Eli Roth's History of Horror (2018) s01e05 Episode Script
Killer Creatures
- [roaring]
- Monsters
[birds screeching]
[creatures growling, roaring]
- Are metaphors.
- I don't think you appreciate
the gut reaction people have
to these things.
They do represent a lot
of our deeper
psychological fears.
- [children screaming]
- Pennywise is a manifestation
of evil.
He's made of fantasies
and the creators
- are children.
- When people ask me,
"What are the ones
that are your favorite movies?"
I always mention "Cujo."
It's a really intense
- go-for-the-throat film.
- [screaming]
[Cujo growling]
I loved "Gremlins."
The Jekyll-and-Hyde component
of these little cute characters
and that they turn into
- these crazy monsters
- [cackling]
- I mean, the Gremlins are us.
- [snarling]
[gunshot]
Clear.
- [screams]
- My favorite of all time
is John Carpenter's
"The Thing."
- [roaring]
- [snarling]
"American Werewolf
in London," "The Howling"
those movies were really
the age of make-up effects.
- [snarling]
- Werewolves will kick
- vampires' ass any day.
- There is a lot
to fear in nature.
[bird squawking]
The natural world
is turning on us
'cause we have mistreated it
in some way.
[sinister music]
♪♪
"Jaws," for me, was the one.
That was the one
that terrified me.
[swimmers screaming]
[screaming]
That's a monster.
- That's a true monster.
- [roaring]
[sinister music]
♪♪
[chainsaw revving]
♪♪
Monsters hold
a special place
in the history of horror.
The killer predators
in nature
[screaming]
The nightmare creatures
of the fantastic,
and the monsters inside us
waiting to escape.
- [snarling]
- They can be frightening,
or fun, or both.
[cookies chittering,
laughing]
Whatever their size
or shape,
whether they're humanoid
or utterly alien,
monsters are reflections
of ourselves.
- [whimpering]
- They do represent a lot
of our deeper
psychological fears.
We sort of design them
to represent everything
that we feel is ugly
about ourselves.
[sinister music]
- Time to float.
- [wheezing]
- [hyperventilating]
- The latest addition
to the monster hall of fame
is Pennywise the clown,
the killer creature
at the heart
of the 2017 blockbuster,
"It."
Based on the 1986 novel
by legendary horror writer
Stephen King,
"It" tells the story
of seven young outcasts
in Derry, Maine.
They battle an ancient evil
that emerges
every 27 years
to kill the town's children.
Some of the greatest
horror films of all time
all sprang from
the literary works
of Stephen King.
He has the most vivid
imagination,
and he takes you
to the strangest places,
but the anchor is always
the the human emotion.
Uh, without that it's not King.
I s saw something too.
I remember the summer
the book came out,
everyone was reading it.
We all had our, like,
copies of "It," this big,
no matter where we were.
Do you enjoy watching
adaptations, or
- or is it has it evolved?
- Sure, yeah.
No, I I like
to watch adaptations
and, uh, I'm always interested
to see what people do
with the stuff.
- [screaming]
- It's perfect.
It was a mainstream movie
that was rated "R."
It played like a family film.
Everyone again, it became
the movie you were dared
to see.
It grossed $700 million
worldwide.
And not only that,
it was a good film.
[sinister music]
Beep beep, Richie.
I wanted to be true
to the spirit of
of the story
and the characters.
The first goal was to
to make it different
from from Tim Curry
interpretation
- Beep beep, Richie.
- I felt that
there was something
about Pennywise that
that wasn't covered there.
- Bill!
- [snarling]
I also wanted to bring
a weird balance
of of a monster and a child.
If you see the the design
of the monster,
he has, like,
child-like features.
He's like roundy face and
and, you know,
the bucky teeth.
And one of the things
that I consider important
is that one of his eyes
would be, uh, strabismic,
- so it was pointing out.
- I will take him.
Only him.
Andy shot the [bleep]
out of that movie.
When Georgie is running
down the gutter
after the the boat,
it looks
- like a real rain storm.
- No!
It doesn't look like
a sunny day
where people ran
a rain machine.
[sinister music]
Um
I should get going now.
Oh.
Uh, without your boat?
Opening is a masterpiece.
There is a reason why it's,
like, the scene that,
you know, has created
a thousand parodies
'cause it's that good.
♪♪
[snarls]
[screaming]
[wailing]
Help!
[wailing]
Pennywise's creepy hand
starts to stretch across the
the street
[screams]
Billy!
That is nightmare fuel.
And what the director,
Andy Muschietti,
was able to do so well is
maintain that nightmare fuel
throughout the rest
of the runtime.
What the hell?
Put the map back.
Mm-mm.
[projector clicks]
[clicking]
The projection scene is one
of the most impactful ones
because it sets you up
for something.
[projector clicking]
♪♪
[all whimpering]
♪♪
And then it really
surprises you.
[hollers]
[all scream]
- [cackles]
- Billy!
[all screaming]
It is really about
the horrors of society.
The scariest things
in that book
are not supernatural.
The scariest things
in that book are
racism.
Stay the [bleep]
out of my town!
- Misogyny
- She'll do you.
You just gotta ask nicely.
And child abuse.
Tell me you're still
my little girl.
Yes, Daddy.
Beverly's sexual abuse
by her father is shown to be
very much connected,
we know,
with the external threats
embodied by It.
[snarls]
[eerie music]
Hey, Bevvie.
- Are you still my little girl?
- [screams]
[gagging]
But it also reminds us
the most unimaginable,
horrific things
really do happen.
Tasty, tasty,
- beautiful fear.
- [gasps, whimpers]
Fears are never just
imaginary.
Hey!
[dark music]
Eddie!
[whimpering]
This isn't real enough
for you, Billy?
[high-pitched]
I'm not real enough for you?
Oh
It was real enough
for Georgie!
[cackling]
[roaring]
♪♪
The clowns hate me.
I just tell people,
"Don't hate the messenger
for the message."
Kids are scared to death
of clowns,
and and, you know, clowns are
a natural disguise
for monsters
because you never know
what's under that makeup.
♪♪
"It" gave us a monster drawn
from our childhood fears
- [screams]
- [roaring]
But some creatures tap into
different parts
- of our brains.
- You gotta be
- kidding.
- Our dread that others
- are not what they seem
- [roaring]
- [all screaming]
- And our secret desire
to act upon
our wildest impulses.
[cackling]
Why are monsters
of the fantastic
so popular?
Perhaps it's because they can
do anything they want.
Monsters don't have
to follow the rules
That's why kids love them.
Especially monsters
who enjoy behaving badly.
Monsters like gremlins.
- You're kidding.
- [whines]
I loved "Gremlins"
growing up.
My parents took myself
and my sister to see it.
I think we were all expecting
something along the lines
of "E.T."
I just call him Gizmo.
He seems to like it.
It had that Amblin-Spielberg
presentation,
but what nobody told you
is that it turns into
a balls-to-the-wall
horror movie.
You know, there's some things
I forgot to tell you guys,
and they're really important.
- Keep him away from water
- [screams]
[shrieking]
Don't ever feed him
after midnight
[sinister music]
I loved
I love that that movie.
The Jekyll-and-Hyde component
of these little cute characters
and that they turn into
these crazy monsters.
[cackling]
[grunts, groans]
I'll never forget
the entire audience
just leaping and screaming
and applauding with it.
- [shrieking]
- [screaming]
♪♪
And it was just so bizarre
and so different
than anything we had seen
in the '80s up until then.
[growls]
[whining]
That perfect mix of laughter
and screaming.
[gurgles]
I've been criticized by
certain studio executives
over the years for
"Is this supposed to be
a horror movie or a comedy?"
And, um, I find the two genres
very closely aligned.
[sneezes]
I grew up on
the James Whale films
and, uh, Whale's pictures
were always mordantly comic.
and he was not afraid
to mix tones.
They've asked for it,
the country bumpkins.
This will give them
a bit of a shock.
The Invisible Man
who is certifiably crazy
does a lot of funny things.
Uh, but then in the middle
of doing something funny
- he'll kill somebody.
- I think I'll throttle you.
[gagging]
Let go of me!
Then all of a sudden
your laugh catches
in your throat.
That's always fascinated me,
that dichotomy.
[sinister music]
Gremlins are us.
The gremlins are the absolute
worst aspects
of humanity manifested
as these little reptilian,
snarling,
mischievous monsters.
[shrieking]
And that's what makes them
so great.
[screaming]
[gremlins laughing]
Especially in the scene
where they're fighting
with Phoebe Cates in the bar.
It's like every single gremlin
looks like someone
you might see
- in a seedy bar.
- [laughing]
[whistle blowing]
The studio didn't really
understand the movie.
[babbling]
[hollering]
They didn't get it
when they saw it,
they didn't get it
when it came out
they just were happy
that it was making money.
- [gremlins babbling]
- Are moviegoers so desperate
for entertainment
that this is the trash
passed for fun?
Whoa! Wait a minute!
[gremlins cackling]
It was ripped off
all over the place.
"The Ghoulies"
and "Critters"
and yes, I did "Critters 2."
Look at the size
of their leader.
[critters babbling]
[growling]
There were so many
little creature movies
little puppet movies
because they were
relatively cheap to make
unless you did them well.
The first "Gremlins," I think,
was $10 million,
but the second one
was $60 million.
- [gremlins laughing]
- Is everybody here?
[all cheering]
All right, then!
[growling]
- [shrieking]
- [growling]
To me, "Gremlins" was really
great gateway horror.
By gateway horror
I'm referring to movies
that are scary enough
for the whole family.
[growling]
I think it's good for kids
to watch scary movies.
- Omi!
- [snarling]
[both screaming]
[dramatic music]
It makes you learn how
to process fear
on a physical and mental level.
I think your kid will probably
be more messed up
if you don't show them
anything scary
'cause they won't be prepared
for the real world,
which is actually terrifying.
[all laughing, chittering]
If "Gremlins" is
the lighter side
of killer creatures,
John Carpenter's
"The Thing"
is the darkest of the dark.
[growling]
The film's shape-shifters
embody our most
paranoid suspicions,
that the people we know
and trust
are actually inhuman monsters.
[roaring]
"The Thing" is about
a remote outpost
in Antarctica, and they find
an alien in the ice.
And what this alien
winds up doing
is it will it will replicate
anything it can see.
It needs to be alone
and in close proximity
with the life-form
to be absorbed.
Slowly, it's knocking off
each cast member one by one.
[roaring]
By mid-film, you don't know
who's who
and they have to figure out
who's The Thing
so they can survive.
The blood from one
of you things
won't obey when it's attacked.
- It'll try and survive.
- [screeches]
[all screaming]
- [growling]
- The horror of sort of truism
was things can be real good
and scary
until you see the monster,
and, uh, Rob Bottin
the special effects guy
said, "Well, what if
we show them
the monster constantly?"
But the trick is that
the monster is
a different monster
every time.
I mean, that's just
brilliantly leaning into
- the problem.
- [roaring]
I took my girlfriend
to see "The Thing,"
and she sat in the theater
- almost vomiting in her hands
- [laughing]
And was so angry at me.
"Why would you take me
to this movie?"
It's so gory and it's
so grotesque but, like, it's
it's amazing!
What are you talking about?
It's like the holy grail
of horror movies.
It's a perfect movie.
[roaring]
[sinister music]
It's also
an unparalleled, uh
of effects showcase.
You know, we see these
these creatures that have
no real form or structure
but that come from
the deepest nightmares
that we could possibly fathom.
[growling]
[screaming]
[crunching]
"The Thing" and "Gremlins"
are monsters drawn
from our wildest fantasies.
- Wait a minute.
- You'll never run into
- either one of them.
- [growling]
But some of the most
terrifying movies ever made
show us what might happen
if everyday animals
became killer creatures.
[sinister music]
- [Cujo growling]
- Humans take their dominance
over nature for granted.
But what if other species
rose up against us?
Animals we consider friendly
or harmless.
[birds calling]
The fear of suddenly being
at the bottom
of the food chain
is the premise
of the first man versus nature
horror film
[birds calling]
Alfred Hitchcock's
"The Birds."
My name
is Alfred Hitchcock.
and I would like to tell you
about my forthcoming lecture.
It is about the birds
and their age-long relationship
with man.
[birds squawking]
Such a bizarre thought,
that birds would attack us.
To think of them
all of a sudden
banding together.
That you would have to be wary
every time
you step out your door
or get out of your car
or whatever
is a very frightening thought.
"The Birds," at its heart,
is a story
of a woman who, uh,
is intrigued by a man
and kind of wants
to get at the man.
Are those lovebirds?
[birds chirping]
No, those are, uh,
redbirds.
And the man is interested
in the woman
but is a little wary of her
because she's not his
perfect idea
of what a woman should be.
[birds calling]
I think she was a woman
who was sure of herself.
I I don't think
she was impressed with herself.
I just think she knew
what she wanted
and, um, how to get it.
[motor putting]
What I love about
"The Birds"
is there's no answer.
[bird squawks]
You never know
why it's happening,
and that makes it
so incredibly frightening.
[children screaming]
When you can explain horror,
it loses its mystery
and it ceases
to become horrifying.
[children singing
indistinctly]
To take
what most people consider
a pretty innocuous animal,
like a
not an animal to be feared
♪♪
And to turn it into
something that terrifying
that still really works
♪♪
I mean, that scene
when she turns around
and they're all sitting there
is terrifying.
It would be terrifying
for us to experience that
in life.
[birds calling]
Hitchcock was one
of the first
if not the first
live-action filmmaker
to rely heavily
on storyboards.
[eerie music]
And that's one reason why
his films are so effective,
I think
because he didn't rely on
happy accidents
to make those scenes work.
He knew how they ought
to be staged,
how they ought to be cut.
[children screaming]
- Daddy!
- I don't think that
there is much
that Alfred Hitchcock missed
in making his movies.
I mean, they were made
for his audience,
and he knew his audiences well.
[birds calling]
That was just one
of the most horrific things
I had ever seen at that point.
You couldn't walk the street
for fear of being attacked.
That just always stuck with me.
[birds squawking]
It was relentless
and unforgiving.
I was supposed
to go up the stairs
and of course by that time
my character had seen
all of the destruction
that the birds had caused
and I said
to Alfred Hitchcock,
"Why would I go up there
"knowing what's going on?
Why would I do that?"
And he said,
"Because I tell you to."
[whimpers]
[dark music]
At the beginning of the film,
the Tippi Hedren character
is assertive, very sexual,
very sure of herself.
By the end of the film, uh,
conservative forces
from without reduce her
to a sort of wordless,
helpless woman
who, you know, basically has
to be carried out of the house
and is now afraid
of everything.
In in other words,
a much more acceptable vision
- of what a housewife should be.
- No.
No!
I think Alfred Hitchcock
was born to scare people.
To make them uneasy
frighten them severely
and also really
make them think.
I think he relished that.
Did he take it too far
in his private life?
Probably.
He had his own motion picture
going on inside.
[laughing]
"The Birds"
is a masterful suspense film
and a disturbing projection
of Alfred Hitchcock's
conflicted feelings
about female sexuality.
In the film "Cujo"
adapted from Stephen King's
1981 novel
another
normally harmless animal
punishes a woman for her sins.
One of your adaptations
that I think everyone
who's seen it loves it
is "Cujo"
- Yeah.
- Lewis Teague's film.
That movie was terrifying.
I was petrified.
When people ask me,
"What are the ones
that are your favorite movies?"
I always mention "Cujo."
This is about a woman
who's dealing with a lot
regarding her husband
and this man she's having
an affair with,
and this sin
that she has committed
which is infidelity
and now paying
the ultimate price for that.
[growling]
[huffing, growling]
To me, horror is always
situational.
It's something where
you say to yourself
[dramatic music]
"Okay, we're gonna put a woman
"and a boy in in the car,
and then we're gonna see
what happens."
- [growling]
- [screams]
- [screaming]
- When you've got, um,
not just the rabid dog, Cujo,
uh, but then you've got
her son who
who's having these seizures,
and it becoming sweltering
in the car
that she's trapped in,
and you just feel the anxiety
and the, uh, claustrophobia.
It's a really intense movie.
[growling, snarling]
♪♪
Part of the the greatness
of that film
is the performance
by Dee Wallace.
It was extraordinary.
You know, you really feel
her pain, you really feel
how distraught she is,
and you feel
those survival instincts
that kick in
when the trouble starts.
Well, what actress
wouldn't want the opportunity
to play a tour-de-force part
like "Cujo"?
[suspenseful music]
♪♪
I had no idea
how tough it would be.
♪♪
- [growling]
- [gasps]
[whimpers]
In a horror film,
there's a lot
if you're doing it right,
there's a lot
of emotional work.
[barking, snarling]
[screams]
- [snarling]
- [cries out]
♪♪
Your body does not know
you are acting.
Your brain does not know
you are acting.
It goes through
every chemical change
that you would go through
in fight-or-flight.
[whimpering]
♪♪
- [snarling]
- [screams]
So you can imagine
doing a movie like "Cujo"
six to eight weeks
of fight-or-flight
- every minute.
- [snarling]
[screaming]
- [screams]
- There were lots
and lots of dogs playing Cujo.
[screaming]
[growling, snarling]
It's all a big game
for them.
We had to tie their tails down
with fish wire
because they were having
a wonderful time
- going after their toys.
- [screaming]
[shrieks]
All the dogs were taken
much better care of
than I was.
[laughs]
I wanna be clear about that.
[sinister music]
They treated me
for exhaustion
for three weeks after
that movie finished.
[shaky breathing]
It was relentless.
And it is, I think,
my best work and the film
I'm most proud of.
[dark music]
Please, God,
get me out of here.
♪♪
"Cujo" and "The Birds"
took harmless animals
and turned them into monsters.
- [snarling, barking]
- But the ultimate
animal-attack story
features a creature
everyone fears,
thanks to one
landmark horror film.
[screaming]
In 1975, a young director
named Steven Spielberg
made a film
about a giant man-eating shark
prowling
the New England coastline.
"Jaws" was the first
summer blockbuster,
and it's the ultimate
animal attack movie.
"Jaws" is pure cinema.
From that opening shot
underwater
and that music, I can't think
of an opening of a movie
that's more effective
than that
the opening credits
of that movie.
["Jaws" theme plays]
You are probably the most
"Jaws" - obsessed person I know.
That movie, for me
[stammering]
I saw it the second day
it was out.
My parents went
opening night
How old were you
when you saw it?
- Uh, 13.
- Oh.
Probably saw it 15 times
that summer.
I remember it, too.
I saw it when it came out.
My parents took me.
I was ten
and my brother was seven.
I don't know what
they were thinking.
- [laughing]
- And we I don't even
- Thank God.
- I don't even think we knew
what it was, and from the kids
that went in to that movie
and the kids that came out
were not the same.
No.
I love "Jaws."
I was young when I saw it
and it totally freaked me out.
The little things,
like the coming up
on somebody
just the feeling.
It's not an actual shark
coming up,
but you feel like,
"She's done."
[gasps]
[gasps, panting]
[sinister music]
Oh, God!
[shrieking]
It's about this basic
human terror.
[screaming]
The understanding
that we are
a snack for sharks.
[screaming]
- It hurts!
- Realizing you are food
- is upsetting.
- [shrieking]
Oh, my God!
Oh, God!
It blew me away.
Just everything about it
the fear of the unknown,
the fact that you would be
in the water and something
underneath the water
could be that massive,
that big, that dangerous.
Oh, please help!
[screaming]
There's an element where
Spielberg was forced
into really creative ways
of showing suspense
because his major
special effect didn't work.
And I'm sure he would agree
that if the mechanical shark
had worked a bit better
you might have seen
the shark more,
and maybe it would be
a lesser film.
[screaming]
That scene on the beach is
is pure Hitchcock.
- Get out of the office
- [screaming]
A garbage truck
next to the office.
- [screaming]
- You look at the tricks
that Spielberg used
in that scene
he used every trick
in the book
to just really make sure
that you saw
every single thing
that was happening,
but you could do nothing
about it.
Pippin!
And then when the guy throws
the stick for the dog
and then it's just like,
"Pippin, Pippin."
You just see the stick
you're like, "Oh, no."
I saw "Jaws"
at a really early age
and my take-away
from that was,
"Oh, Jaws eats kids."
The way Spielberg shot
the death of the kid
on his yellow raft
I was shell-shocked.
["Jaws" theme plays]
[children shouting]
- [screaming]
- Did you see that?
Yes.
♪♪
[screams]
♪♪
[children shouting]
♪♪
And I was like, "Oh,
Jaws is unrelenting.
"He doesn't care who he eats.
That's it,
we're all doomed."
Alex?
At its core,
it's really about
the connective tissue
of these characters
from a community level,
to the family level,
then to these three men
who have taken upon themselves
to go on a boat
and go into the ocean
and hunt
this great white shark.
Slow ahead.
I can go slow ahead.
Come on down and chum
some of this [bleep].
Not seeing the shark a lot
was a good thing
both: Yeah.
For the audience,
'cause I didn't want
to see it anymore
'cause it was too intense.
You're going to need
a bigger boat.
Everybody talks about
how bad this fake shark was.
I cannot believe that,
because the shark
looks incredible.
It doesn't look fake at all
to me.
[sinister music]
That's why "Jaws" has not
been remade to this day,
is people don't really want
to see a CGI shark.
You don't need to see
more shark.
♪♪
And you've seen
other shark movies since
where they're CGI sharks
and you're like, "Eh,
I'm good."
[laughing]
"I've already seen Jaws."
[screaming]
Humans fear the ferocity
of nature.
It's built into us.
[screaming]
But deep down, we know
the biggest threat we face
is the one lurking inside us,
the ferocious beast within.
♪♪
Monsters are metaphors.
Name the monster,
name the metaphor.
Joe Dante recommended that
as a game show once.
"Jekyll and Hyde"
is essentially about
psychopharmacology.
- [growls]
- "Frankenstein,"
it's don't [bleep] with God.
[howling]
Now werewolves, that's
a whole different story.
I just think werewolves
are just the coolest, man.
I'm not gonna lie, man,
I used to kind of wish
as a kid that I had that.
Like, I just want be a
one of those werewolf people.
Like, that look like
go around just looking like
a werewolf all the time, man.
Werewolves were always evil.
The idea of the werewolf
not as the evil,
aggressive perpetrator
of death and murder but
as the victim of a curse
that's Hollywood
screenwriter
that's Curt Siodmak's
invention with "The Wolfman"
in the '40s.
You know, werewolves being
killed by silver bullets
you know where that came from?
He was listening
to the Lone Ranger,
who had silver bullets,
and he thought,
"That's it.
We could melt crucifixes."
So many of Curt Siodmak's
inventions
became ancient lore
of the werewolf.
Curt Siodmak fled Europe
because of the Nazi threat,
and in the "Wolfman" films
you can see, uh,
things that he's
very consciously put there.
It's no coincidence
that a person
is marked for death
by the appearance
of a star in their palm.
Obviously this was a technique
the the Nazis used.
The "Wolfman" films
of the '40s
were a great influence
on two horror classics,
both released in 1981.
- [growling]
- "The Howling"
and "An American Werewolf
in London."
With "American Werewolf
in London," my intention
was that it's much more
of a horror film.
It happens to be very funny,
and that was deliberate,
but I don't consider it
a comedy.
This poor guy went abroad
and travelled with his friend
and got bitten
by something unspeakable
and monstrous.
[panting]
[indistinct]
[roaring]
[growling]
[roars]
Once he gets bit, uh,
the audience knows
that he's doomed.
Tomorrow night's
the full moon.
You're gonna change.
- You'll become
- I know.
I know.
A monster.
"American Werewolf
in London," "The Howling"
those movies were were really
the age of make-up effects.
[screaming]
[bones cracking]
- [screaming]
- When filmmakers realized,
"Wait a minute,
we can do anything we want.
"We can show a guy
turn into a werewolf.
We can transform people
into zombies."
And you know, up until
that point it was nothing
really on screen
it was all left
to your imagination.
"American Werewolf
in London" had, uh,
Rick Baker's effects,
and "The Howling"
had Rob Bottin
Rick Baker's protégé,
who was doing the effects,
so there's some crossover
that they came out
in the same year
and they had some
of the same effects.
Help me!
Please!
Help me!
I wanted to show it
in real time.
I wanted it to be
extremely painful.
[screaming]
[growling]
Rick Baker did
that nose extension, uh
oh, gosh, that was
a beautiful piece of
- of practical work.
- [screaming]
[bones cracking]
I remember watching that
in the theater going,
"How did they do that?"
The actual head
would change from within.
It would have mechanics in it
that would expand or
or alter the shape.
- [groaning]
- To me it's like it's
it's one of my favorite movies
of all time.
It's kind of funny, it's sweet,
and then it's really scary.
And then it's kind of bleak.
I love you, David.
And then it has, like,
a sort of a
you know,
a terribly sad ending,
- like most "Wolfman" movies.
- [roars]
[sinister music]
[growling]
Joe Dante's "The Howling"
is famous
for its terrifying werewolves
and a post-modern
self-awareness
we would later see in films
like "Scream."
is bitten
by a werewolf and lives
becomes a werewolf himself.
"The Howling"
was the first movie
where the characters don't have
to go to the doctor and ask
what a werewolf is
and the first movie
where the characters, uh,
are not behind the audience.
It's 80
- Quist
- [snarling, growling]
[dramatic music]
- [roars]
- [yelps]
"The Howling" was
a perfectly-timed movie
about the California
self-help movement period.
It's a great satire
and mockery of that.
It's a cult where people
all get behind somebody
who they think is going
to change their lives and
and transform them and, uh
[stammering]
They're actually
all werewolves,
and he's trying to get them
to, um,
adjust to modern life
and not have to, you know
[laughs]
Kill the mailman and eat him.
It's a perfect cast.
Dee Wallace, uh,
who got "E.T."
off of that movie
[roaring]
What attracted me
to "The Howling"
was I never looked at it
as a werewolf movie.
I looked at it as a movie
about
good and evil within us
and the battle
that goes on consistently
in which one's gonna win.
That notion, uh,
that a person
that you think that you know
are a
could shape-shift
and change on you
obviously a metaphor
for a person
that seems very charming
or very, uh,
you know, sophisticated
and cultured,
and then in the privacy
of their own hotel room
they can shift into a monster.
The werewolf metaphor
reflects our fear
of the beast within,
the primal animal
held in check
by society's rules.
Some horror films
go even further,
showing us humans
can be as monstrous
as the creatures they fight.
- [hollers]
- [screaming]
[screaming]
What makes a monster?
It's a question filmmakers
have explored
since the early days
of cinema.
King Kong was a savage beast
whose tender heart proved
no match
for a blonde and biplanes.
He's alive!
Frankenstein's monster
was a toddler
in a giant's body,
rejected by his creator
- [screams]
- [growls]
Looking for love
and finding only violence
- and death.
- [screaming]
In recent times,
Guillermo del Toro
has made a series
of horror films
exploring the nature
of monstrosity.
It's the theme of his
Academy Award-winning picture,
"The Shape of Water."
The film pits a monster
who's ugly on the outside
against a man who's ugly
on the inside.
This is what scares you, huh?
Gee, you should be used to it
by now.
- [screams]
- It asks,
"Which would you rather be?"
What's wonderful about
del Toro's, uh,
gill man, for the lack
of a better word,
is that he is so real
thanks to
the amazing performance
by Doug Jones.
The pantomime skills
it's so realistic,
so other-worldly.
[eerie music]
♪♪
When Guillermo first told me
about "The Shape of Water,"
he was very, very specific
to say, "Dougie, you're going
to be playing the romantic
leading man of this movie."
I was like, "Oh."
[exclaims]
"Ooh, in in a fish suit?
Is this possible?"
But again, I knew, "Okay,
this is coming
"from Guillermo del Toro
this is gonna work.
He's gonna make this work."
[cheerful music]
♪♪
Guillermo kept telling me
didn't want to see human.
"Dougie, no human."
And what he might do
to remind me
he would just give me
like a a little growl
to remind me, "Oh, yes, right.
Non-human, I gotta
okay, right."
[gurgles]
For instance, there was a
a particular scene where
Richard Jenkins' character
is talking to me.
Do you know
what happened to you?
Do you?
Because I don't.
I don't know
what happened to me.
- [gurgles]
- I don't know.
I look in the mirror
and the only thing
that I recognize
are these eyes.
I I got caught up
in his story
his monologue was so beautiful
and so beautifully delivered
that I I kept wanting
to go, "Hmm.
Yeah."
And that would have been
the wrong body language
for this character,
so I had to think
I had to think, uh,
"How would the family dog
respond?"
Sometimes I think I was
either born too early
or too late for my life.
Guillermo has
a real appreciation
and passionate love
of monsters.
"The Shape of Water" is
is basically
the romantic side
of "The Creature
from the Black Lagoon."
[sinister music]
There he is!
[growls]
Hearing Guillermo del Toro
talk about his first time
seeing "The Creature
from the Black Lagoon"
he was about six years old
watching on TV in Mexico.
His first image of seeing
Julie Adams swimming
on the top of the surface
of the water
and the creature
swimming under her
would be a horrifying image
to most of us
but to him it was like,
"That's so beautiful."
And he really wanted
those two to get together.
♪♪
And when the movie played out
to be not that
♪♪
- [roaring]
- He was like, "What?"
He was he was outraged,
as a six-year-old boy.
Making "The Shape of Water"
is like a 46-year journey
into righting that wrong.
And all of Guillermo's
best movies
feel like they come
from the heart.
"Pan's Labyrinth"
is about a child,
but it's not a children's film
at all.
[rousing music]
♪♪
Another view
of "Alice in Wonderland."
Little girl goes into
the rabbit hole
and encounters a new race
of people.
Hola?
[growling]
There's a monster
in "Pan's Labyrinth"
called "the pale man"
who is this tall,
obscenely pale figure
[wheezing]
Who has eyeballs
in his hands.
[wheezing]
He's blind up here,
but he can look at you
when he opens his hands,
and his mouth
is full of fangs.
I don't normally get
creeped out
watching my own work but
the pale man made me go
[exclaims]
Right?
Which is so somebody
did something right if
if I can get that reaction
out of myself.
[laughing]
[shrieking]
[sinister music]
[screaming]
Both in "Pan's Labyrinth"
and "The Shape of Water,"
the antagonist
in both stories
is a handsome leading man
that you would think
would be the one
who's got it all together
and, uh, they're actually
heartless and mean
and narcissistic
and absorbed with themselves,
and will do anything
to get ahead
at everyone else's expense
around them.
That's a monster.
That's a true monster.
You know, Michael Shannon
as the FBI agent
literally starts rotting
in front of our eyes.
His fingers start
falling off
[hollers]
To have the guy
in the rubber suit
be the sympathetic one
while that monster is
is after him,
that's a great twist of
of storytelling that del Toro
has really tapped into.
[tense music]
I think horror films
are very good
at giving a voice
to the voiceless
and empowering the weak.
We all have some kind
of monster or demon
that plagues us in some way,
but to realize,
"With the right dagger
I can kill that demon,
so I'm gonna."
Right?
[laughs]
That's what a horror film
teaches me.
Monsters embody
our deepest fears,
the fears we can't
or won't face,
the primal fears we need
to repress to stay sane.
[screeching]
Fears of weakness
and vulnerability.
Fears of being shunned
by society.
Fears of giving in
to our worst impulses.
[creature roaring]
When the monster
is defeated,
we win a small victory
over the terror
of being human.
- [roaring]
- [screaming]
[sinister music]
♪♪
- Monsters
[birds screeching]
[creatures growling, roaring]
- Are metaphors.
- I don't think you appreciate
the gut reaction people have
to these things.
They do represent a lot
of our deeper
psychological fears.
- [children screaming]
- Pennywise is a manifestation
of evil.
He's made of fantasies
and the creators
- are children.
- When people ask me,
"What are the ones
that are your favorite movies?"
I always mention "Cujo."
It's a really intense
- go-for-the-throat film.
- [screaming]
[Cujo growling]
I loved "Gremlins."
The Jekyll-and-Hyde component
of these little cute characters
and that they turn into
- these crazy monsters
- [cackling]
- I mean, the Gremlins are us.
- [snarling]
[gunshot]
Clear.
- [screams]
- My favorite of all time
is John Carpenter's
"The Thing."
- [roaring]
- [snarling]
"American Werewolf
in London," "The Howling"
those movies were really
the age of make-up effects.
- [snarling]
- Werewolves will kick
- vampires' ass any day.
- There is a lot
to fear in nature.
[bird squawking]
The natural world
is turning on us
'cause we have mistreated it
in some way.
[sinister music]
♪♪
"Jaws," for me, was the one.
That was the one
that terrified me.
[swimmers screaming]
[screaming]
That's a monster.
- That's a true monster.
- [roaring]
[sinister music]
♪♪
[chainsaw revving]
♪♪
Monsters hold
a special place
in the history of horror.
The killer predators
in nature
[screaming]
The nightmare creatures
of the fantastic,
and the monsters inside us
waiting to escape.
- [snarling]
- They can be frightening,
or fun, or both.
[cookies chittering,
laughing]
Whatever their size
or shape,
whether they're humanoid
or utterly alien,
monsters are reflections
of ourselves.
- [whimpering]
- They do represent a lot
of our deeper
psychological fears.
We sort of design them
to represent everything
that we feel is ugly
about ourselves.
[sinister music]
- Time to float.
- [wheezing]
- [hyperventilating]
- The latest addition
to the monster hall of fame
is Pennywise the clown,
the killer creature
at the heart
of the 2017 blockbuster,
"It."
Based on the 1986 novel
by legendary horror writer
Stephen King,
"It" tells the story
of seven young outcasts
in Derry, Maine.
They battle an ancient evil
that emerges
every 27 years
to kill the town's children.
Some of the greatest
horror films of all time
all sprang from
the literary works
of Stephen King.
He has the most vivid
imagination,
and he takes you
to the strangest places,
but the anchor is always
the the human emotion.
Uh, without that it's not King.
I s saw something too.
I remember the summer
the book came out,
everyone was reading it.
We all had our, like,
copies of "It," this big,
no matter where we were.
Do you enjoy watching
adaptations, or
- or is it has it evolved?
- Sure, yeah.
No, I I like
to watch adaptations
and, uh, I'm always interested
to see what people do
with the stuff.
- [screaming]
- It's perfect.
It was a mainstream movie
that was rated "R."
It played like a family film.
Everyone again, it became
the movie you were dared
to see.
It grossed $700 million
worldwide.
And not only that,
it was a good film.
[sinister music]
Beep beep, Richie.
I wanted to be true
to the spirit of
of the story
and the characters.
The first goal was to
to make it different
from from Tim Curry
interpretation
- Beep beep, Richie.
- I felt that
there was something
about Pennywise that
that wasn't covered there.
- Bill!
- [snarling]
I also wanted to bring
a weird balance
of of a monster and a child.
If you see the the design
of the monster,
he has, like,
child-like features.
He's like roundy face and
and, you know,
the bucky teeth.
And one of the things
that I consider important
is that one of his eyes
would be, uh, strabismic,
- so it was pointing out.
- I will take him.
Only him.
Andy shot the [bleep]
out of that movie.
When Georgie is running
down the gutter
after the the boat,
it looks
- like a real rain storm.
- No!
It doesn't look like
a sunny day
where people ran
a rain machine.
[sinister music]
Um
I should get going now.
Oh.
Uh, without your boat?
Opening is a masterpiece.
There is a reason why it's,
like, the scene that,
you know, has created
a thousand parodies
'cause it's that good.
♪♪
[snarls]
[screaming]
[wailing]
Help!
[wailing]
Pennywise's creepy hand
starts to stretch across the
the street
[screams]
Billy!
That is nightmare fuel.
And what the director,
Andy Muschietti,
was able to do so well is
maintain that nightmare fuel
throughout the rest
of the runtime.
What the hell?
Put the map back.
Mm-mm.
[projector clicks]
[clicking]
The projection scene is one
of the most impactful ones
because it sets you up
for something.
[projector clicking]
♪♪
[all whimpering]
♪♪
And then it really
surprises you.
[hollers]
[all scream]
- [cackles]
- Billy!
[all screaming]
It is really about
the horrors of society.
The scariest things
in that book
are not supernatural.
The scariest things
in that book are
racism.
Stay the [bleep]
out of my town!
- Misogyny
- She'll do you.
You just gotta ask nicely.
And child abuse.
Tell me you're still
my little girl.
Yes, Daddy.
Beverly's sexual abuse
by her father is shown to be
very much connected,
we know,
with the external threats
embodied by It.
[snarls]
[eerie music]
Hey, Bevvie.
- Are you still my little girl?
- [screams]
[gagging]
But it also reminds us
the most unimaginable,
horrific things
really do happen.
Tasty, tasty,
- beautiful fear.
- [gasps, whimpers]
Fears are never just
imaginary.
Hey!
[dark music]
Eddie!
[whimpering]
This isn't real enough
for you, Billy?
[high-pitched]
I'm not real enough for you?
Oh
It was real enough
for Georgie!
[cackling]
[roaring]
♪♪
The clowns hate me.
I just tell people,
"Don't hate the messenger
for the message."
Kids are scared to death
of clowns,
and and, you know, clowns are
a natural disguise
for monsters
because you never know
what's under that makeup.
♪♪
"It" gave us a monster drawn
from our childhood fears
- [screams]
- [roaring]
But some creatures tap into
different parts
- of our brains.
- You gotta be
- kidding.
- Our dread that others
- are not what they seem
- [roaring]
- [all screaming]
- And our secret desire
to act upon
our wildest impulses.
[cackling]
Why are monsters
of the fantastic
so popular?
Perhaps it's because they can
do anything they want.
Monsters don't have
to follow the rules
That's why kids love them.
Especially monsters
who enjoy behaving badly.
Monsters like gremlins.
- You're kidding.
- [whines]
I loved "Gremlins"
growing up.
My parents took myself
and my sister to see it.
I think we were all expecting
something along the lines
of "E.T."
I just call him Gizmo.
He seems to like it.
It had that Amblin-Spielberg
presentation,
but what nobody told you
is that it turns into
a balls-to-the-wall
horror movie.
You know, there's some things
I forgot to tell you guys,
and they're really important.
- Keep him away from water
- [screams]
[shrieking]
Don't ever feed him
after midnight
[sinister music]
I loved
I love that that movie.
The Jekyll-and-Hyde component
of these little cute characters
and that they turn into
these crazy monsters.
[cackling]
[grunts, groans]
I'll never forget
the entire audience
just leaping and screaming
and applauding with it.
- [shrieking]
- [screaming]
♪♪
And it was just so bizarre
and so different
than anything we had seen
in the '80s up until then.
[growls]
[whining]
That perfect mix of laughter
and screaming.
[gurgles]
I've been criticized by
certain studio executives
over the years for
"Is this supposed to be
a horror movie or a comedy?"
And, um, I find the two genres
very closely aligned.
[sneezes]
I grew up on
the James Whale films
and, uh, Whale's pictures
were always mordantly comic.
and he was not afraid
to mix tones.
They've asked for it,
the country bumpkins.
This will give them
a bit of a shock.
The Invisible Man
who is certifiably crazy
does a lot of funny things.
Uh, but then in the middle
of doing something funny
- he'll kill somebody.
- I think I'll throttle you.
[gagging]
Let go of me!
Then all of a sudden
your laugh catches
in your throat.
That's always fascinated me,
that dichotomy.
[sinister music]
Gremlins are us.
The gremlins are the absolute
worst aspects
of humanity manifested
as these little reptilian,
snarling,
mischievous monsters.
[shrieking]
And that's what makes them
so great.
[screaming]
[gremlins laughing]
Especially in the scene
where they're fighting
with Phoebe Cates in the bar.
It's like every single gremlin
looks like someone
you might see
- in a seedy bar.
- [laughing]
[whistle blowing]
The studio didn't really
understand the movie.
[babbling]
[hollering]
They didn't get it
when they saw it,
they didn't get it
when it came out
they just were happy
that it was making money.
- [gremlins babbling]
- Are moviegoers so desperate
for entertainment
that this is the trash
passed for fun?
Whoa! Wait a minute!
[gremlins cackling]
It was ripped off
all over the place.
"The Ghoulies"
and "Critters"
and yes, I did "Critters 2."
Look at the size
of their leader.
[critters babbling]
[growling]
There were so many
little creature movies
little puppet movies
because they were
relatively cheap to make
unless you did them well.
The first "Gremlins," I think,
was $10 million,
but the second one
was $60 million.
- [gremlins laughing]
- Is everybody here?
[all cheering]
All right, then!
[growling]
- [shrieking]
- [growling]
To me, "Gremlins" was really
great gateway horror.
By gateway horror
I'm referring to movies
that are scary enough
for the whole family.
[growling]
I think it's good for kids
to watch scary movies.
- Omi!
- [snarling]
[both screaming]
[dramatic music]
It makes you learn how
to process fear
on a physical and mental level.
I think your kid will probably
be more messed up
if you don't show them
anything scary
'cause they won't be prepared
for the real world,
which is actually terrifying.
[all laughing, chittering]
If "Gremlins" is
the lighter side
of killer creatures,
John Carpenter's
"The Thing"
is the darkest of the dark.
[growling]
The film's shape-shifters
embody our most
paranoid suspicions,
that the people we know
and trust
are actually inhuman monsters.
[roaring]
"The Thing" is about
a remote outpost
in Antarctica, and they find
an alien in the ice.
And what this alien
winds up doing
is it will it will replicate
anything it can see.
It needs to be alone
and in close proximity
with the life-form
to be absorbed.
Slowly, it's knocking off
each cast member one by one.
[roaring]
By mid-film, you don't know
who's who
and they have to figure out
who's The Thing
so they can survive.
The blood from one
of you things
won't obey when it's attacked.
- It'll try and survive.
- [screeches]
[all screaming]
- [growling]
- The horror of sort of truism
was things can be real good
and scary
until you see the monster,
and, uh, Rob Bottin
the special effects guy
said, "Well, what if
we show them
the monster constantly?"
But the trick is that
the monster is
a different monster
every time.
I mean, that's just
brilliantly leaning into
- the problem.
- [roaring]
I took my girlfriend
to see "The Thing,"
and she sat in the theater
- almost vomiting in her hands
- [laughing]
And was so angry at me.
"Why would you take me
to this movie?"
It's so gory and it's
so grotesque but, like, it's
it's amazing!
What are you talking about?
It's like the holy grail
of horror movies.
It's a perfect movie.
[roaring]
[sinister music]
It's also
an unparalleled, uh
of effects showcase.
You know, we see these
these creatures that have
no real form or structure
but that come from
the deepest nightmares
that we could possibly fathom.
[growling]
[screaming]
[crunching]
"The Thing" and "Gremlins"
are monsters drawn
from our wildest fantasies.
- Wait a minute.
- You'll never run into
- either one of them.
- [growling]
But some of the most
terrifying movies ever made
show us what might happen
if everyday animals
became killer creatures.
[sinister music]
- [Cujo growling]
- Humans take their dominance
over nature for granted.
But what if other species
rose up against us?
Animals we consider friendly
or harmless.
[birds calling]
The fear of suddenly being
at the bottom
of the food chain
is the premise
of the first man versus nature
horror film
[birds calling]
Alfred Hitchcock's
"The Birds."
My name
is Alfred Hitchcock.
and I would like to tell you
about my forthcoming lecture.
It is about the birds
and their age-long relationship
with man.
[birds squawking]
Such a bizarre thought,
that birds would attack us.
To think of them
all of a sudden
banding together.
That you would have to be wary
every time
you step out your door
or get out of your car
or whatever
is a very frightening thought.
"The Birds," at its heart,
is a story
of a woman who, uh,
is intrigued by a man
and kind of wants
to get at the man.
Are those lovebirds?
[birds chirping]
No, those are, uh,
redbirds.
And the man is interested
in the woman
but is a little wary of her
because she's not his
perfect idea
of what a woman should be.
[birds calling]
I think she was a woman
who was sure of herself.
I I don't think
she was impressed with herself.
I just think she knew
what she wanted
and, um, how to get it.
[motor putting]
What I love about
"The Birds"
is there's no answer.
[bird squawks]
You never know
why it's happening,
and that makes it
so incredibly frightening.
[children screaming]
When you can explain horror,
it loses its mystery
and it ceases
to become horrifying.
[children singing
indistinctly]
To take
what most people consider
a pretty innocuous animal,
like a
not an animal to be feared
♪♪
And to turn it into
something that terrifying
that still really works
♪♪
I mean, that scene
when she turns around
and they're all sitting there
is terrifying.
It would be terrifying
for us to experience that
in life.
[birds calling]
Hitchcock was one
of the first
if not the first
live-action filmmaker
to rely heavily
on storyboards.
[eerie music]
And that's one reason why
his films are so effective,
I think
because he didn't rely on
happy accidents
to make those scenes work.
He knew how they ought
to be staged,
how they ought to be cut.
[children screaming]
- Daddy!
- I don't think that
there is much
that Alfred Hitchcock missed
in making his movies.
I mean, they were made
for his audience,
and he knew his audiences well.
[birds calling]
That was just one
of the most horrific things
I had ever seen at that point.
You couldn't walk the street
for fear of being attacked.
That just always stuck with me.
[birds squawking]
It was relentless
and unforgiving.
I was supposed
to go up the stairs
and of course by that time
my character had seen
all of the destruction
that the birds had caused
and I said
to Alfred Hitchcock,
"Why would I go up there
"knowing what's going on?
Why would I do that?"
And he said,
"Because I tell you to."
[whimpers]
[dark music]
At the beginning of the film,
the Tippi Hedren character
is assertive, very sexual,
very sure of herself.
By the end of the film, uh,
conservative forces
from without reduce her
to a sort of wordless,
helpless woman
who, you know, basically has
to be carried out of the house
and is now afraid
of everything.
In in other words,
a much more acceptable vision
- of what a housewife should be.
- No.
No!
I think Alfred Hitchcock
was born to scare people.
To make them uneasy
frighten them severely
and also really
make them think.
I think he relished that.
Did he take it too far
in his private life?
Probably.
He had his own motion picture
going on inside.
[laughing]
"The Birds"
is a masterful suspense film
and a disturbing projection
of Alfred Hitchcock's
conflicted feelings
about female sexuality.
In the film "Cujo"
adapted from Stephen King's
1981 novel
another
normally harmless animal
punishes a woman for her sins.
One of your adaptations
that I think everyone
who's seen it loves it
is "Cujo"
- Yeah.
- Lewis Teague's film.
That movie was terrifying.
I was petrified.
When people ask me,
"What are the ones
that are your favorite movies?"
I always mention "Cujo."
This is about a woman
who's dealing with a lot
regarding her husband
and this man she's having
an affair with,
and this sin
that she has committed
which is infidelity
and now paying
the ultimate price for that.
[growling]
[huffing, growling]
To me, horror is always
situational.
It's something where
you say to yourself
[dramatic music]
"Okay, we're gonna put a woman
"and a boy in in the car,
and then we're gonna see
what happens."
- [growling]
- [screams]
- [screaming]
- When you've got, um,
not just the rabid dog, Cujo,
uh, but then you've got
her son who
who's having these seizures,
and it becoming sweltering
in the car
that she's trapped in,
and you just feel the anxiety
and the, uh, claustrophobia.
It's a really intense movie.
[growling, snarling]
♪♪
Part of the the greatness
of that film
is the performance
by Dee Wallace.
It was extraordinary.
You know, you really feel
her pain, you really feel
how distraught she is,
and you feel
those survival instincts
that kick in
when the trouble starts.
Well, what actress
wouldn't want the opportunity
to play a tour-de-force part
like "Cujo"?
[suspenseful music]
♪♪
I had no idea
how tough it would be.
♪♪
- [growling]
- [gasps]
[whimpers]
In a horror film,
there's a lot
if you're doing it right,
there's a lot
of emotional work.
[barking, snarling]
[screams]
- [snarling]
- [cries out]
♪♪
Your body does not know
you are acting.
Your brain does not know
you are acting.
It goes through
every chemical change
that you would go through
in fight-or-flight.
[whimpering]
♪♪
- [snarling]
- [screams]
So you can imagine
doing a movie like "Cujo"
six to eight weeks
of fight-or-flight
- every minute.
- [snarling]
[screaming]
- [screams]
- There were lots
and lots of dogs playing Cujo.
[screaming]
[growling, snarling]
It's all a big game
for them.
We had to tie their tails down
with fish wire
because they were having
a wonderful time
- going after their toys.
- [screaming]
[shrieks]
All the dogs were taken
much better care of
than I was.
[laughs]
I wanna be clear about that.
[sinister music]
They treated me
for exhaustion
for three weeks after
that movie finished.
[shaky breathing]
It was relentless.
And it is, I think,
my best work and the film
I'm most proud of.
[dark music]
Please, God,
get me out of here.
♪♪
"Cujo" and "The Birds"
took harmless animals
and turned them into monsters.
- [snarling, barking]
- But the ultimate
animal-attack story
features a creature
everyone fears,
thanks to one
landmark horror film.
[screaming]
In 1975, a young director
named Steven Spielberg
made a film
about a giant man-eating shark
prowling
the New England coastline.
"Jaws" was the first
summer blockbuster,
and it's the ultimate
animal attack movie.
"Jaws" is pure cinema.
From that opening shot
underwater
and that music, I can't think
of an opening of a movie
that's more effective
than that
the opening credits
of that movie.
["Jaws" theme plays]
You are probably the most
"Jaws" - obsessed person I know.
That movie, for me
[stammering]
I saw it the second day
it was out.
My parents went
opening night
How old were you
when you saw it?
- Uh, 13.
- Oh.
Probably saw it 15 times
that summer.
I remember it, too.
I saw it when it came out.
My parents took me.
I was ten
and my brother was seven.
I don't know what
they were thinking.
- [laughing]
- And we I don't even
- Thank God.
- I don't even think we knew
what it was, and from the kids
that went in to that movie
and the kids that came out
were not the same.
No.
I love "Jaws."
I was young when I saw it
and it totally freaked me out.
The little things,
like the coming up
on somebody
just the feeling.
It's not an actual shark
coming up,
but you feel like,
"She's done."
[gasps]
[gasps, panting]
[sinister music]
Oh, God!
[shrieking]
It's about this basic
human terror.
[screaming]
The understanding
that we are
a snack for sharks.
[screaming]
- It hurts!
- Realizing you are food
- is upsetting.
- [shrieking]
Oh, my God!
Oh, God!
It blew me away.
Just everything about it
the fear of the unknown,
the fact that you would be
in the water and something
underneath the water
could be that massive,
that big, that dangerous.
Oh, please help!
[screaming]
There's an element where
Spielberg was forced
into really creative ways
of showing suspense
because his major
special effect didn't work.
And I'm sure he would agree
that if the mechanical shark
had worked a bit better
you might have seen
the shark more,
and maybe it would be
a lesser film.
[screaming]
That scene on the beach is
is pure Hitchcock.
- Get out of the office
- [screaming]
A garbage truck
next to the office.
- [screaming]
- You look at the tricks
that Spielberg used
in that scene
he used every trick
in the book
to just really make sure
that you saw
every single thing
that was happening,
but you could do nothing
about it.
Pippin!
And then when the guy throws
the stick for the dog
and then it's just like,
"Pippin, Pippin."
You just see the stick
you're like, "Oh, no."
I saw "Jaws"
at a really early age
and my take-away
from that was,
"Oh, Jaws eats kids."
The way Spielberg shot
the death of the kid
on his yellow raft
I was shell-shocked.
["Jaws" theme plays]
[children shouting]
- [screaming]
- Did you see that?
Yes.
♪♪
[screams]
♪♪
[children shouting]
♪♪
And I was like, "Oh,
Jaws is unrelenting.
"He doesn't care who he eats.
That's it,
we're all doomed."
Alex?
At its core,
it's really about
the connective tissue
of these characters
from a community level,
to the family level,
then to these three men
who have taken upon themselves
to go on a boat
and go into the ocean
and hunt
this great white shark.
Slow ahead.
I can go slow ahead.
Come on down and chum
some of this [bleep].
Not seeing the shark a lot
was a good thing
both: Yeah.
For the audience,
'cause I didn't want
to see it anymore
'cause it was too intense.
You're going to need
a bigger boat.
Everybody talks about
how bad this fake shark was.
I cannot believe that,
because the shark
looks incredible.
It doesn't look fake at all
to me.
[sinister music]
That's why "Jaws" has not
been remade to this day,
is people don't really want
to see a CGI shark.
You don't need to see
more shark.
♪♪
And you've seen
other shark movies since
where they're CGI sharks
and you're like, "Eh,
I'm good."
[laughing]
"I've already seen Jaws."
[screaming]
Humans fear the ferocity
of nature.
It's built into us.
[screaming]
But deep down, we know
the biggest threat we face
is the one lurking inside us,
the ferocious beast within.
♪♪
Monsters are metaphors.
Name the monster,
name the metaphor.
Joe Dante recommended that
as a game show once.
"Jekyll and Hyde"
is essentially about
psychopharmacology.
- [growls]
- "Frankenstein,"
it's don't [bleep] with God.
[howling]
Now werewolves, that's
a whole different story.
I just think werewolves
are just the coolest, man.
I'm not gonna lie, man,
I used to kind of wish
as a kid that I had that.
Like, I just want be a
one of those werewolf people.
Like, that look like
go around just looking like
a werewolf all the time, man.
Werewolves were always evil.
The idea of the werewolf
not as the evil,
aggressive perpetrator
of death and murder but
as the victim of a curse
that's Hollywood
screenwriter
that's Curt Siodmak's
invention with "The Wolfman"
in the '40s.
You know, werewolves being
killed by silver bullets
you know where that came from?
He was listening
to the Lone Ranger,
who had silver bullets,
and he thought,
"That's it.
We could melt crucifixes."
So many of Curt Siodmak's
inventions
became ancient lore
of the werewolf.
Curt Siodmak fled Europe
because of the Nazi threat,
and in the "Wolfman" films
you can see, uh,
things that he's
very consciously put there.
It's no coincidence
that a person
is marked for death
by the appearance
of a star in their palm.
Obviously this was a technique
the the Nazis used.
The "Wolfman" films
of the '40s
were a great influence
on two horror classics,
both released in 1981.
- [growling]
- "The Howling"
and "An American Werewolf
in London."
With "American Werewolf
in London," my intention
was that it's much more
of a horror film.
It happens to be very funny,
and that was deliberate,
but I don't consider it
a comedy.
This poor guy went abroad
and travelled with his friend
and got bitten
by something unspeakable
and monstrous.
[panting]
[indistinct]
[roaring]
[growling]
[roars]
Once he gets bit, uh,
the audience knows
that he's doomed.
Tomorrow night's
the full moon.
You're gonna change.
- You'll become
- I know.
I know.
A monster.
"American Werewolf
in London," "The Howling"
those movies were were really
the age of make-up effects.
[screaming]
[bones cracking]
- [screaming]
- When filmmakers realized,
"Wait a minute,
we can do anything we want.
"We can show a guy
turn into a werewolf.
We can transform people
into zombies."
And you know, up until
that point it was nothing
really on screen
it was all left
to your imagination.
"American Werewolf
in London" had, uh,
Rick Baker's effects,
and "The Howling"
had Rob Bottin
Rick Baker's protégé,
who was doing the effects,
so there's some crossover
that they came out
in the same year
and they had some
of the same effects.
Help me!
Please!
Help me!
I wanted to show it
in real time.
I wanted it to be
extremely painful.
[screaming]
[growling]
Rick Baker did
that nose extension, uh
oh, gosh, that was
a beautiful piece of
- of practical work.
- [screaming]
[bones cracking]
I remember watching that
in the theater going,
"How did they do that?"
The actual head
would change from within.
It would have mechanics in it
that would expand or
or alter the shape.
- [groaning]
- To me it's like it's
it's one of my favorite movies
of all time.
It's kind of funny, it's sweet,
and then it's really scary.
And then it's kind of bleak.
I love you, David.
And then it has, like,
a sort of a
you know,
a terribly sad ending,
- like most "Wolfman" movies.
- [roars]
[sinister music]
[growling]
Joe Dante's "The Howling"
is famous
for its terrifying werewolves
and a post-modern
self-awareness
we would later see in films
like "Scream."
is bitten
by a werewolf and lives
becomes a werewolf himself.
"The Howling"
was the first movie
where the characters don't have
to go to the doctor and ask
what a werewolf is
and the first movie
where the characters, uh,
are not behind the audience.
It's 80
- Quist
- [snarling, growling]
[dramatic music]
- [roars]
- [yelps]
"The Howling" was
a perfectly-timed movie
about the California
self-help movement period.
It's a great satire
and mockery of that.
It's a cult where people
all get behind somebody
who they think is going
to change their lives and
and transform them and, uh
[stammering]
They're actually
all werewolves,
and he's trying to get them
to, um,
adjust to modern life
and not have to, you know
[laughs]
Kill the mailman and eat him.
It's a perfect cast.
Dee Wallace, uh,
who got "E.T."
off of that movie
[roaring]
What attracted me
to "The Howling"
was I never looked at it
as a werewolf movie.
I looked at it as a movie
about
good and evil within us
and the battle
that goes on consistently
in which one's gonna win.
That notion, uh,
that a person
that you think that you know
are a
could shape-shift
and change on you
obviously a metaphor
for a person
that seems very charming
or very, uh,
you know, sophisticated
and cultured,
and then in the privacy
of their own hotel room
they can shift into a monster.
The werewolf metaphor
reflects our fear
of the beast within,
the primal animal
held in check
by society's rules.
Some horror films
go even further,
showing us humans
can be as monstrous
as the creatures they fight.
- [hollers]
- [screaming]
[screaming]
What makes a monster?
It's a question filmmakers
have explored
since the early days
of cinema.
King Kong was a savage beast
whose tender heart proved
no match
for a blonde and biplanes.
He's alive!
Frankenstein's monster
was a toddler
in a giant's body,
rejected by his creator
- [screams]
- [growls]
Looking for love
and finding only violence
- and death.
- [screaming]
In recent times,
Guillermo del Toro
has made a series
of horror films
exploring the nature
of monstrosity.
It's the theme of his
Academy Award-winning picture,
"The Shape of Water."
The film pits a monster
who's ugly on the outside
against a man who's ugly
on the inside.
This is what scares you, huh?
Gee, you should be used to it
by now.
- [screams]
- It asks,
"Which would you rather be?"
What's wonderful about
del Toro's, uh,
gill man, for the lack
of a better word,
is that he is so real
thanks to
the amazing performance
by Doug Jones.
The pantomime skills
it's so realistic,
so other-worldly.
[eerie music]
♪♪
When Guillermo first told me
about "The Shape of Water,"
he was very, very specific
to say, "Dougie, you're going
to be playing the romantic
leading man of this movie."
I was like, "Oh."
[exclaims]
"Ooh, in in a fish suit?
Is this possible?"
But again, I knew, "Okay,
this is coming
"from Guillermo del Toro
this is gonna work.
He's gonna make this work."
[cheerful music]
♪♪
Guillermo kept telling me
didn't want to see human.
"Dougie, no human."
And what he might do
to remind me
he would just give me
like a a little growl
to remind me, "Oh, yes, right.
Non-human, I gotta
okay, right."
[gurgles]
For instance, there was a
a particular scene where
Richard Jenkins' character
is talking to me.
Do you know
what happened to you?
Do you?
Because I don't.
I don't know
what happened to me.
- [gurgles]
- I don't know.
I look in the mirror
and the only thing
that I recognize
are these eyes.
I I got caught up
in his story
his monologue was so beautiful
and so beautifully delivered
that I I kept wanting
to go, "Hmm.
Yeah."
And that would have been
the wrong body language
for this character,
so I had to think
I had to think, uh,
"How would the family dog
respond?"
Sometimes I think I was
either born too early
or too late for my life.
Guillermo has
a real appreciation
and passionate love
of monsters.
"The Shape of Water" is
is basically
the romantic side
of "The Creature
from the Black Lagoon."
[sinister music]
There he is!
[growls]
Hearing Guillermo del Toro
talk about his first time
seeing "The Creature
from the Black Lagoon"
he was about six years old
watching on TV in Mexico.
His first image of seeing
Julie Adams swimming
on the top of the surface
of the water
and the creature
swimming under her
would be a horrifying image
to most of us
but to him it was like,
"That's so beautiful."
And he really wanted
those two to get together.
♪♪
And when the movie played out
to be not that
♪♪
- [roaring]
- He was like, "What?"
He was he was outraged,
as a six-year-old boy.
Making "The Shape of Water"
is like a 46-year journey
into righting that wrong.
And all of Guillermo's
best movies
feel like they come
from the heart.
"Pan's Labyrinth"
is about a child,
but it's not a children's film
at all.
[rousing music]
♪♪
Another view
of "Alice in Wonderland."
Little girl goes into
the rabbit hole
and encounters a new race
of people.
Hola?
[growling]
There's a monster
in "Pan's Labyrinth"
called "the pale man"
who is this tall,
obscenely pale figure
[wheezing]
Who has eyeballs
in his hands.
[wheezing]
He's blind up here,
but he can look at you
when he opens his hands,
and his mouth
is full of fangs.
I don't normally get
creeped out
watching my own work but
the pale man made me go
[exclaims]
Right?
Which is so somebody
did something right if
if I can get that reaction
out of myself.
[laughing]
[shrieking]
[sinister music]
[screaming]
Both in "Pan's Labyrinth"
and "The Shape of Water,"
the antagonist
in both stories
is a handsome leading man
that you would think
would be the one
who's got it all together
and, uh, they're actually
heartless and mean
and narcissistic
and absorbed with themselves,
and will do anything
to get ahead
at everyone else's expense
around them.
That's a monster.
That's a true monster.
You know, Michael Shannon
as the FBI agent
literally starts rotting
in front of our eyes.
His fingers start
falling off
[hollers]
To have the guy
in the rubber suit
be the sympathetic one
while that monster is
is after him,
that's a great twist of
of storytelling that del Toro
has really tapped into.
[tense music]
I think horror films
are very good
at giving a voice
to the voiceless
and empowering the weak.
We all have some kind
of monster or demon
that plagues us in some way,
but to realize,
"With the right dagger
I can kill that demon,
so I'm gonna."
Right?
[laughs]
That's what a horror film
teaches me.
Monsters embody
our deepest fears,
the fears we can't
or won't face,
the primal fears we need
to repress to stay sane.
[screeching]
Fears of weakness
and vulnerability.
Fears of being shunned
by society.
Fears of giving in
to our worst impulses.
[creature roaring]
When the monster
is defeated,
we win a small victory
over the terror
of being human.
- [roaring]
- [screaming]
[sinister music]
♪♪