Editorials
Looking Back on the Controversial Monster Mockumentaries That Came Along in the Wake of ‘Blair Witch’
When The Blair Witch Project was released back in 1999, many critics questioned the ethics involved in presenting the film as a true story in order to generate box office buzz. Of course, humanity has been embellishing real life through storytelling since the dawn of time, so this wasn’t the first or last time that genre media would attempt to mislead audiences for fun and profit. Nevertheless, the movie sparked a conversation about how much reality we can really expect from our entertainment, though we never really found an answer.
These discussions would resurface a few years later with the rise of several popular TV specials speculating about the existence of mythical creatures, all presented in the style of legitimate nature documentaries. Tackling everything from dragons to mermaids and even colossal sharks, these specials became notorious for blurring the line between fact and fiction on networks traditionally associated with educational programming. However, putting ethical concerns aside, I actually think that these strange productions tapped into a primal fascination with monstrous mythology, and they’re still worth revisiting today, provided that you take their sensationalism with a grain of salt.
Of course, fake/misleading documentaries have been a thing since the format was first invented, with memorable incidents including the BBC’s infamous Spaghetti Tree special in the 50s and Fox’s Alien Autopsy investigation in the 90s. With the rise of Found-Footage movies and speculative nature docs like The Future is Wild and Alien Planet, plus an entire pantheon of shows based on Cryptozoology and Parapsychology, it’s only natural that networks would eventually attempt to use this format to explore classic myths and legends.
That brings us to Animal Planet’s 2004 special Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real (also known as The Last Dragon in its Channel 4 release), a blockbuster mockumentary that opens with an absurd battle between a T-Rex and a wyvern during the Cretaceous period. While Dragons feels a lot a natural evolution of the paleontology docs that were all the rage at the time, cutting between state-of-the-art CGI re-enactments and the supposed paleontological discoveries that inspired them, the show also boasted impressive visuals and sultry narration by either Patrick Stewart or Ian Holmes, depending on the region.
Not your average nature show.
Even as a child, I was aware that the program was trying to entertain more than it was trying to teach, but much like the X-Files, wanting to believe made it much more fun. Even with bizarre theories like positing that dragons survived the extinction event that killed the dinosaurs by evolving into mythical sea-serpents, Dragons still managed to be a genuinely informative special. By exploring the far reaches of the dragon myth throughout several cultures and presenting a more-or-less scientific revision of classic mythology, the special works as a clever thought experiment, even if some of its leaps in logic don’t quite hold up to scrutiny.
In 2011, we’d see a similar show that would double down on the sensationalist elements with Animal Planet/Discovery Channel’s Mermaids: The Body Found. While it’s the most ethically dubious of these productions, with only a few easy-to-miss disclaimers explaining that it’s a work of fiction, it’s also the most entertaining. Structured like a genuine investigation of evidence suggesting that a race of intelligent humanoids is thriving under the sea while also dealing with some real world conspiracy theories, it’s no wonder that this special scared the crap out of people when it first came out.
Mermaids might not be the first thing that come to mind when thinking of horrific monsters, but The Body Found gives off some serious Lovecraftian vibes as “real scientists” discuss the implications of sharing the planet with sentient underwater creatures. There are also a few Found-Footage segments that went viral around the time the special was released, with folks claiming to have caught glimpses of these illusive aquatic beings. While most of the footage has clearly been altered with CGI, it was believable enough to stir up quite a bit of controversy, convincing many viewers (especially younger ones) that these findings were legit.
Despite being criticized for its misleading presentation, The Body Found was a ratings juggernaut, breaking several records and eventually earning a sequel with 2013’s Mermaids: The New Evidence. While this second doc is mostly more of the same, with “experts” doing their best to justify the existence of mermaids based on recovered amateur footage and supposed physical evidence, it was another massive success for the channel. The sequel did a better job of making sure that viewers understood this was a piece of fiction, but it was still a bit too convincing for some folks. Regardless, the Mermaids specials are still some of my favorite TV oddities, even though they probably shouldn’t have been broadcast on channels known for informative nature shows.
Spooky.
Of course, you can’t discuss nature documentaries (speculative or otherwise) without touching on the worldwide phenomena of Shark Week. And in 2013’s edition of Discovery Channel’s Shark-based programming, the network released the least fantastical of these mockumentaries with Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives. Another pseudo-journalistic endeavor where scientists discuss phony evidence suggesting that these monstrous creatures somehow escaped extinction, Megalodon shattered all Shark Week ratings records with its premiere, proving that audiences were ravenous for speculative content.
As gigantic sharks are a bit closer to reality than mermaids or dragons, The Monster Shark Lives sparked the ire of several scientists and NGOs who accused the special of being irresponsible. While the show makes an effort to provide at least some scientific basis for its outlandish theories, there’s no denying that it feels a lot more like an entertaining prelude to a monster movie than genuinely educational programming.
Being such a huge success, it’s only natural that this one also earned a couple of sequels with 2014’s Megalodon: The New Evidence and 2018’s Megalodon: Fact Vs. Fiction. While the former dives even deeper into speculative territory, offering more Found-Footage evidence and outrageous testimonies, the latter is actually a re-edit of the original special with added segments debunking most of the phony pseudo-science. The added scientific context may get in the way of having fun with the original show’s premise, but I applaud Discovery Channel for attempting to inform viewers through speculative storytelling.
At the end of the day, these strange pieces of Docufiction might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but with the recent rise of Fake News scandals and a generalized distrust of authority, it’s funny to look back on this weird moment in television history when huge networks were willing to combine fact and fiction in order to spark a conversation. They might have been a little irresponsible at times, but I think there’s a lot of entertainment to be had in revisiting these shows in a new context. Much like the best speculative fiction, these specials suggested that maybe the important question isn’t “do monsters exist?” but rather “what if they did?”, and that’s enough for me to recommend them to monster aficionados everywhere.
Horror was thriving so well in the 1980s that movies like Pen Densham’s The Kiss (1988) would understandably get lost in the shuffle, only to then gain their fans later on in life. Even still, this one Canadian-American curio has had a more challenging time than others, as far as contemporary reevaluations go, which is very likely due to the movie’s limited availability—at least as of this write-up.
However, the scarceness of The Kiss, while a bit annoying, makes it like catnip for ‘80s horror completists everywhere. Hopefully, a lot of them will walk away satisfied after watching this hidden gem.
Even though The Kiss was intended as the first of several horror collaborations between Astral Pictures and TriStar, as well as the first feature produced by Densham, Richard B. Lewis and John Watson’s Trilogy Entertainment Group, it ended up being the only one produced from that former union. Once the movie was released, TriStar’s distribution jitters—they opted for a regional rollout—did the $6-million flick no favors. TriStar’s cold feet toward horror releases have been well noted, but The Kiss still did a tad better than Night of the Creeps (1986), another genre outing that flopped due to its regional opening.
Shot in Montreal, but set in Albany, New York, The Kiss—which was still called The Host just a few months before its October premiere—concerns an average middle-class family and their forthcoming situation. The uncanny problem in store for them was, in fact, set in motion some years earlier. As that hot and dusty flashback to the Belgian Congo shows, a familial curse was set upon the two Dunbar sisters well before Meredith Salenger’s teenage character was born.
Meredith Salenger, Nicholas Kilbertus and Mimi Kuzyk in The Kiss
The Kiss, which was based on a story by co-writer Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch) and penned by both Volk and Tom Ropelewski, has the outward appearance of The Stepfather (1987). This movie, though, is anything but a gender-flipped retread of that classic domestic disturber. For starters, The Kiss is far less grounded in reality—that much is clear from its unsettling opening scene. There, a trusting girl (Priscilla Mouzakiotis) is the victim of her own deceptive aunt (Céline Lomez); the movie’s titular act, and the story’s first shock, becomes the means of transferring an ancient evil from one host to another.
In the present day, Salenger’s role of Amy Halloran, a religious schoolgirl, is dealt a harsh blow in life once her mother, Hilary Halloran née Dunbar (Pamela Collyer), suddenly dies in a freak accident. But rather than a complete stranger sweeping the Halloran widower (Nicholas Kilbertus) off his feet some months later, Joanna Pacula’s character is that chosen temptress. Here, Pacula plays the grown-up version of the afflicted girl last seen in the movie’s opener. Since Amy’s mother is insistent about there being no reunion between estranged sisters, and she even contemplates buying a gun shortly before her tragic demise, it’s presumable that Aunt Felice poses a threat to her family.
The Kiss isn’t a movie ever too concerned about its own predictability. The audience is indeed often one step ahead of the story here, but also keep in mind how every one of those steps is loud. Take, for instance, the death of Amy’s mother; the Halloran matriarch goes out in garish, gruesome fashion, as a supernaturally commandeered truck sends Collyer’s character through a store window first, then leaves her one leg short. The directorial enthusiasm truly comes out in horrific moments such as these.
The Kiss is always sure to revel in its characters’ ills and misfortunes. So if the plot doesn’t impress, then its lurid parts should. Amy’s mother’s exit scene was proof of an eager, first-time horror director proving his worth. Then, bestie Heather (Sabrina Boudot) survives to tell the tale of a bizarre escalator mishap that, despite showing relatively less gore, spikes viewers’ empathy meter. The wilder bits of this movie, however, commence with that inevitable hookup between Felice and Amy’s bewitched father; their kitchen coitus is paralleled by Amy’s feverish classroom terror. The outcome there is a disquieting cross-cut of sex magic and a young woman’s menstrual onset plus hallucinations.
Sabrina Boudot in The Kiss
From foam appliances to bladders, that parade of special effects in The Kiss casts its own spell on the audience. Felice’s familiar, a visibly malevolent cat, was realized here with several models, some more articulate than others. Admittedly, the demon cat’s not as convincing as most of the effects here, but accepting that artifice, as opposed to fighting it, will make the whole experience way more enjoyable. As for the makeup used to manifest Felice’s inner villainy, it is more minimal and subtle than one might like; yet the work done to turn Pacula into an antithesis of herself is nonetheless compelling.
The otherworldly perils and dreadful goings-on wouldn’t work half as well as they do in The Kiss without the story’s contrast effect. Finding frights in picturesque, extremely ordinary settings was something that took off in the ‘80s, thanks to that sweeping shift to locales like the suburbs. And Amy’s home, a replica of a real Montreal suburban house, is the ideal battleground for any proper good-versus-evil story. It’s also prime real estate for this movie’s satanic panic-inspired horrors.
Because of their ostensibly similar plots, The Kiss has been compared to The Exorcist (1973). Except in Densham’s movie, the sinister, non-Christian entity targeting a teen girl lies within something less apparent and, perhaps, more devastating upon its exposure. To an outsider, Pacula’s Aunt Felice is too beautiful and unobjectionable to ever suspect of being a monster. More suspicious is how quickly she rips into the fabric of the Halloran home. Felice’s mere presence upsets the “texture of family life,” according to the director.
The demon cat in The Kiss
Taking out Amy’s mother and best friend, and distracting her father, would suggest The Kiss is playing by a different set of rules. It is initially leaving its adolescent target unsupported in a rather grim scenario. In contrast, though, this story offers up a surrogate parent who does her best to fill in the holes of Amy’s eroding home life. Mimi Kuzyk does good work as that family friend and doctor, Brenda, who guides the lost child without also steering her in any one direction; she is naturally skeptical of Amy’s accusations until it’s almost too late to do anything about them. So although The Kiss does an admirable job of undoing the main character’s support system, it never leaves her without a lifeline. This dark movie, in spite of everything that’s transpired, doesn’t deprive itself of light and hope.
The Kiss is a potent mélange of familiar ideas. If not for the director’s surprise flair for horror, though, the movie would have been less effective. What a shame that Pen Densham didn’t continue with the genre. As for Joanna Pacula, she is, too, owed credit as the wicked vixen opposite Meredith Salenger’s pitiable Amy; she never fails to be unsettling in her role. Pacula makes Aunt Felice a sexy yet intimidating character.
For horror that steadily doles out madness and menace, while also delivering a flashy and ghastly conclusion, The Kiss is certain to please. Yes, it’s cheesy all the way, but most favorably, everyone involved plays everything straight. That kind of commitment goes a long way with this movie.
The Kiss
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