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HEAD TURNERS: THE HORROR MONSTERS THAT SCARED US STIFF
With the world of special effects advancing at a frightening pace, the number of silver screen ghouls to haunt us day and, especially, night has exploded through the roof.
With the release of horror hit The Unborn, director David S. Goyer has created a film packed with terrorising monsters and gut wrenching suspense that will have you glued to your seats from horrifying beginning to bitter end. When a mythical demonic creature, the Dybbuk, starts to hunt teenager Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman), it manifests itself in all types of nerve-shredding beastly forms showcasing some of the most spectacular in special effects wizardry.
With the Unseen Edition of the horror smash out on DVD and Blu-ray, now is the perfect time to revisit the chilling movie monsters that have spooked audiences down the years. From Pinhead to Freddy, we look at the nightmarish creations that have left an indelible mark on our fragile psyches...
Regan from The Exorcist (1973)
Linda Blair may well have taken a co-starring role in the horrific TV spin off “S Club 7 in L.A”, however she sharpened her teeth as cute moppet turned devil spewing whack job Regan MacNeil in William Friedkin’s Oscar winning chiller. Her head spinning antics caused no end of trauma in the seventies, when horror special effects were very much in their infancy.
The werewolf in An American Werewolf in London (1981)
How do you follow up Animal House and The Blues Brothers, two of the best comedies ever made? If you’re director John Landis, you head to London and let make-up mogul Rick Baker create one of the most frightening movie beasts ever unleashed. When David Kessler metamorphoses into a hairy, fanged hunter, audiences sure got their money’s worth of scares.
The shape shifter from The Thing (1982)
Back when director John Carpenter had the horror Midas touch, he re-imagined the 1951 film with Kurt Russell in the lead and a Who’s Who of sensational supporting character actors. It was the shape-shifting alien, though, that propelled hands in front of faces when it inhabited and memorably mutated huskies and paranoid science geeks camping out in frozen Antarctica.
Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
There are not many guys and gals out there who can honestly say their laundry bills didn’t rise exponentially with each Elm Street outing in the eighties and beyond. The razor-fingered Dennis the Menace jumper fan, with a penchant for killing kiddies, ensured several sleepless nights thanks to amazing special effects allied with Robert Englund’s majestic performances.
Seth Brundle in The Fly (1986)
When you’re looking for a director to amp up the scare factor, you might as well turn the dial to 11 and get David Cronenberg. When Jeff Goldblum’s scientist Seth Brundle teleports without remembering to shoo a pesky fly out of his pod, the result is positively terrifying. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Pinhead from Hellraiser (1987)
British shock merchant Clive Barker has had a hand in several petrifying characters in modern culture, but none captured the imagination quite like old Pinhead in the micro-budget film. Doug Bradley assumed the role of his ghastly Lead Cenobite so well that none of the crew recognised him at the wrap party without his momentous make-up
Chucky from Child's Play (1988)
It may seem a tad lame that a toy made this list, but this ain’t no ordinary toy. Given life when horror ruled the roost in the late eighties, little Chucky started slicing away after serial killer Charles Lee Ray used a voodoo spell to transfer his soul to a Good Guy doll. It worked a treat as the Brad Dourif voiced mini freak spawned several sequels.
Daniel Robitaille from Candyman (1992)
Perhaps one of the most underrated films of the genre, Clive Barker’s nineties brainchild wreaked havoc on Virginia Madsen and co in the form of towering Tony Todd and his gruesome hook. When your right hand is sawn off, your body smothered in honey for swarms of bees to feed on before being burnt at the stake, there’s a good chance you’re going to be a trifle annoyed in the afterlife.
Sil from Species (1995)
Taking the shape of model Natasha Henstridge, this particular monster is somewhat different to the rest of our roll call of grisly fiends. With a young Michelle Williams playing Sil as a child, the innocent looking tyke soon transforms into armour-plated adult predator when her alien DNA gets the better of her human cells.
Samara Morgan from The Ring (2002)
There have been several Japanese horror remakes in recent years, however the one that blazed a trail is Gore Verbinski’s noughties fright-fest. With Naomi Watts putting the D in damsel in distress, the film revolves around a rather pale, quite hideous girl allowing the special effects whizzes to dream up a few striking set-piece deaths.
IF ALL THIS TALK OF HORROR MONSTERS LEAVES YOU SCREAMING OUT FOR MORE, CHECK OUT THE UNBORN ON DVD AND BLU-RAY.
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