(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
(SCREAMING)
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
JEFF: Monsters. We should be running away from them, shouldn't we?
But so many of us, we run toward.
(CHILDREN SCREAM)
Since I was a kid, I've been into monsters.
MALE VOICE: Godzilla, king of the monsters.
(ROARS)
JEFF: They've been part of my psyche. They wormed their way in.
Monsters, they have a great hold on our imaginations. Why is that?
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
Everybody loves monsters. I think it kind of
reminds us of our childhood.
I grew up on Frankenstein and The Wolf Man.
And then I can be that?
(GROWLS)
You know, I like that they're all unique.
They have the sharp teeth and their cool eyeballs.
I don't like them, I love them. Little bit more than like.
If you love them so much, why don't you marry them?
-(FEMALE VOICE SCREAMING) -(GROWLS)
Everybody's crazy about monsters.
Why? Why? Good question.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
What's the most popular movie that I was in, where I was a monster?
JEFF: (IMITATES BUZZING) The Fly.
Hey, there's, Stephan Dupuis applying prosthetics.
And it was five hours in that makeup chair.
But here, shopping at this monster mega-store,
it takes just a few seconds.
Emporiums, like this one, are around because so many of us
seemed to be just fascinated with monsters.
(CROWD CHEERS)
JEFF: Every Halloween, Americans spend around eight billion bucks.
'Cause I guess dressing up like our favorite monster
is just getting more and more popular.
So you make these things, you're the expert, I have a billion questions.
But let me ask you this. What elements makes a monster mask scary?
I think, maybe the first thing is, maybe studying
human and animal anatomy, you know, the realism
of wrinkle patterns and 45-degree angles.
You know, when I look angry, you know, my face kind of creates
these certain angles.
And we can kind of see it on maybe some of these masks here.
You know, this mask, it's got a baked-in expression
that kind of automatically reads, you know, fearsome and intense.
Yes.
ANDREW: This is kind of our take on a classic character, we call him Frank.
Now, is it all done? It is all finished?
We do offer customization. Maybe you'd like to try it on?
Yes, yes. Oh, my God, okay.
Oh, there we go, look at it, it's alive.
JEFF: It's alive.
I love it. But maybe it should be greenish.
ANDREW: We could do that, yeah, we can customize this.
-JEFF: Really? Okay. -ANDREW: Yeah. Yeah.
JEFF: All right, thank you so much.
Awesome, and I hope it doesn't scare your kids too much.
JEFF: Although these disguises are ghoulish and grotesque,
I think that they're just fun with fantasia.
But is there something monstrous out there in the real world
that serves as the terrifying
-inspiration behind these masks? -(GROWLING)
What do you think?
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC CONCLUDES)
Let's get deep, deep into these woods.
Hmm...
The woods are full of poetry and beauty, and loveliness,
but also dark, powerful forces.
Here's the question, what could be lurking out in the woods?
I'm ready for it. Are you?
(DANA IMITATING LOVEBIRD CALL)
Meet Mr. and Mrs. Newkirk. These lovebird's calls...
-(IMITATES LOVEBIRD CALLS) -JEFF: ...are an attempt to attract
one of the world's most elusive monsters.
(SCREAMING)
NEWS ANCHOR: The primitive man-like creature, very similar...
to the Yeti or the Himalayan Snowman.
It's the footprint evidence that's convinced me
-that there's something out there. -Hence, Bigfoot.
They're the reason we actually believe in Bigfoot.
These guys that took us out Bigfoot hunting.
They taught us how to some Bigfoot calls.
And then something,
yelled back at us and there was just no way
-it could have been a person. -To be able to fill their lungs up,
with that much power, it was unbelievable.
-Do you want to try one? -Well, I don't know I'm... (CHUCKLES)
-...of poor... Yes, I... Okay. -(ALL CHUCKLE)
Okay, we're going to see something running towards us,
as soon as I do this and what are you going to do then,
-if that happens? Do we have... -Photographs.
-Take pictures. -Take pictures?
-Of course. -Okay
(IMITATING LOVEBIRD CALL)
Bigfoot!
Bigfoot? Big!
-(GROWLS) -(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)
Oh, my God! I just saw something.
I thought that was exactly the distance from which...
It was one of our crew members.
-GREG: Kind of walking like Bigfoot -JEFF: I really thought...
I really thought it was, look at that, there he is.
-(CHUCKLES) -JEFF: Oh, no.
Well, I think they can tell that I'm not so convinced that Bigfoot exists.
But plenty of folks really are. And, you know, they go on
these so-called hunts for Bigfoot, all across the Pacific coastal region.
They lay bait, release a mixture
of pheromones from humans and apes.
That's horrible. (GROANS, COUGHS)
And they recreate the strange knocking sounds
that have reportedly come from Bigfoot.
Some people even claim to have actual evidence.
Jeff, we run a traveling museum of paranormal and occult artifacts,
and a big part of our collection are Bigfoot casts.
This is the cast that started it all.
-This is? -This is from Bluff Creek.
JEFF: This is the first Bigfoot print I've ever seen in my life.
-GREG: You've never seen one up close? -Are you kidding? No! Never.
GREG: That's a Yeti print.
It probably could cruise through the snow a lot easier than this one.
-"Cruise"? -Yeah.
-You say, "Cruise"? -DANA: Yeah.
Do you know how tall Tom Cruise
-is actually in real life? -Mm-hmm.
-He's like a Keebler elf, tiny, tiny. -(DANA CHUCKLES)
-Tiny, like a little... -DANA: I love it
...little cracker. Yeah.
-Oh, what's this? This is a baby foot. -This is from...
what's called locally the Orang Pendek.
The farmers in Indonesia, keep seeing, what they say,
"A little man who looks very primate-like."
-Tom Cruise. -Maybe.
(ALL CHUCKLE)
So there are animals out there, that we maybe won't discover
for tens if not hundreds of years.
JEFF: The Newkirk’s are convinced, not only about the existence of Bigfoot,
but that there are countless other undiscovered monsters
all around the world.
From the Loch Ness Monster...
We shot the head and the four humps.
JEFF: ...to the Himalayan Yeti.
Could it be the power of storytelling
that keep monsters alive?
Tales told by the flickering light of the evocative campfire.
-You're a folklorist, but how do... -DR. LYNNE: I know.
-Let me ask you this. -DR. LYNNE: Yes.
JEFF: Why specifically, is the Bigfoot legend...
Why is that relevant? Why does it continue?
-Why are we interested in that? -I think Bigfoot gives us a way
to speak symbolically about the value of the natural environment.
Just the idea, that a large bipedal hairy hominid could exist.
-Undiscovered... -JEFF: Yeah.
...in our country...
-JEFF: Yes, yeah. -...means we haven't totally ruined it.
Right, right, right.
Really, when we think about how popular Bigfoot has become, it is a sense
that maybe we are even on an unconscious level,
hyper-focused on protecting the natural world around us.
GREG: But there's also that mystery too, right?
-Mm-hmm. -GREG: We like to go out into the forest
-and look for things... -DR. LYNNE: Yeah.
...that may very well not exist.
We're not so interested in convincing
-anyone of anything. -DR. LYNNE: Yeah.
We're most interested in preserving elements of those stories.
Because we can learn a lot from our monsters.
JEFF: Ooh, ooh. I like what I'm hearing now,
that monsters are trying to tell us something important.
I mean, the very word monster comes from the Latin verb, monere.
Which means to show or to forewarn.
Childhood yarns, about the things like the big bad wolf,
can be interpreted as warnings to stay safe.
Some were most validly realized monsters are of the product
of the collective fears
that grip the times in which they were created.
For instance, this poor guy, he sprang to life in the 19th century
when electrifying scientific experimentation struck fear
into our vulnerable hearts.
Blast forward to an irradiated Japan in the 1950s,
and you'll get a giant mutant lizard.
(ROARS)
And it doesn't take a wild leap of analysis to see
how the unnerving promise of exploring our solar system,
in the swingin' and turbulent '60s, led to a certain alien anxiety.
MALE VOICE: Adventure, we'll make you wonder if it's true,
while your eyes convince you that it is.
JEFF: For the better part of a century, Hollywood has been a major part
of giving a face and form to our monsters.
(SCREAMS)
JEFF: And one man, in particular has delved deeply.
There's so much to see here.
Phil Tippett and I, first met on the set of a little picture called Jurassic Park
almost 30 years ago.
He's a master monster maker.
A Hollywood legend, he's got two Academy Awards.
He works with the mysteries of the subconscious,
and brilliantly brings to life
some of our worst nightmares.
-Hello, Phil Tippett. -What are you doing here?
(JEFF CHUCKLING)
He's crochety, "What are you doing here?"
It's been a while.
Well, that's what I want to talk to you about, monsters.
We're talking about monsters in this thing.
You're a great artist.
And your subject matter is... it's monsters.
Personally, I think monsters come from a lot of different directions.
Some are historical. You know, dragons, dragon's a good example of,
like, kind of a metaphor for forces of nature and wind,
and lightning, and others are internal and psychological.
And so, usually, what I try and do with making a monster is
I just try and put everything out of my mind,
and just let it sit until a concept
pops into my head out of nowhere.
Then I just sit down with the clay and it's just like...
(MUMBLES, SIGHS)
-Really? -PHIL: Yeah.
That's so interesting.
So that's my brain. Let's get into yours.
Okay. (HISSES)
So this is the mold room. This is where we do a lot of casting,
sculpting, and painting.
JEFF: Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Wow.
-PHIL: What do you say we make a monster? -I'd like to make a monster.
There's a million ways to make a monster.
And each one is, like, I think kind of personal.
What I thought we could orbit was...
something kind of deep.
How do you feel about your mother?
You know, I had many different feelings about my mother, but Shirley Goldblum,
who died at age 85, some years ago.
Well, she was a very nurturing in a way. But also, she had the gift of fury.
And, Mommy was, yes, a figure of fear.
Well, what I would propose is that
we each make a three-dimensional effigy
of the mental picture of the mother monster.
-Wow. -You create your monster.
-I'll create my monster. -Excellent.
(GROWLS)
Now, my mom was not literally a monster...
She was dark around here.
...but Phil is digging into something here that's deeper.
The archetype maternal
is traditionally romanticized as nurturing,
but it can also represent our first taste of authority.
So, naturally, it can inspire not only love, but also fear.
Look at that, yeah.
Okay. That's horrible.
Horrible. Horrible.
Hey, forget about the fangs and the fur.
When it comes to monsters,
it's what's going on on the inside that counts.
In the cocktail shaker of our inner lives, almost anything can become
-monstrously mangled and shocking. -(SCREAMS)
(GROWLING)
Well, what was it? Out with it, kid.
Well, it's kind of like a... it's kind of like a mass
that just keeps getting bigger and bigger, it...
JEFF: Yeah, Steve, even oozing, runaway raspberry Jell-O
can morph into a vehicle...
...for our long-buried terrors.
And the monsters that emerge, a precious glimpse inside
your murky subconscious.
Yours looks very good.
And what if you did something with that.
As I've made a very good start. A very good start.
Okay, well, not really.
I didn't get too much done. So, over to you, maestro.
(UPBEAT MUSIC CONCLUDES)
Hey, that's fantastic.
Look at that. Really... Oh, wait a minute.
You did get her, look at that.
Oh! Oh! Here we go.
-One hour later... -JEFF: Yes.
-...we take the buns out of the oven. -JEFF: Okay.
Mm, hmm, hmm. Something's cooking.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
(GROWLS)
Monsters, the monsters...
live inside your memories.
Some that you'll never forget. And I myself, sitting at the feet
of the great one... A Tippett
I've delved into my own storehouse of scares and fear.
Now that he has, gently but firmly,
loosened the top on the pickle jar,
I might be ready to open that jar.
Smell that brine, just thrust our hand,
pull out a good, juicy, garlicky pickle of fear...
and...
go further, take a bite.
(GROWLS)
JEFF: Dearest tender viewer,
if the word monster means anything at all,
then it certainly must point to
what scares you the most.
(GROANS)
And at the end of every scary movie,
the hero must face the monster.
His gherkin of dread, his cornichon of horror.
(GASPS, CHUCKLES)
-Hi. -JEFF: I'm... You scared me already.
So, then why do we love a good fright so much?
Well, in order to find out, I've agreed to be part of an experiment
in the terrors that can be found at LA's Midnight Mortuary.
-Wow, is this a spooky security? -Oh, don't look at it too much.
Oh? Don't look at that yet, yet. Oh, I want to be surprised.
Okay, before the fun begins, I'm getting wired up here
with my vitals tracked.
As I'm probably going to get the life scared out of me,
in order to finally understand, I guess, why we embrace monsters.
Come on in, welcome...
-Thank you. -...to the Midnight Mortuary.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
-(SCREAMS) -(JEFF WHIMPERING)
-(SCREAMS) -JEFF: Whoa.
-(SCREAMS) -Wow! Jeez! Jeez! Oh.
Oh, yeah! Don't do that.
-(ELECTRICITY BUZZING) -JEFF: Oh, golly!
-Okay, oh, hey, hey, hey! -(GROWLS)
-(MONSTER SCREAMS) -Whoa, whoa.
-(GROWLS) -Whoa.
Let me out! Let me out!
-You made it! (CHUCKLES) -Oh, oh, wow.
How you feeling? Is your heart beating?
-JEFF: Yeah. -Yeah? What did you think?
Are you fe... Was it scary?
-JEFF: Yeah, it was. -Yeah?
-Yeah, it was great. -AMY: Good. But you had fun?
-Yeah, it was fun.. -AMY: Good.
-And really scary. -Let's go get your data checked out.
Okay, let's go check my vitals.
-Hmm, let's see, this is me? -DR. MARGEE: Okay, so
this is you. This is what we're looking at right now, are changes
in your skin conductance over time.
-Really? -This area here is where you were
kind of hanging out in the morgue for a little bit.
-That was spooky... (SHUDDERS) -DR. MARGEE: Yeah, I know.
-Horrible. Horrible. -DR. MARGEE: On your data,
a lot of the activity we see is any anticipation of the threats.
You don't know what you are about to face and so your body is saying,
"I'd better just give it all we got. We have to be prepared."
So that's a great thing to see that reactivity,
responsiveness in the moment.
Oh, my gosh, I'm an easy and happy,
delighted jumper.
-DR. MARGEE: Yeah, well... -I like to get...
I mean, I don't like it, but I like it, you know?
We're doing something that is stressful, that is challenging,
that has elements of it that are actually uncomfortable,
that you don't like.
-Yeah. -DR. MARGEE: But you keep going,
and so we've evolved
to be really happy when we do something stressful
and we make it out the other side and we're still here.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Fear and fun, man and monster, it's such a complicated relationship
that's both, I think, physical and psychological.
Let's explore, the brain, when gripped by terror,
unleashes a surge of chemicals to prepare the body
for that famous fight or flight.
One of those chemicals it's something called noradrenaline,
it tears through the body, and causes dry mouth
and those butterflies in the stomach.
But you know what, noradrenaline also gets released
when we experience that thing called falling in love.
Hey, that might explain a thing or two, and here's another chemical,
this is, oxytocin. You might be familiar with that.
And it gets released too, when you're frightened, to calm you down.
But it also is there for the bonding with other people,
toward whom you might feel particularly affectionate.
Isn't that something? So it's this powerful chemical response...
-(MONSTER CHUCKLING) -...that blurs the boundaries
between love and fear
that makes monsters so difficult to resist.
(FEMALE VOICE CHUCKLING)
JEFF: Well, that's enough of me getting scared,
hey, how about I turn the tables
and try to scare the bejesus out of some other people?
-(WHIRRING) -Okey dokey.
-(WHIRRING) -MALE VOICE 1: That doesn't look too good.
MALE VOICE 2: Here we go.
-(WHIMPERING) -(WOMAN SCREAMING)
-(ALL SCREAM) -Oh, my God!
(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)
MALE VOICE: Oh!
-FEMALE VOICE 1: I don't like it. -FEMALE VOICE 2: Okay.
(ALL SCREAM)
JEFF: What seemed so illogical, now kind of makes sense.
Getting scared by a monster can be a stone gas.
-(SCREAMS) -(SCREAMS)
JEFF: It makes us huddle close, tight together,
and feel so connected to each other. And as long as we survive,
that moment of sheer panic can give way to a sublime
intoxication and ecstasy.
We can find infinite joy in that bonding experience
of running through a haunted house, or packing ourselves
into the bosom of a glorious theater.
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
(MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Let's see, I have a feeling I know who this is from.
Remember the question that I asked at the beginning?
"Why is it that so-called monsters have a hold on us?"
Well, we may have discovered that monsters
help us make sense of a scary world. What do you think about that?
And maybe they make us stronger and braver.
Maybe there's a monster in all of us.
I think there may be.
Wow. Wait a minute.
Don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid of being afraid.
Embrace your monster.
-(GROWLING) -(FEMALE VOICE SCREAMING)
(CHILD CHUCKLING)
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
(UPBEAT MUSIC CONCLUDES)