AtoZ2018 - A is for ... #MovieMonsters #AtoZChallenge

A is for ...

Hello and welcome to the first day of the AtoZChallenge. My theme this year is movie monsters and I will be introducing everyone to some of my favourites. Some will be scary monsters, some monsters who wish they were scary and others will be simply silly. Happy AtoZ to one and all, let's have a great April.

Scariness Rating

The little skulls by their name are my scariness rating as to how monstrous and scary I think the creatures are when seen in their films.

•  1 skull (not scary at all) - 5 skulls (very scary)
•  and there is a special rating for a few - 5 red skulls (utterly terrifying)

Anders Raeborne (Darklight - The Legend of Lilith)

The anti-hero and then hero of Darklight is Lilith (Shiri Appleby), a demonic entity who hates the pious and kills at will. She is captured by The Faith, an organisation set up specifically to destroy her. When they capture her, however, they don't kill her, they block her memories and turn her into a good guy.

However, Anders Raeborne (David Hewlett), a mad scientist, helped by a traitor to The Faith, uses an extract of her blood because he wants to become immortal. It turns him into the Demoicus, a terrible demonic creature who spreads plague with his bite. Elle, the persona The Faith created for Lilith, is the only one who can stop him.

This film is fun and terrible all at the same time. It has some of my fav TV actors, with John de Lancie (Q from STNG), David Hewlett (Stargate Atlantis), Shiri Appleby (Roswell) and Richard Burgi (The Sentinel), and the plot is entertaining, but the special effects are terrible. The CGI is plain bad. This is a monster movie for those who prefer their monsters PG.

Agent Smith (The Matrix)

He may have a human guise, but Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) is definitely a monster. His sole motivation is the protection of the matrix and the suppression of all resistance within.

Being a machine he never tires, never sleeps and can be anywhere at anytime. He is unbeatable and kills without a second thought. He is also insidious, turning enemies into tools.

The Matrix is a modern classic, with its bullet time special effects, and Hugo Weaving's sinister Agent Smith is a perfect villain.

Athan (The Lair - season 3)

The Lair is a gay-themed vampire show from the here! production company. It had three seasons and I love it to bits. The Lair is a gay sex club that the vampires use to find victims, so this is a very not PG show.

Athan (Steven Hirchi) appears in season 3. He is an antiquities expert who is looking for an artefact because he is under the curse. Within him is the spirit of a male gorgon and he can turn people to stone. In fact, he has to. All he wants is to live a normal life, which is what the artefact can give him, if he can only find it. Meanwhile the body count grows.

There are no two ways about it, The Lair is wonderfully terrible in places. Some of the actors were also definitely not hired for their acting ability, but because they look good without their clothes on. However, I think it's awesome. Also one of the lead vampires is called Colin, which makes me laugh because Colin is so not a sexy name in the UK.

Anubis (The Pyramid)

Anubis is the most monsterly monster I have for you today. He's ancient. gnarly, very, very evil and enjoys slaughtering people to weigh their hearts and see if they are worthy of the after life. He doesn't seem much interested in whether they were dying before he got to them.

The Pyramid is something of an average supernatural slasher movies. An archaeological team uncover this pyramid during the 2012-13 uprising in Egypt and, even though they are told to leave, they go in anyway. Then they start dying in lots of nasty ways.

The effects are pretty good and Anubis is a reasonably scary monster. At least he looks evil.

P.S. I'm sorry, I probably won't be around today to chat because it's Easter Sunday and I won't have much time, if any, online, but I promise I will get to is as soon as I can. Mostly today I will be cooking :).

Q. Do you have any favourite monsters that would fit in to the letter A? If you watch monster movies, do you watch them from behind a cushion like I have been known to do? :)

AtoZ List of All Participants