Monsters

Monsters move in to SFO Airport

Frankenstein

The newest offering from the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport is an exhibition about monsters.

Not the kind that live under the bed, but the monsters made famous by Universal Pictures, which pretty much invented the monster movie genre in 1923 with the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney in 1925.

Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi in the first talking vampire movie, followed in 1931, and within a year, fans were being frightened by Frankenstein, which was inspired by Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. Later came The Mummy and a series of mummy movies, The Werewolf of London (1935) and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Revenge of the Creature prop head  c. 1955_courtesy SFO Museum

One big fan of monster memorabilia is Metallica’s Kirk Hammett,
and its part of his collection of monster movie props, original artwork, themed novelty toys and other creature collectibles that are on display in SFO Terminal 2 through November 2015.

Some of Hammett’s custom-made monster guitars are on display too.

Guitars_Custom Monster_from the Kirk Hammett Collection_ courtesy SFO Museum

(Photos courtesy of SFO Museum)