The Changing of the Monsters

Over the years the faces of monster movies have changed and so have the monsters themselves. Monsters are no longer slow moving and dumb. The have evolved to a much quicker breed. There are two ares where this is easiest to see, zombies and vampires.

In older zombie movies, zombies were extremely slow moving. In the 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead, the zombies are so slow that people can literally walk right past them. The only reason the zombies are any trouble at all is because the people board themselves into a house. The zombies eventually overwhelm the house and eat the peoples brains. This brings up another thing about zombies from older movies, they really like eating brains. I mean, why brains? Are brains really that delicious? Maybe the zombies thinks that if they eat brains they will get smarter...I don't know.

In new zombie movies the zombies are much faster and ferocious. In the new age zombie thriller, 28 Days Later, the zombies could probaly compete with an olympic relay team, as far as speed goes. The zombies in this movie are not that smart, but they seemed to have heightened senses, specifically smell and hearing. Theses new zombies seem to have a different pallet then old school zombies. These zombies do not eat the same amount of brains, they tend to prefer a big meaty leg.

The next monster that is changing is the vampire. Think of what old vampire movies were. Movies like Nosferatu portray vampires as old guys that are creepy and live in castles. Vampires were portrayed as very suave and they have this sort of sex appeal about them that the opposite sex cannot refuse. Old school vampires used there charm to seduce their victims, they also seemed to have a type of mind control. Vampires used to be something that was very feared and respected. People did not want to be associated with that vampire lifestyle.

Vampires nowadays are young and cool. Think of Blade, which is not really a horror movie, but shows how vampires are seen in society today. Vampires are younger. They no longer live is castles. They go to raves and own night clubs. In movies vampires are still seen as having a sex appeal about them. However, the lifestyle of vampires is being glorified more and more. Instead of seeing vampires as something evil and sometihng to be feared; people see vampires as a trend and a kind of stlye.

Monsters are not what they used to be. They are no longer these freaks of nature that nobody understands. Monsters are culture and monsters are everywhere.

Vampires are Fun: The Lost Boys

Maybe it's because Halloween is approaching, but I've noticed a lot of previews for horror movies. A few of films coming out are Halloween, Stephen King's: The Mist, and SAW IV. I'm very excited to see these all eventually, however, these are all sequels in a way and the Stephen King movie is based off a book. One new horror movie I have high hopes for with it's "more" original background is 30 Days of Night. I say "more" original because it is based off of a comic, although from what I've seen these don't appear to be your traditional vampires. I hope we don't have a vampire version of 28 Days Later, but either way, this movie has gotten me all pumped for vampire movies now.

Vampires seem to be a classic monster and probably one of the first that come to mind. That's why this week I want to take a close look at my favorite vampire film, The Lost Boys. This movie had large cultural impact with fashion and media. I feel immersed into the 80s whenever I watch this film and love the mixture of horror, sci-fi, and even comedy. The storyline and plot twists are very surprising and exciting compared to your average 80s movie.

The plot takes you into a small town where seemingly average group of teens come out only at night. They begin to befriend two brothers and make promises that they can stay out all night and never grow older. The brothers begin to speculate and discover that the group the older brother has been hanging out with are actually vampires trying to recruit new friends. Of course, as most horror movies go, no one believes you until someone loses a head or gets chased by the guy in the mask. There are multiple scenes involving a good mixture of surprise, thrills, and dialogue. If you're into vampires then this is a classic, a younger Kiefer Sutherland offers a great acting job as the leader of the group. Plus you can see Jack Bauer with vampire fangs. This movie will keep you guessing all the way to the end and is completely packed with every vampire myth and stereotype you could imagine. Go out and rent this one for sure.

And guess what, 20 years later they are currently making a sequel for this to be launched in 2008. Classic horror film remake and sequels seem to be a trend that will never leave us no matter how excellent/terrible the film.