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

V is for ... Vampire

Hands up who could have guess that :). Of course V is for vampire, after all it is my favourite genre and it gives me a chance to trot out some of my favourites for your reading pleasure.

Today there is no scariness rating, because I just don't find vampires scary. :)

Jerry (Fright Night 1985)

I have many vampire movies I love, but my favourite is probably Fright Night - the 1985 film that I go back and watch over and over again. Please not, this is not the remake, which, unfortunately not even David Tennant could save!

Jerry (Chris Sarandon) is the vampire antagonist who moves in next door to Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale). Now it's all very heterosexual because this was 1985, but Jerry has a live in guardian, Billy, who calls him 'Jer' and if I'd been writing it they would so have been a couple.

Charlie spots Jerry with one of his victims and sees Billy dumping the body and, being as horror fan, jumps to all the right conclusions. What follows is Jerry being sexy and continually getting one up on Charlie and his friends, as he becomes more and more annoyed with them.

The effects are all makeup, foam latex and wax, but they're really well done. Jerry is a calm collected vampire, who thinks things through and even tries to reason with Charley. He's an intelligent character, well written with depth and Fright Night is a great movie.

Regine (Fright Night Part 2)

My second favourite vampire movie is Fright Night Part 2 from 1988. It's actually a toss up as to which one I like best, since, in this case, the sequel is as good as the original.

The main vampire in this one is Regine, who masquerades as a performance artist, with a group of supernatural creatures around her as her entourage.

Unlike in the first Fright Night, Charley Brewster, now at college and believing that all the vampire stuff was mass hypnosis and PTSD, does not find the vampires, they find him. Regine is Jerry's sister and she's out for revenge. Again, she is one sexy, but intelligently written vampire, and she really kicks some arse.

This is one film that hits every vampire button I have and it is a must for vampire fans everywhere.

Dracula

There is of course no way I could do vampires without mentioning the great count himself - Dracula. He has been brought to the screen so many times in varied and wonderful ways. Above are what I consider the most famous and the best of his incarnations.

We have Luke Evans in Dracula Untold, the best Dracula film of recent years IMHO. This is a film about how Dracula becomes a vampire as he desperately tries to save his people from the Turks. It is brilliant.

Then Frank Langella being incredibly sexy in Dracula (1979). This is a slightly changed up version of Bram Stoker's story in that it all takes place in the UK. Mina is a Van Helsing and is Dracula's first victim, and Lucy is Jonathan Harker's fiance and the one who falls under Dracula's spell.

Next the late, great Sir Christopher Lee in his iconic role as the Lord of Darkness in Hammer's Dracula (1958). Here is a man who can say everything with his eyes.

Following him we have Bela Lugosi as Dracula in the Universal classic of 1931. This was based off the stage play, which is a cut down version of the story in the original book. In this Dracula is a sophisticated man who charms those he meets.

And finally, Gary Oldman in Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). Now this Dracula was popular when I was at Uni and we all loved it. I still really enjoy it, but I can admit that bits of it are very contrived :). The costumes and sets are amazing though, and there are some great performances, especially from Oldman.

What We Do In the Shadows

If you haven't seen What We Do in the Shadows and you are a vampire fan, you really should. This is a New Zealand mockumentary from Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi about four vampires (Viago, Vladislav, Decon and Petyr) living together in a house in Wellington.

It's hilarious.

They're taken every cliche about vampires and put them together in a very funny way. These are centuries old vampires trying to fit in to modern Wellington and being very bad at it. Each is from a different time period and they've not really adapted as well as they think they have.

Count Duckula

Don't side-eye me like that, Duckula is awesome. For those who have no clue who he is, Count Duckula (voiced by David Jason) is a vegetarian vampire, way before Twilight.

The generations of evil Count Duckulas have ruled over their lands in Transylvania for centuries, however, for this incarnation there was a slight hickup in the reanimation process. Nanny gave Igor ketchup instead of blood during the ceremony, so the new count is neither evil, nor blood thirsty.

With a castle that can travel anywhere and returns to its mountain top at dawn, Count Duckula and his friends have adventures all over the place. It's zanny, from the same people as Danger Mouse and very much worth a watch.

Reapers (Blade II)

Now while I enjoy all the Blade film, my favourite has to be Blade II, and one of the reasons is the Reapers. The vampire like creatures are a genetic mistake where vampires were trying to make themselves stronger and immune to many vampire weaknesses.

The big problem for normal vampires is that the Reapers do not just feed on humans, they feed on vampires as well, and vampires bitten, as well as humans, become Reapers too. The virus is transferred from their sucker like tongue, which comes forward when their jaw opens like a maw.

With a bony structure around their heart it is almost impossible to stake a Reaper, and they can take a huge amount of damage. Their only real weakness is very bright light and sunlight. However, they have very fast metabolisms and if they do not feed every night they begin to die, their systems consuming themselves.

These are great monsters and even make other vampires fear the dark.

Q: Who is your favourite movie vampire? Does a movie vampire have to have certain traits for you to watch them?

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

U is for ... Undefined

We have another theme within a theme day today. This is for all the monsters I wanted to include, but which are not specifically named within the film they star in. They may actually have names, but I don't know what they are :).

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)

Pitch Black

So these beasties are really nasty and only come out in the dark. They live on a remote planet that has three suns and phases where it is in perpetual daylight and then perpetual darkness for periods of time. During the daylight phase they live underground, and when it gets dark they come out and feast.

In Pitch Black a passenger freighter crash lands on their planet. All is mostly okay to begin with, although the odd survivor vanishes when they stray close to underground tunnels. However, once the sound and smell hunters come out in the dark, all bets are off.

These are predators of the first order, making them great monsters.

Slither

These slug like creatures are alien parasites and you're okay as long as they can't get inside you. Keeping your mouth shut is key if they swarm you.

These parasites arrived on a meteorite and first turn one human into their puppet by infecting him and taking over his mind. He then infects his girlfriend and uses her as an incubator for more of the parasites. These then get inside other people and take them over, turning them into more puppets for the aliens.

In the end many of the infected start melding into one huge creature as they continue to mutate. And once infected there is no hope for the victims.

These are nasty, nasty monsters and this is a film that will make your skin crawl. The thing is, it's also a comedy and it's just too good not to watch :).

Deepstar Six

I remember seeing this on VHS when I was at uni. This monster is no alien, it is a cave dwelling super predator, something like a crab, that has evolved in a closed eco system at the bottom of the ocean. When an explosion opens its cave to the outside is when trouble starts.

The crew of the DeepStar Six, an experimental US Naval deep sea environment, then have the fight the monster as it decides they are either a threat or lunch.

This monster is a natural creation, and it's acting on instinct, but that doesn't stop it being deadly, with a bit that can go through reinforced deep sea suit armour.

Dark Angel aka I Come in Peace

Now this guy is bad to the bone. He's an intergalactic drug dealer played by Matthias Hues (and looking him up on Wikipedia he does actually have a name, Talec - but I never picked that up from the movies, so I shall continue :)). Unfortunately for us earthlings, his chosen drug is "Barsi" which is created from endorphins found in the human brain.

To get to these he stabs human's in the forehead, injects them with heroine and sucks out the resulting chemicals from their brains.

All he cares about are his profits and he's willing to kill as many humans as he can to make them. He's super strong and hard to kill, which makes him all the more dangerous.

The Host

The Host is a fantastic South Korean monster movie.

The monster is an amphibious mutation created by toxic chemicals flushed into the river by an American military pathologist a few years before.

For a while it lives out of sight, but then it starts to leave the river to attack people and eat them. It is huge and very fast and drags its catches off to its lair to eat later, whether they are dead or still alive. It also carries a deadly virus - maybe.

Seemingly immune to bullets it is a monster of the first order.

This is a film with a great plot, great effects and a very good cast. Just be ready for subtitles, because that's always the best way to watch foreign films.

The Thing

Okay, so now we have a five red skull monster. This one gives me the creeps and the movie still scares the hell out of me when I watch it.

The Thing is an alien. It was in a space ship that crashed in Antarctica and was frozen in the permafrost, but it did not die. When it was unfrozen by a Norwegian team of scientists it regenerated and came back to life.

It is a parasitical entity and every part of it is alive of itself, so even blood can turn into a whole creature eventually. Only fire can destroy it. What is worse is that is absorbs those it attacks, learning all they know and gaining the ability to form itself into a perfect copy of any animal or human.

One of the most famous scenes is the head crab. When it is discovered and its body burned, the head splits off and escapes by itself. Have a clip - but be warned, it's gruesome.

The Relic

In the Relic we have another creature that has a taste for humans. This one is actually a mutated human created by the ingestion of a fungus and it needs hormones from other humans.

Unfortunately for its victims, this involves ripping open their skulls to get at their hypothalamus.

It is a huge chimera with DNA from various creatures, including reptiles and it is totally focused on getting what it needs. It is incredibly strong and doesn't seem to care a lot about bullets.

The Relic is a great movie if you like monster based horror. It's from 1997 so the effects are a little dated, but it's so well filmed it doesn't matter. Well worth a watch.

Q: So which of the monsters would you least like to meet in a dark alley? Are there any other monsters I should add to the 'undefined' list?

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

T is for ...

T is such a versatile letter and I had many, many monsters to choose from, so here are my favourite five. I do hope you enjoy them as we enter the second to last week of the AtoZChallenge.

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)

Terminator

It would be impossible to do a movie monsters for T and not mention the badest cyborg on the block, the Terminator himself. I am of course talking about the original article.

The 1984 film is a classic and much my favourite of all the Terminator films. Arnold Schwarzenegger play the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor and prevent the birth of John Connor, her son and leader of the resistance against the machines in the future.

He is cold, ruthless and focused solely on his task. And, if that isn't enough, it takes a hell of a lot to kill him. There is a reason this film spawned a franchise, and that's because the Terminator is such a great bad guy.

Thulsa Doom (Conan the Barbarian)

I've mentioned Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) on my blog before, but I have to mention him again for this A to Z because he is a monster of the first order.

He's human enough when we first meet him as he is slaughtering Conan's parents and tribe, but he's just as much a monster as later when he has mystical powers, a cult following and can change himself into a snake.

Doom values power above all else. He revels in the fact he can simply look at one of his followers and they will kill themselves for him. He demands complete loyalty and takes anything he wants. He is a monster who is ugly on the inside.

The Conan films are a fun romp for fantasy fans. They don't require a lot of brain power, but Doom is a great villain anyway.

Torok the Troll (Troll)

So I could have gone with Troll or Torok for today, so win/win. Torok is a troll with shape shifting abilities who wants the world of fairies to take over the human world.

He starts this endeavour by kidnapping Wendy Potter, a young girl who still has the innocence of childhood. He then transforms himself into the likeness of Wendy, terrorising her brother Harry (yep, this is one Harry Potter who predates JKR and, although he weilds a magical staff at one point, it's not his and he's not a wizard).

Going from apartment to apartment in the building the Potters have just moved into, Torok converts each and its occupant into fairyfolk and land.

This is a pre-CGI movie, so all the fairies and goblins and pixies are foam latex puppets or people in suits. It's old school, but it is a delightful film. It manages to make Torok a monster and sympathetic at times as well.

Time (Sapphire and Steel)

Time might seem like an unusual monster, but it is almost an entity and a monster in Sapphire and Steel. These interdimensional agents are sent in when time breaks through to various places on Earth, manipulating the environment, people and other forces to break down the barriers of reality.

It's never seen, only the effects it creates and the powers that it helps manifest, but it is still the monster in the background.

If you haven't seen Sapphire and Steel, I cannot recommend it enough. It is a TV show from the late 70s/early 80s and it is very clever. It doesn't need fancy special effects because it is so tightly plotted. Trust me, you'll never look at a nursery rhyme, a photo or an empty railway station ever again.

Triffid (Day of the Triffids)

Now I had to include Triffids because they involve a childhood trauma which means I remember bits of the TV show perfectly and I can never forget their rattle.

A Triffid is a carnivorous, mobile plant that humans farm for their oil. Unfortunately, when a meteor shower rendered almost everyone blind, they escape and take over. They have a long proboscis they can flick out and sting people with their venom, which can injure or even kill.

My trauma involved seeing a bit of one of the episodes of the 1981 series, then going to bed, looking sideways and discovering something moving on my pillow. It was a spider, so it was a double whammy, because not only was I thinking of triffids, I also hate spiders :).

Q: Do you have any trivial but traumatic memories from when you were young that had stayed with you because of their context? What are your favourite T monsters?

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

S is for ... Sharks

Today we have another theme within a theme post, because what list of movie monsters would be complete without sharks? It was a bit of a shock when I realised I can name more shark movies than I can werewolf movies! I have chosen just five :)

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)

3-Headed Shark (3-Headed Shark Attack)

The 3-headed shark is an Asylum special. The Asylum specialise in crazy monster movies and mock-busters and they have some of the most diversely cast films out there. They have low budgets, but often great scripts (although I can't always attest to the great acting).

The 3-headed shark is a mutated great white and chomps its way through cast members like Jaws could only dream about.

You'll be glad to know this is the sequel to 2-headed shark attack, and it has its own sequel called 5-headed shark attack. They're silly, but lots of fun and I chose this one because it has Danny Trejo.

Ghost Shark

This is one badass shark. In life it ate the fish a fisherman had his eye on, so they tortured it to death. Little did they know its body would end up in a supernatural cave at the bottom of the ocean, that brought back its spirit for revenge.

We can't really blame the shark for going after its killers in this one, in fact it's a time for cheering, but then it decides its going to take revenge on all humans in general. Its ghostly powers means it can attack through any source of water, be it a river or a bowl.

This film has a ridiculous premise, but it goes for it and it's highly entertaining. There is even a Ghost Shark 2!

Jaws

Of course I could not mention sharks without the classic.

Jaws was the first movie that made us afraid to go into the water. The shark is a rogue great white that terrorises beach-goers on Amity Island in New England. Of course the shark's arrival has to coincide with the 4th July.

Some of the most iconic shots in Jaws were created because the mechanical shark didn't work as well as it was supposed to. I can only imagine what the film would have been like with more shark, because this is one terrifying monster anyway.

My husband and I watched this movie again the other night and, I have to say, when it comes to shark against Quint, I was rooting for the shark! But I do love Roy Schieder, so when it came to Chief Brody vs shark I had to root for Brody.

Sharknado

Don't you just love portmanteus? :) Sharknado is exactly what you think it is, a waterspout tornado with sharks in it. The movie is a comedy and hence the laws of physics do not apply as strictly as if it was straight sci-fi.

In this movie a waterspout dumps sharks from the ocean onto LA and the sharks proceed to eat people. No, I am not kidding.

It's a silly movie, but they're up to number 5 now, so they have to be doing something right. Yes, I have all of them.

Snow Shark

And you thought a tornado of sharks was silly, wait until you hear about the last monster I have for you.

There's been an earthquake near a small New York town, and subsequently some strange animal deaths. Of course intrepid biologists want to know what is going on. They both die for their science as they discover the creature - the snow shark!

This is a prehistoric beasty that can swim through snow rather than water and it  has a taste for human flesh. No one standing in the snow is safe!

I feel there should be a Dun Dun Dun at the end of each of these descriptions :) I was rather surprised to realise I can count more shark monster movies off the top of my head than werewolf movies.

Q: So, which shark would you least like to go up against? Do you have any favourite shark movies I have not mentioned?

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