Monster's Blog

'How to Make a Monster' is an entertaining and affectionate tribute to the monster movie, from the studios of Samuel Z. Arkoff.

The plot involves monster make-up artist Pete Drumond being told by incoming executives that his services are no longer needed. Monster movies, he is told, are out of fashion. He is told leave when he finishes his current picture. Devastated by the news, he plots his revenge, enlisting the help of two of his own creations, Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein.

Touchingly nostalgic, the opening scenes in and around the studios, with the make-up artist defending his trade and the genre, are a real treat for monster fans, for whom the movie will generate a warm glow.

The performances are better than you might expect from such B-Movie fare, with the interplay between Robert H. Harris as Pete Drumond and Paul Brinegar as his assistant Rivero being particularly engaging. Rivero begins the movie a loyal companion, but once the murders take place the originally sympathetic character of the make-up artist becomes more and more wicked, and it becomes apparent that Rivero is in fact not loyal but subservient.

When the police begin to uncover the truth behind the murders, the film picks up pace and the film's climax (for which the film switches from black and white to glorious Technicolor) provides a satisfying ending involving a gallery of monsters and a violent confrontation.

'How to Make a Monster' is released on DVD as part of the Arkoff Film Library Collection. It is attractively presented, with a great collection of postcards inside featuring posters from other Arkoff movies like 'War of the Colossal Beast' and 'She-Creature'. The DVD also contains a 45 minute audio interview of Arkoff by the Guardian.

Essential viewing for Monster fans!

'Undead or Alive' tells the story of two cowboys played by Chris Kattan and James 'Desperate Housewives' Denton, on the run from the town sheriff and his posse, who also happen to be zombies.

Yes, 'Undead or Alive' is a Zombie Western, which, as genre mash-ups go, certainly sounds promising on paper. And it is written and directed by Glasgow Phillips, one of the co-creators of the TV series 'South Park', which suggests that it might be a lot of fun. But does the film live up to its potential?

Well, the short answer is 'no'. 'Undead or Alive' is a disappointment. Unlike other comedy zombie movies, such as Peter Jackson's 'Braindead' or Simon Pegg's 'Shaun of the Dead', it isn't funny enough when it plays for laughs, and isn't scary or outrageous enough when it goes for the scares or gore.

Though that's not to say that 'Undead or Alive' is a bad film. There are laughs to be had in the first half hour, such as in the can shooting sequence, and the chemistry between Denton and Kattan is likeable enough, and generates a handful of amusing one-liners.

Also, credit where credit is due, the zombie make-up is pretty effective too. The zombie in the jail in the opening scenes is particularly gruesome, with a genuinely revolting pallor, conveying a deadness absent from many other zombie films.

The problems develop once the action picks up. Once the cowboys team up with Native American Navi Rawat and battle hordes of zombie soldiers, it all gets a bit tiresome. There's only so many times you can watch a zombie being shot in the head before the novelty wears off, and there's little time set aside for the kind of dialogue that kept the momentum going in the first half hour.

Though it is hard to dislike 'Undead or Alive' it is even harder to recommend it. It passes the time well enough, and isn't without its moments, but it is ultimately something of a missed opportunity.

'Exorcist II: The Heretic' is a much maligned film (unfairly so in my opinion), and consequently its soundtrack often gets overlooked. Which is a great shame, as it is composed by none other than legendary film score composer Ennio Morricone, and is in fact one of his most powerful scores.

The soundtrack CD opens with the main theme 'Regans Theme'. It is a haunting melody, with female vocals that waver between wistfulness, tenderness and slight but discernable menace. It is followed by an abrupt change in mood with the driving, staccato rhythms of 'Pazuzu' which boils up a heady broth of tribal rhythms, chants and edgy wind.

This contrast in tempo and mood is characteristic of the soundtrack as a whole. At times, Morricone seduces the listener with heart-wrenching strings ('Interrupted Melody - Suspend Sound'), while elsewhere he builds up the tension with pieces like 'Rite of Magic' which seem to prowl around soundspace, waiting for a moment to strike.

Other than the main theme, there is one other stand-out piece, the astonishing guitar-driven 'Magic and Ecstasy' which whirls dervish-like in a frenzied attempt to keep up with itself. It is an exhilerating ride, though one which ends abruptly at the precipice of 'Seduction and Magic', an interlude which leaves the listener hanging in a void of sinister, whispered incantations.

Suffice to say that the score to 'Exorcist II: The Heretic' is richly textured, dynamic, beautiful and scary. For me it is one of finest horror movie scores ever written, and one that I consider an essential listen for fans of the genre. And don't believe all that you read about the film itself, either - whilst it doesn't live up to expectations made by the first film (what could?) it is nonetheless a thoughtful, intelligent and sincere film, which is alone something to be treasured.

'It Came From Outer Space' is a classic of 1950s science fiction, telling the story of a spaceship crashing in the desert, and subsequent emergence of shape-shifting aliens with ambiguous intentions.

Like many genre films of the 1950s, 'It Came From Outer Space' taps into the widespread fear of the communist threat, and of its potential to insiduously take over the U.S. population from within. Its device for doing so - presenting us with aliens that can take the shape of your neighbour - pre-dates and clearly inspires 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'.

In addition to a solid, paranoid, premise, the film benefits from some excellent special effects. The shots showing the aliens-eye view are resourceful and convincing, and the collapse of the crater in which the spaceship lands has a real sense of danger to it due to the fact that the rocks don't bounce around in polystyrene slow motion.

Performances from the likes of Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush are good all round, and those actors that get to play their alien alter-egos do so with suitable eerieness. The mood is also accentuated by a very versatile soundtrack which is genuinely otherworldly in places.

But for me, what really sets this film apart from the majority of its contemporaries is its script. The screenplay is based on the writing of Ray Bradbury, and in places his voice is clear. What I love about the writing of Ray Bradbury is not so much the futuristic element, but the fact that his stories are about people, and the human condition, and that he writes about them so compassionately and poetically. These qualities can clearly be seen in the touching opening scene between man and wife, and scattered throughout the rest of the story. It ensures that, as the plot progresses, the fear of that which appears human (but isn't) is felt all the more intensely, as we are more acutely aware of the humanity that can be lost.

The Region 2 DVD release features an interesting documentary on the movie, outlining the history of Universal studio's excursions into science fiction before discussing the movie in more detail. The documentary reveals that the film was originally shot in 3-D, and judging by the comments of those that saw it in the cinema, it is a shame that this DVD release didn't go the extra mile and provide the film in a 3-D format.

Nonetheless, no mater how many dimensions you view it in, 'It Came From Outer Space' is a superior slice of science fiction from the golden age of that genre, and one which I recommend wholeheartedly.

"The Final Conflict' is the worst of the trilogy of 'Omen' films, yet it arguably boasts the finest musical score. Jerry Goldsmith well and truly surpasses himself with this one.

The Main Title is tremendous, announcing itself with an outburst of French horns, the power of which recalls Modest Mussorgsky at his darkest. It is followed by male and female choirs, a signature of all the Omen scores though employed here in a more sophisticated manner, building layer upon layer of voices which seem to surge outwards like a sea of sound. What strikes the listener also is that 'Ave Satani' is nowhere to be heard, Goldsmith wisely and bravely choosing to take the music in a different direction for this film.

As befitting a film that realises the Antichrist's rise to power, the score to "The Final Conflict' is characterised by a sense of dominance, threat and power, achieved chiefly through its use of choirs and brass, who drive the music forwards in an exhilerating and often frightening manner (particularly in the Main Title and in the slow, tense build-up of 'The Blooding Reel' which makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end).

Elsewhere the chills are more disquieting - the electronic echoes of the score from 'Damien: Omen II' in the climax of 'The Lost Children' work their way under your skin in a truly unsettling way. And elsewhere still, their is respite from the horror - the pastoral themes of 'The Hunt' gallop along quite nicely (before the brass section gets hold of the reigns and takes the music in an altogether darker neck of the woods).

The finale 'The Final Conflict' is perhaps the score's finest moment (after all, if you can't pull all the stops out for the Second Coming then when can you?). Its juxtaposition of what I can only call 'Christs theme' with the Main Title provides a climax to remember. There's also a chiming in the background that sounds like it is lifted from Goldsmith's 'Alien' score ('Alien vs Jesus' - now there's an idea studio execs!).

No doubt about it, 'The Final Conflict: Omen III' is a truly masterful score, and one of Jerry Goldsmith's greatest achievements. If only the film could have been more deserving of it...