Alternate Takes 01.24.09: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 01.24.2009

This weekend werewolves and vampires battle in the third installment of the Underworld franchise. Join Alternate Takes as this week we look back at other classic monster mashes.



Welcome to Week 36 of Alternate Takes.

I'm running behind this week, so I'll just jump right into the column.

UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS



UNIVERSAL MONSTERS



There were many monsters in the silent era of film but none as memorable as those ushered in following the advent of the talkies. On Valentine's Day 1931, director Tod Browning released his adaptation of the stage play Dracula. It would be followed up by more creature features including Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and The Wolf Man (1941).

Universal tried to work on sequels to their monster lineups, but the only one proving to be a critical success was Bride of Frankenstein (1935), a movie that some argue surpasses the original feature film. In 1940, Universal released The Invisible Man Returns and The Mummy's Hand but felt they needed to do something special to keep fans interested in their unique brand of horror. Rather than continue to repeat the original formula, they decided to instead increase the number of monsters in the films.

In 1943, Universal released their newest horror film, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, with Lon Chaney reprising his role as the Wolf Man and former Dracula, Bela Lugosi, donning the makeup of the Frankenstein Monster. It is ironic Lugosi took this role, since he refused to play it years before leading the way for Boris Karloff to become the franchise's star. The movie was such a success Columbia immediately released The Return of the Vampire, with Lugosi once again playing a vampire with a werewolf assistant.

Universal put out more monster mash-ups, with House of Frankenstein (1944), which included the Frankenstein monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, a mad scientist and a hunchback and House of Dracula (1945), which included all of the above plus a dream sequence inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Of the three Universal monster mash films, House of Dracula remains the better story and involves the best monster fights of the series. Lon Chaney reprises his role as Larry Talbot/The Wolf Man for the fourth of five appearances as the character. Former western actor Glenn Strange made his second appearance as the Frankenstein monster and John Carradine made his second and final appearance as the esteemed Count Dracula. It was directed by genre director Erie C. Kenton (The Ghost of Frankenstein, House of Frankenstein), and remains the best movie on his very extensive filmography.

The movie starts off on an interesting premise. Dracula approaches Dr. Edelmann (Onslow Stevens), seeking a cure of his Vampiric condition. There is an ulterior motive as Dracula is only pretending to seek a cure to get closer to the doctor's beautiful assistant. In a strange case of coincidence, Larry Talbot also shows up asking the doctor to cure him of Lycanthropy. While the cure for Talbot is successful, the cure for Dracula backfires and Dr. Edelmann is infected with Dracula's blood, driving him mad.

The Frankenstein monster is found following Talbot's failed suicide attempt earlier in the movie, but does not come into action until the climax. It should also be noted that the final monster in the movie - the hunchback - is nothing more than a hunchbacked nursing assistant, hardly a monster at all. Dracula is dispatched midway through the movie when the doctor exposes him to direct sunlight. The final battle is between the crazed, deranged evil scientist, the Frankenstein monster, whom he revives, and a cured Larry Talbot.

The fact that the one true tragic hero of the Universal horror films, Larry Talbot leaves the movie finally cured makes this film special. The fact that they return him, as the Wolf Man, to battle Abbott and Costello, might be enough to destroy that wonderful end. Luckily for the franchise, the Abbott and Costello movie would end the Universal monsters run on a high note.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were the new faces of Universal and the horror icons of the 30s had become outdated. It seems natural the studio would pit the two franchises against each other. Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein would be the final smackdown of the classic horror figures, with the comic duo stuck in the middle. What makes the movie so spectacular is they allowed the monsters (Glenn Strange as Frankenstein, Lon Chaney as the Wolf Man, and Bela Lugosi finally returning as Dracula) to be played in a serious manner while Abbott and Costello supplied the humor. Never once in this movie were the monsters made to look like fools.

With this one last movie, the Universal monsters would finally bow out in style.

GO, GO GODZILLA



The horror movies of the Universal era were replaced by a more Science Fiction styled film. Mystery writer Stuart Kaminsky distinguished the difference between horror and science fiction in his novel American Film Genres: Approaches to a Critical Theory of Popular Film. He argues that "horror films are overwhelmingly concerned with the fear of death and the loss of identity in modern society" while by contrast "the science fiction film deals with fear of life and the future, not fear of death."

It is no coincidence the popularity of horror movies ended around the time World War II concluded. It is not a surprise a culture that had seen so much death in their lives would be ready to shut out the horrors of death on the movie screens. If the theory that science fiction films deals with the fear of the future, the time was ripe for science fiction to take over the realm of popular imagination.

Following the United States dropping of the atomic bombs onto the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the scene was perfect for a new kind of monster, not one based in age old superstitions, but one based on man's ruthless nature. From the devestation of World War II, came this new monster mutated as a result of the testing of the hydrogen bomb. That monster would be named Gojira, or as Americans know him - Godzilla.

The monster's first appearance was in its debut movie Gojira in 1954 and it has appeared in 28 films to date. In this first movie, the idea of World War II was still fresh in the minds of the filmmakers. When scientists discover Godzilla's footprint contains massive amounts of residue that could only have come from an atomic bomb, they decide to keep it a secret so as not to upset the balance of power in an otherwise fragile world. The movie ends with Godzilla's death and the observation that "if we keep conducting nuclear tests, it's possible that Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world, again."

Science fiction is the fear of the future.

Following this incarnation of the monster, it slowly transformed from a devastating world beater into more of an anti-hero, a protector of Japan. In Godzilla Raids Again, the monster returns and battles another monster called Anguirus, a four-legged dinosaur with several horns. Godzilla continued to serve as an antagonistic anti-hero in King Kong vs. Godzilla.

While this is not the best of the "Godzilla Versus" movies, it is still very noteworthy as it pits Japan's greatest monster against the legendary American creation. The idea surfaced originally in America as Willis O'Brien, the animator of the original stop motion King Kong wanted to make a "versus" picture of his own in 1960. He decided King Kong vs. Frankenstein would be a great idea and began to shop the idea around. He gained the right to use the Kong character from RKO and then decided to change out the character of Frankenstein believing Universal still owned the rights.

After a series of rejections, O'Brien shopped the idea around overseas and caught the attention of the Japanese studio Toho. Toho took interest and decided to change the nemesis for Kong into their monster Godzilla. This movie was made to create a more favorable experience for younger audiences and Toho decided to add a much lighter tone to the movie, adding humor to attract children to the character. Because King Kong was, at the time, more popular in Japan and Godzilla was still seen as a villain, they allowed Kong to come out of the battle victorious over the reptile.

Despite the top billing of King Kong in the film, it was Godzilla who eventually reigned supreme as its popularity continued to grow. Godzilla would go on to battle such monsters as Ebirah, Kamacuras, Hedorah, Gigan, Megalon, Mechagodzilla, Titanosaurus, Gabara and King Ghidorah. Godzilla was indeed the king of smackdown monster mashes but his most entertaining opponent was found in the best sequel of them all, 1964's Mothra vs. Godzilla.

"Mothra is the only one, a giant caterpillar, who has bested Godzilla without harming him," said producer Henry G. Saperstein, the man who brought many of Godzilla's films to America, "by spitting this web of goopy, sticky stuff around him like a cocoon. What a clever way to immobilize this ferocious hero without inflicting any damage on him. I kind of like Mothra."

Most movies make one of the monsters a good guy. In House of Dracula, the Wolf Man is not necessarily a good guy, but Larry Talbot, the man behind the monster is. While Godzilla becomes a anti-hero over time, here he is still the destructive monster.

Following a storm, a giant egg washes ashore and is taken by an industrial organization. Two small fairies come and ask for the egg to be returned to Infant Island because the egg belongs to their God Mothra who lives there. They refuse to return the egg but soon change their minds when, from the wreckage of the storm, comes Godzilla. Godzilla attacks the town and they decide that maybe if they return the egg to the island. Mothra will come to the aid against Godzilla, yet it should be noted Mothra is not necessarily helping the people and shows up just in time to save her egg from Godzilla.

It is interesting in the film that Godzilla does not actually attack anyone with malevolence. If you watch closely the monster destroys the city by accident. Godzilla takes down a TV tower when its tail is tangled up in it. When Godzilla destroys the castle it is because the monster falls into a pit and stumbles against the building. It is not until the military attacks Godzilla, and this is one of the few Godzilla movies where the military actually takes Godzilla down momentarily, that Godzilla fights back. Even with the dynamic of Mothra being a savior, Godzilla remains the tragic monster made famous by Frankenstein's monster, a being that lives by instinct and only reacts to the violence around him.

Mothra became one of Godzilla's most popular opponents. Unlike other monsters in the Godzilla series, Mothra was able to communicate - in the beginning through tiny twin priestesses or fairies who speak for her. Mothra also is soon found to be a powerful psychic, able to communicate with humans in a friendly manner, as well as defensively to destroy its enemies. Mothra is always assumed to be a God-like divine creature and is one of the few creatures to take Godzilla to the limit. Mothra never defeated Godzilla alone and, in this movie, was killed before the egg hatched and its spawn took down the monster.

Over time, Mothra would become the savior of the planet, or more specifically of the environment. In much the same way as Godzilla, the monsters in these movies were never concerned with humanity. Humans, with few exceptions, were the true evil in the movies. The humans were the ones who enraged the monsters into attacking. In some cases they were responsible for the creation of the monsters to begin with, Godzilla the greatest example. Whether it is the destruction of the environment through the greed of corporations or the destructive might of the military forces, it's the humans who should be feared, not the monsters.

However, it is the monsters people watch these movies to see, and there are not many better examples of all out monster fights than in the Godzilla series. Out of all the monsters Godzilla would face, there are none better than Mothra.

RECENT SLOBBERKNOCKERS



With the classic monster movies from both the Universal era and the Japanese Toho features, it is not surprising nothing since has come close to matching up. The two most obvious attempts at this were Alien vs. Predator and Freddy vs. Jason.

The best of the recent movies featuring a clash of iconic titans is Freddy vs. Jason. There are people who don't appreciate what was accomplished with this film, but the movie touches upon what made both series great. Freddy is trapped in Hell and the only way he can escape is if the kids on Elm Street remember him for all the evil he caused. He devises a plan and begins to torment a dormant Jason with visions of his mother, waking the serial killer and leading him to Elm Street.

That doesn't exactly make any sense because, if he can't get to the kids on Elm Street, how is he able to reach Jason through his dreams?

The original script was written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who also penned the new Friday the 13th reboot. Their original thought was to make the movie grounded in the mythology laid down in the original films without changing the history of the characters. David Goyer (The Dark Knight) came in and did rewrites, tightening scenes, changing dialogue and shortening the film as well. Ronny Yu was brought in following his very entertaining and funny approach to the monster Chucky (Bride of Chucky). What resulted was a film that felt more like the original films than the AvP attempt.

When describing the final fight between the two horror icons, director Ronny Yu mentions his influences on the style he used. "One thing I kept in my mind while shooting this movie is the film called Rocky. When I first saw the Rocky, the scene that really hit me is the scene at the end. The final fight when Apollo beat the crap out of Rocky but Rocky had the spirit to fight back, even though his eye is all swollen and all that he tell the trainer cut it open, cut it open and that moment ... That for me is raw. It's not like you have all this wire work now and everybody is copying everybody and jumping everywhere and flying. You now have these two monsters in the ring, it's almost like a WWF thing, a wrestling thing. I said I should go back to that rawness, like I said tearing your eyes out, tear your liver out, damage your kidney and the machete chopping your head off, chopping the fingers off. That's the rawness, with less of those quick cuts. I said put the camera there and let them chop each other up, like on a cutting board with blood going everywhere!"

The final fight was very similar to a professional wrestling match with body slams but the brutality on hand in this was just amazing. When watching the old movies with Godzilla, you witness the monsters lumbering around bashing each other with everything they could get. These days things need to be more realistic in the movie sense of that word. Freddy is a child murderer and Jason is a psychotic maniac. If these two beings were to fight, it needed to be done in as brutal a way as possible. This movie achieves that and, in a movie like this, what more could you ask for?

How about that awesome rave in the wheat field where Jason got to go completely wild? It was a scene that Friday the 13th fans should have loved. If I have any complaints about the movie, it is that as a Nightmare on Elm Street fan, Freddy didn't get as many good one-liners as he should have. I can live with that because I got what I paid for. However, if fans hated Freddy vs. Jason, they should absolutely loathe Alien vs. Predator.

Alien vs. Predator, also referred to as AVP, is one of the most hated "Monster Versus" movies ever made. It is the Alien movie franchise that is the crown jewel of this pairing. With no offence to the original Predator film, Alien presented two masterpieces and all four films had quality, genius level directors. The original Alien was a basic haunted house story in outer space, but instead of a ghost you are given an acid spewing alien creature. Directed by Ridley Scott, in his Hollywood debut, it has circled the top of many critics' best horror movies lists.

The sequel, Aliens, is just as good, if not better than its predecessor as director James Cameron would take the original horror idea and create a science fiction adventure movie that would predate his work on Terminator 2 by five years. It would be his first feature film, following the original Terminator, and would help erase the memories of Piranha Part 2 from the collective memory.

While the third and fourth films in the series have not received the same love, they are still sights to behold. David Fincher, who went on to bring us such great films as Seven and Fight Club would direct the third film in the series and the Director's Cut of that film is still a solid Alien movie. There is not much to love about the fourth film, Alien Resurrection, but it looks magnificent and that is all because of its director. Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, Amelie) is incapable of creating an uninteresting looking film, even when crippled with a screenplay so poor it could not be saved by script-doctor Joss Whedon.

Predator would only produce two films, a solid fun action horror flick in the first and a campy eye roller in its sequel. Predator, if nothing else, might be the only movie where killer aliens are hunted down by two U.S. Governors (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse "The Body" Ventura). It also starred Carl Weathers (Rocky), and cast Jean Claude Van Damme in the role as the Predator, although the later would quit after two days and be replaced. The sequel would only take a small step down in iconic B-movie "star power" and would cast Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon), Gary Busey (Lethal Weapon), Bill Paxton (Aliens), Robert Davi (Die Hard) and Adam Baldwin (Firefly) in various roles.

So, why was there such an interest to mix the great Alien franchise with the B-level Predator franchise? What would make the movie so interesting that fans would skewer writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson for his adaptation? Two words - Geek Love.

Aliens vs. Predator was an incredibly successful comic book. "I am a humongous fan of Alien and Predator," said Anderson. "I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who has seen those movies as many times as I have." He then goes on to point out it was not his original idea to make this film, because if you watched closely in Predator 2, you would see the Alien head in the Predator spacecraft. It was this one quick shot that led Dark Horse to the idea to make the comic book series based over the idea that the Predator once hunted down the Alien species.

The story idea for AvP is simple. In the past, Predators were Gods to the Aztec people and it is through the worship of the Predators that the pyramids were built. Since that time, Predators use the Earth as a base for their manhood rituals. They drop five teenage Predators to one of the pyramids, with Aliens captured inside, and have these Predators fight the Aliens for their survival. The Predators who survive their battles with the Aliens achieve their manhood.

The idea is great but the problem lies in the humans used as the catalyst for the story. Lance Henriksen takes his payday as the only holdover from the original Alien franchise but after that you get paper thin sketches of people played by a "who's-who" of unknown faces. The first 45-minutes of the movie are simply a playground for Anderson to kill his human guinea pigs in the most horrible ways possible. Unfortunately, this lacks the haunted house fears of the original Alien and the gung-ho battle scenes of Aliens or Predator.

I really don't understand the geek hatred towards this movie, though. If you are someone who watches because you want to see the Aliens bleed acid or the armor clad Predators blast everything in sight with their awesome weapons, Anderson delivers that here. Anderson makes it clear that he was interested in the geek love as well as his idea that the Predator's weapons were created as something so big and bad, it would be ideal for hunting the powerful Aliens. The story may have been crap and the first half of the movie ridiculous, but for a monster mash you could do much, much worse.


Watch the following trailer for UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS and then click on the posters below it to learn more about the DVDs of the movies discussed in this column.