Classic monsters

I find it interesting that there are four monsters which loom far above all others in the Western phyche: Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein's Creature, and the Mummy. And they were all from Universal movies in the thirties (or close enough). You would think that somebody had managed to create a new one since then. Or rather, unearth one, for those characters were already old in myth or literature when they were put on film.

I wonder if the greatness is in the characters themselves, or if they had such impact due to the timing, the great depression and later threat of war giving them background emotional support?

Oh, by the way, the Frankenstein Creature makeup is just an amazing design, not the least in this classic photo. Fantastic. There is just no way this face doesn't smash its way to the back of your skull and stick.
As the Creature, Karloff is just radiating "deadness". Paradoxically, he is alive with deadness.