Or how I prefer to call it - "Creature feature" - just slips of your tongue. Well it isn't hard to guess what is the setting of a typical monster film. It goes something like this: people are fighting a monster or a group of them. That's it. Be it an large bear, killer bee swarm, a lava dinosaur (Lavasaurus!) from the center of the earth or reanimated Hitler's brain controlling a great white shark - those are all creature features. As long as there's a beast and a group of people who fight it.The first ever creature feature is 1915 film called "Golem" by Paul Wegener so you see they have a rather long history. The common theme of those films is that we get what we deserve. The monster is our punishment for something that we done. Typically those films try to include some kind of a political or environmental message. Literally telling us that polluting the earth is bad and if we're gonna continue to do it. A giant monster will emerge from the see and kill us. I guess that's a pretty convincing metod to get your green peace going.
There are few categories of monster movies and those are:
-Animal attack Those Movies feature real animals like dogs, crocodiles, sharks , snakes, snails, ticks, Spiders, baboons etc.(Jaws, Rogue, Lake placid, Razorback, Ticks, Anaconda, Arachnophobia) Almost every animal imaginable have it's own animal attack films. From obvious like crocodiles which have like dozen of films to Chihuahua dogs.
And of course there are:-Giant monster movies - The title says it all (Godzilla, king kong, Gamera, Cloverfield) Those can be divided on those made in Japan (kaiju) and those made outside of it. Mainly in USA.
Giant monster movies have a great cinema tradition with classics like the original King kong or Godzilla. Both excellent pictures. Americas movie makers and special effect guys gave us such classics like "The beast from 20.000 phantoms" or "It came from beneath the sea". Films by Ray Harryhausen who was a stop motion pioneer.
In Japan they made movies with other technique. Much easier in terms of filming. They just used rubber suits weared by actors who trampled miniature cities. It launched a whole japan style monster movie genre called - Kajiu. And there are literally tons of movies feathering grown men battling in rubber suits.
ok that basicly concludes my MONSTER MOVIE post. I could talked a lot more about those but i got to hurry up this whole presentation. I 'd leave you with a funny clip you would never gonna gues who's number one...
The idea of such movie sounds simple, heroes fight a monster, done. My first thought was that most likely such simplicity would cause the movie to be quite boring in the end but I suppose this judement is a bit too harsh.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it most of movies can be simplified into something like "Heroes have a problem but in the end they win", of course the win part is sometimes questionable but thats not the point.
My final conclusion (unless someone proves me wrong) is that Monster movies are among those that have the biggest (or at least big) potential for interesting fable and plot.
Im not saying they are the best but fact they treat about something which is well, very special and in a way unknown to us (Monsters), gives place for very interesting plot turns and the mystery that can so often takes us deeper into the movie.
Again, Im not saying only Monster movies shine when it comes to plot turns, fable etc, in fact I could say there are other genres who seem to be much better at that.
Yet still, fact they are about monsters adds some magic to the equasion in my eyes.
Also, Im definitely not saying all Monster movies are meant to be great. Some of the one where adult people dressed in monkey suits wrestle arent really that hmm special.
But I definitely say that such kind of movie has potential. At least in my eyes.
I will not ramble too much this time but still, must say Im curious of a monster movie in which Chihuahua would play a role!
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ReplyDeletehehe actually those are mutated piranha-chihuahuas bur chihuahuas after all :P
ReplyDeleteHere's a sneak peak poster:
http://animalattack.pl/newsy/chihuanhas.jpg
And a 3D beasty for an upcoming movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JIfOByfQds
I'm looking forward to it :)
I would never say, that monster films like Godzilla or King Kong are Horrors, no way. Even on film description http://www.filmweb.pl/Godzilla++1998++page+subtitle+FilmContribs,FilmContribs,id=58
ReplyDeletethere is written that it's SCI-FI, Action movie. There is nothing frightening for me, just strange creature, no adrenaline.
Of course there are some such movies with animals which i can call Horror, I`v seen some about snakes at a islan, snakes killed almost all people who came thre for a trip. Yes, there were a lot of elements from Horror, but Godzilla for me has nothing :)
Aaaaaaaa!!!!!! Godzillaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa :D:D I like movies with Godzilla. I think Godzilla movies are classic monster movies and I always like to watch it when it's on TV
ReplyDeleteWell I'm not a very big fan of monster movies. The main reason is what Radosław said. Most of them are the same! You get an animal, make it the size of a skyscraper and unleashed it on Tokyo or some other place. The military can't do a thing about it and some hero comes by and saves the day.
ReplyDeleteThis was a cute idea some centuries ago but it got really old. Sometimes when you go to a movie store and you see a DVD cover with a title like “Attack of the 100 foot hamster” the only appropriate reaction is a slap to the forehead (your own forehead that is) :)