Horror History: Monsters!

Horror has come a LONG way - and so have the monsters that lurk within! Welcome to WatchMojo’s series Horror History, where we look at how the genre went from being a bump in the night to shaking down the box office! Today, horror is the home of some of Hollywood’s most talented and creative minds. They’d probably be the first to admit however that they’re standing on the shoulders of giants. And there’s one shared love in particular that connects them to previous generations of horror pioneers: monsters! There's a term sometimes given to these folks, a badge of honor that many are proud to bear: "monster kids." First coined by writer David Colton in the mid 90s, it refers to those today with a particular affection and nostalgia for horror's formative years. We're not talking only about the classic Universal Monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, and Gill-man. We’re also talking about creatures like the Body Snatchers, the Blob, and the Triffids. We’re talking Hammer Films and their boundary-pushing penchant for bright Technicolor blood and gratuitous skin. Think actors like Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and Peter Cushing … and directors like William Castle, Terence Fisher and Mario Bava. But what exactly constitutes a movie “monster”? Herein lies the beauty of the beast, because monsters come in many different forms - something that remains true across genres, whether horror or not. A movie monster doesn't NEED to be supernatural or fantastic. Sure, it could be a giant dinosaur, as in “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” - a movie that directly inspired Godzilla. Or an extraterrestrial, as in “20 Million Miles to Earth”. But it could also just be an animal, as in Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws”. A movie monster can also be a vehicle for social and political commentary. We’ve seen this in many movies, from “Godzilla”’s representation of nuclear holocaust, to the way that Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy “Pan’s Labryinth” explored the horrors of war. More recently, his romantic fantasy “The Shape of Water”, inspired by 1954’s "Creature from the Black Lagoon", subverted the usual monster tropes to address prejudice and xenophobia. Mind you, many of the “messages” in monster films remain up for debate - and may or may not have been intentional. One example is “King Kong”, which has been interpreted as a racist allegory, or an anti-colonial one; as being about the Great Depression, or about how we should respect nature. Still, the fact that debates like this exist marks a huge shift around a genre that was long maligned as not having any messages at all. Of course, the real pleasure in watching classic monster movies is often just sitting back, grabbing a handful of popcorn, and watching the mayhem! Many of the kids who grew up devouring drive-in pictures in the 50s and 60s went on to work in the film industry themselves – creating their own scenes of glorious carnage. For example, when writing “Alien”, screenwriter Dan O'Bannon drew on 1951’s “The Thing from Another World” and 1965’s “Planet of the Vampires”. He used these to build a story around the haunting design concepts created by Swiss artist H. R. Giger, who became hugely influential in horror himself. Then there’s Joe Dante, who in 1978 brought audiences the horror comedy “Piranha”. He followed that up with formative horror films “The Howling” and “Gremlins.” In each, his love of classic B-movies shines through, with a twist of contemporary humor. Another “monster kid” is John Landis, who directed the seminal “An American Werewolf in London”, released the same year as Dante’s “The Howling”. These filmmakers drew on the visionary work of the greats who came before them, while pioneering new techniques that would themselves be passed on down the line. One such great was Willis O’Brien, who did the stop motion animation in 1933’s “King Kong” and mentored the legendary Ray Harryhausen, working with him on “Mighty Joe Young”. Harryhausen went on to create the special effects for the film “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad”, which inspired an eight year old John Landis to become a director! Harryhausen also influenced special effects legend Rick Baker, who worked on Landis’ film “An American Werewolf in London”. Referencing Harryhausen’s groundbreaking work in “Jason and the Argonauts”, Baker once said: “We are all children of the Hydra's teeth”. Baker’s werewolf transformation sequence in “An American Werewolf in London” was a game-changer in turn. Meanwhile, Baker had mentored a young up-and-coming visual effects artist named Rob Bottin, working with him on “Piranha” and “The Howling” (until Bottin took over work on the latter). Bottin went on to create genre-defining work with John Carpenter on "The Thing." Like we said, it all goes down the line! Just as this old guard was inspired by “monster kid” magazines like “Famous Monsters of Filmland” and “Castle of Frankenstein”, so too was a new generation of filmmakers influenced by “Fangoria” and “Cinemagic” in the 80s and beyond. Such publications were made for people like J. J. Abrams, who broke into the business as a fan, composing a synth score for the low budget 1982 sci-fi horror "Nightbeast." Abrams discussed his love of genre magazines with the Washington Post, describing how he wrote letters back and forth with "Nightbeast" director Don Dohler in “Cinemagic” before landing that fateful job as a low budget film composer. Oftentimes, filmmakers like Dante and Abrams continue these "fan moments" with Easter Eggs in their own movies - like the inclusion of a "Dr. Moreau" in "Gremlins". Or the homage in "Cloverfield" to John Carpenter's "Escape From New York." The generation of "monster kids" making films in the late 60s and 70s were free of the strict Hays Code that governed older films, and benefitted from more permissive social attitudes towards what was shown on screen. This became even more important in the gore obsessed 1980s. It transformed once again as society embraced the computer age and CGI a decade later. Science fiction movies like "Jurassic Park" broke ground by combining CGI and practical effects. (The animatronic dinosaurs were created by Stan Winston, who had worked with Rob Bottin on “The Thing”). In the years since, computer generated imagery has opened the floodgate for movies with monsters at scales never seen before. Today, many old monsters are new again. After making a name for himself with 2010’s “Monsters”, Gareth Edwards brought audiences the largest live-action incarnation of Godzilla ever. Michael Dougherty, director of horror comedies “Trick 'r Treat” and “Krampus”, continued the story in “King of the Monsters”. And in “Godzilla vs. Kong”, Adam Wingard, director of the slasher film “You're Next”, brought Godzilla face-to-face with the colossal King Kong first unveiled in “Skull Island”. Modern monster kids are continuing to show off what inspired them, and pushing the genre forward. Sure, some modern monster movies could be accused of not having "enough" creature features. This is a criticism that’s been levelled against both Gareth Edwards’s films, for example. Are these movies trying to have their cake and eat it, too? Dwelling a bit too much on the message or commentary, or trying to hide their monsters rather than celebrate them? The answer is obviously subjective, but the fact that we're even having these discussions means that it's a good time to be a monster movie fan. Whether we’re talking about “Nosferatu” or “Dracula” … “Godzilla” or “Cloverfield” … “Jaws” or “Tremors” … movie monsters continue to beget new monsters. And monster movies themselves continue to create new generations of “monster kids”!