Panchy's Halloween Guide to Movie Monsters: Best & Worst Edition

Okay pumpkinheads, it is your creepy uncle Panchy taking you to a tour of the macabre to best & worst movie monsters adaptations. Lets start with the classic Universal Monsters and the king of the castle hill...

FRANKENSTEIN




Best:

Karloff 1931 Frankenstein monster remains unmatched. The make-up by Jack Pierce is timeless and the most iconic in horror cinema. Many have tried to emulate it or surpass it, but in reality all have failed to come even remotely close.

Worst:

All suck. Yes, even Christopher Lee's monster, but IMO the worst offender was Robert DeNiro's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein version. He looked like, well, Robert DeNiro with stitches and a fisherman's cowl! Yes, there are worst, but this was a damn big budget film with A list cast & crew. Extremely disappointing and unimaginative.



Dishonorable mention: Aaron Eckhart handsome superhero 'thing' in 'I, Frankenstein'



WOLFMAN

Lon Chaney Jr The Wolfman was the first and for that has its place in Monsterdome Pantheon, but its make-up dated bad within the first 20 years. The Benicio Del Toro remake was a huge improvement over the classic original. But as much as I love that newer incarnation, the scariest one remains the four legged hound from hell of 'An American Werewolf in London'. There have been tons of CGI werewolves since, but all look dumb, like live action versions of Wyle E. Coyote.

BEST:



Worst:
Michael Landon's 'I was a Teenager Werewolf'



DRACULA

The Prince of Darkness is one or THE most adapted to the screen fictional characters. All over the world there are incarnations popping up almost yearly. Hard to keep track, but we will go with the ones we know. Technically Bela Lugosi was not the first, but is the iconic one. Nevertheless is the most laughable one, the one we can do parodies in Sesame Street, Count Chokula & Hotel Transylvania. But for my money, Christopher Lee was Dracula: elegant, vicious, cruel.



WORST:
Wes Craven's Dracula 2000



THE MUMMY

Boris Karloff did a nice original Mummy, but his undead appearance was so brief that if you blink you'll miss it. The look remained iconic though. Lon Chaney Jr was cast in the sequels since Karloff refused to go back to that suffocating make-up, and the results were not that great. Then we had that highly successful CGI rollercoaster remake that while fun, cannot be taken seriously. For my money, Christopher Lee did a great job in a very nice make-up job. His version was the most terrifying to date, so Lee takes the crown again.

BEST:
Christopher Lee


WORST:

The arthritic skinny old man in new bandages from 'Santo & Blue Demon vs The Monsters'. Pitiful sight.

 

FRANKENSTEIN
First movie I ever watched was as a 10-yr old on a Saturday night 'Horror-Double-Bill' - Son Of Frankenstein:



WOLFMAN
Probably the same night - Frankenstein Meets The WolfMan:


DRACULA
Christopher Lee owned this character. I've seen every move, the best being - Dracula: Prince of Darkness:


THE MUMMY
Agree with you panchy - Christopher Lee again in Hammer Film version of 1959:

 

Golden-Age of Horror: anything from early 1930s to late 1960s

 

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:bears:



lets not forget our beloved gillman from THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954), that was the first convincing man in a rubber suit monster way before ALIEN (1978)raised the bar. An honorable rendition was displayed in 1984 The Monster Squad.



Monster Squad 1984 remake


WORST:

EL PEZ from 'La mujer Murcielago' (Batwoman) 1966

 

Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
1931v. with John Barrymore:



Honorable mention to again, the King - Christopher Lee in I, Monster from the early 1970s:

 

Claude Rains in The Invisible Man (1933):

 

You know what? In my opinion the best version was the one from 1941 starring Spencer Tracey, Ingrid Bergman & Lana Turner. Tracey did a marvelous job as both Jekyll & Mr Hyde in the sense that you could believe he was two different persons, one a gentle soul, the other a psychopath, not just a doctor that turns into a monster. Poor Ingrid Bergman's character, Mr Hyde tormented and emotionally abused her so much, so many times, you felt pity for her who was truly terrified of him.




WORST:

Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971)
I mean, this should have been a comedy, but strangely tried to be serious...and scary ::
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The FF, 15-20 years to what still holds up today:



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What you think of the Rob Zombie reboot? opcorn:

 

You mean...Rob Zombie the 'Music Artist'?

 

Yeah, the same one who moonlights as a horror movie director.

 

No.

 

Who was the best Boogey Man?

Michael Myers?

Jason Voorhees?

Freddy Krueger?

Leatherface?

 

Myers answered to no-one and did things his way.