My vote is for Universal. I have a soft spot for old Hollywood.

My favorite Universal horror picture is 'Son of Frankenstein' with Basil Rathbone.

Even though this is Karloff's most limited performance as the creature, the added depth and absurdity of Legosi's Igor makes up for it. Igor goes throught the whole movie with a literal broken neck! He was previously hanged and no one can figure out how he's still alive.

The best, most unsettling aspect for me though is Rathbone as the son of Frankenstein. His feelings of guilt mixed with responsiblity and allure concerning his father's work.

Other Universal favorites are;

The Mummy (Karl Freund)
Frankenstein (James Whale)
The Black Cat (Edgar Ulmer)

Which is not to say I'm not a big Hammer fan too.

My favorite (though not a gothic horror picture) is Val Guest's 'The Abominable Snowman'.

I think Guest did a better job of suggesting horror withought seeing much than Wise did in 'The Haunting".

Other Hammer favorites are;

Plague of Zombies (John Gilling)
Quatermass 2 (Val Guest)
These are the Damned (Joseph Losey)


EYEBALL