Top 10 Favorite Monster Films

Now monster films is way too big of a category to just pick my favorite “Top 10” so with this list I decided to do only true non-traditional monsters therefore there are no vampires, werewolves, zombies, mummy’s, aliens (or creatures from other planets – i.e. Aliens, Predator), trans-dimensional creatures (i.e. Lovecraftian that are seen coming from another world – Re-Animator, From Beyond) or giant monsters caused by nuclear/toxic/etc. creation (i.e Them, Gojira, Toxic Avenger).  I also didn’t include any of your regular “natural” animals (i.e. Lake Placid, Alligator, Jaws) or man created monsters (i.e. Man’s Best Friend, Jurassic Park, The Fly) on this list as either.  This still leaves a ton of monster films to cover!  This being said, if the monster’s origin is unknown then it can be included on this list.  Monster films are some of my favorite so I hope you enjoy this list and make sure to leave your comments and post your own list.  This list is in no particular order and make sure to check out some of my other lists as well:

      1.       Deep Rising (1998)

      2.       Underwater (2020)

      3.       Nightbreed (1992)

      4.       It (2017)

      5.       Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)

      6.       Tremors (1990)

      7.       Gremlins (1984)

      8.       Deep Star Six (1989)

      9.       The Stuff (1985)

     10.   Brain Damage (1988)

Film Review: DARK WAS THE NIGHT (2014)

I love a good monster movie and when its well-executed with a good cast that makes the film even better which is what you get in the film Dark Was the Night (2014).  Kevin Durand (of TV’s The Strain and Lost) stars as Sheriff Paul Shields whose small town of Maiden Woods is suddenly assaulted by strange and unusual cattle and animal deaths that start to pop up.  When people start to disappear, Shields and his deputy Donny Saunders (Lukas Haas) starts to investigate but soon start to believe that an old Native American legend about what lives in the woods may be the culprit.

 Their investigation leads to a logging company that has been taking up residence North of their town but may be the cause of pushing an ancient predator closer to civilization in search of food.  Shields soon comes to the realization that the creature assaulting his town may now have acquired a taste for human flesh and he and Saunders must find a way to save the people of Maiden Woods before everyone is left of the creature’s menu.

The film itself may take a little time to get to the real action as it presents all its characters with deep psychological trauma that makes for interesting characters and character interactions but it is definitely worth the wait as when the monster kills, it really kills.  If there is any really problem it might be that the CGI for after when the monster is finally revealed may not live up to audience expectation (sometimes less is really more).  This being said, the film is actually quite good and will satisfy most horror fans due to the strong writing from Tyler Hisel and direction from Jack Heller.

Film Review: TREMORS: A COLD DAY IN HELL (2018)

It seems that Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) and son Travis (Jamie Kennedy) have found themselves once again in Graboid country in TREMORS: A COLD DAY IN HELL (2018).  Burt finds himself having tax problems (mainly because he hasn’t paid them) and decides he must go back into the wild and battle the Graboids one more time.  Global warming is in effect and the devastating consequences is that the artic ice caps are melting allowing for the appearance of Graboids in Canada’s Nunavut Territory where a couple scientist have been killed.

This is the perfect opportunity for Burt to get back into action one last time to battle Graboids as he soon learns that he is dying from Graboid poison (from an encounter in a previous film) and the only antidote is from a living Graboid.  The race is one for Burt and Travis to not only rid Canada of their Graboid problem but to also find a way to save Burt’s life by catching a Graboid alive.

Although a ludicrous premise (and what really in this franchise isn’t), making Burt more vulnerable places more weight on the supporting characters especially Travis who as Burt’s son comes into his own as an adequate supporting character.

Written by John Whelpley and directed by Don Michael Paul (both of whom worked on the previous film in the same capacity) this is a great companion film to the previous films as it helps craft a new era of the franchise separate from the previous films yet still a part of them.

This film also brings in Global Warming and government conspiracy and other elements that make it more topical than previous entries in the series.  I like the idea of taking Burt and Travis to other countries to fight the Graboid menace (especially since the town of Perfection has been overused in previous films) and it shows that there are still some interesting and interesting stories to tell even six films (and a television series) into the franchise.

RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR – “HOW MONSTER FILMS DEFINED MY LIFE”

RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR – “HOW MONSTER FILMS DEFINED MY LIFE”

Early this year during the 2017 Something Wicked Film Festival (www.somethingwickedfilmfestival.com), Festival Panel Moderator Jim Adams created a panel discussion that would forever define the future of panel discussions for the event (especially since I’m the Festival Director and I just hired him to be the Official Festival Panel Moderator.  One of Mr. Adams’ first duties were to come up with some original ideas for new panel discussions and thus “How Monster Films Defined My Life” was born. 

Now I know part of the reason why Mr. Adams decided on this topic for a panel discussion is because he has the podcast “Monster Attacks!” where he has spoken at length about his love for monster films.  For many people, monster films from the Universal horrors of Dracula and The Wolfman to Hammer Studios’ Frankenstein and The Mummy were defining characters of fear from childhood.  For more modern audiences there is Leatherface and that dream demon Freddy not to mention the likes of Ghostface Killer and The Jigsaw Killer.  No matter which decade, audiences have their own nightmare monster that haunts them or fascinates them to no end.

I was one of the film-makers on this panel discussion and one of the films that defined my childhood was the Joe Dante film Gremlins (1984).  I saw this in the theater in ’84 at the early age of 8 and it left an undeniable impression on me.  The monsters were both cute and cuddly and dangerous and fun at the same time.  It was like watching a bunch of unruly children at play able to do whatever they wanted.  It also had an amazing soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith (who became my all-time favorite music composer).  The film was dark and horrifying as well as funny and entertaining.  It had the perfect mixture of comedy and horror and part of that is due to the very dark photography of the film and the fluid cinematography.  It truly became one of my all-time favorite films for which my love for other monsters would grow.

 

I didn’t grow up with the black & white Universal monsters nor had I seen many of the bloody Hammer Studio films until I became a big horror fan in my teenage and college years.  The next monster I gravitated to was that of the Good-Guy doll Chucky.  When I saw Child’s Play (1988) I had never seen anything like it before.  A serial killer uses Voodoo to possess a doll and to continue his killing spree.  Even though this film played straight into horror (unlike the more comedic sequels) it still was quite fun and entertaining.  By ’88 when this film was released and I was eleven years old I had already become a horror fan but nothing had defined my true love of the genre just yet until this film.  I got the poster for the film from the nearby Video Store (how I miss these establishments) and I placed it lovingly on my bedroom wall (where it was later joined by posters of the second and third films).  It was the first poster I ever put on my wall but it would not be the last.

I followed the continuing exploits of Chucky to cinema with Child’s Play 2 (1990) and Child’s Play 3 (1991) which I had to beg my Father to take me to since I was too young for the R-Rated horror.  At this point I did come to realize how much I loved horror films but more importantly – monster films.

At this point you could say I went looking for monsters as I learned to love all monsters big or small.

It wasn’t until Clive Barker’s Nightbreed (1990) that I wished I was one of the amazing monsters that populated our magnificent world.  Barker crafted a story where the monsters were the good guys while man was the bad guy.  This film defined the idea of what a monster could truly become.  The monsters in Barker’s film were deformed and misunderstood as well as dangerous and fascinating.

It was after this that I became a true and everlasting monster fan.  From the films featuring Godzilla and his rogue’s gallery to the Cenobites of the world of Hellraiser I loved monsters both other-worldly and those more human.  My favorites were monsters not easily described or defined like those in Christine (1983), The Thing (1982), Puppet Master (1994), Critters (1986), and especially Killer Clowns From Outer Space (1988), to name but a small few.

I most certainly enjoyed the exploits of Michael Myers and Leatherface (and family) and even those Freddy films but it was with these non-human monsters that I enjoyed more and would later define my love and appreciation of horror.  For me, monsters aren’t defined as either good nor evil but in most films, they are simply just trying to survive and do what comes naturally.  This is the defining trait of King Kong and Godzilla as well as many other timeless monster films.

Serial killers and mass murders are interesting but monsters are something from the imagination where anything that can be dreamed can become a reality.  Therefore, they’ve had such a profound effect on me as not only a film maker but a storyteller and a film lover.  If nothing else, I implore others to seek out monster movies not just for pure entertainment and enjoyment but to understand oneself and the world in which we live (and the one created for the monsters to live in).  It’s never too late to enjoy a good monster film.

To view the entire “How Monster Movies Defined My Life” panel discussion go here - https://vimeo.com/238990857

FILM REVIEW: CREATURES FROM THE ABYSS (aka PLANKTON) (1994)

Five teenagers out for a night swim in the middle of nowhere get caught in a freak storm in CREATURES FROM THE ABYSS (1994).  They find shelter in a seemingly abandoned yacht which doubles as a marine research vessel.  As they wait out the storm, they soon discover that something else is on board the yacht with them which may have been the cause for the entire crew of the yacht to abandon the ship out in the middle of the ocean.

Now, unfortunately, this could have been an interesting concept but the film’s plot is flimsy as is the logic for most of what happens in the film not to mention that the monsters are laughable especially for a film from the mid-‘90s.   The film is written by Richard Baumann and directed by Alvaro Passeri (his first film as director before churning out such other great titles as THE MUMMY THEME PARK, PSYCHOVISION and FLIGHT TO HELL).  This is a pretty bad film even by pretty bad film standards. 

There is nothing particularly imaginative or exciting about the film other than the attempt at body horror as the teenagers turn into strange contaminated fish monsters.  This is one aquatic horror film to avoid like day old sushi.

FILM REVIEW: THE BOOGENS (1981)

A small mining community gets more than they bargained for when they reopen an old mine unleashing a horde of creatures that will do anything protect their home in THE BOOGENS (1981).  For a small community, opening the once flourishing mines was thought to be an excellent idea even after all the deaths that occurred in a collapse years ago, but once the mines are reopened people start to disappear.  Soon the miners learn that the tunnels of the mines go underneath the entire town and no one is safe.

Written by David O’Malley and Jim Kouf (with a story by Thomas C. Chapman and O’Malley) the film does an admirable job of keeping the story moving with its limited cast.  Chapman, who also directors, does a good job creating suspense and atmosphere with the limited number of locations especially the caverns in the mines themselves.  The death scenes are also creative and a highlight of the even.  Even though the monsters, themselves, are cheesy looking by today’s standards, they are not on screen all that much.

I enjoyed the film for the nostalgia factor since I love monster movies (no matter how crude the creature) so fans of monster films will enjoy this film.  For an early ‘80s creature feature its not that bad at all.

Film Review: DIGGING UP THE MARROW (2015)

Director Adam Green is a believer in monsters.  He has been ever since he was a small child.  When he meets eccentric William Dekker (Ray Wise) he is taken on a journey he will not soon forget.  In Digging Up the Marrow (2015), Adam is intrigued by Dekker’s story of a place beneath the ground called the Marrow in which monsters have retreated from the eyes of man in a place safe to them.  Adam and his camera man and frequent collaborator Will Baratt to decide to document their journey with Dekker hoping that Dekker is telling the truth so that they will have definitive proof that real monsters do exist. 

Adam is a believer who wants to see the truth in the stories that Dekker tells him even in the face of

contradictions that leave him believing that Dekker is not telling him the full truth but when he doesn’t heed Dekker’s warnings to proceed cautiously when facing the monsters of the Marrow he gets more than he bargained for and the truth will be a horrifying revelation more dangerous than anything that he could have ever imagined.

Green (the director) crafts a very smart documentary style fiction film which utilizes interview footage and actual documentary-style footage to tell a tale unlike anything he’s ever done before.  Green has made a career at crafting films that appeal to horror fans from his slasher hit Hatchet (2006) and its first sequel Hatchet II (2010) to the psychological thriller Spiral (2007) and the man versus nature film Frozen (2010).  With Digging Up the Marrow he gets to the heart of the ultimate question that all horror fans have which is “Do Monsters Exist?”

Although this may be one of his most reserved films (especially when you put it next to the Hatchet films), it is nevertheless an amazing addition to his oeuvre and career and one not to miss.   You are warned.  You are warned.

Film Review: MONSTERS: DARK CONTINENT (2014)

Ten years after the events depicted in the original film Monsters (2010) the “Infected Zones” have spread over the entire world creating a global epidemic.  In Monsters: Dark Continent (2014) the Army must put together a new type of soldier to combat the growing threat but the soldiers in this film who are sent into the Middle East to help stop the problem have more than just giant monsters to contend with as dangers lurk in every corner and in every shadow in this war film in which the giant monsters take a back seat to the insurgency of man. 

Written by Tom Green and Jay Basu this is a film that puts the audience right in the middle of the war in the Middle East.  The group of soldiers is made up of mostly rookies who have never spent a tour of duty facing the giants head on.  Leading the group is Noah Frater (Johnny Harris) who volunteers to go on yet another tour avoiding to return home to his family because the only war he knows how to deal with is on the battlefield.  But as he and his group of men go deeper into the trenches he soon learns that everything that he has ever known both in terms of the giant monsters and the human monsters that he’s used to fighting is about to be turned upside down.

As usual, the biggest problem with the film is the fact that the cast is huge and for the most part they are all cannon fodder.  Unlike the original film which was very intimate and focused on the two main characters for most of the running time of the film, this film has too many characters to get to know (at least until most of them are killed off).  The film also tries to use the monsters as a background element forcing you to follow the more human conflict in the film.  This tactic worked well for the original film where the cast is much smaller but here it seems like the monsters are a wasted element.  Now the monsters are seen more in this film than in the previous film but its more as a sense of “awe” and “wonder” but in a war film this is lost (at least until the cast is dwindled down to a handful of characters).

Directed by Green himself, the film is not an entirely bad film but it does lack the ambiance and awe of Gareth Edwards original film even as it opens the possibilities of future films set in a world of giant monsters.