Monsters in the Movies

It took me a while, but I finished Monsters in the Movies – 100 Years of Cinematic Nightmares, by John Landis.

I think I got this for x-mas from Marie and I started reading it chapter at a time in between other books I had going. I like how personal it is. It's written by Landis and it's clearly in his own passionate and honest voice. He'll trash some films by major Directors (when it's warranted) and he'll sing the praises of his personal favorites. He's clearly a man who loves horror and moreover, who loves good cinema. He's got a broad perspective on what makes a "monster" and that's what makes this book so good. I'm not a huge Landis fan, but I appreciate his passion and knowledge on the subject. It makes for an entertaining read. Definitely not dry.

The book breaks monsters down chapter by chapter and genre by genre. Each section has a couple pages of text-heavy intro, and then it flows into numerous spreads with many photos with brief commentary alongside each one. Most chapters end with an interview. So it's intro, pictures and comments, interview, rinse-wash-repeat. Done.

I think it's a worthwhile purchase. It's informative but also entertaining. It's not written by a bookworm historian and that's why the book has personality. Landis himself sets this apart from any other academic collection of movie monsters.

I'm into it and I'm not even that into horror. So I say check it out. You'll dig.