In any case, Sara Karloff, daughter and sole heir to horror-film icon Boris Karloff, is fighting mad at Universal Studios, the studio that bankrolled some her father's best-known films.
She is suing Universal for damages in excess of $10 million, claiming that the company used a "bait and switch" scheme to avoid paying her royalties for using her father's famous face.
The Karloff kid says Universal had a deal with her to use her father's characters for advertisements and promotions.
But, she claims that Universal would alter the likeness of her dad's signature characters from Frankenstein and The Mummy just enough to skirt the law and avoid paying her royalties. That means that when licensees request images of the Karloff characters, similar, but technically generic characters are substituted at the last minute.
In her suit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, she charges the studio with fraud, breach of contract and violation of rights of publicity.
Her attorney, Allan Browne, says: "The suit was brought to stop the unsavory business practices of Universal. Universal owes a ton of money to Sara Karloff based upon Universal's wrongful use of Boris Karloff's image and likeness."
Universal declined to comment.