Creature features are a dime a dozen. You can throw a rock and hit a movie where a giant monster, animal, alien or something in-between wreaks havoc. A classic monster movie, however, often differs from an action movie; monster movies may employ daring stunts, shoot-outs or even car chases here or there, but the thrill of a creature feature lies primarily in the destruction these beasts unleash, less so in how our ragtag crews combat them. Sometimes, though, the genres collide; when done well, the magic that results can be violent and ecstatic.
The clearest example of this is Aliens, James Cameron’s sequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien. Its predecessor ramped up through one scary, suspenseful sequence after another to a relatively action-packed finale. In the sequel, Cameron came in with a group of space marines, brandishing guns the size of a small town, and unloaded on the acid-bleeding freaks.
This is where a distinction can be drawn. Creatures abound in the films selected for this starter pack, but so do stunts. Bullets fly, cars smash into one another and bodies careen in ways that only blistering, high-wire action allows—while all manner of creature readies to rip someone’s head off. With Na Hong-jin’s now-in-theaters Hope providing our latest entry, Journal is giving you a primer on all things related to monstrous mayhem.