All language subtitles for History of Horror S01E05 Killer Creatures.eng

- [roaring]
- Monsters...

[birds screeching]

[creatures growling, roaring]

- Are metaphors.
- I don't think you appreciate

the gut reaction people have
to these things.

They do represent a lot
of our deeper

psychological fears.

- [children screaming]
- Pennywise is a manifestation

of evil.

He's made of fantasies
and the creators

- are children.
- When people ask me,

"What are the ones
that are your favorite movies?"

I always mention "Cujo."

It's a really intense

- go-for-the-throat film.
- [screaming]

[Cujo growling]

I loved "Gremlins."

The Jekyll-and-Hyde component

of these little cute characters
and that they turn into

- these crazy monsters...
- [cackling]

- I mean, the Gremlins are us.
- [snarling]

[gunshot]

Clear.

- [screams]
- My favorite of all time

is John Carpenter's
"The Thing."

- [roaring]
- [snarling]

"American Werewolf
in London," "The Howling"...

those movies were really

the age of make-up effects.

- [snarling]
- Werewolves will kick

- vampires' ass any day.
- There is a lot

to fear in nature.

[bird squawking]

The natural world
is turning on us

'cause we have mistreated it
in some way.

[sinister music]

♪♪

"Jaws," for me, was the one.

That was the one
that terrified me.

[swimmers screaming]

[screaming]

That's a monster.

- That's a true monster.
- [roaring]

[sinister music]

♪♪

[chainsaw revving]

♪♪

Monsters hold
a special place

in the history of horror.

The killer predators
in nature...

[screaming]

The nightmare creatures
of the fantastic,

and the monsters inside us

waiting to escape.

- [snarling]
- They can be frightening,

or fun, or both.

[cookies chittering,
laughing]

Whatever their size
or shape,

whether they're humanoid
or utterly alien,

monsters are reflections
of ourselves.

- [whimpering]
- They do represent a lot

of our deeper
psychological fears.

We sort of design them
to represent everything

that we feel is ugly
about ourselves.

[sinister music]

- Time to float.
- [wheezing]

- [hyperventilating]
- The latest addition

to the monster hall of fame
is Pennywise the clown,

the killer creature
at the heart

of the 2017 blockbuster,

"It."

Based on the 1986 novel

by legendary horror writer
Stephen King,

"It" tells the story
of seven young outcasts

in Derry, Maine.

They battle an ancient evil
that emerges

every 27 years
to kill the town's children.

Some of the greatest
horror films of all time

all sprang from
the literary works

of Stephen King.

He has the most vivid
imagination,

and he takes you
to the strangest places,

but the anchor is always

the... the human emotion.

Uh, without that it's not King.

I s... saw something too.

I remember the summer
the book came out,

everyone was reading it.

We all had our, like,
copies of "It," this big,

no matter where we were.

Do you enjoy watching
adaptations, or...

- or is it... has it evolved?
- Sure, yeah.

No, I... I like
to watch adaptations

and, uh, I'm always interested

to see what people do
with the stuff.

- [screaming]
- It's perfect.

It was a mainstream movie
that was rated "R."

It played like a family film.
Everyone... again, it became

the movie you were dared
to see.

It grossed $700 million
worldwide.

And not only that,
it was a good film.

[sinister music]

Beep beep, Richie.

I wanted to be true
to the spirit of...

of the story
and the characters.

The first goal was to...
to make it different

from... from Tim Curry
interpretation...

- Beep beep, Richie.
- I felt that

there was something
about Pennywise that...

that wasn't covered there.

- Bill!
- [snarling]

I also wanted to bring
a weird balance

of... of a monster and a child.

If you see the... the design
of the monster,

he has, like,
child-like features.

He's like roundy face and...

and, you know,
the bucky teeth.

And one of the things
that I consider important

is that one of his eyes
would be, uh, strabismic,

- so it was pointing out.
- I will take him.

Only him.

Andy shot the [bleep]
out of that movie.

When Georgie is running
down the gutter

after the... the boat,

it looks...

- like a real rain storm.
- No!

It doesn't look like
a sunny day

where people ran
a rain machine.

[sinister music]

Um...

I should get going now.

Oh.

Uh, without your boat?

Opening is a masterpiece.

There is a reason why it's,
like, the scene that,

you know, has created
a thousand parodies...

'cause it's that good.

♪♪

[snarls]

[screaming]

[wailing]

Help!

[wailing]

Pennywise's creepy hand

starts to stretch across the...
the street...

[screams]

Billy!

That is nightmare fuel.

And what the director,
Andy Muschietti,

was able to do so well is
maintain that nightmare fuel

throughout the rest
of the runtime.

What the hell?
Put the map back.

Mm-mm.

[projector clicks]

[clicking]

The projection scene is one

of the most impactful ones

because it sets you up
for something.

[projector clicking]

♪♪

[all whimpering]

♪♪

And then it really
surprises you.

[hollers]
[all scream]

- [cackles]
- Billy!

[all screaming]

It is really about
the horrors of society.

The scariest things
in that book

are not supernatural.

The scariest things
in that book are...

racism.

Stay the [bleep]
out of my town!

- Misogyny...
- She'll do you.

You just gotta ask nicely.

And child abuse.

Tell me you're still
my little girl.

Yes, Daddy.

Beverly's sexual abuse

by her father is shown to be

very much connected,
we know,

with the external threats
embodied by It.

[snarls]

[eerie music]

Hey, Bevvie.

- Are you still my little girl?
- [screams]

[gagging]

But it also reminds us

the most unimaginable,
horrific things

really do happen.

Tasty, tasty,

- beautiful fear.
- [gasps, whimpers]

Fears are never just
imaginary.

Hey!

[dark music]

Eddie!

[whimpering]

This isn't real enough
for you, Billy?

[high-pitched]
I'm not real enough for you?

Oh...

It was real enough
for Georgie!

[cackling]

[roaring]

♪♪

The clowns hate me.
I just tell people,

"Don't hate the messenger
for the message."

Kids are scared to death
of clowns,

and... and, you know, clowns are
a natural disguise

for monsters
because you never know

what's under that makeup.

♪♪

"It" gave us a monster drawn
from our childhood fears...

- [screams]
- [roaring]

But some creatures tap into
different parts

- of our brains.
- You gotta be...

- kidding.
- Our dread that others

- are not what they seem...
- [roaring]

- [all screaming]
- And our secret desire

to act upon
our wildest impulses.

[cackling]

Why are monsters
of the fantastic

so popular?

Perhaps it's because they can
do anything they want.

Monsters don't have
to follow the rules...

That's why kids love them.

Especially monsters
who enjoy behaving badly.

Monsters like gremlins.

- You're kidding.
- [whines]

I loved "Gremlins"
growing up.

My parents took myself
and my sister to see it.

I think we were all expecting

something along the lines
of "E.T."

I just call him Gizmo.

He seems to like it.

It had that Amblin-Spielberg
presentation,

but what nobody told you
is that it turns into

a balls-to-the-wall
horror movie.

You know, there's some things
I forgot to tell you guys,

and they're really important.

- Keep him away from water...
- [screams]

[shrieking]

Don't ever feed him
after midnight...

[sinister music]

I loved...
I love that... that movie.

The Jekyll-and-Hyde component

of these little cute characters

and that they turn into
these crazy monsters.

[cackling]

[grunts, groans]

I'll never forget
the entire audience

just leaping and screaming
and applauding with it.

- [shrieking]
- [screaming]

♪♪

And it was just so bizarre
and so different

than anything we had seen
in the '80s up until then.

[growls]

[whining]

That perfect mix of laughter
and screaming.

[gurgles]

I've been criticized by
certain studio executives

over the years for...

"Is this supposed to be
a horror movie or a comedy?"

And, um, I find the two genres

very closely aligned.

[sneezes]

I grew up on
the James Whale films

and, uh, Whale's pictures
were always mordantly comic.

and he was not afraid
to mix tones.

They've asked for it,
the country bumpkins.

This will give them
a bit of a shock.

The Invisible Man...
who is certifiably crazy...

does a lot of funny things.

Uh, but then in the middle
of doing something funny

- he'll kill somebody.
- I think I'll throttle you.

[gagging]
Let go of me!

Then all of a sudden
your laugh catches

in your throat.

That's always fascinated me,
that dichotomy.

[sinister music]

Gremlins are us.

The gremlins are the absolute
worst aspects

of humanity manifested

as these little reptilian,
snarling,

mischievous monsters.

[shrieking]

And that's what makes them
so great.

[screaming]

[gremlins laughing]

Especially in the scene
where they're fighting

with Phoebe Cates in the bar.

It's like every single gremlin

looks like someone
you might see

- in a seedy bar.
- [laughing]

[whistle blowing]

The studio didn't really
understand the movie.

[babbling]

[hollering]

They didn't get it
when they saw it,

they didn't get it
when it came out...

they just were happy
that it was making money.

- [gremlins babbling]
- Are moviegoers so desperate

for entertainment
that this is the trash

passed for fun?

Whoa! Wait a minute!
[gremlins cackling]

It was ripped off
all over the place.

"The Ghoulies"
and "Critters"...

and yes, I did "Critters 2."

Look at the size
of their leader.

[critters babbling]

[growling]

There were so many
little creature movies...

little puppet movies...
because they were

relatively cheap to make...
unless you did them well.

The first "Gremlins," I think,
was $10 million,

but the second one
was $60 million.

- [gremlins laughing]
- Is everybody here?

[all cheering]
All right, then!

[growling]

- [shrieking]
- [growling]

To me, "Gremlins" was really
great gateway horror.

By gateway horror
I'm referring to movies

that are scary enough

for the whole family.

[growling]

I think it's good for kids
to watch scary movies.

- Omi!
- [snarling]

[both screaming]

[dramatic music]

It makes you learn how

to process fear

on a physical and mental level.

I think your kid will probably
be more messed up

if you don't show them
anything scary

'cause they won't be prepared
for the real world,

which is actually terrifying.

[all laughing, chittering]

If "Gremlins" is
the lighter side

of killer creatures,

John Carpenter's
"The Thing"

is the darkest of the dark.

[growling]

The film's shape-shifters

embody our most
paranoid suspicions,

that the people we know
and trust

are actually inhuman monsters.

[roaring]

"The Thing" is about
a remote outpost

in Antarctica, and they find
an alien in the ice.

And what this alien
winds up doing

is it will... it will replicate

anything it can see.

It needs to be alone
and in close proximity

with the life-form
to be absorbed.

Slowly, it's knocking off...

each cast member one by one.

[roaring]

By mid-film, you don't know
who's who

and they have to figure out
who's The Thing

so they can survive.

The blood from one
of you things

won't obey when it's attacked.

- It'll try and survive.
- [screeches]

[all screaming]

- [growling]
- The horror of sort of truism

was things can be real good
and scary

until you see the monster,

and, uh, Rob Bottin...
the special effects guy...

said, "Well, what if
we show them

the monster constantly?"

But the trick is that
the monster is

a different monster
every time.

I mean, that's just
brilliantly leaning into

- the problem.
- [roaring]

I took my girlfriend
to see "The Thing,"

and she sat in the theater

- almost vomiting in her hands...
- [laughing]

And was so angry at me.

"Why would you take me
to this movie?"

It's so gory and it's
so grotesque but, like, it's...

it's amazing!
What are you talking about?

It's like the holy grail
of horror movies.

It's a perfect movie.

[roaring]

[sinister music]

It's also
an unparalleled, uh...

of effects showcase.

You know, we see these...
these creatures that have

no real form or structure
but that come from

the deepest nightmares
that we could possibly fathom.

[growling]

[screaming]

[crunching]

"The Thing" and "Gremlins"
are monsters drawn

from our wildest fantasies.

- Wait a minute.
- You'll never run into

- either one of them.
- [growling]

But some of the most
terrifying movies ever made

show us what might happen
if everyday animals

became killer creatures.

[sinister music]

- [Cujo growling]
- Humans take their dominance

over nature for granted.

But what if other species
rose up against us?

Animals we consider friendly
or harmless.

[birds calling]

The fear of suddenly being
at the bottom

of the food chain
is the premise

of the first man versus nature
horror film...

[birds calling]

Alfred Hitchcock's
"The Birds."

My name
is Alfred Hitchcock.

and I would like to tell you
about my forthcoming lecture.

It is about the birds

and their age-long relationship
with man.

[birds squawking]

Such a bizarre thought,

that birds would attack us.

To think of them
all of a sudden

banding together.

That you would have to be wary
every time

you step out your door
or get out of your car

or whatever
is a very frightening thought.

"The Birds," at its heart,
is a story

of a woman who, uh,
is intrigued by a man

and kind of wants
to get at the man.

Are those lovebirds?

[birds chirping]

No, those are, uh,
redbirds.

And the man is interested
in the woman

but is a little wary of her

because she's not his
perfect idea

of what a woman should be.

[birds calling]

I think she was a woman
who was sure of herself.

I... I don't think
she was impressed with herself.

I just think she knew
what she wanted

and, um, how to get it.

[motor putting]

What I love about
"The Birds"

is there's no answer.

[bird squawks]

You never know
why it's happening,

and that makes it
so incredibly frightening.

[children screaming]

When you can explain horror,

it loses its mystery

and it ceases
to become horrifying.

[children singing
indistinctly]

To take
what most people consider

a pretty innocuous animal,
like a...

not an animal to be feared...

♪♪

And to turn it into
something that terrifying

that still really works...

♪♪

I mean, that scene
when she turns around

and they're all sitting there
is terrifying.

It would be terrifying

for us to experience that
in life.

[birds calling]

Hitchcock was one
of the first...

if not the first...
live-action filmmaker

to rely heavily
on storyboards.

[eerie music]

And that's one reason why...

his films are so effective,
I think...

because he didn't rely on

happy accidents
to make those scenes work.

He knew how they ought
to be staged,

how they ought to be cut.

[children screaming]

- Daddy!
- I don't think that

there is much
that Alfred Hitchcock missed

in making his movies.

I mean, they were made
for his audience,

and he knew his audiences well.

[birds calling]

That was just one
of the most horrific things

I had ever seen at that point.

You couldn't walk the street
for fear of being attacked.

That just always stuck with me.

[birds squawking]

It was relentless
and unforgiving.

I was supposed
to go up the stairs...

and of course by that time
my character had seen

all of the destruction

that the birds had caused...

and I said
to Alfred Hitchcock,

"Why would I go up there

"knowing what's going on?

Why would I do that?"

And he said,

"Because I tell you to."

[whimpers]

[dark music]

At the beginning of the film,
the Tippi Hedren character

is assertive, very sexual,

very sure of herself.

By the end of the film, uh,
conservative forces

from without reduce her

to a sort of wordless,
helpless woman

who, you know, basically has
to be carried out of the house

and is now afraid
of everything.

In... in other words,
a much more acceptable vision

- of what a housewife should be.
- No.

No!

I think Alfred Hitchcock

was born to scare people.

To make them uneasy...
frighten them severely...

and also really
make them think.

I think he relished that.

Did he take it too far
in his private life?

Probably.

He had his own motion picture
going on inside.

[laughing]

"The Birds"
is a masterful suspense film

and a disturbing projection

of Alfred Hitchcock's
conflicted feelings

about female sexuality.

In the film "Cujo"...
adapted from Stephen King's

1981 novel...

another
normally harmless animal

punishes a woman for her sins.

One of your adaptations
that I think everyone

who's seen it loves it
is "Cujo..."

- Yeah.
- Lewis Teague's film.

That movie was terrifying.

I was petrified.

When people ask me,
"What are the ones

that are your favorite movies?"

I always mention "Cujo."

This is about a woman
who's dealing with a lot

regarding her husband
and this man she's having

an affair with,
and this sin

that she has committed...
which is infidelity...

and now paying
the ultimate price for that.

[growling]

[huffing, growling]

To me, horror is always
situational.

It's something where
you say to yourself...

[dramatic music]

"Okay, we're gonna put a woman

"and a boy in... in the car,

and then we're gonna see
what happens."

- [growling]
- [screams]

- [screaming]
- When you've got, um,

not just the rabid dog, Cujo,

uh, but then you've got
her son who...

who's having these seizures,
and it becoming sweltering

in the car
that she's trapped in,

and you just feel the anxiety

and the, uh, claustrophobia.

It's a really intense movie.

[growling, snarling]

♪♪

Part of the... the greatness
of that film

is the performance
by Dee Wallace.

It was extraordinary.

You know, you really feel
her pain, you really feel

how distraught she is,
and you feel

those survival instincts
that kick in

when the trouble starts.

Well, what actress
wouldn't want the opportunity

to play a tour-de-force part
like "Cujo"?

[suspenseful music]

♪♪

I had no idea

how tough it would be.

♪♪

- [growling]
- [gasps]

[whimpers]
In a horror film,

there's a lot...
if you're doing it right,

there's a lot
of emotional work.

[barking, snarling]

[screams]

- [snarling]
- [cries out]

♪♪

Your body does not know

you are acting.

Your brain does not know
you are acting.

It goes through

every chemical change

that you would go through
in fight-or-flight.

[whimpering]

♪♪

- [snarling]
- [screams]

So you can imagine

doing a movie like "Cujo"...

six to eight weeks
of fight-or-flight

- every minute.
- [snarling]

[screaming]

- [screams]
- There were lots

and lots of dogs playing Cujo.
[screaming]

[growling, snarling]

It's all a big game
for them.

We had to tie their tails down
with fish wire

because they were having
a wonderful time

- going after their toys.
- [screaming]

[shrieks]

All the dogs were taken
much better care of

than I was.
[laughs]

I wanna be clear about that.

[sinister music]

They treated me
for exhaustion...

for three weeks after
that movie finished.

[shaky breathing]

It was relentless.

And it is, I think,

my best work and the film
I'm most proud of.

[dark music]

Please, God,
get me out of here.

♪♪

"Cujo" and "The Birds"
took harmless animals

and turned them into monsters.

- [snarling, barking]
- But the ultimate

animal-attack story
features a creature

everyone fears,

thanks to one
landmark horror film.

[screaming]

In 1975, a young director

named Steven Spielberg
made a film

about a giant man-eating shark

prowling
the New England coastline.

"Jaws" was the first
summer blockbuster,

and it's the ultimate
animal attack movie.

"Jaws" is pure cinema.

From that opening shot
underwater

and that music, I can't think
of an opening of a movie

that's more effective
than that...

the opening credits
of that movie.

["Jaws" theme plays]

You are probably the most
"Jaws" - obsessed person I know.

That movie, for me...
[stammering]

I saw it the second day
it was out.

My parents went
opening night...

How old were you
when you saw it?

- Uh, 13.
- Oh.

Probably saw it 15 times
that summer.

I remember it, too.
I saw it when it came out.

My parents took me.
I was ten

and my brother was seven.

I don't know what
they were thinking.

- [laughing]
- And we... I don't even...

- Thank God.
- I don't even think we knew

what it was, and from the kids
that went in to that movie

and the kids that came out
were not the same.

No.

I love "Jaws."

I was young when I saw it

and it totally freaked me out.

The little things,
like the coming up

on somebody...
just the feeling.

It's not an actual shark
coming up,

but you feel like,
"She's done."

[gasps]

[gasps, panting]

[sinister music]

Oh, God!
[shrieking]

It's about this basic

human terror.

[screaming]

The understanding
that we are...

a snack for sharks.

[screaming]

- It hurts!
- Realizing you are food

- is upsetting.
- [shrieking]

Oh, my God!
Oh, God!

It blew me away.
Just everything about it...

the fear of the unknown,
the fact that you would be

in the water and something
underneath the water

could be that massive,

that big, that dangerous.

Oh, please help!
[screaming]

There's an element where
Spielberg was forced

into really creative ways

of showing suspense

because his major
special effect didn't work.

And I'm sure he would agree

that if the mechanical shark
had worked a bit better

you might have seen
the shark more,

and maybe it would be
a lesser film.

[screaming]

That scene on the beach is...
is pure Hitchcock.

- Get out of the office...
- [screaming]

A garbage truck
next to the office.

- [screaming]
- You look at the tricks

that Spielberg used
in that scene...

he used every trick
in the book

to just really make sure
that you saw

every single thing
that was happening,

but you could do nothing
about it.

Pippin!

And then when the guy throws
the stick for the dog

and then it's just like,
"Pippin, Pippin."

You just see the stick...
you're like, "Oh, no."

I saw "Jaws"
at a really early age

and my take-away
from that was,

"Oh, Jaws eats kids."

The way Spielberg shot
the death of the kid

on his yellow raft...
I was shell-shocked.

["Jaws" theme plays]

[children shouting]

- [screaming]
- Did you see that?

Yes.

♪♪

[screams]

♪♪

[children shouting]

♪♪

And I was like, "Oh,
Jaws is unrelenting.

"He doesn't care who he eats.

That's it,
we're all doomed."

Alex?

At its core,
it's really about

the connective tissue
of these characters

from a community level,

to the family level,

then to these three men

who have taken upon themselves

to go on a boat
and go into the ocean

and hunt
this great white shark.

Slow ahead.

I can go slow ahead.
Come on down and chum

some of this [bleep].

Not seeing the shark a lot

was a good thing...
both: Yeah.

For the audience,
'cause I didn't want

to see it anymore
'cause it was too intense.

You're going to need
a bigger boat.

Everybody talks about

how bad this fake shark was.

I cannot believe that,

because the shark
looks incredible.

It doesn't look fake at all
to me.

[sinister music]

That's why "Jaws" has not

been remade to this day,
is people don't really want

to see a CGI shark.

You don't need to see
more shark.

♪♪

And you've seen
other shark movies since

where they're CGI sharks
and you're like, "Eh,

I'm good."
[laughing]

"I've already seen Jaws."

[screaming]

Humans fear the ferocity
of nature.

It's built into us.

[screaming]

But deep down, we know
the biggest threat we face

is the one lurking inside us,

the ferocious beast within.

♪♪

Monsters are metaphors.

Name the monster,
name the metaphor.

Joe Dante recommended that
as a game show once.

"Jekyll and Hyde"
is essentially about

psychopharmacology.

- [growls]
- "Frankenstein,"

it's don't [bleep] with God.

[howling]

Now werewolves, that's
a whole different story.

I just think werewolves
are just the coolest, man.

I'm not gonna lie, man,
I used to kind of wish

as a kid that I had that.

Like, I just want be a...
one of those werewolf people.

Like, that look like...
go around just looking like

a werewolf all the time, man.

Werewolves were always evil.

The idea of the werewolf

not as the evil,
aggressive perpetrator

of death and murder but
as the victim of a curse...

that's Hollywood
screenwriter...

that's Curt Siodmak's
invention with "The Wolfman"

in the '40s.

You know, werewolves being
killed by silver bullets...

you know where that came from?

He was listening
to the Lone Ranger,

who had silver bullets,
and he thought,

"That's it.
We could melt crucifixes."

So many of Curt Siodmak's
inventions

became ancient lore

of the werewolf.

Curt Siodmak fled Europe

because of the Nazi threat,

and in the "Wolfman" films
you can see, uh,

things that he's
very consciously put there.

It's no coincidence
that a person

is marked for death
by the appearance

of a star in their palm.

Obviously this was a technique

the... the Nazis used.

The "Wolfman" films
of the '40s

were a great influence
on two horror classics,

both released in 1981.

- [growling]
- "The Howling"

and "An American Werewolf
in London."

With "American Werewolf
in London," my intention

was that it's much more
of a horror film.

It happens to be very funny,
and that was deliberate,

but I don't consider it
a comedy.

This poor guy went abroad

and travelled with his friend
and got bitten

by something unspeakable
and monstrous.

[panting]

[indistinct]

[roaring]

[growling]

[roars]

Once he gets bit, uh,

the audience knows
that he's doomed.

Tomorrow night's
the full moon.

You're gonna change.

- You'll become...
- I know.

I know.
A monster.

"American Werewolf
in London," "The Howling"...

those movies were... were really

the age of make-up effects.

[screaming]

[bones cracking]

- [screaming]
- When filmmakers realized,

"Wait a minute,
we can do anything we want.

"We can show a guy
turn into a werewolf.

We can transform people
into zombies."

And you know, up until
that point it was nothing

really on screen...
it was all left

to your imagination.

"American Werewolf
in London" had, uh,

Rick Baker's effects,
and "The Howling"

had Rob Bottin...
Rick Baker's protégé,

who was doing the effects,
so there's some crossover

that they came out
in the same year

and they had some
of the same effects.

Help me!

Please!

Help me!

I wanted to show it
in real time.

I wanted it to be
extremely painful.

[screaming]

[growling]

Rick Baker did
that nose extension, uh...

oh, gosh, that was
a beautiful piece of...

- of practical work.
- [screaming]

[bones cracking]

I remember watching that
in the theater going,

"How did they do that?"

The actual head

would change from within.

It would have mechanics in it

that would expand or...
or alter the shape.

- [groaning]
- To me it's like it's...

it's one of my favorite movies
of all time.

It's kind of funny, it's sweet,

and then it's really scary.

And then it's kind of bleak.

I love you, David.

And then it has, like,
a sort of a...

you know,
a terribly sad ending,

- like most "Wolfman" movies.
- [roars]

[sinister music]

[growling]

Joe Dante's "The Howling"
is famous

for its terrifying werewolves

and a post-modern
self-awareness

we would later see in films
like "Scream."

...is bitten
by a werewolf and lives

becomes a werewolf himself.

"The Howling"
was the first movie

where the characters don't have

to go to the doctor and ask
what a werewolf is

and the first movie
where the characters, uh,

are not behind the audience.

It's 80...

- Quist...
- [snarling, growling]

[dramatic music]

- [roars]
- [yelps]

"The Howling" was
a perfectly-timed movie

about the California

self-help movement period.

It's a great satire
and mockery of that.

It's a cult where people

all get behind somebody
who they think is going

to change their lives and...

and transform them and, uh...
[stammering]

They're actually
all werewolves,

and he's trying to get them
to, um,

adjust to modern life

and not have to, you know...
[laughs]

Kill the mailman and eat him.

It's a perfect cast.

Dee Wallace, uh,

who got "E.T."
off of that movie...

[roaring]

What attracted me
to "The Howling"

was I never looked at it

as a werewolf movie.

I looked at it as a movie

about...

good and evil within us...

and the battle

that goes on consistently

in which one's gonna win.

That notion, uh,
that a person

that you think that you know
are a...

could shape-shift
and change on you...

obviously a metaphor
for a person

that seems very charming

or very, uh,
you know, sophisticated

and cultured,
and then in the privacy

of their own hotel room

they can shift into a monster.

The werewolf metaphor
reflects our fear

of the beast within,

the primal animal
held in check

by society's rules.

Some horror films
go even further,

showing us humans
can be as monstrous

as the creatures they fight.

- [hollers]
- [screaming]

[screaming]

What makes a monster?

It's a question filmmakers
have explored

since the early days
of cinema.

King Kong was a savage beast

whose tender heart proved
no match

for a blonde and biplanes.

He's alive!

Frankenstein's monster
was a toddler

in a giant's body,
rejected by his creator...

- [screams]
- [growls]

Looking for love
and finding only violence

- and death.
- [screaming]

In recent times,
Guillermo del Toro

has made a series
of horror films

exploring the nature
of monstrosity.

It's the theme of his
Academy Award-winning picture,

"The Shape of Water."

The film pits a monster

who's ugly on the outside

against a man who's ugly
on the inside.

This is what scares you, huh?

Gee, you should be used to it
by now.

- [screams]
- It asks,

"Which would you rather be?"

What's wonderful about
del Toro's, uh,

gill man, for the lack
of a better word,

is that he is so real

thanks to
the amazing performance

by Doug Jones.

The pantomime skills...

it's so realistic,
so other-worldly.

[eerie music]

♪♪

When Guillermo first told me
about "The Shape of Water,"

he was very, very specific
to say, "Dougie, you're going

to be playing the romantic
leading man of this movie."

I was like, "Oh."
[exclaims]

"Ooh, in... in a fish suit?
Is this possible?"

But again, I knew, "Okay,
this is coming

"from Guillermo del Toro...
this is gonna work.

He's gonna make this work."

[cheerful music]

♪♪

Guillermo kept telling me...
didn't want to see human.

"Dougie, no human."

And what he might do
to remind me

he would just give me
like a... a little growl

to remind me, "Oh, yes, right.

Non-human, I gotta...
okay, right."

[gurgles]

For instance, there was a...
a particular scene where

Richard Jenkins' character
is talking to me.

Do you know
what happened to you?

Do you?
Because I don't.

I don't know
what happened to me.

- [gurgles]
- I don't know.

I look in the mirror
and the only thing

that I recognize
are these eyes.

I... I got caught up
in his story...

his monologue was so beautiful
and so beautifully delivered

that I... I kept wanting
to go, "Hmm.

Yeah."
And that would have been

the wrong body language
for this character,

so I had to think...
I had to think, uh,

"How would the family dog
respond?"

Sometimes I think I was
either born too early

or too late for my life.

Guillermo has
a real appreciation

and passionate love
of monsters.

"The Shape of Water" is...
is basically

the romantic side

of "The Creature
from the Black Lagoon."

[sinister music]

There he is!

[growls]

Hearing Guillermo del Toro
talk about his first time

seeing "The Creature
from the Black Lagoon"...

he was about six years old
watching on TV in Mexico.

His first image of seeing
Julie Adams swimming

on the top of the surface
of the water

and the creature
swimming under her

would be a horrifying image
to most of us

but to him it was like,

"That's so beautiful."

And he really wanted
those two to get together.

♪♪

And when the movie played out
to be not that...

♪♪

- [roaring]
- He was like, "What?"

He was... he was outraged,
as a six-year-old boy.

Making "The Shape of Water"

is like a 46-year journey
into righting that wrong.

And all of Guillermo's
best movies

feel like they come
from the heart.

"Pan's Labyrinth"

is about a child,

but it's not a children's film
at all.

[rousing music]

♪♪

Another view
of "Alice in Wonderland."

Little girl goes into
the rabbit hole

and encounters a new race
of people.

Hola?

[growling]

There's a monster
in "Pan's Labyrinth"

called "the pale man..."

who is this tall,

obscenely pale figure...

[wheezing]

Who has eyeballs
in his hands.

[wheezing]

He's blind up here,
but he can look at you

when he opens his hands,
and his mouth

is full of fangs.

I don't normally get
creeped out

watching my own work but...

the pale man made me go...
[exclaims]

Right?
Which is... so somebody

did something right if...
if I can get that reaction

out of myself.
[laughing]

[shrieking]

[sinister music]

[screaming]
Both in "Pan's Labyrinth"

and "The Shape of Water,"
the antagonist

in both stories
is a handsome leading man

that you would think
would be the one

who's got it all together...

and, uh, they're actually
heartless and mean

and narcissistic

and absorbed with themselves,

and will do anything
to get ahead

at everyone else's expense
around them.

That's a monster.

That's a true monster.

You know, Michael Shannon
as the FBI agent

literally starts rotting
in front of our eyes.

His fingers start
falling off...

[hollers]

To have the guy
in the rubber suit

be the sympathetic one
while that monster is...

is after him,
that's a great twist of...

of storytelling that del Toro
has really tapped into.

[tense music]

I think horror films
are very good

at giving a voice
to the voiceless

and empowering the weak.

We all have some kind
of monster or demon

that plagues us in some way,

but to realize,
"With the right dagger

I can kill that demon,
so I'm gonna."

Right?
[laughs]

That's what a horror film
teaches me.

Monsters embody
our deepest fears,

the fears we can't
or won't face,

the primal fears we need
to repress to stay sane.

[screeching]

Fears of weakness
and vulnerability.

Fears of being shunned
by society.

Fears of giving in
to our worst impulses.

[creature roaring]

When the monster
is defeated,

we win a small victory

over the terror
of being human.

- [roaring]
- [screaming]

[sinister music]

♪♪