This weekend, the young-adult freight train that kicked off with Twilight and kept a-rollin’ with The Hunger Games makes some room for Beautiful Creatures, a supernatural romance (natch) based on the book by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Written and directed by Richard LaGravenese, who has some fine scripts under his belt, but is also responsible for the Hilary Swank stankers Freedom Writers and P.S. I Love You, the new film is indeed packed with handsome specimens, like Emmy Rossum, Jeremy Irons, and newcomer Alice Englert. The whole thing got us thinking about beautiful creatures of movies past—characters not quite human, but quite easy on the eyes.
Elsa Lanchester in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Launching one of history’s most iconic hairstyles to boot, the comely Elsa Lanchester proved the perfect contrast to Boris Karloff’s melty-faced Monster, prettying up James Whale’s Frankenstein sequel with her dark eyes and pouty lips. Sadly, as her fellow, resurrected mate declared, the poor dame belonged dead.
Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black (1998)
Brad Pitt has arguably never been prettier than in Meet Joe Black, a curious and often preposterous macabre romance that casts the new face of Chanel as The Grim Reaper. Well, Pitt actually plays the mortal shell that Death opts to embody on Earth, which of course presents the question: What better shell to choose?
Michelle Pfeiffer in Ladyhawke (1985)
Michelle Pfeiffer almost made this list for her definitive take on a certain cat lady, but let’s go with her curse-induced transformation in Richard Donner’s Ladyhawke, which sees her sprout wings and become the titular bird by day. It’s tricky business, since her lover (Rutger Hauer) turns into a wolf at night. To prevent a lifetime of heartbreak (er, ya know, bestiality), the couple strives to break that spell ASAP.
Zoe Saldana in Avatar (2009)
In Avatar, Sam Worthington plays a man who’s merely mentally linked to his blue-skinned doppelgänger, but as Neytiri, the svelte princess of Pandora’s alien race, Zoe Saldana is the real deal, a dreadlocked beauty born and bred in the land of floating islands and flying dragons. Extra points for the bio-techy USB port that lets her fuse to her trusty steed.
Jonny Weismuller in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Don’t drop that loincloth, Jonny! As the original chest-pounder to be raised among primates, and take on much of their feral characteristics, Jonny Weismuller turned plenty of heads, especially that of Maureen O’Sullivan, whose Jane forgoes her posh life in London to nurture baby chimps with her chiseled new man.
Daryl Hannah in Splash (1984)
Daryl Hannah played a slinky cyborg for Ridley Scott, but her creature-ish beauty hit its peak in Splash, Ron Howard’s fantasy rom-com that sees Hannah sport a fish-fin tail as the mermaid Madison. When dry, the mermaid’s tail becomes a pair of legs, making it easier for her to run along and woo the pants off Tom Hanks.
Anjelica Huston in The Witches (1990)
In the reality of Nicolas Roeg’s infectious horror-comedy, Anjelica Huston’s Eva Ernst is in fact the Grand High Witch, a repulsive amalgam of Pinocchio and The Toxic Avenger. But when decked out in her complete, glam-gal guise, Huston is one fetching sight, a Euro version of her equally gorgeous Morticia Addams.
Cate Blanchett in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001—2003)
Of all the beautiful creatures in Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth, there are none more regal than Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel, the queen of the elves whose motives aren’t always clear, but whose ethereal grace beams out of her like a heavenly night light. With her flawless features, Blanchett seems to have been born to play the leader of Tolkien’s fair immortals.
Jeff Bridges in Starman (1984)
Jeff Bridges may be looking gruff these days, but he was an ultra-handsome devil when he played the lead in John Carpenter’s Starman, bringing life to an alien who visits Earth in response to a space probe’s invitation. Armed with magical spheres and capable of the miraculous, Bridges’s extraterrestrial certainly isn’t short on skills, but it’s those killer looks that trump all.
Honor Blackman in Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
In Jason and the Argonauts, one of many Ray Harryhausen triumphs, the lovely Honor Blackman assumes the role of Hera, wife of Zeus and queen of the gods. Lounging around Mount Olympus, and aiding Jason (Todd Armstrong) when the mood strikes, this celestial hunty is like a Real Housewife of the Great Beyond. And let’s not forget that, one year later, Blackman went on to achieve true immortality, out-sexy-ing James Bond as Pussy Galore.
David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
David Bowie is another gem on our list with mucho candidacy, as he also left his mark on Labyrinth as a spandex-loving goblin king. But let’s single him out for The Man Who Fell to Earth, another Nicolas Roeg curio that casts Bowie (in his first film role) as an alien seeking water for his drought-stricken planet. Like Tilda Swinton (who should be first in line for any Bowie biopic), the singer-turned-actor wows with his otherworldly androgynous beauty.
David Bennent in Legend (1985)
The memorable voice of Legend’s Honeythorn Gump in fact belongs to Alice Playten, stage star and New York treasure. Cutie David Bennent, however, pranced through the forest as the nimble elf, aiding an even prancier Tom Cruise as he played with unicorns and combatted Tim Curry’s dark (and very red) lord.
Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga (2008—2012)
Hey, the Twilight flicks may generally suck more than a plasma-hungry vamp, but we won’t hold that against the traffic-stopping Taylor Lautner, whose Jacob Black, the werewolf with the washboard abs, never failed to boost the saga’s aesthetic. Plenty of shameless puns could close out this blurb, but let’s just settle with the claim that Lautner’s wolfie makes us howl.
Hurd Hatfield in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
No one has ever been able to craft a proper adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, particularly in regard to casting a lead worthy of Wilde’s descriptions, but Albert Lewin at least came close with his 1945 rendition, which saw Hurd Hatfield play the eponymous, ageless antihero. In fact a picture of innocence, Hatfield never quite soared as Dorian, but his youthful handsomeness served the film (and audience) well.
Maïwenn Le Besco in The Fifth Element (1997)
There’s much to remember from Luc Besson’s underrated The Fifth Element, like Milla Jovovich’s medical-tape getup, but perhaps most indelible is Diva Plavalaguna, an interstellar opera singer played by French actress (and Besson’s onetime spouse) Maïwenn Le Besco. With a gorgeously odd look inspired by Star Wars and sea creatures, the diva boosts the film with a riveting showstopper, and proves all the more beautiful when she suffers a tragic death.
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