The Shroud Underground

Phil Kuhlman

One of the sad things about modern horror is that the "monster" has really lost it's power to scare people, or even make them laugh in some cases. A lot of the time the monster movie is considered it's own genre, apart but lesser than the horror genre. So what movie monsters do you feel actually belong in the horror genre, and what monsters do you have a soft spot for?

My personal favorite has always been Pumpkinhead. The one designed by Stan Winston that appeared in the First Pumpkinhead movie. Not the really bad plastic version from the non-continuity having sequal, but the great one that had the amazing creature effects. Even by today's standards I think the creature work holds up compared to at least 80 percent of the CGI monsters you see out there. Far better than the CGI versions that SciFi did for the other pumpkinhead films in my opinion. But as far as the original went, it was built by the same guy who did Alien, Predator, and Terminator, there's nothing the guys in his studio can't seem to do.

That, and Pumpkinhead had some great on-screen kills, like impaling a guy with his own rifle after posing with it like any good badass monster with thumbs should.

Nathaniel Lambert · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:22 pm Post subject:

Pumpkinhead
Pinhead
Barlow
The Blob
Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.)
...

Rob Davies · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:23 pm Post subject:

Pinhead
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Hedorah (Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster)

Nathaniel Lambert · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:29 pm Post subject:

I forgot the best one: John Carpenter's THE THING.

Tom Piccirilli · Disciple Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 50

THE CRAWLING EYE!

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Tom Piccirilli is the author of twenty novels including THE COLD SPOT, THE MIDNIGHT ROAD, THE DEAD LETTERS, and A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN. Learn more at: www.tompiccirilli.com

Sheldon S. Higdon · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:57 am Post subject:

Man, I have so many favorites. So with that I'll just mention a few movies that aren't my favorites but for some reason or other still claw at the back of my mind. And mind you, they're not the greatest films of all time but good in their own terrible way. And Monsters in their own way.

Humanoids from the Deep, Rawhead Rex, The Gate, Puppetmaster, and The Crimson Ghost (1946 Serial).
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Phil Kuhlman · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:29 am Post subject:

I just got the "100 horror classics" and "50 horror classics" box sets, and it has the Crimson Ghost stuff on it, I'll try to get it in the dvd player sometime this week.

I heard that there could be a new Rawhead Rex on the way. As dark and warped as the story is, it would be great to see it brought to the screen by a director that respected the source material and a studio that would allow it to be done the way it's written. But I do gotta say that since I did grow up with that movie, Rawhead has always been one of my favorite b-movie monsters.

I love the Descent monsters though. I like to think they were goblins, since they fit the old European descriptions of the little buggers.

The Thing is one of the best examples of what you can do without computers if you really wanna do a great monster. Carpenter's monsters are usually pretty cool, I especially love the creatures (the little you see of them) in "In the Mouth of Madness".

I would kill to see John Carpenter direct a film version of "The King in Yellow". How awesome would that be?

Sheldon S. Higdon · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:28 pm Post subject:

christammiller · Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:37 pm Post subject:

Zombies are my absolute favorite. I like monsters with backstory. Pinhead fits because in the second movie he was given a past. That was very eye-opening to me when I saw it (I was still new to horror).

Totally agree with the Descent creatures. Anyone see Dog Soldiers? Those werewolves were some of the best I've seen.

As an aside, we have always wanted to dress our kids up as the creatures from Phantasm ("little and brown and low to the ground"), but have never been able to find the right brown cloaks.
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Assistant Editor, Shroud Magazine

**shroud** · Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:55 pm Post subject:

Sheldon S. Higdon · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:41 pm Post subject:

a_priester · Initiate Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 3

1. EEGAH!
2. Joe Don Baker

More seriously, depending on how loosely we're defining a monster, Max Cady. Either one.

christammiller · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 1:34 am Post subject:

Phil Kuhlman · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:17 am Post subject:

Ahh, it was called "The Pale Man". Anything Doug Jones does is amazing. Silver Surfer, the Faun and the Pale Man, Abe Sapian, all that stuff. I'm really looking forward to his performance in the next Hellboy film, and I really wonder what they'll have him do in "At the Mountains of Madness" when Del Toro finally gets to make it.

Tom Piccirilli · Disciple Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 50

HA! Joe Don Baker, but especially as MITCHELL.
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Tom Piccirilli is the author of twenty novels including THE COLD SPOT, THE MIDNIGHT ROAD, THE DEAD LETTERS, and A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN. Learn more at: www.tompiccirilli.com