As a quick reminder, there were three rules, and two guidelines:
1. No Ghosts
2. No Animals
3. No Talking
a. Avoid Parody
b. Avoid Repeats
For my reasoning as to why, check out yesterday's post. But, for now, no more dilly-dallying, let's continue the list! This is...
The A.W.N.'s TOP 10 HORROR MOVIES ABOUT INHUMAN MONSTERS (5-1)
5. The Mist
The Monster: Volatile Alien Atmosphere
If you want to talk about inhuman, well, this is it. I liked the idea of exploring alien monsters, but I wanted something that hinted at the truly unnatural, and I couldn't go past this movie about a weird mist. After a thunderstorm, several of the locals from Bridgton, Maine (do I even need to say this is a Stephen King adaptation?) meet at the local supermarket to pick up supplies, but whilst there a strange descends on the town. There's a warning siren and most of the people decide to stay inside the store and wait, since the mist is too thick to navigate. However, when anyone goes outside, they're attacked by carnivorous tentacles that drag you into the mist, or killed by giant insects or monsters.
See, this isn't just any miasma, the mist is in fact an alien atmosphere from an alternate dimension populated by otherworldly wild animals that seeped into our reality. The aliens aren't evil, they're just hungry animals seeking out a new (and abundant) prey that can't defend itself, so it's not merely these weird creatures that are the monster. Rather, it's this invasive atmosphere which the creatures tend to remain within, likely because they can't breathe our atmosphere. The movie heavily implies that this mist appeared because of a military experiment (called the Arrowhead Project) that opened the portal to this dimension in the first place, but either way, the idea of being overrun by an alien dimension is just incredible. Instead of a military invasion from an an advanced alien species that want to take over our planet and so flew here from outer space, this is an accidental invasion from several primitive alien species that are just hungry, and they're only here because some idiot left the door open for them. And, you have to admit, there's something fundamentally horrifying about being surrounded by monsters you can't see until they're jumping out at you.
4. The Stuff
The Monster: Carnivorous Diet Yoghurt
This is a fascinating movie, but I fully admit that this wins its placement on the list from concept alone. So, what's the idea? Killer dessert. After quarry workers discover natural pools of a white, cream-like substance, they discover that the goo is both sweet and addictive. Soon after, a dessert company starts selling it to people as a diet alternative to ice-cream, as people who eat it lose weight, and they call it "The Stuff". I have to admit, if there's one issue with this movie, it's the name, but I'm not really sure what you'd call this stuff either... see, the Stuff is an organic parasite and the reason people lose weight when they eat it is because it's feeding off them from the inside, draining their nutrients and lifeforce from the inside. Also, the reason it's so addictive is because it creeps into your brain to control your mind, making you eat more until it drains your body of nutrition, turning you into a hollowed-out zombie full of more of the Stuff.
I don't know if I can recommend the movie since it's a little slow, and one of the main characters is a paranoid, militant right-wing bigot, who is portrayed as one of the heroes, despite being openly regressive and racist. Also, this does lean a little into the comedy, but the comedy isn't as impressive as the satire - this predatory foodstuff is clearly an allegory for the insidious and predatory practices of the food industries, especially for confectionery and desserts, doing anything to spread their products, or market their food as "healthy" so long as it makes them more money. Sure, the Stuff is predatory and it seeks out food when any living thing gets close to it, but it wouldn't have been able to spread anywhere near as far as it did, if it weren't for greedy corporations packaging it, selling it and distributing it worldwide.
But, as much as this film is clearly an allegory, I still don't think you can beat a concept as disturbing as a foodstuff that, when you eat it, it gets revenge by eating you right back.
3. Final Destination
The Monster: Death Itself
We're in the final stretch now, and we continue the list with one of the most inhuman of monsters I've seen portrayed in a movie. In Final Destination, a teenager recieves a deadly premonition, and in his panic causes a commotion that saves several other people from a tragic explosion. Following this, all of these people begin to die in unusual accidents and it's revealed that by cheating fate, they've interrupted Death's Plan and Death itself is trying to correct its mistake. It's even revealed in the crash investigation that the cascade failure in the plane would have killed everyone off in a particular order, and and the order in which they're dying now is the same as that original design. Death is not personified in this film, although it does appear as shadows, and reflections, sometimes even foreshadowing its redesigns as Death rewrites fate. Despite this, Death has something of a personality, one that's almost playful as it puts its devious plans into action, although it does seem to get vindictive the more people resist its plans.
Whilst some of the sequels had poor writing, leading to unrealistic characters and deaths so ridiculous that it felt more cartoon than creative, the original film had a great premise, well-executed and portrayed death as a dedicated master of fate that only turned monstrous if you stepped out of line. Now you may think "but wait... if this is the most inhuman monster, why is it only number five?" Well, this is the most interesting inhuman monster, in my opinion, but ultimately, I don't think it's that scary. In all the movies it's made clear, you can't beat it, and taking away the hope of survival makes it (in my eyes) less scary, which is part of the reason I hate the sequels so much, it's a foregone conclusion. But, the first one is still a bloody good film, which is how it gets to number three on this list.
2. Christine
The Monster: A Hatred-Driven Car
There have been several stories about living cars, even several about living cars that kill people, but they pale in comparison to the ultimate monster motor vehicle, Christine. What sets Christine apart is threefold. Firstly, the story is a powerful tale of obsession and corruption. The story follows Dennis, a highschooler whose dorky friend Arnie buys a broken-down old Plymouth Fury for just $250 after the previous owner killed himself. As Arnie restores the car, his personality starts to change, until he's obsessed with the car, and the whole while the car kills anyone that gets in its way, or hurts either it or Arnie. Dennis starts to worry that his friend is going down the same path as Christine's last owner - that he's soon going to become yet another one of her victims.
Secondly, what sets this apart from other cars is that Christine is not haunted, it's not possessed by a demon, it's not even a secret alien transformer or machine - Christine is just Evil. That differs a little from the novel where apparently the car is haunted, but unlike the The Mangler where I felt they changed the story for the worse, I think this improves the story greatly. From scene one, at the Plymouth car factory, Christine is already shown to have a taste for blood and vengeance. It's implied that this car is inherently hateful (dare I say, full of 'Fury'?), only ever using its drivers to feed off their lifeforce until she's powerful enough to rebuild herself - and that's another difference, that she lives off her owners, rather than her previous owner living on through her - in fact, that seems to be her greatest ability, after feeding off of Arnie's lifeforce for long enough, Christine becomes powerful enough to repair herself. In fact, Christine will often resort to damaging herself on purpose, just to chase down one of her victims, which I think helps to evoke just how much she is driven by her hatred.
Thirdly, this is the best living car movie because, despite being made in 1983, this still holds up today. This is yet another John Carpenter film, and it's just as thrilling, creepy and action-packed as ever. Perhaps it's just because a tale of obsession leading down a path to madness and death is a timeless one. After all, what dangerous paths could the sweet seduction of power not lead us down? I don't know, but in this film, danger is a highway, and Christine will drive you all the way to the end.
1. Oculus
The Monster: A Reality-Warping Mirror
I like monsters with teeth. I like creatures that will stalk up behind you, and attack, but when it comes to inhuman monsters I'm much more mesmerised by a monster that doesn't even need to touch you. And I think the epitome of that is the Lasser Glass, from the movie Oculus. In this film, a man named Tim is released from psychiatric care, after finally coming to terms with shooting his father eleven years prior, only to return to his sister, Kaylie, who has finally finished all the necessary steps to steal an expensive, antique mirror, and set up and elaborate trap for it. Tim has gone under extensive care to unveil all of his false memories, and deconstruct all of his childhood trauma, to disabuse him of his belief in magic, ghosts and monsters. However, his sister is there to rope him into a plan to prove that the real thing that killed their parents was the Lasser glass, a cursed mirror that has killed 45 people including their mother and father. This has all the makings of a fantastic psychological thriller, and the movie is done well, mixing flashback with present day, reality and hallucination...
See, the way the Lasser Glass works is that it feeds of living things near it including plants, pets, even electricity and light sources and, of course, people. As it feeds it grows its power so that it can manipulate people into dying near it, capturing their image in the mirror to be used for its manipulation. Because, when a human is near the mirror, it can make them hear things that aren't there, see things that didn't happen, feel things that aren't real, and if it's allowed to feed off them long enough, it can even cloud all of their senses at once, to delude them into percieving a reality that doesn't exist. It can, and will, drive you insane. This is how it kills its victims, by tricking them into doing dangerous things by hiding the danger, or hiding the tragedy that it's making them commit on others. But, despite the mirror using the images of the dead to trick you, and despite Kaylie referencing the glass itself as "haunted" at one point, I don't accept that the Lasser Glass is merely haunted. Just like Christine before it, this mirror appeared to be cursed long before it's first blood. It's called the Lasser Glass because the first victim was called Phillip Lasser, but he merely hung it in his house until he died - he didn't cast any spell on the glass, he wasn't supernaturally noteworthy, his only characteristic of note is that he was the Earl of Leicester, but for all we know he was merely the first member of the elite to die, he may not have even been the first victim. His wasn't even the most tragic or horrific death in the long list of this mirror's victims, so there's no canonical explanation as to why the glass does what it does.
But, the mirror is just made of glass, it's quite fragile, you'd think it would be easy to just smash the damn thing, but it uses coercion, deception and trickery to protect itself if anyone approaches it with ill intent. The mirror can see into your head, as easily as you can see into its reflection. But I think what's scariest of all is what Kaylee and Tim's father says, just before he dies. This isn't much of a spoiler, but when Kaylee tries to tell him that he's lost his mind, he looks in the mirror and says: "This is me. I've seen the Devil, and he is me..."
So, what is this mirror? Is it haunted by dozens of tragedies? Is it cursed to reflect your inner demons? Is it a cold monster that feeds on the warmth and life of living things? Is it the devil, seducing anyone who looks into it to evil? I don't know... but what I do know is that this is the best inhuman monster I've ever seen in film. I highly recommend it.
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And that's my list. What do you think? Do you disagree? If you think there's a greater inhuman monster or a greater movie that features one, tell me about it in the comments below. In the meantime, the main point I want to make is that movies don't have to be about serial killers or crazy people, they don't even have to be about aliens or creatures. Your monster doesn't even have to be a living thing - it could be an evil elevator, a predatory plant, an alien atmosphere, even a monstrous mirror.
The only limitation is that no matter what you choose for your villain to be, you should do whatever it takes to make your story interesting.
I'm the Absurd Word Nerd and Until Next Time, I've been exploring these aspects of horror, but I wonder if there are examples like this in real life. Sure, robots are not your enemy, but something doesn't have to be your enemy to be your antagonist - I might need to look into that.
