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The term creature feature has shifted over the years in horror circles. Originally, creature features referred to localized TV programs, usually hosted by a horror-themed personality, that aired classic monster movies late at night. Those programs became a weekly, sometimes nightly, tradition for a generation of horror lovers.
Over time, the definition has evolved to refer to a subgenre of television and film in which characters encounter monsters, cryptids, or other non-human threats. The stories made the monster the main attraction. The "monster-of-the-week" episodic formula became popular. The following entries are a few of the forgotten series that adhered to that blueprint.
Monsters Was the Unsung Horror Anthology of Its Era
Horror is a genre where the anthology format truly shines. 1988's Monsters built its identity by featuring creatures, strange beings, and supernatural encounters rather than a recurring villain or singular storyline. Created by Tales From the Darkside's Richard P. Rubinstein, Monsters ran for three seasons and featured over 70 episodes, most of which are creature-feature entries.
Despite reaching a healthy number of episodes, Monsters has generally been overshadowed by its more popular contemporaries, like the previously mentioned Tales From the Darkside and HBO's Tales From the Crypt. The series had a campy, tongue-in-cheek approach to its stories, but the practical effects stand out even among the best horror shows. For fans looking to scratch that creature feature itch, Monsters is a great choice.
Special Unit 2 Used Mythology and Monsters in a Police Procedural Format
Premiering in 2001, UPN's Special Unit 2 blended sci-fi, horror, and comedy centered around a special division of the Chicago Police Department tasked with hunting mythological monsters. The series referred to the creatures as links, missing fragments from the evolutionary chain. The series very much leaned into and excelled at the "monster-of-the-week" format.
Like other entries, Special Unit 2 suffered as it debuted on a relatively new network. The series also struggled due to a somewhat crowded market, which led to its being overshadowed by other genre giants like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files. It remains relatively unknown as there has been no recent Blu-ray or DVD release of the series.
Werewolf Brought Big Screen Horror Scares to the TV
Fox Networks' 1987 horror series Werewolf featured some of the best creatures and transformations seen on TV up to that point. Series lead John York portrayed Eric Cord, who was bitten by a werewolf and became one himself. Eric moves from place to place in search of the werewolf who cursed him.
Werewolf shows Eric's mental state deteriorating as the series continues. For network television, the werewolves themselves were frightening. The make-up and effects team was helmed by Greg Cannom, who would go on to win four Oscars for his work in films such as Bram Stoker's Dracula. At the time, Fox was a new network, and Werewolf's budget forced an early cancellation.
FreakyLinks Had a Modern Cryptid Creature Feature Approach
Starring Ethan Embry, Fox Network's FreakyLinks aired in 2000 and tapped into the tech craze of the new millennium. Its premise centered on Embry's Derek Barnes and his paranormal website; the series can be viewed as a love letter to B-movie creature-feature flicks. The monsters themselves were more grounded in localized folklore, cryptids, and biological hybrids than typical classic creatures like vampires.
Unfortunately for FreakyLinks, it premiered on the same network as The X-Files, and those comparisons ultimately doomed the series. Fans and reviewers of the era dismissed it as a cheap knockoff of the flagship series. Even so, in retrospect, the series was ahead of its time. FreakyLinks even kept a real website detailing the character's paranormal encounters.
Friday the 13th: The Series Fooled Fans With Its Bait-and-Switch Title
Decades before Peacock announced a Friday the 13th series, Paramount released a syndicated TV show using the popular franchise as leverage. The problem for many fans, however, was that the series had nothing to do with Jason Voorhees. The marketing bait-and-switch confused and upset audiences. The story follows two antique shop owners as they track down cursed objects.
Marketing mishaps aside, Friday the 13th: The Series would have been interesting to creature feature fans if given the chance and maybe a different title. Each cursed object released a different kind of horror. Some episodes focused on monsters, others on demons and witches. The title succeeded in attracting viewers, but it was also the reason many of them walked away.
