A film that dared to be both scary and silly, heartfelt and horrifying, funny and fearless — The Monster Squad took the classic Universal Monsters we grew up fearing and gave them to a new generation of believers. Written by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys) and Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps), and directed by Dekker himself, this wasn’t just a horror movie. It was a cinematic love letter to the monster movies of the 1930s and 1940s — to kids who loved them.

The late Stan Lee once said, “The success of Blade opened the door for all the Marvel films that followed. It showed Hollywood that our stories could work on the big screen.” Without Blade, there would be no X-Men (2000). No Spider-Man (2002). No Iron Man (2008) and no Avengers (2012). Blade was the spark that lit the fire.

In the decades since, this trilogy has given us unforgettable characters, incredible performances, an animated series, a groundbreaking theme park ride, a Broadway musical, and even a Hollywood “what if” — the alternate reality where Eric Stoltz, not Michael J. Fox, played Marty McFly.

New Jack City gave us one of the most unforgettable villains in cinematic history with Wesley Snipes as Nino Brown, introduced us to a new side of Ice-T, gave Chris Rock his first breakout role, and showcased the directorial vision of Mario Van Peebles. This movie wasn’t just another crime drama — it was a cultural event.

What some people forget is that Mork didn’t even start on Mork & Mindy. He first showed up on an episode of Happy Days in 1978 called My Favorite Orkan. It was supposed to be just a silly one-off episode — an alien trying to take Richie Cunningham back to Ork and Fonzie fighting him off. But then Robin Williams walked in and turned that simple idea into something magical. The audience went crazy for him. ABC knew they had something special, so they gave him his own show.