Iconography of the Terror-Able
Okay, a few days back, greygirlbeast had a link to
Yahoo's 20 Great Movie Creatures, with some discussion on it. She rightfully expressed some trouble with this list, particularly its reliance on very recent movies to hook the reader. The list was, admittedly, sort of lazy. I didn't get my chance to chime in on the discussion, but as it appears below, I would have had more to say than just a few asides. So, here I present some of the more iconic of Movie Critters, according to no particular objective standard*:
1. Romero Zombies: While the shambling masses had sort of been represented before (in innumerable mid-20th century Mummy movies), Romero took what was a very minor ghoul and turned it into a cultural icon like few others. (Derivations: Return of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later)
2. Eddie Quist, from The Howling: Bipedal wolf-headed werewolves, done for the first time nearly convincingly (as opposed to man-in-suit costuming, etc.). Probably did more to settle the werewolf in popular culture than any prior film, and helped (a lot) by An American Werewolf in London. (Derivations: Silver Bullet (film, not the novel), Dog Soldiers, any number of table-top Roleplaying games).
3. Vermithrax Pejorative from Dragonslayer: She was the best, she was the baddest, and she was just a lonesome baby-momma who had to make ends meet. Dragonslayer remains, in my opinion, the best straight-up fantasy movie ever made up until Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Made even better by its consistent attempts to subvert fantasy tropes. (Derivations: They keep trying, but never get it right. Dragonheart, Eragon, Breath of Fire)
4. The Martians, from War of the Worlds: Inhuman, tentacled creatures from outer space who wish (for reasons which are never explicitly made by the Martians) to wipe out humanity like the petty vermin they are. Humanity is nearly powerless against the monstrous invaders. Hmm. Sound familiar? (Derivations: Too numerous to name. See link.)
5. Velociraptors, from Jurassic Park: Now, say what you want about the scientific accuracy of the film (no, wait, don't - we don't have room), but the 'raptors of this film did quite a bit to get people interested in "giant lizards" again. I think it is fair to say that the film canon has rarely returned to the ambling behemoths of yesteryear since Spielberg's adaptation first stunned us in this increasingly dated film. Still, worth a mention here for its influence. (Derivations: And yet, I can't think of a decent example. It's more of an issue of what people stopped doing rather than how they copied this film.)
6. Andromeda, The Andromeda Strain: Is it a critter? Are you going to stick around to think about it? It's still a principle antagonist in this early, serious technothriller. The fact that the killer is completely invisible to the naked eye only enhances the suspense that it can generate. Andromeda, and it's well-established silent partner (Time) became one of the newest ideas for disaster horror and should be hailed as one of the modern progenitors of medical suspense. (Derivations: Outbreak, 28 days Later, Cabin Fever)
7. The Blob, The Blob: Okay, while we do not see too many films with protoplasmic goo eating small towns, I actually connect this iconic critter to the tradition of Body Horror. The article also mentions original iteration of The Fly, which I find a reasonable substitute. (derivations: The Stuff, 1982 version of The Thing, Phantoms, Anything by David Cronenberg.)
8. Hill House, The Haunting: If you haven't seen this film (the original, that is), you are missing out on a lot. Haunted Houses are a dime a dozen, often relying on vulgar spectres and implausible deathtraps (Pool of acid? WTF?) in order to whittle down the cast. The original Haunting let the mind do all the work, no spooks or decapitating pendulums required. It was, perhaps, just a bad place where bad things happened. And if you let that mindset get to you, then really, Hill House would be picking you from its teeth. Great critter, rarely seen done subtly. (Derivations: The Legend of Hell House, The Blair Witch Project)
9. The Invaders from Mars/Pod People, from Invaders from Mars & Invasion of the Pod People, respectively: "We have seen the enemy; And they are us." Hard to tell which had a bigger impact, but this paranoia inducing possibility that those around us may not be what we think they are speaks volumes of our fears and insecurities about the foreign and alien. Any film which seeks for us to question our neighbors on a primal, xenophobic level, pulls at least part of its inspiration from these films. (Derivations: Any remake of the originals, Village of the Damned, The Invasion, Fallen, the 80-90s War of the Worlds TV series)
10. Triffids, Day of the Triffids: Not seen much these days, but are definitely inspiration for any film which uses manifest nature (particularly flora) actively pursuing or destroying humanity or individuals. A rare icon, which only makes it that much more effective when done correctly. (Derivations: The Ruins, Descent, Pitch Black, The Birds [although it's cruel to call it a derivation])
11. The Skeksis from The Dark Crystal: These things scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, voice talent contributing to the effect immensely. The Chamberlain was like some kind of nightmarish, demonic Grover (hook nose and all, yo) screeching straight to my lizard brain. Truth told, the Skeksis are the only thing from this mid-80s film which even barely stands the test of time. Its influence? You can make the bad guys scary, even in a kid film. Trust me, they will remember it: fascination in their horror. (Derivations: Pan's Labrynith is perhaps one of the only, since Hollywood films are so terrified of making a kids film where the monsters are justifiably scary and evil.)
12. Daleks from Doctor Who: While they only made it to the big screen two times, the Daleks are probably the most iconic critters in Sci-Fi that did not originate in America. It's hard to say exactly what they influenced, but their iconic status has been linked to the British national identity (I'm behind the sofa with ya, folks). Perhaps their iconic status transcends the ability for another work to be able to derive from them, although we could find plenty of killer robots (okay, cyborgs/aliens in power-armor, technically) here and there.
Now, I agreed with the following already on the list:
13. Gollum.
14. Godzilla.
15. The Xenomorph.
16. Jabba the Hutt. (I might add Yoda here too, but WTF)
17. King Kong.
18. The Skeletons (or any Ray Harryhausen work).
19. Flying monkeys.
20. Abe Sapien (or just Doug Jones in general).
Although greygirlbeast confirmed votes for Davey Jones, I have to draw him back to Lovecraft, and then back to Wells' War of the Worlds (above). E.T.? Sure, recognizable, but what has been done with him since? Meh.
Now as for 20 movie critters which should be considered for icon status in the future? Ah, that's a different list.
-12th
* Critter being mostly non-human, or human-analogue; Iconic being an early (if not earliest) and exemplary execution of a concept or idea, with significant influence on subsequent iterations or interpretations of that same concept or idea.
Yahoo's 20 Great Movie Creatures, with some discussion on it. She rightfully expressed some trouble with this list, particularly its reliance on very recent movies to hook the reader. The list was, admittedly, sort of lazy. I didn't get my chance to chime in on the discussion, but as it appears below, I would have had more to say than just a few asides. So, here I present some of the more iconic of Movie Critters, according to no particular objective standard*:
1. Romero Zombies: While the shambling masses had sort of been represented before (in innumerable mid-20th century Mummy movies), Romero took what was a very minor ghoul and turned it into a cultural icon like few others. (Derivations: Return of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later)
2. Eddie Quist, from The Howling: Bipedal wolf-headed werewolves, done for the first time nearly convincingly (as opposed to man-in-suit costuming, etc.). Probably did more to settle the werewolf in popular culture than any prior film, and helped (a lot) by An American Werewolf in London. (Derivations: Silver Bullet (film, not the novel), Dog Soldiers, any number of table-top Roleplaying games).
3. Vermithrax Pejorative from Dragonslayer: She was the best, she was the baddest, and she was just a lonesome baby-momma who had to make ends meet. Dragonslayer remains, in my opinion, the best straight-up fantasy movie ever made up until Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Made even better by its consistent attempts to subvert fantasy tropes. (Derivations: They keep trying, but never get it right. Dragonheart, Eragon, Breath of Fire)
4. The Martians, from War of the Worlds: Inhuman, tentacled creatures from outer space who wish (for reasons which are never explicitly made by the Martians) to wipe out humanity like the petty vermin they are. Humanity is nearly powerless against the monstrous invaders. Hmm. Sound familiar? (Derivations: Too numerous to name. See link.)
5. Velociraptors, from Jurassic Park: Now, say what you want about the scientific accuracy of the film (no, wait, don't - we don't have room), but the 'raptors of this film did quite a bit to get people interested in "giant lizards" again. I think it is fair to say that the film canon has rarely returned to the ambling behemoths of yesteryear since Spielberg's adaptation first stunned us in this increasingly dated film. Still, worth a mention here for its influence. (Derivations: And yet, I can't think of a decent example. It's more of an issue of what people stopped doing rather than how they copied this film.)
6. Andromeda, The Andromeda Strain: Is it a critter? Are you going to stick around to think about it? It's still a principle antagonist in this early, serious technothriller. The fact that the killer is completely invisible to the naked eye only enhances the suspense that it can generate. Andromeda, and it's well-established silent partner (Time) became one of the newest ideas for disaster horror and should be hailed as one of the modern progenitors of medical suspense. (Derivations: Outbreak, 28 days Later, Cabin Fever)
7. The Blob, The Blob: Okay, while we do not see too many films with protoplasmic goo eating small towns, I actually connect this iconic critter to the tradition of Body Horror. The article also mentions original iteration of The Fly, which I find a reasonable substitute. (derivations: The Stuff, 1982 version of The Thing, Phantoms, Anything by David Cronenberg.)
8. Hill House, The Haunting: If you haven't seen this film (the original, that is), you are missing out on a lot. Haunted Houses are a dime a dozen, often relying on vulgar spectres and implausible deathtraps (Pool of acid? WTF?) in order to whittle down the cast. The original Haunting let the mind do all the work, no spooks or decapitating pendulums required. It was, perhaps, just a bad place where bad things happened. And if you let that mindset get to you, then really, Hill House would be picking you from its teeth. Great critter, rarely seen done subtly. (Derivations: The Legend of Hell House, The Blair Witch Project)
9. The Invaders from Mars/Pod People, from Invaders from Mars & Invasion of the Pod People, respectively: "We have seen the enemy; And they are us." Hard to tell which had a bigger impact, but this paranoia inducing possibility that those around us may not be what we think they are speaks volumes of our fears and insecurities about the foreign and alien. Any film which seeks for us to question our neighbors on a primal, xenophobic level, pulls at least part of its inspiration from these films. (Derivations: Any remake of the originals, Village of the Damned, The Invasion, Fallen, the 80-90s War of the Worlds TV series)
10. Triffids, Day of the Triffids: Not seen much these days, but are definitely inspiration for any film which uses manifest nature (particularly flora) actively pursuing or destroying humanity or individuals. A rare icon, which only makes it that much more effective when done correctly. (Derivations: The Ruins, Descent, Pitch Black, The Birds [although it's cruel to call it a derivation])
11. The Skeksis from The Dark Crystal: These things scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, voice talent contributing to the effect immensely. The Chamberlain was like some kind of nightmarish, demonic Grover (hook nose and all, yo) screeching straight to my lizard brain. Truth told, the Skeksis are the only thing from this mid-80s film which even barely stands the test of time. Its influence? You can make the bad guys scary, even in a kid film. Trust me, they will remember it: fascination in their horror. (Derivations: Pan's Labrynith is perhaps one of the only, since Hollywood films are so terrified of making a kids film where the monsters are justifiably scary and evil.)
12. Daleks from Doctor Who: While they only made it to the big screen two times, the Daleks are probably the most iconic critters in Sci-Fi that did not originate in America. It's hard to say exactly what they influenced, but their iconic status has been linked to the British national identity (I'm behind the sofa with ya, folks). Perhaps their iconic status transcends the ability for another work to be able to derive from them, although we could find plenty of killer robots (okay, cyborgs/aliens in power-armor, technically) here and there.
Now, I agreed with the following already on the list:
13. Gollum.
14. Godzilla.
15. The Xenomorph.
16. Jabba the Hutt. (I might add Yoda here too, but WTF)
17. King Kong.
18. The Skeletons (or any Ray Harryhausen work).
19. Flying monkeys.
20. Abe Sapien (or just Doug Jones in general).
Although greygirlbeast confirmed votes for Davey Jones, I have to draw him back to Lovecraft, and then back to Wells' War of the Worlds (above). E.T.? Sure, recognizable, but what has been done with him since? Meh.
Now as for 20 movie critters which should be considered for icon status in the future? Ah, that's a different list.
-12th
* Critter being mostly non-human, or human-analogue; Iconic being an early (if not earliest) and exemplary execution of a concept or idea, with significant influence on subsequent iterations or interpretations of that same concept or idea.