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The Monster Squad
''The Monster Squad'' is a 1987 American black comedy horror film directed by Fred Dekker, and written by Dekker and Shane Black, who met as classmates at UCLA. Peter Hyams and Rob Cohen served as executive producers. It was released by TriStar Pictures on August 14, 1987. The film features pastiches of the Universal Monsters, led by Count Dracula. They are confronted by a group of savvy kids out to keep them from controlling the world. While being financially unsuccessful during its theatrical run and receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film has gained a positive reception from audiences and has become a cult classic in the years since its release. Plot The Monster Squad is a club of pre-teens who idolize classic monster movies and their non-human stars. Club leader Sean Crenshaw (Andre Gower), whose younger sister, Phoebe (Ashley Bank), desperately wants to join the club, is given the diary of legendary monster hunter Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Jack Gwillim), but his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Dekker
Fred Dekker (born April 9, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director best known for his cult classic horror comedy films ''Night of the Creeps'' and '' The Monster Squad'' (written with Shane Black). He contributed the story ideas for '' House'' (1986) and ''Ricochet'' (1991), and also directed and co-wrote ''RoboCop 3'' with Frank Miller. One of his earliest movies was a short film he made in college titled ''Starcruisers'', directed in the early 1980s. Life and career Dekker was born on April 9, 1959 in San Francisco and was raised in the Bay Area. He attended the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in the mid-1980s. In 1983, film director Steve Miner hired Dekker to write the script for '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 3D'', a project which went unproduced. Dekker's first success came in 1986: a 15-page Twilight Zone inspired script & an original story that was expanded into a full screenplay by writer Ethan Wiley for what would become the 1986 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pastiche
A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it. The word is a French cognate of the Italian noun , which is a pâté or pie-filling mixed from diverse ingredients. Metaphorically, and describe works that are either composed by several authors, or that incorporate stylistic elements of other artists' work. Pastiche is an example of eclecticism in art. Allusion is not pastiche. A literary allusion may refer to another work, but it does not reiterate it. Moreover, allusion requires the audience to share in the author's cultural knowledge. Both allusion and pastiche are mechanisms of intertextuality. By art Literature In literary usage, the term denotes a literary technique employing a generally light-hearted tongue-in-cheek imitation of another's style; although jocular, it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Woodruff Jr
Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character in the 1998 American science-fiction disaster movie '' Deep Impact'' * Tom Buchanan, the main antagonist from the 1925 novel ''The Great Gatsby'' * Tom Cat, a character from the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons * Tom Lucitor, a character from the American animated series '' Star vs. the Forces of Evil'' * Tom Natsworthy, from the science fantasy novel '' Mortal Engines'' * Tom Nook, a character in ''Animal Crossing'' video game series * Tom Servo, a robot character from the ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' television series * Tom Sloane, a non-adult character from the animated sitcom ''Daria'' * Talking Tom, the protagonist from the ''Talking Tom & Friends'' franchise * Tom, a character from the '' Deltora Quest'' books by Emily Rodda * Tom, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gill-man
The Gill-man—commonly called the Creature—is the main antagonist of the 1954 in film, 1954 black-and-white science fiction film ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' and its two sequels ''Revenge of the Creature'' (1955) and ''The Creature Walks Among Us'' (1956). In all three films, Ricou Browning portrays the Gill-man when he is swimming underwater. In the scenes when the Gill-man is walking on dry land, Ben Chapman (actor), Ben Chapman performed the Gill-man in the first film, followed by Tom Hennesy in the second, and Don Megowan in the third. The Gill-man's popularity as an iconic monster of cinema has led to numerous cameo appearances, including an episode of ''The Munsters'' (1965), the motion picture ''The Monster Squad'' (1987), a Creature from the Black Lagoon: The Musical, stage show (2009), and a reimagining in 2017's ''The Shape of Water''. Despite this popularity, the Gill-man appeared in the fewest movies of all the Universal Classic Monsters. Concept and desig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mummy (1932 Film)
''The Mummy'' is a 1932 American pre-Code supernatural horror film directed by Karl Freund. The screenplay by John L. Balderston was adapted from a treatise written by Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer. Released by Universal Studios as a part of the Universal Classic Monsters franchise, the film stars Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan and Arthur Byron. In the film, Karloff stars as Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian mummy who was killed for attempting to resurrect his dead lover, Ankh-esen-amun. After being discovered and accidentally brought to life by a team of archaeologists, he disguises himself as a modern Egyptian named Ardeth Bey and searches for Ankh-esen-amun, who he believes to have been reincarnated in the modern world. Whilst being less culturally impactful than its predecessors ''Dracula'' and ''Frankenstein'', ''The Mummy'' was still a moderate success, spawning several sequels, spin-offs, remakes, and reimaginings. Plot In 1921, an ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dracula (1931 English-language Film)
''Dracula'' is a 1931 American pre-Code supernatural horror film directed and co-produced by Tod Browning from a screenplay written by Garrett Fort and starring Bela Lugosi in the titular role. It is based on the 1924 stage play '' Dracula'' by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, which in turn is adapted from the 1897 novel '' Dracula'' by Bram Stoker. Lugosi portrays Count Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England and preys upon the blood of living victims, including a young man's fiancée. Produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, ''Dracula'' is the first sound film adaptation of the Stoker novel. Several actors were considered to portray the title character, but Lugosi, who had previously played the role on Broadway, eventually got the part. The film was partially shot on sets at Universal Studios Lot in California, which were reused at night for the filming of '' Dracula'', a concurrently produced Spanish-language version of the story also by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limbo
In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Europe described the underworld ("hell", "hades", "infernum") as divided into three distinct parts: Hell of the Damned,''Catholic Encyclopedia'': Hell "However, in the New Testament the term is used more frequently in preference to hades, as a name for the place of punishment of the damned. … held in abomination by the Jews, who, accordingly, used the name of this valley to designate the abode of the damned (Targ. Jon., Gen., iii, 24; Henoch, c. xxvi). And Christ adopt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concentration Camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply mean imprisonment, it tends to refer to preventive confinement rather than confinement ''after'' having been convicted of some crime. Use of these terms is subject to debate and political sensitivities. The word ''internment'' is also occasionally used to describe a neutral country's practice of detaining belligerent armed forces and equipment on its territory during times of war, under the Hague Convention of 1907. Interned persons may be held in prisons or in facilities known as internment camps (also known as concentration camps). The term ''concentration camp'' originates from the Spanish–Cuban Ten Years' War when Spanish forces detained Cuban civilians in camps in order to more easily combat guerrilla forces. Over the following d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonardo Cimino
Leonardo Cimino (November 4, 1917 – March 3, 2012) was an American film, television and stage actor who in 1937 appeared in the original stage production of Marc Blitzstein's ''The Cradle Will Rock''. Cimino's most well known roles are in the 1983 science fiction miniseries, '' V'' as Abraham Bernstein and the 1987 feature film '' The Monster Squad'' as the "Scary German guy". Life and career Born in Manhattan, Cimino was the son of Andrea and Leonilda Cimino. His father was a tailor. Cimino was initially interested in pursuing a career as a violinist, and studied the instrument at the Juilliard School when he was a teenager. While studying the violin he became interested in acting and dancing, and began studying those as well. In 1936, at the age of 18, he made his professional stage debut in a supporting role in the world premiere of Gladys Bronwyn Stern's ''Middle Man'' in Suffern, New York which starred actor Ernest Truex. It was not until a decade later, however, that Cimi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Gwillim
Jack William Frederick Gwillim (15 December 1909 – 2 July 2001) was an English character actor. Career Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, he joined the Royal Navy at 17 and served for over twenty years, becoming one of the youngest men ever to obtain the rank of Commander. During his time in the Navy, he became a champion boxer and rugby player, and was invalided out in 1946. After training at Central School of Speech and Drama, Gwillim began his acting career in earnest in the 1950s, working on both stage and screen. On stage, he appeared both at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford and at the Old Vic. He performed in an extensive amount of theatre, both classics and modern plays, in the West End of London and on Broadway. Some of his most notable roles include: playing in Sir Ralph Richardson's production of ''The Merchant of Venice''; ''The Right Honourable Gentleman'' with lifelong friend Anthony Quayle; a revival of ''My Fair Lady'' with Rex Harrison, playing Colo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula'', is an aged Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: " MD, D.Ph., D.Litt., etc.", indicating a wealth of experience, education and expertise. He is a Doctor, Professor, Lawyer, Philosopher, Scientist and Metaphysic. The character is best known through many adaptations of the story as a vampire slayer, monster hunter and the archnemesis of Count Dracula, and the prototypical and the archetypical parapsychologist in subsequent works of paranormal fiction. ''Dracula'' In the novel, Professor Van Helsing is called in by his former student, John Seward, to assist with the mysterious illness of Lucy Westenra. Van Helsing's friendship with Seward is based in part upon an unknown prior event in which Van Helsing suffered a grievous wound, and Seward saved his life by sucking out th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preadolescence
Preadolescence is a stage of human development following middle childhood and preceding adolescence.New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2005. Oxford University Press. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty. Preadolescence is commonly defined as ages 9–12 ending with the major onset of puberty. It may also be defined as simply the 2-year period before the major onset of puberty. Preadolescence can bring its own challenges and anxieties. Terminology A term used to refer to the preadolescent stage in everyday speech is tween and its perhaps older variants tweenie, tweeny, tweenager, and tweener. It's a blend (portmanteau) of the words "teen" and "between" in the sense of "between childhood and adolescence" and refers to 8-, 9-, or 10- to 12-year-olds. Sometimes the terms ''tweenie'' and ''tweenager'' are used to differentiate between older (10 to 15) and younger (7 to 11) age groups, respectively. While known as ''preadolescent'' in psychology, the terms ''pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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