How Sci Fi Videos Inspired Monsters vs. Aliens

DreamWorks Animation Pays Homage to Top Horror Movies

Mar 31, 2009

Learn fun horror movie trivia about the cult classic movies that inspired the heroes of Monsters vs. Aliens!

In DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens, Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, and Seth Rogen pay homage to classic horror films by giving heroic makeovers to the 50 Foot Woman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Fly, Blob, and Mothra. But how much do you know about the movie monsters that inspired their characters?

In this silly but classic science fiction film, Allison Hayes plays Nancy Archer, the wealthy wife of philanderer Harry Archer (William Hudson). But after an alien encounter exposes Nancy to radiation that makes her grow fifty feet tall, she smashes through the city to exact revenge on her cheating husband and his mistress.

While supposedly 50 feet tall, Nancy’s size varies – in some scenes she looks 18 feet tall, while the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman movie poster makes her look 200 feet tall! In spite of (or perhaps because of) these special effects, the movie is a favorite among science fiction movie buffs looking for cult classic movies to rent.

An early 3-D monster movie, Creature from the Black Lagoon told the story of scientists who discover the fossilized hand of a human-like fish creature called “The Gill Man.” Determined to learn more, they take a trip down the Amazon to the mysterious Black Lagoon, only to find a still-living Gill Man who falls for a female scientist (Julia Adams).

The Gill Man starred in two sequels, including Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), both of which have become popular sci fi videos. According to Universal Studios’ website, however, in Spring 2009, the Gill Man will get his strangest role to date when he stars in Universal Studios’ new live stage show – Creature of the Black Lagoon: The Musical!

Based on a short story by George Langelaan, The Fly movie took audiences into the mad scientist lab of a brilliant inventor (Al Hedison) who creates a machine that breaks people down into atoms and reassembles them in a receiving booth. Unfortunately when he tests the machine on himself, his atoms get mixed with a fly, giving him a giant fly head and claw – and giving the poor fly a miniature human head and arm!

Campy yet eerie, The Fly movie also starred Vincent Price as the inventor’s brother. Price later appeared in the sequel Return of the Fly (1959), helping the inventor’s son perfect the machine – with predictable results. The film was remade in 1986 with Jeff Goldblum as scientist Seth Brundle who transforms into “Brundlefly” after a similar accident.

Screen legend Steve McQueen stars in this cult classic movie about some teenagers who see a meteorite crash to Earth and release a slimy blob that promptly devours everyone in sight! With the fate of the world at stake, McQueen must convince the police there really is an alien menace out there – and find a way to stop it!

While not as charismatic as B.O.B in Monsters vs. Aliens, the Blob did inspire a sequel, Beware! The Blob (1972), and a 1988 remake.

One of Japan’s giant monsters (or kaiju) Mothra began as an enormous egg on an island formerly used for atomic tests. When an entrepreneur abducts two miniature girls from the island, however, the girls pray for Mothra to rescue them – making the egg hatch and release a giant caterpillar that smashes through Japan and spins a cocoon around the Tokyo Tower. Days later, Mothra emerges as a huge butterfly who finds the girls and flies them home.

One of Japan’s friendlier kaiju, Mothra (and her descendants) would return again in other Japanese monster films, where she would both battle and team up with Japan’s most famous kaiju – Godzilla!

The copyright of the article How Sci Fi Videos Inspired Monsters vs. Aliens in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films is owned by Michael Jung. Permission to republish How Sci Fi Videos Inspired Monsters vs. Aliens in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.