Frankenstein (1931) came about because Dracula had been a hit: within 48 hours of its February 1931 opening it had sold 50,000 tickets and ended with a $700,000 profit, so Universal, which had lost $2.2 million in 1930, decided to make more horror films. Bela Lugosi hoped to play Henry Frankenstein but was offered the Monster, a part with almost no lines, and left the project, and the role went to Boris Karloff. The first director, Robert Florey, planned a pure killing machine, and James Whale took over and gave the Monster pathos. The Golem films also influenced it.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.