Monsterism #55

Monster: It/Wendigo
Movie: The Last Winter

My brother and I sat down for a bit of a fright fest by picking up The Last Winter, starring Hellboy's Ron Perlman and a slew of unknown actors. I'd seen this advertised in some comics recently and decided to pick it up when I saw it at the video store. This is a first because usually I don't trust horror movies advertised in comics -- usually they're straight to video/dvd stinkers. This was something different. This I wasn't expecting. It plays its horror card in a fashion somewhat similar to Alien if you were to mash it with something like Amityville Horror. You know something is wrong, something unnatural, but you don't know what until the shit really hits the fan, and even then, you don't quite know what. There are overtones of Native American/Alaskan folklore and mythology, which I always love, and when you see the monster (I'm not even sure if that's the right word) it really is very well done and very cool when it happens. The only problem I had was with what happens to Ron Perlman's character at the end. I didn't think it was necessary and it detracts somewhat from the mystique of the film and the creature/creatures therein.

Monsterism #49

Monster: Abe Sapien
Movie: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Thanks to my good mate Jarrod, I was able to attend a special preview screening of Hellboy II last week. I'd actually been meaning to post on this when I saw it, but time got away from me and other things came up (see post below). Anyway, it was FANTASTIC! I enjoyed it more than the first, and particularly enjoyed Abe, who was performed entirely by Doug Jones this time around. For those unaware, Doug was the physical actor behind Abe in the first movie, but was voiced by David Hyde Pierce (of Frasier). Doug seems to cop a bum rap when it comes to these movies he's in. He was really, really good as the Silver Surfer, and his voice (which can be heard in the trailer) is EXACTLY how I hear the Surfer when I read him, but no, Fox went and got Larry "I am eternally Morpheus" Fishburne to redo the voice.
Anyway, while I'm sure people will go back and forth on it for a while yet, I think Doug did a better job here, as the performance felt far more natural (probably because it was natural) and really allowed the dude to shine. Abe is a character I love too, and I think his transition to film has been perfect, as has everyone else in the Hellboy mythology.
The scene (or sequence more accurately) the above shot is taken from is fucking hilarious too!