The Gore Connoisseurs

As your werewolf movie approaches its climax, it's time for your cursed antihero to writhe and groan as some FX magic happens and a helpless victim just stands there and watches the whole thing. But just how the transformation occurs has changed a fair bit over the years - depending both on the evolution of practical effects and prevailing cultural trends. Some have aged better than others.  Let's start with: The hairy crossfade (pre-1980s) Notable examples: Werewolf of London (1935),  The Wolf Man (1941), Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943),  Curse of the Werewolf (1961) Werewolves had it easy pre-Rick Baker. Come the full moon, they would segue into vicious beasts via a series of crossfades, minus the whole screaming, flesh crunching and skin ripping which would come later. In these early films, strategic pillar walking was a less time-consuming FX option, as evidenced by this clip from Werewolf of London.  In The Wolf Man , Lon Chaney...

Indie horror flicks like Mon Mon Mon Monsters,   Ravenous and Wildling  are moving away from the idea that monsters are straightforwardly evil. Note: This essay contains minor spoilers for Wildling. Jason Voorhees. Leatherface. Sadako. Though they have tragic backstories, they each function as an unstoppable evil force in their respective movies. The traditional horror icons don't have a sense of interiority. It would be out of the question to feel anything like pity for our favourite slasher killers or supernatural villains. Yet Chinese horror film Mon Mon Mon Monsters (currently streaming on Shudder ) features a flesh-hungry monster with razor sharp teeth and claws as its most sympathetic character.  The purest relationship in the film is between this little monster and her equally monstrous older sister. In a touching early scene, the older monster offers her sister the tastiest morsel from the corpse of an innocent man they've just killed. ...