Gallery: John Landis Explores Evolution of Monsters in the Movies
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John Landis has been a horror movie luminary ever since he directed *An American Werewolf in London* in 1981. In the decades since then, he's seen monsters evolve from elaborate works of costume and make-up magic to elaborate works of CGI. In his new book [*Monsters in the Movies*](http://www.amazon.com/Monsters-Movies-john-Landis/dp/075668370X), out Monday, Landis explores a century of cinematic creatures, from the currently hot [vampires and zombies](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2011/07/zombies-vs-vampires/) to apes, genetic mutants, mad scientists, psychos and scary children. Scanning through the book, it's hard not to be taken by the evolution of how Hollywood monsters are created, from rudimentary make-up tricks to really slick technical feats. "Technology in movies is always changing," Landis told Wired.com. "In terms of CG, it's an amazing technology and like all new technologies, completely overused immediately." It's a transformation the director has witnessed first-hand. When he was in the process of writing his seminal monster movie *An American Werewolf in London* in 1970, he asked computer-generated graphics pioneer [John Whitney](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Whitney_(animator)) if it would be possible for his werewolf's transformation to be done with CG. The answer was, "Potentially." By the time he began making the movie in 1981, Whitney had passed away, so Landis asked [John Whitney Jr.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926261/) if it could be done. The answer was, "Soon, soon." The technology did not develop soon enough, but maybe that's a good thing: Landis created his werewolf with make-up artist Rick Baker, who went on to win an Oscar for his work. It was so good Michael Jackson hired Landis and Baker to make his video for "Thriller." That video turned out to be kind of a big deal, and by the time Landis made Jackson's "Black or White" video, he got the technology he wanted — it was used to morph the faces of many races [at the end of the clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2AitTPI5U0). "That was really startling for everybody when that video came out," Landis said. "But within years you can buy that software and do it on your laptop." Landis adds that there's a time and place for CG, just like any other movie-making tech, like zoom lenses or [Steadicams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steadicam). Sometimes it works (the director cites Davy Jones in *Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End* as an example) and sometimes viewers walk away thinking, "Well, that looks shitty," Landis said. To get a taste of the metamorphosis of movie monsters, Wired.com asked Landis to tell us about some of the best beasts in history. See what he had to say in the gallery above. (Spoiler Alert: He gets the ghoul.) __Above:__ *Poltergeist* (1982) -------------------- __Director:__ Tobe Hooper __Landis says:__ "*[Poltergeist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist_(film))* is another movie almost like *Edward Scissorhands* in that it deals with suburbia. That movie uses the oldest trope in the book, which is the that the housing estate is built on an Indian burial ground. It's the corniest fucking thing in the world. But some of it is so effective. I mean, the little girl saying, 'They're here!' Tobe Hooper makes great use of traditional childhood fears like that clown doll. That's a very effective movie." *Photograph reproduced by permission of MGM/SLA Entertainment (Kobal Collection) and DK Publishing*
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*An American Werewolf in London* (1981) --------------------------------------- __Director:__ John Landis __Landis says:__ "That was my contribution to the werewolf lore. One of the points I make in the book is that these things aren't real. When I made this film I remember some guy came up to me and said that at the end of the movie the werewolf is killed with bullets and you can't kill a werewolf with bullets. He went on and on about the fact that you can only kill a werewolf with silver bullets, which struck me as so funny. Because, it's like, 'Really? How many werewolves do you know?' "Silver bullets specifically come from Curt Siodmak, who was the original screenwriter of *[The Wolf Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034398/)*. In one of the sequels he talks about silver bullets being the way of killing werewolves. He talked about where that came from once with me and he said he happened to be listening to *The Lone Ranger* on the radio and he thought, 'Silver bullets, that's great!' So he made that up. So much of what we accept as folklore and mythology is invented by screenwriters. "It's very funny because these things aren't real. There are no vampires, or werewolves or zombies. When you deal with the supernatural, the rules are what you make — just look at religion. Every religion makes up its own fucking rules. *[The Exorcist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist_(film))* is one of my favorite examples of the suspension of disbelief. I'm a complete atheist, a cultural Jew, and I certainly do not believe in the devil. At all. And yet while I was watching *The Exorcist*, it scared the shit out of me." *Photograph reproduced by permission of Polygram/Universal (Kobal Collection) and DK Publishing*
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*Dracula Has Risen From the Grave* (1968) ----------------------------------------- __Director:__ Freddie Francis __Landis says:__ "Christopher Lee's Dracula is certainly impressive. He was really the first Dracula to have fangs. Also in *The Horror of Dracula* (remake), his Dracula was so powerful and sexy. The red eyes are only occasionally. He's such a physically imposing guy and has such power and presence as an actor. The most interesting thing to me about Dracula is — John Carpenter talks about this — he's essentially the aristocracy. Count Dracula literally sucks the blood of the peasants. All monsters are metaphors." *Photograph reproduced by permission of Hammer (Kobal Collection) and DK Publishing*
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*Edward Scissorhands* (1990) ---------------------------- __Director:__ Tim Burton __Landis says:__ "That's a wonderful movie, and clearly Tim's most personal film. You know he grew up in the San Fernando Valley and he always felt extremely alienated and separate from everyone else. So *[Edward Scissorhands](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Scissorhands)* is a not-very-subtle replacement of that. I really think that Johnny Depp's performance is fabulous; so is the design. That's why I put Tim's original drawing in the book, because it's so wonderful. There's a lot of resonance to that movie." *Photograph reproduced by permission of 20th Century Fox (Kobal Collection) and DK Publishing*
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*Jaws* (1975) ------------- __Director:__ Steven Spielberg __Landis says:__ "One of the things that always fascinated me about *[Jaws](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_(film))* was how schizophrenic it is. It has this strange structure. The first half of it is literally a classic monster movie, with every cliché intact. Then in the second half, when they go out on the boat, even the score changes. It's really beautifully made and a really wonderful movie." *Photograph reproduced by permission of Universal (Kobal Collection) and DK Publishing*
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*King Kong* (1933) ------------------ __Directors:__ Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack __Landis says:__ "That is *the* monster movie. That King Kong was 8 to 12 inches tall. Like so many movie monsters, Kong was a victim. He was just living on his island and white men come and take him away in chains. He really is powerful and a powerful image. I still think this is one of the best fantasy movies ever made." *Photograph reproduced by permission of RKO (Bob Burns Coll.) and DK Publishing*
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*Misery* (1990) --------------- __Director:__ Rob Reiner __Landis says:__ "That's in the chapter of human monsters. Those are the only monsters that truly frighten me, because they're real. There are psychotics and pedophiles and cannibals. They're real and they're out there. I wouldn't have chosen \[Kathy Bates\] as one of the best monsters, but for me that was a hugely successful picture. There was something about her character and her look that resonated because she could be the checkout person at Walmart. She's exceptionally normal. That scene where she smashes his foot really hit people because it was so relatable." *Photograph reproduced by permission of Castle Rock (Kobal Collection) and DK Publishing*
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*The 7th Voyage of Sinbad* (1958) ---------------------------------- __Director:__ Nathan H. Juran __Landis says:__ "That's for me. *[The 7th Voyage of Sinbad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7th_Voyage_of_Sinbad)* is the reason I'm a filmmaker. I saw that when I was 7 and it charmed me and enthralled me. I went home and asked my mother, 'Who does that, who makes the movie?' And she answered, 'The director.' So from the time I was 8 years old I knew what I wanted to be. That Cyclops is one of the great fantasy creatures. It just has such life and it moves so beautifully. That movie has a fabulous sense of fantasy. These things were moved one frame at a time by [Ray Harryhausen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Harryhausen)'s hands." *Photograph reproduced by permission of Columbia (Kobal Collection) and DK Publishing*
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*Werewolf of London* (1935) --------------------------- __Director:__ Stuart Walker __Landis says:__ "That blood is clearly a publicity person's blood because it's not in the film. The *[Werewolf of London](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf_of_London)* is really the first werewolf movie. The original make-up design that Jack Pierce did for this movie is exactly what Lon Chaney Jr. wears in \[1941's\] *[The Wolf Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_Man_(1941_film))*, but when Henry Hull saw it he said, 'I'm not wearing that! You can't recognize it's me.' He had been quite a Broadway star and he just thought no one would see his face. So they came up with this make-up, which I think is pretty great and is kind of the archetypical look." *Photograph reproduced by permission of Roman Freulich/Universal (Kobal Collection) and DK Publishing*
