Editorials
“Stan Winston’s Creature Features” Brought 1950s Horrors into the Early 2000s [TV Terrors]
Horror and science fiction have always been a part of the television canvas, and constant attempts have been made over the years to produce classic entertainment. Some have fallen by the wayside, while others became mainstream phenomena. With “TV Terrors,” we take a look back at the many genre efforts from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s, exploring some shows that became cult classics, and others that sank into obscurity.
This month we revisit the five-film series (and toy line) known as “Creature Features.”
- Aired from 2001-2002
- Aired on Cinemax and HBO
In 2001, the late great Stan Winston, Stan Winston Studios, Cinemax, and HBO teamed up to create a multimedia cross promotional project called “Creature Features.” Winston, together with famed producers Colleen Camp and (Samuel Z. Arkoff’s son) Lou Arkoff, produced a series of made-for-cable films for premium movie channels Cinemax and HBO. The series featured five individual monster movies inspired by the titles of American International Pictures’ monster movies from the 1950s.
The full roster of AIP inspirations included Earth vs. the Spider (1958), How to Make a Monster (1958), Day the World Ended (1955), The She-Creature (1956), and Teenage Caveman (1958). The catch was, though, that these new films were basically remakes in name only (or “Tributes” as they’ve been described). What the studios did were recruit directors to take the aforementioned titles and tack on their own concepts and plots, bearing absolutely zero resemblance to the cult classics we all know.
The results and quality varied wildly, but it allowed both networks to premiere new horror titles, while Stan Winston’s team was able to advertise their highly detailed “Creature Features” action figures line. Said figures were often inspired by the new monsters included in these re-imaginings. “Creature Features” was very much a precursor to Hulu’s “Into the Dark,” as all five episodes were low budget feature films, and the very definition of late night cable movie fodder.
She Creature from Sebastian Gutierrez is a period piece set in 1905 starring Rufus Sewell and Carla Gugino as Angus and Lily, a pair of carnies that seek to kidnap an actual living mermaid from a traveling doctor. After a botched robbery, Angus and his crew kidnap the mermaid intent on bringing her home as their new attraction. Things go awry though when Lily inadvertently bonds with the mermaid who begins eating various crew members that cross Lily.
Soon Lily begins getting possessed by the vindictive mermaid, who seeks to escape from their clutches. She Creature is painfully slow considering the great atmosphere and solid special effects. You assume such a good cast would help keep the movie afloat, but in the end, neither Sewell or Gugino’s combined talents help what is a very drab, tedious monster pic.
The second feature, Earth vs. the Spider from director Scott Ziehl, is a ballsy monster movie; ballsy in that it completely rips off Cronenberg’s The Fly wholesale. Quentin is a rabid comic book geek and a security guard for a laboratory. After failing to stop thieves on the job, he willingly injects himself with an experimental serum derived from spider DNA. Hoping it will turn him into the next big arachnid superhero, he soon realizes he’s transforming into a carnivorous giant man-spider, whose lust for human blood is insatiable. Co-starring Dan Aykroyd (who looks like he accidentally walked in from a Sam Spade play), Theresa Russell, and John Cho, it’s a silly, fun, and gory monster movie despite being so unabashedly derivative that I’m surprised Cronenberg didn’t seek legal action.
How to Make a Monster, from George Huang, is a classic monster movie romp that’s also silly but so much fun. A mix of Virus and Chopping Mall, the narrative revolves around a video game development crew anxiously trying to create the ultimate horror video game, “Evilution.” Using an advanced technology, shit hits the fan when the tech is struck by lightning giving it a sentience and awareness. Intent on fulfilling its purpose, it begins stalking and mutilating the group, with only meek intern Laura standing in its way. Gruesome and campy, this installment packs some dark comedy, along with a cast that includes Clea Duvall, Tyler Mane, Jason Marsden, and Julie Strain, who cameos.
The Day the World Ended from Brian King feels like a longer version of the 1983 take on The Twilight Zone‘s It’s a Good Life. Nastassja Kinski plays Jennifer, a child therapist who gets a job in a small town. The small town is filled with generally cold and unwelcoming locals and she takes an interest in a local boy named Ben. Bullied by everyone, Ben begins to display unusual powers, and is convinced he’s the offspring of an alien who mated with his deceased mother. He’s also certain his alien father is looking for him and will arrive any time to enact bloody vengeance.
What Jennifer uncovers is a dark past involving aliens, the town, Ben’s ill fated mother, and his single dad who hovers over Ben constantly. Starring Kinski, Randy Quaid, and a plethora of notable character actors, The Day the World Ended is uneven and veers more toward fantasy, but at least it introduces a slick looking monster.
Teenage Caveman is the absolute nadir of the series. Larry Clark (of Kids infamy) directs what is a ninety minute glorified Skinemax film made up of an hour of very young looking actors in the buff having sex in long, drawn out, tedious sequences. There’s about twenty minutes of actual narrative. Said film involves a pair of evolved humans (Andrew Keegan, Tiffany Limos) that lure a group of exiled teens from a post apocalyptic tribe to their home base where they seduce and sexually transmit their genes to them, allowing them a chance to evolve for survival. Believe it or not, there are monsters in this movie, but they play third fiddle to the shameless, nigh endless T&A.
Premiering on late night cable on Halloween 2001, “Creature Features” basically disappeared from both channels in 2002, accruing almost no buzz or acclaim. Released concurrently with the films, Stan Winston Studios made their very first line of action figures based on the monsters from these individual features. Winston also included CD-ROMs with each figure, detailing the creation and Stan’s feelings on the process. There are five total figures and CDs with five making-of videos. All five segments can be found on YouTube, allowing fans that didn’t spend money on the collectibles an interesting insight into the ambitious project.
Today we have Sideshow, Mezco, NECA and various boutique companies cross promoting their collectibles with TV shows and video games, and Stan Winston was ahead of his time on that front. Even if the movies that resulted from the endeavor were mostly duds.
Is It On DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming?
The movies were all individually released under the “Creature Features” banner, and are still available (on both DVD and VHS), if a tad pricey; which should be an indicator of how much HBO and Cinemax loved these films. The collectible figures are also still available, with reasonable pricing.
Editorials
‘Immaculate’ – A Companion Watch Guide to the Religious Horror Movie and Its Cinematic Influences
The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. NEON’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.
Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.
From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises for the way it leans so heavily into Italian horror and New French Extremity. Let’s dig into many of the film’s most prominent horror influences with a companion watch guide.
Warning: Immaculate spoilers ahead.
Rosemary’s Baby
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The mother of all pregnancy horror movies introduces Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), an eager-to-please housewife who’s supportive of her husband, Guy, and thrilled he landed them a spot in the coveted Bramford apartment building. Guy proposes a romantic evening, which gives way to a hallucinogenic nightmare scenario that leaves Rosemary confused and pregnant. Rosemary’s suspicions and paranoia mount as she’s gaslit by everyone around her, all attempting to distract her from her deeply abnormal pregnancy. While Cecilia follows a similar emotional journey to Rosemary, from the confusion over her baby’s conception to being gaslit by those who claim to have her best interests in mind, Immaculate inverts the iconic final frame of Rosemary’s Baby to great effect.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s horror classic shook audiences to their core upon release in the ’70s, largely for its shocking imagery. A grim battle over faith is waged between demon Pazuzu and priests Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow). The battleground happens to be a 12-year-old, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), whose possessed form commits blasphemy often, including violently masturbating with a crucifix. Yet Friedkin captures the horrifying events with stunning cinematography; the emotional complexity and shot composition lend elegance to a film that counterbalances the horror. That balance between transgressive imagery and artful form permeates Immaculate as well.
Suspiria
Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American newcomer at a prestigious dance academy in Germany who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy amid a series of grisly murders. It’s a dance academy so disciplined in its art form that its students and faculty live their full time, spending nearly every waking hour there, including built-in meals and scheduled bedtimes. Like Suzy Bannion, Cecilia is a novitiate committed to learning her chosen trade, so much so that she travels to a foreign country to continue her training. Also, like Suzy, Cecilia quickly realizes the pristine façade of her new setting belies sinister secrets that mean her harm.
What Have You Done to Solange?
This 1972 Italian horror film follows a college professor who gets embroiled in a bizarre series of murders when his mistress, a student, witnesses one taking place. The professor starts his own investigation to discover what happened to the young woman, Solange. Sex, murder, and religion course through this Giallo’s veins, which features I Spit on Your Grave’s Camille Keaton as Solange. Immaculate director Michael Mohan revealed to The Wrap that he emulated director Massimo Dallamano’s techniques, particularly in a key scene that sees Cecilia alone in a crowded room of male superiors, all interrogating her on her immaculate status.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
In this Giallo, two sisters inherit their family’s castle that’s also cursed. When a dark-haired, red-robed woman begins killing people around them, the sisters begin to wonder if the castle’s mysterious curse has resurfaced. Director Emilio Miraglia infuses his Giallo with vibrant style, with the titular Red Queen instantly eye-catching in design. While the killer’s design and use of red no doubt played an influential role in some of Immaculate’s nightmare imagery, its biggest inspiration in Mohan’s film is its score. Immaculate pays tribute to The Red Queen Kills Seven Times through specific music cues.
The Vanishing
Rex’s life is irrevocably changed when the love of his life is abducted from a rest stop. Three years later, he begins receiving letters from his girlfriend’s abductor. Director George Sluizer infuses his simple premise with bone-chilling dread and psychological terror as the kidnapper toys with Red. It builds to a harrowing finale you won’t forget; and neither did Mohan, who cited The Vanishing as an influence on Immaculate. Likely for its surprise closing moments, but mostly for the way Sluizer filmed from inside a coffin.
The Other Hell
This nunsploitation film begins where Immaculate ends: in the catacombs of a convent that leads to an underground laboratory. The Other Hell sees a priest investigating the seemingly paranormal activity surrounding the convent as possessed nuns get violent toward others. But is this a case of the Devil or simply nuns run amok? Immaculate opts to ground its horrors in reality, where The Other Hell leans into the supernatural, but the surprise lab setting beneath the holy grounds evokes the same sense of blasphemous shock.
Inside
During Immaculate‘s freakout climax, Cecilia sets the underground lab on fire with Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) locked inside. He manages to escape, though badly burned, and chases Cecilia through the catacombs. When Father Tedeschi catches Cecilia, he attempts to cut her baby out of her womb, and the stark imagery instantly calls Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s seminal French horror movie to mind. Like Tedeschi, Inside’s La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) will stop at nothing to get the baby, badly burned and all.
Burial Ground
At first glance, this Italian zombie movie bears little resemblance to Immaculate. The plot sees an eclectic group forced to band together against a wave of undead, offering no shortage of zombie gore and wild character quirks. What connects them is the setting; both employed the Villa Parisi as a filming location. The Villa Parisi happens to be a prominent filming spot for Italian horror; also pair the new horror movie with Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood or Blood for Dracula for additional boundary-pushing horror titles shot at the Villa Parisi.
The Devils
The Devils was always intended to be incendiary. Horror, at its most depraved and sadistic, tends to make casual viewers uncomfortable. Ken Russell’s 1971 epic takes it to a whole new squeamish level with its nightmarish visuals steeped in some historical accuracy. There are the horror classics, like The Exorcist, and there are definitive transgressive horror cult classics. The Devils falls squarely in the latter, and Russell’s fearlessness in exploring taboos and wielding unholy imagery inspired Mohan’s approach to the escalating horror in Immaculate.
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