Fotzlid

i'm a big fan of vampire movies. watching Fright Night as i type this. Underworld is a favorite. have stayed up late watching Lost Boys. i can sit through Interview With A Vampire.

vampires. zombies. Japanese monsters. werewolves. supersized insects (Them anyone?)

which movie monster is your favorite?

Baraka_Guru

I liked Underworld, too. I didn't think it was the greatest, but I have a crush on Kate Beckinsale, and I like shiny things.

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Fotzlid

well.... put Kate in a skin tight leather body suit and have her recite the alphabet and i'll buy the DVD.
that aside, answer the question

Baraka_Guru

Okay, then, Underworld, but not the sequel. Van Helsing kinda sucked, but I like the she-vampires in it. They were very well done.

I liked Lord of the Rings well enough, if you'd allow orcs in your list of monsters. It would be my favourite in that case.

Well, generally, I haven't seen that many monster movies, mainly because I haven't been enticed enough to see enough of them. Perhaps you can list more of your favourites to give me some ideas.

I kinda want to see Cloverfield. The previews were enticing for a change.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Jetée

Topical frame of reference: I just watched The Lost Boys last night,... twice(such an occurrence rarely happens, as I am usually fulfilled the first go-around). A nice film on how the eighties were lived. Might just become a favorite in time.



I just felt the need to supplement post with this:

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—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Fotzlid

ok

zombies: Dawn of the Dead (the re-make was pretty good too). 28 Days Later
werewolves: An American Werewolf in London
Japanese monster: Godzilla
alien: Aliens, Predator


tell me more about this one

Jetée

Kansen

A Japanese supsense horror disorientation at a locally-small hospice. On a night where the ward is too full to recieve any more patients, and the staff too over-worked to function at this capacity, the doctors come across a mysterious unidentified patient with the most debilating form of of an unknown infection they have ever witnessed, that seems to be rotting the person to its very core. What would happen if the patient vanishes soon afterwards, and subsequently, one by one, the staff begins to inherit dementia and displaying signs of the malignent disease? How will it end?

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Fotzlid

i have to see that one

Plan9

Werewolves, Zombies, Vampires.

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Fotzlid

any particular movie your favorite?

(looks like i have to be a bit more precise with my questions )

Hain

Dog Soldiers - By far my favorite monster movie. There is a line somewhere in the special features, "This isn't a movie about werewolves. No, this is a soldier movie, there just happen to be werewolves."

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Plan9

Werewolves: Fright Night
Zombies: Dawn of the (Living) Dead
Vampires: Lost Boys

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"You should not drink... and bake."

blahblah454

Underworld was pretty good, love that movie.
The remake of Dawn of the Dead was pretty sweet. I hated 28 days/weeks later. The old dawn of the dead and night of the living deads were awesome.

something red

The 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a very effective exercise in paranoia, and I suppose it could be considered a zombie film of sorts.

As far as vampires go, I don't feel they are effectively frightening or even very believable in films. They are usually portrayed in exactly the same manner as what came before, other than the occasional tweaking of some nonsensical technicality - such as an immunity to holy water or a love of garlic or some other non-imaginative twist. The one exception I can think of would be Nicholas Cage's Vampire's Kiss, from back in the days when he was actually a very brave, risk-taking actor. It is a smaller film, but very bizarre, and like nothing else I've seen. Certainly his best performance ever.

I have a soft spot for John Carpenter's The Thing. No excuses; I just really like it a lot. We'll call it my guilty pleasure.

As for werewolves, I can't think of anything impressive, other than An American Werewolf, which has already been mentioned above. It has the right amount of humor and a perfect soundtrack and some genuinely creepy moments.

Plan9

Oh-hell-yes.

Doesn't fit into this thread, but it is always mentioned as a top horror movie.

John Carpenter is a horror god. His "Vampires" was awesome, too.

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Whatever you can carry.

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Sue

Interview with a Vampire, Queen of the Damned, Bram Stoker's Dracula, both Underworlds, and I think that's it. I'm a big vampire movie fan

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Nikilidstrom

I enjoy vampires from more of a sci fi angle than as an icon of horrror. I love to see them kickin each others asses, ala Blade, or trying to discover the purpose and origins of their existence, ala the Ann Rice Vampire Chronicles. I did really enjoy 30 Days of Night, despite the horrific camera work during the action scenes.

Pretty much the same for werewolves, although American Werewolf in London and Silver bullet were two of my favs. The Howling series was far to hokey for me, especially when they switched to marcupial werewolves.

And Zombies are by far my favorite horror icons. Doesn't matter what the plot or the quality of the film, if there is a zombie in it, I'm watching it. Day of the Dead is probably my favorite, mostly for the amazing gore effects more so than the plot. I'm currently reading a graphic novel series called The Walking Dead, involving the world's fall to the undead, and people trying to survive in that world, which would make an insane HBO series, or maybe a series of films. And for the record, 28 Days/Weeks are not Zombie movies, or good movies for that matter.

Willravel

I adore "The Thing" with Kurt Russel. Totally fucked up and wonderful film, and easily one of the better adaptations from a Steven King novel.

More recently, the trans-dimensional insects in "The Mist" impressed me quite a bit. I'll be getting that on DVD as soon as it's available so I can scare everyone.

As far as Werwolves? American Werwolf in Paris stands alone. Damn good movie.

Vampires? There's a lot of crap in this category. The 1992 adaptation of Dracula was fantastic, and Interview was...interesting. Honestly, though, I'm still waiting for a perfect vampire movie. I'd love to see Michael Mann, John Frankenheimer, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Joe Carnahan or one of the Scott brothers really seriously tackle the characters and legend with a very serious and visceral take. So far we either get camp or... well confusing camp.

Zombies? 28 Days Later is probably the perfect zombie movie, even topping of one of my favorites, Dawn of the Dead. Honorable mention goes to Army of Darkness for being the most entertaining film ever.

ring

I saw this in a theatre, the year the town officials banned trick-or treating,
after the first of the razor in the apple incidences.

This movie was fairly racy for 1970. Yes I am old.

Hain

Oh crap ring broke out the Midnite Movies... >recalls all the MST3K nights, looks over towards DVD shelves< I am still waiting for the perfect [meaning great] vampire movie to come along, same with a pure zombie movie. 28 Days Later was good in my opinion, however that isn't pure zombie-rising-from-the-dead movie. I have to drop Reanimator here for a zombie movie.

Reanimator as a zombie movie? I laugh when I watch it, because I love Jeff Combs in whatever he does (he's like the Jim Carry of sci-fi to me) and Stuart Gordon will always have a special place in my heart (Robot Jox will never leave me).

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mrklixx

I like Dracula 2000 for having the most interesting explanation of the Dracula Legend.

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roachboy

wild zero is the finest zombie film, in my humble but doctrinaire opinion.

i like alot of south korean horror films because they mess with your head.
most monster films let you watch.
every once they take a break from letting you watch to scare the piss out of you.
then they go back to letting you watch.
like that's the hard part.

i liked alien though.

and the creature from the black lagoon too, but not for the same reasons.

and hammer films: christopher lee as dracula kinda things. bad lighting.

and "tetsuo man of iron."
definitely.

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ring

Off topic for a moment...still get bad dreams from the 'Blind Alley'
segment from the 1972 Tales from the Crypt...razor blades..

I saw Alien as a sneak preview, I clung to my mothers thigh.

Jetée

I was in awe of myself that I was able to sit through and watch this film in its entirety.

__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Nikilidstrom

Reanimator is hilarious. Be-headed Zombie cunnilingus makes that one an instant classic.

I also forgot to mention Dead Alive, or Brain Dead as I think it is also known. That flick is the craziest zombie film I've ever seen, and I think it still holds the record for most fake blood used in a movie.

Charlatan

George Romero's Martin is one of the oddest of vampire films ever. I would have to vote it as a favourite.

Ringu, as a horror film, scared the crap out of me.

Peter Jackson's Dead Alive is also pure camp Zombie genius. In fact, Peter Jackson is one of the masters of the sub genre of Horrality (a sort of mish mash of comedy and horror). Sam Raimi and his Evil Dead trilogy is up there as well.

I just introduced my son to The Thing a few weeks ago (he gave it two thumbs up). This 80s remake is a study in the paranoia of isolation and mistrust. A simple premise done very well.

Another great vampire film is The Hunger. Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon... nothing like some steamy lesbian vampire action (with a dash of doomed David Bowie).

I will also second roachboy's addition of Tetsuo: The Iron Man. Very freaky Japanese horror.

If you are in to the classics or are a completionist who likes to see where films evolved from... check out some of these films:

Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton's horror films: Cat People (1942) I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and The Leopard Man (1943)

Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast (1963) and Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) He is probably the creator of the slasher/gore genre.

For Zombie fans you really must screen the George A Romero classics Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. A must!

Ghost stories... there are many but one always stands out for me, perhaps because I saw it when I was a kid, The Changeling. This is just a study in creep and claustrophobia. George C Scott's new house is trying to tell him something.

Up there too is Poltergeist...

Let me think on this some more...

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