Each generation has its own monsters and if you explore their stories more deeply you can realize that each one is somehow connected to some real fear, anxiety, insecurity or concern, which is exactly what has made them legendary characters one of the best movies ever.
In 1931, Universal released Frankenstein , an adaptation of Mary Shelly ‘s classic 1818 novel, a horror film in which during a dark and stormy night, a mad scientist manages to bring to life a hideous creature he created using body parts. of dead people. Doctor Frankenstein uses the power of lightning from the storm to generate a current and awaken the monster from him, creating in the process one of the most famous scenes in horror movies.
That horror movie was not only a hit, it was the one that allowed Universal to create a universe of monsters that would come to include mummies, werewolves and vampires, all of them connected with a fascination for science and its possibilities that everyone seemed to share at the time. The monsters changed over time, they went from the classics to aliens, superhuman assassins (like Freddy Krueger) or even machines, but the essence remains the same and these terrible characters continue to reveal the reality that is hidden behind our irrational fears, social context and even political problems.
Without the science, Frankenstein would have been too unreal (Shelly was obsessed with science when she wrote her novel, and she was only 18), without the space race Alien and his Xenomorphs would probably be too remote to be scary, and without the psychology, characters. Since witches or even vampires themselves would lose a lot of their strength, fortunately we live in a world where everything can be terrifying and even the simplest elements (like a carnivorous plant, for example) can become a great villain.
Now monsters continue to obsess us (either because of nostalgia or because deep down we are not as different as we like to think) and there are dozens of great horror movies in which we can explore a little more of that.
Here are some of the best monster movies in movie history:
The Pan’s Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro hit the nail on the head with this story that takes us to Franco’s times in Spain, where we meet a girl who seeks to escape her reality and make sense of everything that is happening around her. The horrors of war make a contrast with the character of the Faun, an ancient creature that appears with the promise of opening a door to another world, but for that, several tests must be overcome that put Ofelia in great danger, which is not it sounds so bad to you when you compare it to having to live with a cruel and ruthless captain.
Del Toro’s monsters are perfect and few things are as haunting as the Pale Man with eyes in his hands and an unquenchable thirst for the blood of children.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula / What We Do in the Shadows
Francis Ford Coppola directed one of the best film adaptations of the Dracula story , in which Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder become the couple who unknowingly find themselves at the center of the obsession of an ancient vampire who believes recognize the woman of his life in the Murray Mine of the present. Gary Oldman was the perfect villain in this cult film that received 4 Oscar nominations and won in the categories of best costumes, effects and makeup.
On the other hand, What We Do in the Shadows follows a group of millennial vampires who have to live as roommates in the current era, having to adapt to a world that no longer fears them as before.
The Babadook
Jennifer Kent did a great job with this story about despair, frustration, paranoia and anxiety, manifested through a strange monster from children’s stories that appears to psychologically torture a mother and her son. Kent does an analysis of depression and grief with the help of a great performance by Essie David and a monster that could very well be a shadow in the dark corner of the room.