The Beast Movies of 2024

Happy Halloween!

When the trailer for Your Monster first came out, I thought it was practically destined to be double featured with Lisa Frankenstein, a film that came out earlier this year that I have already written about once, actually!

Monster “romances” with an off-beat quirky vibe that is quite hard to successfully convey but manages to make it seem easy, both starring stars of the 2024 vampire film Abigail. (We’ll circle back around to Abigail, don’t worry.) Both feature the monster characters playing piano as their leading women sing a classic hit of a past decade. There’s a lot of surface level framing similarities in scenes between both. A fun aspect of double-featuring these titles can be pointing and say, “wow, this is quite resemblant of the other movie!” including Melissa Barrera’s Halloween costume giving me a similar vision to the costume Kathryn Newton wore during that dream sequence in Lisa Frankenstein. (I am obsessed with the styling of both films, for the record.) In Your Monster, the monster is just called Monster, whilst in Lisa Frankenstein he’s only ever known as The Creature. Both beasts live in the protagonists' closets… I say all of that to say, these films are actually quite different in what they are going for, but in ways that appeal to different aspects of my sensibilities. Thinking about their similarities and differences had me pondering… why are there so many monster stories being told this year? Not just horror-rom-com-monster-fucker movies, but monster movies as a generalization. I don’t have an answer for that, though I suppose this is just a vast genre that encourages new entries every year. Perhaps, what I’m noticing are parallels in film-making choices that are catching my eye lately.

Spoiler warning beyond this point. I mostly aim to avoid major spoilers of Your Monster, as I know it hasn’t been accessible to everybody yet… I do spoil one thing, but it’s relatively open to personal interpretation anyways, so… let’s just say I mention plot points, but I don’t ruin the experience for those who haven’t seen it yet.

I rewatched Lisa Frankenstein after seeing Your Monster, which made me remember some of the more superficial similarities, but it more so just confirmed what I had already realized. They were never aiming for the same impressions. Lisa Frankenstein is set in the suburbs, 1980s - largely taking place in a fabulous house, for the record; Your Monster takes place modern day New York City with a heavy Broadway backdrop, which had me OBSESSED. The very existences of both monsters are quite different; in Lisa Frankenstein, the Creature and Lisa become a bit of a duo in crime. The Creature, in a way, brings Lisa out of her shell after her trauma and grief had her shutting down. Whereas in Your Monster, it very much seems as though the monster was never actually… real. He services as more of a metaphorical extension of Laura’s rage. This is exactly what I had thought The Monster would be when the trailer first came out, but as the film went on, I was being convinced otherwise; but no, that’s definitely it. To be fair, this is also reminiscent to Lisa Frankenstein’s “coming of rage” marketing. This could also be seen as Monster spiritually bringing Laura out of her shell (for better or for worse) after trauma, but it’s an entirely different type of trauma. Laura had been fighting cancer. When her boyfriend broke up with her, it was because he didn’t want to be her “caretaker” while she was recovering through numerous surgeries. These projects complement each other, so they make a good pair as a double feature, but they aren’t rehashes of one another. I mean, obviously they were in production at similar points, they premiered around the same time… they could never derive from one another. It is still fun to uncover these parallels, though, no?

Speaking of parallels, I probably could have read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein before writing at length about monster horror in 2024, because… you know, it’s critical to the monster lore, and also Lisa Frankenstein pays plenty of homage towards it. I’ve seen the 1931 film! Surely, that’s enough. I was just never a Frankenstein girlie, sorry to say. Call me fraudulent.

Since we’re speaking on the precursors to Lisa Frankenstein, it was also widely marketed using the branding of Jennifer’s Body, because, you know… Diablo Cody. The movie itself doesn’t have much to do with Jennifer’s Body at all, outside of Diablo Cody’s signature dialogue, but I do think there’s parallels in the journey’s the protagonists go on. Stylistically and thematically. Because what is Jennifer’s Body if not a “coming of rage” story, as well. Of course, Jennifer Check would fall more in line with the Tabby archetype, which would make Needy the Lisa… it just isn’t 1 = 1 at all, but they mirror each other, vaguely.

Vampires and werewolves are having a big year. Nosferatu will be releasing in December, and whilst I’m not the biggest fan of Robert Eggers as a filmmaker, I’m intrigued by its approach and how it’ll differentiate itself within the canon. I’m quite optimistic and excited to see what that will be done with Wolf Man, especially after seeing how Leigh Whannell did The Invisible Man. Interview with the Vampire has people constantly campaigning for it to get Emmy recognition. Speaking of vampires…

Abigail was unleashed in theaters earlier this year and is quite different from everything I’ve mentioned before; despite also developing an instant cult following, and also starring both Melissa Barrera and Kathryn Newton. Directed by frequent Melissa Barrera collaborator Radio Silence and based on Dracula’s Daughter, Abigail was entirely marketed as being about a little girl ballerina vampire who terrorizes her abductors, who are trying to use her as bait to get money from her father - unknowing he’s monstrous. Bizarrely, given the marketing material, the film frames the reveal of Abigail’s vampirism as a twist… Not a single person in the history of the attendance of this film gasped, but misguided promotional material isn’t new. I can judge the film on its own merits and not the promotional material, and this is one of the most fun times I had at the movie theater this year. I wrote about my personal enjoyment of it here, that’s not our concern today. Abigail used its premise to have a totally twisted, fun, bloody, comedy-horror ride of a film, whilst also conveying a message on how it’s never too late for redemption in parenthood, as long as you put the work in. A theme that could be misguided in some cases, but in the context of this film is earned.

Whilst on the topic of Abigail, I just have to point out how fun it is that Dan Stevens is no stranger to the beast romance genre, himself.

If you think about it, Melissa Barrera, Kathryn Newton and Dan Stevens have done soooo much for the beast x human fan-fic community of which I am NOT part of. Whilst on the topic of Dan Stevens, I don’t know what to make of Cuckoo, so I chose not to mention it. Pretend you didn’t even read this.

The conclusion I’ve reached whilst typing aimlessly is that the appeal monster stories have, and potentially why they have such a hold on fiction, is how endless the possibilities are with them. I, myself, am working on a story of sorts that fits under this sub-genre umbrella. There are so many thematic journeys you can take on, there are so many tones they can capture. I love every movie I’ve discussed, all for vastly different reasons. You really don’t get two that look exactly the same, unless they are remakes or adaptations of the same source, and even then, with the right creative visions, they can take on such drastically different lives within the canon.

To end on a note, if Your Monster is playing near you and you haven’t seen it yet… RUN, don’t walk, RUN! And see it. It’s a delight, and Melissa Barrera gives one of my top favorite performances of the year so far. Okay, hope you got your tickets now. Bye!