits start to collide with your adult aspirations? Can Deadpit survive it's own success?
2009-08-09 | en
6.0
Making I'm Dangerous Tonight
Behind the scenes footage of I'm Dangerous Tonight. Footage shot by Stan Giesea and Eric H. Lasher
2022-07-26 | en
7.3
Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita
Cinecitta is today known as the center of the Italian film industry. But there is a dark past. The film city was solemnly inaugurated in 1937 by Mussolini. Here, propaganda films would be produced to strengthen the dictator's position.
2021-05-16 | fr
0.0
One Day of Mosfilm
The film tells about the main stages of the history of the country's largest studio "Mosfilm", about the work of the creative team, introduces the viewer to the outstanding masters of Soviet cinematography, with such unique groups such as the Theater-Studio of Film Actors, with the workshops of the studio.
1985-01-30 | ru
7.0
Art Attack! The Dissection of Terrifier 3
ART ATTACK. Dives into the making of Terrifier 3, exploring its shocking practical effects, Art the Clown's rise, and its bold impact on modern horror.
2025-03-14 | en
6.0
The Candid Camera Story (Very Candid) of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures 1937 Convention
This short film chronicles various events associated with MGM's 1937 convention for the studio's national sales and distribution staff.
1937-01-01 | en
6.5
Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini
Tom Savini is one of the greatest special effects legends in the history of cinema, but little is known about his personal life until now. For the first time ever a feature length film has covered not only Tom's amazing career spanning over four decades, but his personal life as well.
2015-10-16 | en
6.5
Full Tilt Boogie
A documentary about the production of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and the people who made it.
1998-07-31 | en
7.8
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy
For decades, Freddy Krueger has slashed his way through the dreams of countless youngsters, scaring up over half a billion dollars at the box office across eight terrifying, spectacular films.
2010-05-04 | en
0.0
Personalities
In this "Romance of Celluloid", MGM showcases performers whose careers are just starting. Excerpts from their recently released films are included. The narrator says that moviegoers will have to decide whether these fledgling actors and actresses have that certain quality that made superstars out of MGM players Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Lana Turner.
1942-01-01 | en
6.4
Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi
The greatest cult horror and science fiction films of all-time are studied in vivid detail in the second volume of Time Warp. Includes groundbreaking classics like "Night of the Living Dead," and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and sci-fi gems such as "Blade Runner," and "A Clockwork Orange."
2020-05-19 | en
7.0
Alien, Terror in Space
In space, no one can hear you scream! the catchy slogan that accompanies Alien sums up the unprecedented stakes of this film that will mark the history of cinema. In 1979, for the first time on screens, a mainstream feature film will mix two distinct worlds of genre cinema: science fiction and horror. Ridley Scott forever shakes up the cinematic landscape by plunging the audience into anguish with his oppressive universe and his iconic monster. The documentary looks back at the lasting impact of this masterpiece, exploring Scott’s audacity and the genesis of his unique aesthetic. In the claustrophobic corridors of the Nostromo spaceship, the heroine, played by Sigourney Weaver, becomes the first strong female figure to redefine the conventions of the genre, far from the clichés of the time. By revisiting the film's key sequences, the documentary shows how Alien explores profound themes such as survival and dehumanization, while reflecting a scathing critique of the capitalist system.
2025-02-21 | fr
7.0
Absentia: A Retrospective
Documentary film on the making of Mike Flanagan's Absentia. Interviews with cast and crew and behind-the-scenes.
2014-07-07 | en
0.0
Welcome to my Darkside: Women in Horror
The horror film genre’s most iconic Scream Queens are featured in this documentary about women’s roles and triumphs, both on-camera and off.
2010-09-25 | en
6.5
The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan
Everyone has a skeleton or two in his or her closet, but what about the director behind some of the most successful thrillers ever to hit the silver screen? Could M. Night Shyamalan be hiding a deep, dark secret that drives his macabre cinematic vision? Now viewers will be able to find out firsthand what fuels The Sixth Sense director's seemingly supernatural creativity as filmmakers interview Shyamalan as well as the cast and crew members who have worked most closely with him over the years. Discover the early events that shaped the mind of a future master of suspense in a documentary that is as fascinating as it is revealing.
2004-06-18 | en
8.0
Scream Queens: Horror Heroines Exposed
Directed by UK-horror scene stalwart Calum Waddell and hosted by scream queen Debbie Rochon (Terror Firmer, Tromeo and Juliet) Scream Queens: Horror Heroines Exposed features, in a change of pace for horror documentaries, especially those focusing on females in the genre, an all-female line-up, discussing horror movies from their perspective – exploring the challenges of being an actress in a genre predominantly made by and for men, from how they came about to be defined as a “scream queen”, about the vagaries of the genre: nudity, violence, misogyny, etc., and about how they feel about the genre and the label
2014-10-13 | en