JUNE 23
COCO
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
This December, 2017, visit the Otherworld.

Through the decades that followed the word ALIEN represented any otherwordly being, benign or bad.

On this day in 1979, however, the name association with ALIEN took a nightmarish turn that would live throughout the rest of the 20th century and on into the 21st century.

This is thanks to a near perfect melding of Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett's story and O'Bannon's screenplay. There was the direction of newcomer, Ridley Scott, the cinematography of newcomer, Derek Vanlint (47 when he got his first feature film break!), and the guiding production of Gordon Carroll, David Giler, and Walter Hill. But it all still could have flopped if the alien monster didn't measure up. Artist Hans R. Giger was brought onboard to create everything "Alien", while artist Ron Cobb designed everything "Earth", with the help of artists Chris Foss and Jean "Moebius" Giraud.

Astoundingly enough for any movie, writer Dan O'Bannon was also hired as visual design consultant to guide his vision.

Casting Directors Mary Goldberg (USA) and Mary Selway (UK) found the best damn character actors in the business as well as relative newcomer, Sigourney Weaver. As every successful horror master from Hitchcock to Spielberg knows, you never hire stars for a horror movie.

I could compliment the entire cast and crew, of course, because - except for the fatuous nonsense with sound in space (which does nothing for this movie) - ALIEN is perfect and powerful.

How powerful? After nearly 40 years, it remains the driving impetus that still survives 6 shitty sequels and counting.

In fact, here is our review of ALIEN.

Since the end of World War Two, the height of tourism focused on a top ten that included nothing but beach getaways. From Hawaii to Jamaica to Tahiti to Bahamas to Rio de Janero to Saint Tropez to the French Riviera to the Caymans to Ibiza, Ipanema, and the Florida hotspots from Miami to Clearwater to Cocoa Beach and so many more.

Light-skin people felt they hadn't really gone on vacation unless they came back tan.

JAWS changed that. Moreover, shark fishing jumped appreciably as the fishermen would directly quote the book or movie as their inciting moment. Author Peter Benchley, never imagining that an audience would ever consider his shark anything more than a fictitious monster, went to his grave regretting that he'd ever wrote the book.

Prior to JAWS there were books and movies about killer bears, wolves, tigers, crocodiles, alligators, octopus, squid, dogs, cats, and more, yet none connected like JAWS did. The fact is, Peter Benchley's New York Times bestseller didn't do it. On this day in 1975, Steven Spielberg changed Summers at the Beach forever.

MAY 31

These works are by UK artist, Lizzie Campbell aka Clay Disarray, who says,

"Much of my personal work is inspired by my love of films, so I set about creating a collection of alternative movie posters reimagined with polymer clay & mixed media - or 'Polymer Posters' as they're affectionately called.

Although I've worked on a more general collection too, I enjoy working on horror posters a little more as it reminds me of trying to sneak a peek at horror movies as a child.

Too young to watch the films, I was left wondering what the scary characters might look like, with only the resources I had available to me… children's television!"

See more of Lizzie's work at ClayDisarray.

Nod and a Thanks to Writer and Director Nick Szostakiwskyj‏ (BLACK MOUNTAIN SIDE) @SzoWhat.

ALSO

8-Bit Thing
Freelance VIdeogame designer, Paul Conway, gives us this beautiful 1990s Lucas Arts-style version of John Carpenter's THE THING.

MAY 9

Being that this is a Horror Thriller site, that's a comparison that casts a shadow. In 1997 I had no clue that, nearly 20 years later, those two men would lock horns over a legal dispute, with Luc Besson on the losing side of a matter he'd often been accused of throughout his cinematic history.

Still, the recent legal matter is resolved and their fight isn't my fight. Enemies often make up and become friends. In fact, John Carpenter is adept at gracefully burying the hatchet.

My point today is the awesomeness of THE FIFTH ELEMENT. Now matter how many times I watch it, it remains enjoyable. It broke actor Bruce Willis (THE 6TH SENSE, UNBREAKABLE, SIN CITY, PLANET TERROR), through a wall he'd tried and failed to break on his own. That of the wise-cracking action comedy hero.

It introduced us to Milla Jovovich before she spent the next two decades typecasting herself as the RESIDENT EVIL gal.

It took Chris Tucker's manic energy and inventiveness to a whole higher level: Possibly the highest he'll ever achieve.

This is how it went down -

Continued at HorrorThriller/TheFifthElement.