Category: Top Lists

Killer Reptile Movies To See Before CRAWL Movie

Anyone a fan of giant Crocodiles? Our watery friends have been making an appearance as of late in the news, as well as the upcoming film CRAWL.

In Florida, the state has averaged just under 10 alligator bites a year since 2010, marking a total of 85 bites in that time span up to 2018. Of the 85 bites, three were fatal but most were listed as “major” under FWC statistics. In May of this year, a woman was bitten while swimming in Fay Lake Wilderness Park in Port St. John, Florida.

In CRAWL, when a massive hurricane hits her Florida hometown, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) ignores evacuation orders to search for her missing father (Barry Pepper). Finding him gravely injured in the crawl space of their family home, the two become trapped by quickly encroaching floodwaters. As time runs out to escape the strengthening storm, Haley and her father discover that the rising water level is the least of their fears.

From director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) and producers Craig Flores (300), Sam Raimi (Don’t Breathe, Evil Dead) and Alexandre Aja, Crawl is a nail-biting horror thriller in theatres July 12, 2019.

If you’re heading out to your local cinemas this weekend, you may see these frightening stand-ups from the film.

Before heading out to catch the terrifying CRAWL, check out these films on water monsters of the lake, rivers, oceans… and yes, even your local swimming pool.

RAMPAGE

This mutant alligator traveled from the Everglades in Florida to Chicago in RAMPAGE starring Dwayne Johnson. In his review Tom Stockman wrote, “The final thirty minutes is an epic-scale WWE-style monster rally that destroys much of downtown Chicago and is directed with the same sort of panache and disaster-porn glee.” Director Brad Peyton’s over-the-top smack-down is a great matinee flick!

Read Tom Stockman’s review:
https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2018/04/rampage-review/

ROGUE

This alligator movie is so fun to watch on a Saturday afternoon. Directed by Greg Lean who helmed WOLF CREEK and more recently THE BELKO EXPERIMENT, ROGUE is the story of a group of tourists who stumble into the remote Australian river territory of an enormous crocodile. When the deadly creature capsizes their boat – trapping them on a tiny island – the film becomes very caustrophobic as the beastie closes in.

A bit of trivia: The film was inspired by the true story of Sweetheart-a giant 5.1 Metre saltwater crocodile responsible for a series of attacks between 1974- 1979, Sweetheart attacked outboard motors,dinghies,and fishing boats but never killed anyone- in July 1979 Sweetheart was finally caught alive by a team from the Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission, but drowned while being transported when he became tangled with a log, his mounted body is on permanent display at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. (IMDB)

LAKE PLACID

Steve Miner’s 1999 monster croc flick was a surprise hit, better than your typical genre outing and boasted quite a reputable cast with Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson and, of course… Betty White. Who doesn’t love Betty White? However, the cast was equaled by the massive killer crocodile on which the story was centered. Steve Irwin would have never dared wrangle this bad boy, or would he? Perhaps one of the best scenes was when the star croc leaps out onto the lake shore and gobbles up a grizzly bear. yeah… that’s right. A full grown grizzly! Wicked!

THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE

Despite its crazy title, THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE from 1959 is much better than you might think. It’s a quirky fifties cult classic that’s a lot of fun thanks to a wonky pace, some really great vintage effects work and a strong cast including Beverly Garland who gets chased through the swamp while wearing high heels. Lon Chaney steals the show as a Cajun who hates “dirty, stinking gators”, probably since one bit off his hand. He spends the film getting drunk, shooting at them and trying to run them down with his jeep. The scaly makeup for Richard Crane, who’s turning into a gator, is effective in its early stages, but when he emerges in full alligator-headed form later on, the first instinct is usually to laugh. But this is a ’50s monster movie, after all, and many creatures of this era have been bizarre. Once you get past the initial sight of the Alligator Man, the result actually comes off not too bad at all. This is an enjoyable movie of its type for the period, and also comfortably short at only 75 minutes.

GAMERA

From out of the arctic comes a gigantic flying, fire-breathing turtle that sets its sights on destroying Tokyo. GAMERA (1965) is one of those classic Japanese horror films that contains awful English dubbing, and sometimes laughable special effects, but is still great fun to watch. A skirmish between American and Soviet jets over the arctic results in one of the Soviet bombers crashing and its nuclear bomb load detonating, which causes Gamera to be melted out of the ice and wreck havoc on the world (but mostly Japan). As usual, a little kid who is sympathetic to the monster is thrown in. Probably the funniest scene is at a dance for teenagers in Tokyo, where a band is singing the Gamera theme song and eventually the monster himself makes an appearance! All in all, GAMERA is not a film that takes itself too seriously, and if the viewer takes the same attitude it is a so much fun to watch, it spawned at least a dozen sequels.

THE GIANT GILA MONSTER

Somewhere out west, a Giant Gila Monster is annoying teenagers who like to drag race. The Sheriff is not getting Federal assistance, so it is up to the local community to solve the mystery of “The Gila Monster,” Our villain, the lizard monster, is more of a regular Gila set on a miniature play set. The cars are fake, the trees are little plants, and the trains the monster is nudging  off the tracks are toys. The creature isn’t frightening, doesn’t deliver tension, and makes the screaming 50s-styled greasers and bobby-soxers look like crazy people. Still, at just 74 minutes, THE GIANT GILA MONSTER is well-remembered by monster kids of a certain age as a late-night creature feature fave.

TENTACLES

During the course of the 1977 epic TENTACLES, a giant octopus eats a baby, chows down on a one-legged sailor, shoots ink at some scuba divers, swallows a chubby gal, gorges itself on a chick in a bikini, and threatens a bunch of kids during a boat race.  John Huston (reporter), Bo Hopkins (marine biologist), Shelley Winters (loudmouth granny), Claude Akins (sheriff), and Henry Fonda (shady industrialist) star. They all look thoroughly embarrassed, but TENTACLES is a lot of fun, climaxing with Bo Hopkins giving his two trained killer whales a pep talk before sending them out to slay the octopus.

ANNIHILATION

Alligator…crocodile. Okay, so the whole movie isn’t about a killer reptile, but this great scene with the mutant albino monster is not only terrific but terrifying!

BLACK WATER

“Get out of the water now!!” Think JAWS but instead set in the mangrove swamps of Northern Australia. This terrifying tale is one of the “greats” and is a realistic, nerve-racking crocodile film.

Did you know that the film used very little CGI. The crocodile was real and practical effects were used. (IMDB)

ALLIGATOR (1980)

“It lives 50 feet beneath the streets. It’s 36 feet long. It weighs over 2,000 pounds… And it’s about to break out!” and “Alligators in the sewers” Hoo-boy this so camp… and one that had to make our list!!

PRIMEVAL (2007)

This croc film has some intense CHOMP scenes making it a must-see!

Inspired by the true story of a legendary 25-foot man-eating crocodile comes the intense, terrifying horror movie PRIMEVAL. An American news crew, determined to capture this voracious monster and stop his demonic rampage, travel deep within the darkest reaches of Africa to hunt their prey. But Gustave, as the natives call him, is also on the hunt — always on the move, always elusive, always hungry for human flesh. Heart-pounding fear is nonstop in this edge-of-your-seat nail-biter about the cunning killer who continues to blaze his blood-soaked trail of terror.

Contributed by Michelle Hannett and Tom Stockman

Must-See Zombie Films To Catch Before OVERLORD

Photo credit: Paramount Pictures © 2018 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

There’s nothing scarier than the sight of a Zombie Horde!

From 1964’s Vincent Price disconcerting THE LAST MAN ON EARTH and the 1971 Charlton Heston’s apocalyptic THE OMEGA MAN to George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, movie geeks have been fascinated with the undead feeding on the living.

With TV’s wildly successful “The Walking Dead” now in the middle of season nine, along with its partner series “Fear The Walking Dead,” fans looking for their weekly zombie fix need look no further than Paramount Pictures’ OVERLORD, opening in theatres and IMAX on November 9.

With only hours until D-Day, a team of American paratroopers drop into Nazi-occupied France to carry out a mission that’s crucial to the invasion’s success. Tasked with destroying a radio transmitter atop a fortified church, the desperate soldiers join forces with a young French villager to penetrate the walls and take down the tower. But, in a mysterious Nazi lab beneath the church, the outnumbered G.I.s come face-to-face with enemies unlike any the world has ever seen. From producer J.J. Abrams, and directed by Julius Avery, OVERLORD is a thrilling, pulse-pounding action adventure with a twist.

As OVERLORD prepares to invade theaters around the world, Abrams couldn’t be more excited to thrill a whole new generation of moviegoers. “With Overlord, what you get is an incredibly fun, terrifying, weird, freaky, bizarre, sweet, and ultimately satisfying roller coaster ride.”

Currently the film is sitting at 88% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Author Stephen King recently went to Twitter to sing the film’s praises:

Before you head out to your local cinemas to see OVERLORD this weekend, here’s a list of must-see Zombie films to catch on DVD, streaming or on Netflix.

WORLD WAR Z – This moving starts off fast and keeps a damned near break-neck pace until the end. It’s different…

DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004) – One of our all-time favorites, we got Olympic-level zombies in this one, and it reinvigorated the zombie genre.

I AM LEGEND – Okay, so, they were supposed to be vampires, but they wound up being zombies…Will Smith used his charm big time here.

28 DAYS LATER – Not technically zombies, but this one kept you jumping, and how!

ZOMBIELAND – Showing that Woody Harrelson can steal the show even from zombies. Damned those Twinkies are good.

SHAUN OF THE DEAD – A very English zombie movie; fun, funny, bloody and satisfying.

ARMY OF DARKNESS – By the end, you’ll love Ash almost as much as you love chainsaws.

STATE OF EMERGENCY – Yikes

WYRMWOOD – This shows that Aussies can turn anything funny, and the twists were outstanding.

THE HORDE – In order to avenge the murder of one of their own by a group of ruthless gangsters, four corrupt cops go on a rampage against the mob responsible. A horde of bloodthirsty cannibal zombies complicates matters. I still bang my head on the floor because of this one.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) – Really, this one deserves credit for being the scariest damned B&W movie of all time.

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) – George, you did an outstanding follow up.

THE CRAZIES – A husband and wife in a small Midwestern town find themselves battling for survival as their friends and family descend into madness in The Crazies. A mysterious toxin in the water supply turns everyone exposed to it into mindless killers and the authorities leave the uninfected to their certain doom in this terrifying reinvention of the George Romero horror classic.

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE – Milla Jovovich makes you believe that a 100lb girl in leather can destroy even a badass mutant zombie dog.

Contributed by Michelle Hannett and Marc Butterfield

7 Things You Should Love About VENOM

© 2018 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Marc Butterfield

The movie VENOM has been getting a lot of hate, despite its respectable numbers at the box office. (Global numbers to date are $461.2M)

One of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters takes center stage as Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) becomes the host for the alien symbiote Venom. As a journalist, Eddie has been trying to take down the notorious founder of the Life Foundation, genius Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) – and that obsession ruined his career and his relationship with his girlfriend, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams). Upon investigating one of Drake’s experiments, the alien Venom merges with Eddie’s body, and he suddenly has incredible new superpowers, as well as the chance to do just about whatever he wants. Twisted, dark, unpredictable, and fueled by rage, Venom leaves Eddie wrestling to control dangerous abilities that he also finds empowering and intoxicating. As Eddie and Venom need each other to get what they’re looking for, they become more and more intertwined — where does Eddie end and Venom begin?

Marvel Comics Fundamentalists say it strays too far from the original material, or just generally hate that it’s still being held captive outside of the mainstream MCU. My personal take is that Venom as a character wouldn’t function as a hero in the MCU (can you imagine Cap condoning the casual murder and cannibalism of anyone, even bad guys?).

So here is a list of 7 things that you should love about the Character and director Ruben Fleischer’s VENOM.

1. It has a good sense of humor about itself.  The symbiote even admitting that what it and Eddie Brock have in common is that they are both losers.


2. It crammed in a LOT of Venom’s past in a short time, without leaving the non-comic book fan too confused.

3. Interesting use of the characters powers…without adding powers that never existed in the comics.

4. Exploring how having two beings sharing a rather fluid new physical form might fight for dominance.

5. Eddie Brock was a self-righteous jerk, and the Symbiote was just here to help take over. Both grew beyond their original template.

6. Tom Hardy was mostly coherent, occasionally even enunciating. Perhaps an alien bonding was all he really needed.

7. An absolutely ruthless disposal of extras. The aliens ate you from the inside out if they didn’t bond. How delicious.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Sony Pictures © 2017

FIN

Best Shark Movies To Watch Before Seeing THE MEG

“You go in the cage, cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark’s in the water, our shark.” – Quint

On June 20, 1975 a thriller from a relatively unknown filmmaker was unleashed on unsuspecting theatre goers. Audiences witnessed, mostly from surface water level, the birth of the original Summer Blockbuster, Steven Spielberg’s JAWS. People had never seen this type of visceral carnage before in cinemas and subsequently it had a terrifying impact of beach goers that summer. There is something so primal and horrific about the now iconic scene of the dolly zoom on Martin Brody’s shocked face after Alex Kintner is attacked.

Based on the hit bestseller from author Peter Benchley, the suspense novel is the story of three men searching for a great white shark preying upon a beach resort. After first publication in February 1974, the novel was a great success, with the hardback staying on the bestseller list for some 44 weeks.

Summer is the perfect feeding ground for audiences looking to take a swim into theaters with Shark films. 1999 was the super fun DEEP BLUE SEA, 2016 was THE SHALLOWS, 2017 saw the release of 47 METERS DOWN, and in 2018 comes THE MEG from Warner Bros. Pictures.

Before you head out this weekend to see THE MEG, check out some of the gnarliest movie clips featuring the ocean’s (and a tornado’s?) most famous deadly predator… the shark!

BUY SHARK MOVIES  HERE

Buy Tickets to The MEG HERE

The science fiction action thriller THE MEG, directed by Jon Turteltaub, stars Jason Statham (“Spy,” “Furious 7,” “The Expendables” films) and Chinese actress Li Bingbing and swims into cinemas on August 10.

A deep-sea submersible—part of an international undersea observation program—has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific…with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing), to save the crew—and the ocean itself—from this unstoppable threat: a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. What no one could have imagined is that, years before, Taylor had encountered this same terrifying creature. Now, teamed with Suyin, he must confront his fears and risk his own life to save everyone trapped below…bringing him face to face once more with the greatest and largest predator of all time.

You can listen to the powerful score from composer Harry Gregson-Williams HERE. ““For ‘The Meg,’ I set out to create a memorable recognizable sonic motif which follows the mystery of the great Megalodon—something robust in nature, which acted as a kind of warning call and instilled an immediate sense of fear and suspense when signaled. In search of this sound, I stumbled upon the conch as an instrument of musical focus. Its call was both distinctive and ancient, and I felt it offered a voice to the vast terror of a concealed underwater world.”

Check out our list of the best SHARK films.

JAWS

“…what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, an eating machine. It’s really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that’s all.”  That statement by Matt Hooper in JAWS is pretty much the thriller in a nutshell. It’s the eating part that horrified movie goers and ocean swimmers alike in 1975. Ringing the dinner bell for Bruce the Great White Shark consisted of terrifying sequences of teeth, fins, swimmers and blood and no one was safe from being killed off. Frank Rich of The New York Times wrote, “some of the most frightening sequences in Jaws are those where we don’t even see the shark.” That is until you heard John Williams’ scary score announcing his arrival. JAWS set the standard for edge-of-your seat suspense quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon and forever changing the movie industry. JAWS won 3 Oscars including Best Score, Editing and Best Sound and nominated for Best Picture. The final battle between the shark and Chief Brody is one of the best climactic endings in film history.

Without a doubt, Spielberg’s masterpiece is what make JAWS We Are Movie Geeks #1 pick as the behemoth of all shark movies.

OPEN WATER

Presented in the cinemas at HOLY CRAP water level,  and fully aware that this will not end well, OPEN WATER was a surprise hit out of the film festival circuit. It gave the whole phrase FREAK OUT MOVIE a new meaning. Two divers, a husband and wife, return to the surface only to discover that their charter has left and they are literally in open water. The ending is still chilling.

THE SHALLOWS

In the 2016 thriller THE SHALLOWS, Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing alone on a secluded beach when she is attacked by a great white shark and stranded just a short distance from shore. Though she is only 200 yards from her survival, getting there proves the ultimate contest of wills. “Surfing alone on a secluded beach” Okay, right there you’d have to ask yourself, should I be doing this? But then we wouldn’t have a movie – and one that was really, really terrific! Blake Lively was our hero during the  summer of 2016 with her courage, smarts and tenacity in facing the shark.

DEEP BLUE SEA

Have you ever heard the phrase, “white knuckling it”? Exactly describes Renny Harlin’s awesome, frenzied 1999 shark movie and it still grabs us every time it shows up on cable or Netflix. Good plan to alter sharks to make them smart and intelligent.  LL Cool J, and his snarky lines, express what the audience is thinking. “Ooh, I’m done! Brothers never make it out of situations like this! Not ever!” Playing the preacher and cook, he has the best scene in the film, even over Samuel L. Jackson’s demise, surviving the sharks by climbing into one of his stoves. Being trapped below the surface in a laboratory while sharks are hunting you down made for one scary ride.

47 METERS DOWN

When the first trailer was released showing the two sisters jumping into the cage to watch sharks on a holiday excursion, everyone thought these women were lining themselves up to be a hot lunch. And boy did they ever. Director Johannes Roberts’ 47 METERS DOWN film is RIDICULOUS scary! Besides the sharks, and plunging to the ocean floor… the movie was constantly showing how much air they had left, leaving the movie-goer in a full blown panic. Audiences screamed out loud like 3 times during the opening weekend. And the end is sooooooooo brutal!!!!!!! BRUTAL!!!! Moviegoers had all that shark terror in their head when they left the theater. The film left us scared witless and was a DEFINITE must-see in the theater.

LAKE PLACID

Yep, not a shark movie, but it may as well have been. It’s pretty much JAWS set on a lake, but it was so much fun the summer of 1999. First off, who in their right mind goes swimming in a lake? That’s what pools are for! But if you decide to venture into your nearby lake, you’re on your own and risk running into all sort of nasty beasties, including a gigantic killer crocodile.

And finally, the Syfy TV movie and social media phenom, “Sharknado“. We had to go with the ultimate clip, Chainsaw vs Jaws. Enjoy.

Contributed by Melissa Thompson, Cate Marquis and Michelle Hannett.

Best Women Characters In Sci-Fi Cinema

Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson and Tuva Novotnyin Annihilation from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

Contributed by Cate Marquis, Melissa Thompson and Michelle Hannett

Opening in cinemas on Friday, February 23rd, is Skydance Media’s and Paramount Pictures’ ANNIHILATION.

Lena (Natalie Portman), a biologist and former soldier, joins a mission to uncover what happened to her husband (Oscar Isaac) inside “Area X” — a sinister and mysterious phenomenon that is expanding across the American coastline. Once inside, the all-female expedition discovers a world of mutated landscapes and creatures, as dangerous as it is beautiful, that threatens both their lives and their sanity. From visionary writer and director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) and based on the acclaimed bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer, ANNIHILATION also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez and Tuva Novotny.

Women characters in sci-fi have gone from the films of the 40’s and 50’s where they fell into the traditional roles of having to be saved, to the 1970’s and beyond where they became the brave saviors. Ripley, Sarah Connor, Princess Leia to Katniss Everdeen and Beatrice “Tris” Prior, women of the genre are now presented as ferocious, bright and intelligent warriors.

Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER L to R: Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Ayo (Florence Kasumba) with the Dora Milaje ©Marvel Studios 2018

And Marvel has done an amazing job with the portrayal of powerful women throughout their films. This is particularly true for the women of Wakanda in BLACK PANTHER, especially Dora Milaje, the all-female Wakandan Special Forces, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), the elite fighter of the Valkyrior who are incredibly powerful female warriors, and Hela (Cate Blanchett), the first lead female villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with cybernetic warrior Nebula and deadly assassin Gamorra (Karen Gillan and Zoe Saldana), and Black Widow played by Scarlett Johannson.

Theaters during the summer of 2017 saw the rise of DC Comics hero, Wonder Woman. For 75 years, Diana of Themyscira has stood as one of the world’s foremost super heroes and an icon for women worldwide. The combination of beauty, brains, and brawn, she’s been a feminist icon since her star-spangled intro in 1941.

The women of WAMG take a look at some of the best female women characters in sci-fi. While these protagonists may have began their journeys lacking the confidence or fortitude, they became strong-willed, take charge leaders that young girls and women have looked up to for decades.

Lt. Ellen Ripley from Alien series (Sigourney Weaver)

The fact that the role of Ripley was originally written for a man is part of why the character is so strong, but Ridley Scott’s decision to cast a woman and his choice of Sigourney Weaver sealed the deal on this ground-breaking sci-fi heroine. The Nostromo is a gritty working ship, even if it is in space, and a tough woman like Ripley is a perfect fit. Weaver takes this character way beyond just strong, with a woman who has brains as well as bravery, keeping her head while those around her lose theirs.

Weaver garnered an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Ellen Ripley in James Cameron’s sequel ALIENS.

Read our look at at ALIEN here.

Wonder Woman (DC Comics)

It took a group of mighty Wonder Women to rescue the 2017 summer box office. Lead by director Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot, Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright, one of the world’s greatest superheroes had the largest opening of all time and the biggest opening in June for a superhero movie. Wonder Woman was one of the best-reviewed superhero films ever and we said as much in our review of the blockbuster.

“WONDER WOMAN is here to straighten things out, and put all those squabbling men in their place. A woman superhero movie was long overdue, and Wonder Woman is a terrific character. Many agree that Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman was the highlight of the ponderous BATMAN VS SUPERMAN. Having a woman director, Patty Jenkins, at the helm is just that much sweeter.”

Princess Leia from Star Wars (Carrie Fisher)

“I don’t know who you are or where you came from but from now on you’ll do as I tell you, okay?”―Leia Organa

When it comes to female badass characters, Princess Leia Organa (Skywalker) is hands-down, the OG.

Fans first met Her Highness back in 1977 in STAR WARS, the first of 5 Star Wars saga films she would appear in. From the minute we saw her, she was breaking both royal protocol and stereotype by acting as a spy for the Rebel Alliance, against the evil Imperial Empire. I mean, come on, acting as a spy and receiving stolen plans to take down an entire Empire? That’s about as badass as it gets. But to be fair, it’s in her DNA. Leia and her twin brother Luke were the children of Galactic Republic Senator Padmé Amidala, who died right after labor, and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who had recently fallen to the dark side of the Force to become everyone’s favorite villain, Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Using both her fighting skills (she can wield a blaster with the best of them) and her sharp wit, Princess Leia is not one to tangle with. Oh, and there’s also that little thing she has called THE FORCE. Go on Leia, lead the way for all the badass chicks that followed in your footsteps.

Sarah Connor from The Terminator series (Linda Hamilton)

“I didn’t ask for this honor and I don’t want it! Any of It!” No one is born the mother of a man who will save the world, but Sarah Connor rises to the occasion and confronts Skynet and the unstoppable killing machines in the sci-fi classic. Facing the various Terminators, Connor goes from mousy waitress to a tough, buff soldier resolved to protect humanity and her son. “Do I look like the mother of the future,” she asks Kyle Reese… and to that, we say a resounding YES!

Lara Croft from Tomb Raider series (Angelina Jolie) 

Kaiser Hwang of PlayStation Magazine commented that she “brought girl power” to video games. Tomb Raider is the story that sets a young and resolute Lara Croft on a path toward becoming a global hero. The latest film stars Oscar winner Alicia Vikander, but it was Angelina Jolie who boldly combined sexuality, ferocity with a sharp mind. Croft’s inherently stubborn spirit was a perfect fit for Jolie and we look forward to Vikander’s new perilous adventure earning her the name Tomb Raider.

Alice from Resident Evil series (Milla Jovovich)

Resident Evil has grown to become one the most successful game-to-movie franchise in the history of cinema, the first five installments in the franchise having grossed in excess of $1 billion worldwide and earning consistent No. 1 openings at the box-office. Thrilling fans of Capcom’s original video game and action/sci-fi movie audiences alike, the movie franchise has built up a hardcore fan base in the millions and reputation of its own over the 14 years that it has enthralled audiences with cutting edge action and a continually novel approach to the sci-fi/action genre.

In the world of cinema that is saturated with male leads in action films, Milla Jovovich’s Alice is an example of a strong female action hero who can hold her own while battling the T-virus in Raccoon City.  Jovovich is a fierce actress (as she showed in THE FIFTH ELEMENT) and she conveys focused rage well … especially against the zombie apocalypse.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games (Jennifer Lawrence)

“Who run the world? Girls!” Led by a teenage girl, Katniss Everdeen is a warrior, but a different kind.

Author Suzanne Collins has described Katniss as being an independent strong survivalist, lethal, but good at thinking outside the box in the post-apocalyptic world. In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death — televised for all of Panem to see.

When the film arrived in theaters, NY Times‘ Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott examined how the film was marketed. “Just look at Kristen Stewart in those posters for the next “Snow White” movie, looking more like a killer Joan of Arc than a Disney ingénue. The female warriors of an earlier generation — Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and then Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor in the “Terminator” movies — were vessels of maternal rage, grown-ups weaponizing their protective instincts. Katniss and her cohort seem to be channeling a different kind of anger and playing to a different set of fantasies.”

Imperator Furiosa from Mad Max (Charlize Theron)

Director George Miller turned his signature Mad Max formula inside out, with Tom Hardy’s Max virtually the timid damsel to Charlize Theron’s the fierce warrior Furiosa. Theron has played tough women before, drawing on her own challenging childhood in rural South Africa, but Furiosa is bracing in her power and presence. The fiercest of the fierce, Furiosa has the drive and resourcefulness to triumph no matter how many times she’s knocked down.

The extraterrestrial (Scarlett Johansson) from UNDER THE SKIN (2014, director Jonathan Glazer)

In the part sci-fi, part horror, part mystery film UNDER THE SKIN, Scarlett Johansson plays a mysterious alien disguised as a woman, who uses her sexual appeal to lure lonely men into a room filled with viscous inky liquid into which they sink. In Glazer’s disturbing, frightening film, Johansson’s character plays out the strange ritual unthinkingly at first but a dawning awareness sends her on a quest of self-discovery. In this surreal and scary film, Scarlett Johansson creates an unforgettable character that is both human and otherworldly.

Trinity from the Matrix films (Carrie-Anne Moss)

Trinity may not be “the one” but Neo is never going to get there without her, making this strong female character the linchpin of the MATRIX films. Resourceful, intelligent, strong, and damn beautiful too, this fierce warrior is the opposite of the fainting heroines of the ’50s. In ultra-cool black leather and toting an arsenal, Trinity is the one who does the rescuing, thank you very much. Carrie-Anne Moss creates the perfect smart and smart-ass sharp-edged tool, equally skilled at computers and martial arts, to deliver the oft-clueless Neo to his destiny.

Maria from Metropolis (Brigitte Helm)

One of the most iconic images of cinema is the gleaming metal female robot in Fritz Lang’s silent sci-fi masterpiece METROPOLIS. Brigitte Helm played both Maria, the inspiring Joan of Arc-like leader of a rebellion in a futuristic city and the robot built by a mad scientist and the city’s ruthless leader to impersonate her and derail the uprising. The unforgettable image of the shining steel android robot being brought to life by arcing electricity has inspired countless imitators, including James Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN. Brigitte Helm is mesmerizing as both the strong, charismatic leader Maria and the wild, powerful evil robot “Maria” in this great classic film, made in the first feminist era when women demanded and won the vote.

Tris Prior from the Divergent series (Shailene Woodley)

A strong willed girl who’s doesn’t easily let her guard down, Woodley’s Tris embodies bravery, courage and above all intelligence. While solidifying her status as Divergent in the post-apocalyptic society, she understandably has her fears while transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Her never give up attitude is what makes her a great role model for young women and a spot on our sci-fi list.

Ryan Stone of GRAVITY (Sandra Bullock)

Facing adversity with courage is what defines Bullock’s character in Alfonso Cuaron’s GRAVITY. It is very much a woman’s passage from a place of loss and being in an emotionally numb state to a place where she rediscovers her purpose and reason for life…and then fights for it in the final riveting scene. Compared to a modern-day Ripley, Ryan Stone has also lost a child and finds the inner strength to go on. It’s clear that Ryan’s struggle is a metaphor for anyone who has to overcome adversity in life and get to the other side. It is a wonderful journey of rebirth.

Greatest Romantic Scenes In Movies

Filmgoers still want some romance up on the big screen in the local cinemas. As is evident in this weekend’s box office, FIFTY SHADES FREED, the last film in the ‘Fifty Shades’ trilogy, pushed the franchise over the $1 billion mark globally with a number one debut bringing in $98.1 million in overseas and $38.8 million in North America for a combined worldwide total of $136.9 million.

Need a film to watch with your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day?

While this genre isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, there’s no denying the emotional impact of these scenes that make them noteworthy. If you’re still searching for that special movie, here’s a sampling of scenes from romantic films.

Nothing says enduring love better than the story of BRAVEHEART and the Scot who gave his body and soul to his country and woman he loved. William gives Muron the thistle she had given him at his father and brothers funeral when they were children. Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but we can watch this movie all day long and twice on Sunday.

Moviegoers found the Heart of the Ocean in Best Picture winner TITANIC. While the ship and Rose and Jack were ultimately doomed, the transitional scene at the bow of the ship from hopeful beginnings to icy grave still goes down as one of the ultimate heartbreakers of all romance films.

That kiss in THE NOTEBOOK. Unrequited love is a powerful aphrodisiac in the combination of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams – and so apparently is a rain storm.

“And they Call it Bella Notte” the enduring sweetness of the LADY AND THE TRAMP Spaghetti Kiss scene. Walt Disney’s “Best In Show”.

The kindling of their affair was played out for the world in 1963 in this passion filled scene from CLEOPATRA. The biggest scandal of the decade became one of the most intense, romantic moments when Burton literally yanks the coined necklace from an unflinching Taylor.

No list would be complete in making your super-hero hearts beat loudly without the first flight of SUPERMAN and Lois. Having us “Believe A Man Could Fly” while circling the World Trade Center left audiences with soaring feelings of pride. We still love watching the Man of Steel’s and Ms. Lane’s first date up in the clouds.

Speaking of super-heroes and Valentine’s Day, with DEADPOOL, there are so many Vanessa/Wade scenes from which to choose from. The dialogue between the two in the film is so full of romance, among other things.

Vanessa Carlysle: Well, I wanna remember us.

Wade Wilson: I swear to God, I will find you in the next life and I’m gonna boom-box “Careless Whisper” outside your window. Wham!

We had to go with the sappy “Careless Whisper” ending scene, making it required watching for l’amour.

What could be more dreamy than George Peppard pining for Audrey Hepburn as she sings “Moon River” from BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S. In true fairy tale fashion, Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly ultimately found her “rainbow’s end”.

Okay, okay…we’re saps for the ending scene too.

If there’s any lovelier way to say I Love You than with the lyrics “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face,” we’d like to hear it. An ingenious way by songwriters Lehrner and Loewe in MY FAIR LADY to get across Professor Higgins’ futile realization that he’s fallen in love with Eliza Doolittle. A smitten man who’s “grown accustomed to the trace…Of something in the air; Accustomed to her face.”

The girl. The guy. An Italian wheat field. More than 25 years later, Merchant/Ivory’s A ROOM WITH A VIEW still ranks among the best “Happily Ever After”.

GHOST. Put the pottery wheel and Unchained Melody to the side…far off to the side. The celestial kiss by Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, along with the Maurice Jarre/Alex North soundtrack, make for the tissue-filled ending and perfect Valentine’s Day film.

This scene from THE ENGLISH PATIENT is one you can feel right down to your toes.

On their third identical voyage from London to the Riviera, Joanna Wallace (Audrey Hepburn) and husband Mark (Albert Finney) explore their 12-year marriage in a series of wry and illuminating flashbacks. They reminisce about the glorious beginning of their love affair, the early years of marriage and the events that led to their subsequent infidelities. As they try to understand their relationship, they must accept how they have changed if they are to rekindle their original love. The film’s lush score, one of Henry Mancini’s finest, received a Golden Globe nomination. Audrey Hepburn also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. TWO FOR THE ROAD is arguably one of the most stylistically influential movies from the ’60s.

CASABLANCA’s “If you knew how much I loved you.” Where did that box of Kleenex go to?

WEST SIDE STORY’s tale of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet won ten Academy Awards and Leonard Bernstein’s musical is still heart-wrenching with such songs as “Somewhere” and Maria and Tony’s make-believe wedding song “One Hand, One Heart.” Yes, we’re crying.

And if you need more convincing…

Best Australian Movies You Must See During The Australian Open

Photo by American Int/Everett / Rex Features

“Livin’ in a land down under, where women glow and men plunder,” sang 80’s pop group Men At Work.

As most of the United States is buried under cold and snowy temps, Australia is having balmy warm weather. The country of marmite, koalas and kangaroos, and the Great Barrier Reef is currently hosting the first of the tennis grand slams of 2018, The Australian Open.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic hits a shot during a training session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament, in Melbourne, Australia January 15, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato

The list of actors and actresses hailing from the sixth largest nation include Errol Flynn, Peter Finch, Rod Taylor, Mel Gibson, Guy Pearce, Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush, Toni Collette, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Ben Mendelsohn, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Hugo Weaving, Naomi Watts, Abbie Cornish, Eric Bana, Joel Edgerton, Mia Wasikowska, Margot Robbie, Chris Hemsworth, and Sam Worthington.

1994 proved to be a great year in Aussie films with such movies as THE SUM OF US, SIRENS, THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT and MURIEL’S WEDDING.

As you catch the tennis matches, check out our list of the best of Australian cinema.

THE DISH

The gem of a film is a must see for every NASA enthusiast. Starring Patrick Warburton and Sam Neill, THE DISH tells the true story of the Parkes Observatory’s role in relaying live television of man’s first steps on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. It was the top grossing film in Australia in 2000. One of our favorites!

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Animal Kingdom is a 2010 Australian crime drama film written and directed by David Michôd, and starring Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, James Frecheville, Luke Ford, Jacki Weaver, and Sullivan Stapleton.

Michôd’s script was inspired by events which involved the Pettingill criminal family of Melbourne, Australia. In 1991, two brothers Trevor Pettingill and Victor Peirce (along with two other men: Anthony Leigh Farrell and Peter David McEvoy) were acquitted in the 1988 shooting murder of two Victorian police officers. Animal Kingdom was critically acclaimed. It received 36 awards and 39 nominations, and Jacki Weaver received multiple awards for her performance, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

MAD MAX

The 1979 Australian dystopian action film was directed by George Miller, produced by Byron Kennedy, and starred Mel Gibson as “Mad” Max Rockatansky. The film presented a tale of societal collapse, murder, and revenge set in a future Australia, in which a policeman becomes embroiled in a violent feud with a savage motorcycle gang. Principal photography took place in and around Melbourne, Australia, and lasted six weeks.

The film initially received a polarized reception upon its release in April 1979, although it won three AACTA Awards and attracted a cult following. The film became the first in a series, giving rise to three sequels, Mad Max 2 (1981), Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Fury Road (2015).

GALLIPOLI

Another Mel Gibson vehicle, the 1981 Australian drama war film was directed by Peter Weir and is the story of how the irresistible lure of adventure and the unknown, combined with national pride, bring two young men (Mel Gibson and Mark Lee) together in the Australian army in 1915.

THE SUM OF US

Directed by Kevin Dowling and Geoff Burton, the film starred Russell Crowe and Jack Thompson. Released in 1994, the delightful film is the story of a father and son and a real-tearjerker. A widowed father has to deal with two complex issues: while he is searching for “Miss Right,” his son, who is in his 20s and gay, is searching for “Mr. Right.” Thompson just about steals the film away from Crowe, who previously starred in ROMPER STOMPER, and to this day it’s still one Crowe’s best performances.

THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT

Two drag queens and a transsexual get a cabaret gig in the middle of the desert in THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT. The film was a surprise worldwide hit and starred Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce. It received great reviews and won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design at the 67th Academy Awards.

CROCODILE DUNDEE

Paul Hogan’s hilarious, endearing performance made “Crocodile” Dundee the biggest box-office comedy smash of 1986! Michael J. “Crocodile” Dundee (Hogan) is a free spirited Australian who hunts crocodiles with his bare hands, stares down giant water buffaloes, and drinks mere mortals under the table. But he’s about to face the ultimate torture test–a trip to New York City. Beautiful and tenacious reporter Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski) gets more than just a story as the “wonder from Down Under” rocks the Big Apple to its core. It was followed by two sequels: Crocodile Dundee II (1988) and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001).

TEN CANOES

It is the first ever movie entirely filmed in Australian Aboriginal languages. Ten Canoes won the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was was chosen as Australia’s official entry into the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 2007 Academy Awards.

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK

This 1975 Australian mystery drama film, directed by Peter Weir, helped usher in a new era of Australian cinema. Based on an acclaimed 1967 novel by Joan Lindsay, AT HANGING ROCK is set at the turn of the twentieth century and concerns a small group of students from an all- female college who vanish, along with a chaperone, while on a St. Valentine’s Day outing. Less a mystery than a journey into the mystic, as well as an inquiry into issues of class and sexual repression in Australian society, Weir’s gorgeous, disquieting film is a work of poetic horror whose secrets haunt viewers to this day.

MURIEL’S WEDDING

Misfit Muriel has always escaped her humdrum small-town life by listening to ABBA songs and dreaming about marriage. Ready to take control of her life, she and her best friend, Rhonda head for the big city where they end up having the exciting adventure of their lives. Everyone back home suddenly takes notice when Muriel becomes engaged to a handsome and popular sports hero, but Muriel discovers that even when it seems all her dreams are coming true, her path to the altar still has plenty of surprising twists. Starred Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths and Bill Hunter and directed by P.J. Hogan. The film received multiple award nominations, including a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Collette)

AUSTRALIA

Starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, it was the third-highest grossing Australian film of all time, behind Crocodile Dundee and Mad Max: Fury Road. AUSTRALIA is a character story, set between 1939 and 1942 against a dramatized backdrop of events across northern Australia at the time, such as the bombing of Darwin during World War II.

Strictly Ballroom is a 1992 Australian romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Luhrmann. The film, Luhrmann’s début, was the first in his The Red Curtain Trilogy of theatre-motif-related films; it was followed by Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!.

Other stellar Aussie films to catch are PROOF, (trailer) a 1991 Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, and starring Hugo Weaving, Geneviève Picot and Russell Crowe. The film was released in Australia on 15 August 1991. It was chosen as “Best Film” at the 1991 Australian Film Institute Awards; THE ROVER, (trailer) a 2014 Australian dystopian drama film written and directed by David Michôd and based on a story by Michôd and Joel Edgerton. It is a contemporary western taking place in the Australian outback, ten years after a global economic collapse. The film features Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, and Scoot McNairy; NED KELLY features gripping action and powerful performances in this epic story of a real-life outlaw who defied the law and inspired his people. Heath Ledger (The Four Feathers, A Knight’s Tale) brings a raw intensity to the role of Ned Kelly, an innocent man driven to fight the corrupt authorities oppressing his people. Joining Ned’s legendary gang is his best friend, Joe, played with devilish charm by Orlando Bloom (Troy, Pirates of the Caribbean) and Naomi Watts (21 Grams, The Ring) as Ned’s lover, Julia. Overnight, the Kelly Gang become heroes to their people. But as their popularity grows, they quickly find themselves the target of a ruthless lawman, (Geoffrey Rush) who soon makes them the most wanted men the world has ever known, and RABBIT PROOF FENCE, (trailer) a 2002 Australian drama film directed by Phillip Noyce based on the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara. It is loosely based on a true story concerning the author’s mother Molly, as well as two other mixed-race Aboriginal girls, who ran away from the Moore River Native Settlement, north of Perth, Western Australia, to return to their Aboriginal families, after being placed there in 1931.

Wait, wait… one more! BRAN NUE DAE is a charming new Australian-based, music-driven road movie/romantic comedy starring Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush that literally bursts onto the screen with unbridled energy and fun. Loosely based on one of Australia’s most beloved and popular musicals, Bran Nue Dae is a foot stomping tour-de-force centering on the romantic adventures of a young aboriginal couple set against the spectacularly beautiful Australian landscape.

(trailer)

Contributed by Michelle Hannett and Melissa Thompson

Best Shark Movies

Jaws © 1975 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

“Boys, oh boys… I think he’s come back for his noon feeding.” – Matt Hooper

On June 20, 1975 a thriller from a relatively unknown filmmaker was unleashed on unsuspecting theatre goers. That summer saw the birth of the blockbuster, the likes of which had never been seen before in cinemas.

Shark films are seemingly all the rage now. Last year was THE SHALLOWS, 1999 was the super fun DEEP BLUE SEA, this past weekend was the release of 47 METERS DOWN and in 2018 comes the intriguing MEG from Warner Bros. Pictures.

The science fiction action thriller MEG, directed by Jon Turteltaub, stars Jason Statham (“Spy,” “Furious 7,” “The Expendables” films) and Chinese actress Li Bingbing and is slated for release on March 2, 2018.

A deep-sea submersible—part of an international undersea observation program—has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific…with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing), to save the crew—and the ocean itself—from this unstoppable threat: a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. What no one could have imagined is that, years before, Taylor had encountered this same terrifying creature. Now, teamed with Suyin, he must confront his fears and risk his own life to save everyone trapped below…bringing him face to face once more with the greatest and largest predator of all time.

While you’re celebrating the release of JAWS by watching it Tuesday, June 20th, or looking for shark movie to watch before heading out to see 47 METERS DOWN, check out our list of SHARK films.

JAWS – “…what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, an eating machine. It’s really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that’s all.”  That statement by Matt Hooper in JAWS is pretty much the thriller in a nutshell. It’s the eating part that horrified movie goers and ocean swimmers alike in 1975. Ringing the dinner bell for Bruce the Great White Shark consisted of terrifying sequences of teeth, fins, swimmers and blood and no one was safe from being killed off. Frank Rich of The New York Times wrote, “some of the most frightening sequences in Jaws are those where we don’t even see the shark.” That is until you heard John Williams’ scary score announcing his arrival. JAWS set the standard for edge-of-your seat suspense quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon and forever changing the movie industry. JAWS won 3 Oscars including Best Score, Editing and Best Sound and nominated for Best Picture. Without a doubt, Spielberg’s masterpiece is what make JAWS We Are Movie Geeks #1 pick as the behemoth of all shark movies.

LAKE PLACID – Yep, not a shark movie, but it may as well have been. It’s pretty much JAWS set on a lake, but it was so much fun the summer of 1999. First off, who in their right mind goes swimming in a lake? That’s what pools are for! But if you decide to venture into your nearby lake, you’re on your own and risk running into all sort of nasty beasties, including a gigantic killer crocodile.

OPEN WATER – Presented in the cinemas at water level, holy moly, and fully aware that this will not end well, OPEN WATER was a surprise hit out of the film festival circuit. It gave the whole phrase FREAK OUT MOVIE a new meaning. Two divers, a husband and wife, return to the surface only to discover that their charter has left and they are literally in open water. The ending is still chilling.

THE SHALLOWS – In the 2016 thriller THE SHALLOWS, Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing alone on a secluded beach when she is attacked by a great white shark and stranded just a short distance from shore. Though she is only 200 yards from her survival, getting there proves the ultimate contest of wills. “Surfing alone on a secluded beach” Okay, right there you’d have to ask yourself, should I be doing this? But then we wouldn’t have a movie – and one that was really, really terrific! Blake Lively was our hero last summer with her courage, smarts and tenacity in facing the shark.

DEEP BLUE SEA – Have you ever heard the phrase, “white knuckling it”? Exactly describes Renny Harlin’s awesome, frenzied 1999 shark movie and it still grabs us every time it shows up on cable. Good plan to alter sharks to make them smart and intelligent.  LL Cool J, and his snarky lines, express what the audience is thinking. “Ooh, I’m done! Brothers never make it out of situations like this! Not ever!” Playing the preacher and cook, he has the best scene in the film, even over Samuel L. Jackson’s demise, surviving the sharks by climbing into one of his stoves. Being trapped below the surface in a laboratory while sharks are hunting you down made for one scary ride.

47 METERS DOWN – “Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark’s in the water. Our shark.” Couldn’t be helped when the first trailer was released showing the two sisters jumping into the cage to watch the sharks on a holiday excursion. JAWS obviously came to mind. 47 METERS DOWN film is RIDICULOUS scary! Besides the sharks, and plunging to the ocean floor… they are constantly showing how much air they have left, so you are in a full blown panic. Audiences screamed out loud like 3 times during the opening weekend. And the end is sooooooooo brutal!!!!!!! BRUTAL!!!! You will have all that shark terror in your head when leaving the theater. The film left us scared witless and it is without a doubt a great summer movie!!

A definite must-see in the theater.

And for those of you wondering where Sharknado is? You DO NOT put the Syfy TV movie in the same list as JAWS!! Your movie geek card will be revoked.

Contributed by Melissa Thompson, Cate Marquis and Michelle Hannett.

Top MONSTERS IN THE MOVIES

© 2017 Universal Studios. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Scary films and monster movies are not only meant for the month of October, and this summer’s selection is proof – IT, ANNABELLE: CREATION, IT COMES AT NIGHT and THE MUMMY.

The evolution of creature technology and the fundamental role technology have played a huge part in shaping monster movies.

From the evolution of creature technology beginning with KING KONG (1933), BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954), HORROR OF DRACULA (1958), ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966), PLANET OF THE APES (1968), THE EXORCIST (1973), AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981) and ALIENS (1986) through the digital age of JURASSIC PARK (1993), ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE (2005) and KING KONG (2005), audiences love the monsters that grace the silver screen.

In honor of Universal’s THE MUMMY, opening in theaters this Friday June 9th, we decided to look back at one of our lists of those creepy, loveable characters that fill our dreams and create those nightmares during that 3am block when every creak in the house can be heard.

By Travis Keune

I grew up watching Godzilla, the Universal Monsters, the Harryhausen creations and a whole slew of b-movie creations. I have spent hours at a time, and still could, staring wide-eyed into the television at these creatures of the imagination. Those were the days, but these days we have a different standard of what’s cool and scary in the monster world. Here is my list of the top ten movie monsters, from 1980 to the present.

The Thing (1982) was director John Carpenter’s remake of the 1951 classic The Thing from Another World. While definitely falling comfortably into the scarce category of superior remakes, the fact is that this movie was an incredible horror thrill-ride. Kurt Russell plays MacReady, a researcher leading a group of scientists on an Antarctic expedition, when they are confronted by a mysterious alien presence that can shift its shape to that of who or what it just killed. The search is on to discover who is really the alien before they’re all dead. The Thing is full of nail-biting jump-outta your seat suspense, has a well-structured plot and the special effects are convincingly scary as hell. I would even go so far as to say the special effects were ground-breaking for their time.

Hellraiser (1987) was written and directed by Clive Barker, based on his own novel. Hellraiser introduced audiences to a new type of monsters. The story centers on a man and his wife who move into an old house, but soon discover the house holds an evil. This evil being turns out to be the woman’s former lover who has lost his earthly form to a group of torturous demons. Hellraiser brings a new style of demonic terror to the screen in the form of Pinhead and his masochistic Cenobites. The film would spawn a hugely popular franchise with several sequels, each of them introducing new Cenobites and altogether new and more gruesome ways to torture their victims.

Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) created one of the most fun and original movie monsters of all-time in Freddy Krueger. The story introduces the character after having been killed by the small town’s residents for being a child killer. Freddy Krueger, played by Robert Englund, returns in the town’s teens dreams to terrify and kill them one by one. Krueger turns his reign of terror on the town’s teens into a vivid, creative and often humorous carnival of absurdity while still maintaining its frightening nature. The film’s massive success would spawn a franchise with eight sequels and a television series. Englund would return to portray his trademark character in each and every sequel, including the television series.

An American Werewolf in London (1981) was directed by John Landis. Considered by most fans of the genre to be the greatest werewolf movie ever made [I agree], Landis perfectly combined shocking horror, dark comedy and some truly awesome special effects to create a literal horror masterpiece. The story follows two American tourists who are backpacking through England when they’re attacked by a werewolf. One of the two tourists escapes, but his friend Jack, played by Griffin Dunne, does not and is brutally mauled and killed … sort of. His friend Jack returns in the movie as an undead entity, taunting his living friend and warning him of what has and will happen. The movie is lots of fun and the creature effects, especially during the transformation from human to werewolf, were revolutionary in design.

Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) introduced the audience to the concept of these nomadic alien killing machines to audiences world-wide. However, Scott’s initial film was much more of a psychological horror film, whereas the concept of the alien threat and danger it presented was much more the antagonist than that of the alien itself. It wasn’t until James Cameron’s Aliens (1986) that H.R. Giger’s legendary alien design took hold with movie audiences as the popular movie monster we know it to be. Predator (1987) actually would not have made the top ten, but I paired it with Aliens due to its connected history and fan-base. While the predators are very cool, I never thought of them as scary monsters.

Ringu / The Ring & The Ring (2002), referring to the American remake by Gore Verbinski, may have you wondering why it made my top ten list. The truth is, I actually enjoyed both the original Japanese film Ringu (1998) and the American version. The Korean remake, The Ring Virus (1999) wasn’t bad, but it didn’t do anything new for me. The reason I’ve included The Ring in my top ten is due to its influence on the genre in America.

Since its success, we’ve been inundated with Hollywood remakes of Japanese and Korean horror films, which are usually far creepier than their American counterparts. Daveigh Chase was great as Samara Morgan, a young girl who returns as an evil spirit through the video tape. I only hope I never have a daughter capable of being that freakin’ scary, even as an actress.

Director Danny Boyle made waves with 28 Days Later (2002), a wholly new take on the zombie genre that bucks the boat on the traditional concept of zombies being lumbering, mindless masses that suck brains. Instead, Boyle’s film recreates them as hyper-aggressive, almost super-human killing machines, rampaging as though they’ve all gotten into some really strong PCP. In turn, it made for a much more exciting zombie film and also delivers it’s central message with a much more powerful punch. The film speaks to what the human race could ultimately face if we continue on our paths of selfish technological and intellectual progress, despite the clear and inevitable circumstances. How far do we go to achieve ‘perfection’ if by doing so we risk our own health and happiness?

Personally, Guillermo del Toro’s Blade II (2002) is the best of the three blade movies. His direction invoked a dark and mysterious atmosphere, the story carried some great supporting roles including Ron Perlman (one of my favorite character actors) as Reinhardt, and del Toro developed the coolest vampire interpretation I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. The reapers are a mutated species of vampire that feed on other vampires, thus leading Blade to reluctantly team-up with the vampire council to eradicate their mutual threat. The reaper’s creature design, combined with the action and dialogue, make for one helluva fun vampire killing spree, loaded with great fight choreography and some cool vampire-killing weapons. Yes, I am a huge fan of del Toro, but can you blame me?

Guess who? That’s right … my boy del Toro makes the list again. Hellboy (2004) is based on a comic book about a child demon that is adopted by a human, who raises it with Christian morals to become a soldier against evil. Actually, Hellboy is technically the least qualified movie to make my list, but it does for two reasons: Sammael, the hound of resurrection that simply wouldn’t die and Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, the invincible animated sand-filled puppet assassin. This movie is so much fun and so dark and creepy at the same time. Well, I have to I I

I admit that Hellboy also made this list with the help of its sequel due out in 2008, which looks to be an even bigger monster-fest than the original. I suppose Hellboy cheated a little in making this list, but that’s alright with me.

The two most recent qualifiers for my list, these films share the final spot for another reason; they are both a return to the giant monster genre that we’ve lacked for so long. Sure, we had Godzilla (1998) but does that really count? The especially nifty thing is that they’re both original works and they are both super cool. The Host (2006) is a Korean film that speaks to humans polluting the Earth through occupying American scientists discarding massive amounts of formaldehyde down the drain, resulting in a giant amphibian creature with a taste for humans. The Host is stylish and fun, with great action and special effects, often humorous and occasionally poking fun at itself. As for Cloverfield (2008), refer to my review of the film.

* Honorable mention is given to the following: Candyman, the Tall Guy and his spheres from Phantasm, Pumpkinhead, Cronenberg’s The Fly and Ghostbusters’ Stay Puft marshmallow man.

Welcome to a New World of Gods and Monsters – THE MUMMY arrives in theaters, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D on June 9.

Top ALIEN Films

Director Ridley Scott and Katherine Waterston (Daniels) on the set of ALIEN: COVENANT

ALIEN: COVENANT opened in theaters this past weekend and brought in an estimated $36 million at the box office.

Fox’s film enjoyed a solid global debut performance as the Ridley Scott directed film that is the second of the prequel series and the sixth ALIEN feature film in the franchise earned $66.3 million globally.

In space, no one can hear you scream. After nearly four decades, those words remain synonymous with the sheer, relentless intensity of Ridley Scott’s masterpiece of futuristic horror, ALIEN. Now, the father of the iconic franchise returns once more to the world he created to explore its darkest corners with ALIEN: COVENANT, a pulse-pounding new adventure that pushes the boundaries of R-rated terror.

The films timeline line up as such:

  • Engineers create humanity.
  • Archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charles Holloway discover humanity’s origins in 2089.
  • Prometheus mission to find the Engineers takes place in 2093.
  • Alien: Covenant takes place in 2104.
  • Alien: Awakening ?
  • Alien: happens twenty years after Covenant in 2122.
  • Ripley wakes up from hypersleep 57 years later in Aliens.
  • Alien 3: set immediately after Aliens.
  • Alien: Resurrection is set in the year 2386.

Here’s a look at the franchise and the subsequent ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, crossover franchise. “Let’s Roooock!!”

ALIEN – Everyone remembers the alien bursting out of the chest of Kane (John Hurt). It lives in the annals of cinematic history now, and undeniably one that’ll never be equaled. But it’s the introduction of the full Alien during Brett’s death scene that truly frightened audiences and created the tone that set the stage for the ultimate demise of the crew of the Nostromo. All perished at the hands and jaws of the xenomorph, Captain Dallas, Parker, Brett, Lambert…Ash… except for a resourceful Warrant Officer and sole survivor, Lt. Ellen Ripley. It forever changed the landscape of horror and sci-fi movies establishing women as the hero and ultimate savior.

See our look back at ALIEN here.

ALIENS – “Go, go, go” is the main theme of James Cameron’s film featuring the Colonial Marines versus the Alien horde led by one the big screen’s best monsters ever, the Queen Alien. The tracker scene is worth the price of admission alone. Led once again by Ripley (Sigourney Weaver – who received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for her performance), the 1986 sci-fi classic, with a rousing James Horner score, has become a fan favorite and filled with memorable quotes such as “Get Away From Her You Bitch!” The final act culminating in the battle of the titans makes ALIENS the sequel fans of the original were hoping for and a box office success.

“Ca’mon!!”

ALIEN 3 – “Was there an Alien on board?” David Fincher helmed third entry into the series finds Lt. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) the lone survivor of the Sulaco. When her crippled spaceship crash lands on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet’s maximum security prison, Ripley’s fears that an Alien was aboard her craft are confirmed when the mutilated bodies of ex-cons begin to mount. Without weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley must lead the men into battle against the terrifying creature. And soon she discovers a horrifying fact about her link with the Alien, a realization that may compel Ripley to try destroying not only the horrific creature but herself as well. Loved and hated by the diehard fans of the franchise, Ripley going out in a blaze of glory was a fitting end to our brave heroine.

PROMETHEUS – “Big things have small beginnings.” Fans of the franchise were elated when Fox announced that Ridley Scott’s long awaited prequel was at long last in the works. Considered by some to be a visually stunning movie and intriguing prequel, the director’s film created a groundbreaking mythology. PROMETHEUS takes a team of explorers, who discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

The debates, along with some confusion, were heard far and wide after the release of the 2012 film. While some plots were left unexplained on purpose to create mystery, like “who are these Engineers?”, there were many burning questions with the biggest being, as scientist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) asked, “Who created us and why are we here?” Damon Lindelof wrote the TV show “Lost”, and as he did with that amazing show, he knew exactly what he was doing when he wrote this film as well.

Not rife with the beasties running around, many complained it was Alien-lite, while others praised the Oscar-nominated director for giving audiences the first of three movies explaining where the creatures hailed from.

ALIEN: COVENANT – Set ten years after the events depicted in Scott’s 2012 hit Prometheus, ALIEN: COVENANT returns to the roots of the director’s groundbreaking saga with a uniquely terrifying tale filled with white-knuckle adventure and monstrous new creatures. With this, the sixth installment in the blockbuster series, the visionary director edges ever closer toward revealing the mysterious origins of the mother of all aliens, the lethal Xenomorph from the original film.

All is quiet aboard the spaceship Covenant. The crew and the rest of the 2,000 souls aboard the pioneering vessel are deep in hyper-sleep, leaving the synthetic Walter to walk the corridors alone. The ship is en route to the remote planet Origae-6, where, on the far side of the galaxy, the settlers hope to establish a new outpost for humanity. The tranquility is shattered when a nearby stellar ignition shreds Covenant’s energy-collection sails, resulting in dozens of casualties and throwing the mission off course.

Soon, the surviving crew members discover what appears to be an uncharted paradise, an undisturbed Eden of cloud-capped mountains and immense, soaring trees far closer than Origae-6 and potentially just as viable as a home. What they’ve found, however, is actually a dark and deadly world full of unexpected twists and turns. Facing a terrible threat beyond their imagination, the embattled explorers must attempt a harrowing escape.

(L-R) Danny McBride (Tennessee) and Katherine Waterston (Daniels) star in ALIEN: COVENANT.

Following in the sure footsteps of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, actress Katherine Waterston’s character, Daniels, finds a place in the broader legacy of Scott’s female heroes and is one of the many standouts of the film. Michael Fassbender and Michael Fassbender is another. He takes on the roles of androids “David” and ”Walter,” named after producers Walter Hill and David Giler. His performance is chilling and scary and the two “synthetics” are terrific additions to the Alien canon. It still makes us wonder what makes “David” seek revenge by dropping the payload of black death onto the Engineers’ civilization? Was it because he discovered their intention of wiping out humanity with the pathogen? Will we find out in the next film who the Engineers were and why they want to destroy humanity?

Plus a huge shout out to our favorite Covenant ship engineer, Tennessee, played with a lot of heart by Danny McBride. Already a favorite of WAMG, we truly loved the inspired casting of McBride, cowboy hat and all.

Scott has announced that the third film, ALIEN: AWAKENING will start production tentatively next year.


ALIEN: RESURRECTION – 200 years after her last adventure, a group of scientists has cloned Lt. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), along with the alien queen inside her, hoping to breed the ultimate weapon. But the resurrected Ripley is full of surprises for her resurrectors–as are the aliens they’ve attempted to imprison.

To combat the creatures, Ripley must team up with a band of smugglers, including an advanced female android named Call (Winona Ryder), to combat the rampaging aliens in a lab ship hurtling toward Earth.

The underwater chase scene makes the Aliens even scarier! Swimming aliens – very creepy!

AVP: Alien VS. Predator – After fans caught the Alien head hanging in the trophy case towards the end of PREDATOR 2, it then became of a question of when Fox’s iconic creatures from two of the scariest film franchises in movie history would finally appear in a film together.

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, AvP follows billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) and his team of drillers, scientists, and archaeologists, to an obscure pyramid site in Antarctica. Among the icy ruins, allegedly, lies the proof of an empire predating humankind. Once there, however, the group finds more than ancient sarcophaguses and hieroglyphics; rather, their discovery consists of dismembered human skeletons and fossilized remains of the alien creatures that appear to have violently burst out of their chests. Even more horrifying is the evidence suggesting that the aliens may still exist.

Indeed, there are aliens below the pyramids, but an equal threat looms above: three Predators, all on the verge of manhood, are engaged in a gruesome rite of passage — every hundred years, young Predators must travel to Earth and take on a hunting ritual in order to complete the transition to adulthood or die in the process. Before long, the humans find themselves battling for their own lives as the Predators and aliens continue their fight for superiority.

Featuring another female protagonist, Sanaa Lathan, AvP culminates with her character and the Predator joining forces to destroy the alien creature.

(AVP2) ALIEN VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM – The small town of Gunnison, Colorado becomes a war zone between two of the deadliest extra-terrestrial life forms – the Alien and the Predator. When a Predator scout ship crash-lands in the hills outside the town, Alien Facehuggers and a hybrid Alien/Predator are released and begin to terrorize the town.