Monster (Special Edition)

I saw "Monster" in the theater in 2004, and immediately knew no performance could beat Charleze Theron's portrayal of Aileen Wuonros, labeled a serial killer after shooting 9 men in Florida in the late 1980's.Theron completely transformed herself from the inside out for this role.Unrecognizable, she WAS Wuonros. She won the Oscar. Golden Globe, SAG and others.Although I loved the movie, I have read accounts of Wuonros' childhood and the condensed version at the beginning of the movie was grossly unfair. It did not at all depict the level of instability, years of sexual abuse, and neglect Aileen suffered as a child and teen.Her parents were young teens. Her mother abandoned her when she was 4, and her father was in prison for sex related crimes. He also was said to.have suffered from schizophrenia.Aileen lived with her grandfather, who often beat her, and one of his friends sexually assaulted her for years, resulting in a pregnancy at age 13. The baby was given up for adoption.I seem to remember she ran away, and lived mostly in nearby woods until she became involved in prostitution at age 13.Aileen was not someone who evoked sympathy. She was loud, often angry, and spoke frankly.I think she was treated unfairly AND inaccurately by the press, which could have changed the course of her life after being captured.Just because there were unexplained murders of men in Florida, that seemed to be linked to sexual encounters, they began being referred to as serial killings, and when it was believed to be a woman, the press exploded with speculation about the first woman serial killer.I think it is sexist, and an opportunity to sell stories.Bonnie and Clyde killed peopleduring their robberies, John Dillinger, Al Capone, and many more who killed, or were responsible for many, many deaths. Yet, they are not labeled serial killers.I think Aileen was likely not at all a sociopath, and especially nothing like the aforementioned who regulary either gunned men down, or ordered it, without batting an eye. Yet, they are not labeledserial killers.Just because men were being killed by a woman, and there was an element of sex, involved, she's a serial killer.What is SO sexist and obviously a male perspective, is sexual gratification is almost always the motive for male serial killers.Yes, Aileen, a prostitute since age 13, wanted just ONE more paunchy old man heaving over her! She was simply there to rob them, just like the notorious people above.Labeling Aileen made stories more enticing, but it is a gross injustice and unfair that she be remembered that way.The movie shows a horrifying rape, torture scene in a customer's car in a remote area, where she was severely beaten, tied up and penetrated with a metal object.When Aileen regained consciousness, and he announced his plan for more rape and her murder, she managed to get free and shoot him with a gun he hadn't noticed in her purse.It's interesting, with all the evidence of a bloody, horrible sexual assault, and beating, even then, she did not report it to the police.Who knows what would have happened? However, it seemed the state of Florida didn't much like hookers, gays, the non-religious, blacks..........Wuonros, denying any previous gay activity, falls in love with Selby, played well by Christina Ricci, a shy, young gay woman, who flees with Lee from her Christian fundamentalist family, furious about her relationship with a prostitute.Extremely dependent, the clear condition of their relationship for Selby, is that Lee is able to support her.Although severely traumatized by her attack and the shooting,Lee is desperate to hold on to Selby and their happiness, and does not tell her about it.Lee announces she is going to get a regular job, but her valiant effort fails.Even though she has done her best to dress up, her face and demeanor tell the story of her hard life, and the lawyer interviewing her summarily rejects her with some very nasty commentary.Running out of money, Selby is pressuring Lee, and she is forced to go back to hooking.In the trick's car, Lee begins to experience severe PTSD flashbacks and immediately starts firing, killing her second victim.After that she went home with all the victim's cash and his car. She gained a sense of power being able to control her safety with a gun, but I would not say she developed a "taste" for killing. She felt empathy, and never killed for the sake of killing.She did not enjoy it. It did cause conflicting and buried emotions to surface, but the killing was always necessary to avoid getting identified.Lee was obviously a very damaged person before she began killing. Bruce Dern, the manager where she rented a storage unit, and sometimes crashed, tries to give her food and go easy on her for the rent. A Viet Nam vet, he sees her hardship as equal to his.Its not hard to see how isolating her world was, and how alone. This film is a cold stare at the complete absence of a place for Lee to go for help. She has no family. Like most women in prostitution, family was something to escape.Not only did she not seek or expect help, she probably gave up on help AND hope by age 5.Even if we didn't know the story, we know the storyTragic, Compelling, Tender, Harsh. Loved it.

I can see why Theron won critical acclaim for her performance in this film.I avoided this film for years because it frankly scares me that people can be such monsters and I wanted to remain safely ignorant.However, my very raw emotions of pity, anger, disdain and guarded empathy for those in life that are abused and often become abusers came out strong when watching this story.If this isn't a wake up call to the world to eliminate abuse, treat others with respect and love, then I don't know what is.It's either love and support people, or inevitably grow more monsters among us.

Monster was based upon a true story of Aileen (Charlize Theron) who was a prostitute that turned into a serial killer in Florida. That’s only part of the movie however. It paints a picture of how beat down in life Aileen was and how she met Selby (Christina Ricci) who became her girlfriend. Their relationship is the main focus of the film.The first thing that stands out is the transformation Theron went through. The make-up job was amazing. Then of course her portrayal of the character was outstanding as well. Her desperation. He continued failures in life. It really brought Aileen to life as not just being a murderer.Selby’s character in contrast wasn’t as engaging as she came off being delusional about the life she was living.Overall it was a very disturbing story and yet one that made you want to watch.C

I lived in Florida during the time of her killing spree and subsequent trial. I remember thinking of the reporting that there's something amiss here, something very different other than her being a woman and a serial killer. Then a couple of documentaries came out that shed light on Aileen Wuornos' life and MONSTER beautifully brings this horrific tragedy to cinematic life. There is nothing about this story that is not heartbreaking, but in MONSTER what we really see is the travesty of our society played out. The abuses certain women - most of them economically poor - have to take just to survive, only to be punished for them when the weight of it all becomes the impetus for psychosis. That's not to say Wuornos did not deserve either the death penalty or life in prison for killing the men that she did. But MONSTER illustrates how someone with a capacity to love can be pushed by life-long circumstances to her breaking point. Theron more than earned her Oscar, and every other accolade she received for this performance. Well done, Patty Jenkins.

Theron managed to transform herself so completely, it's hard for me to imagine her as her "real" self at this moment, that is to say, for instance, the gorgeous, brilliant woman I saw hilariously take apart Zach Galifianakis as he posed (in reality, no doubt) as a hostile, resentful, uncomfortable "interviewer" interviewing Theron on his "Between 2 Ferns" talk show. And then you realize, someone who lives with her would recognize latent images, as it were, in the everyday Theron, of the character that Theron adapted, or collaged for this movie. Fascinating, at least as compelling a physical transformation as any that male actors have accomplished over the last few decades. I'm not sure this portrayal of Wournos sheds a lot of light on the real, historical Wuornos, but the movie makers, and most of all Theron, create a plausible character that you believe could evolve into a serial killer, without necessarily being born one. I tend to think the real Wournos, might be more of the "born to kill" type. I think you have to take the movie on its own terms as a psycho-drama, more than as a historical biography.

I purchased "Monster" I watched an episode of "Deadly Women" on Netflix and on the episode they were talking about the crimes that Aileen Wuornos committed. I was hooked so I had to buy the DVD and loved it. It's a sad story. I felt really sorry for Aileen cause she didn't even have a good start in life. She was homeless for two years and became I hiking hooker. Shooting seven men in cold blood. At first she said she was raped but then on a later date she said it was a lie. I personally think that she was abused and shot those men in self defence. She was executed on 9th October 2002. I personally think she should have gotten a life sentence instead of being sent to the execution chamber. Other female serial killers that done much worse crimes compared to Aileen. Rose West killed her daughter & Myra Hindley captured the young children for her boyfriend Ian Brady who raped and killed there victims. They should have been executed for what they done. Aileen was a victim and that's what made her a serial killer.

“People kill each other every day and for what? For politics, for religion, and their heroes!” [Aileen]This 2003 dark crime drama tells the story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos [Charlize Theron], a hard nosed prostitute who was executed in Florida in 2002 for killing six men in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The film picks up the story after Aileen moved from Michigan to Florida, and meets misfit and troubled loner Selby Wall [Christina Ricci] [changed for legal reasons but heavily based on her real life girlfriend, Tyria] in a gay bar. The two become friends and eventually lovers but it soon starts to go wrong.The film takes many liberties with the details and it condenses the time scale involved and the central lesbian relationship giving the impression of a few weeks, not over a number of years but Theron is truly remarkable in the role of the aging hooker, shedding her natural beauty and adopting a masculine persona she is unrecognizable as herself.The single disc opens to a main menu featuring play, scene selection and audio [2.0 or 5.1, subtitles on/off, and a commentary. This isn’t a glossy tale of a tart with a heart but gets to the dirty underbelly of a life gone wrong where we witness her sudden massive and violent mood swings and gradually learn of her brutal and humiliating treatment by men throughout her childhood from being raped at 8 by her alcoholic grandfather and again at 14—resulting in an unwanted baby being put up for adoption, and her descent into the dark world of prostitution and what led her to murder. Despite everything, it’s hard to come away from this without some sympathy for Wuornos, however despicable her actions,

Since I am a Fan of Serial Killer movies, I once owned this movie and so glad to have the DVD back in my collection again. This is the Best True Life Serial Killer Biopic ever, which won Golden Globes and Charlize Theron won an Oscar ( uncannily on 29 February 2004 on the Serial Killer's Birthday ) for her performance as Aileen Carol Wuornos also known as "Angel of Death" in the Tabloids. The Story is based on the life of Aileen, and out of all the Serial Killer childhoods, her Youth is the most heartbreaking, Until She met Selby Hall, the fictionalised version of her Lover and Partner, Tyler Moore, is when Aileen's life turned around, and at the same time came to a turning point on her deadly Destiny. So why is this Serial Killer movie so Different? A breath of fresh air, the make Up and Prosthetics and mannerisms that Charlize Theron did is Spot on like Aileen's Butch persona, including her philosophical way of thinking and feisty spirit, but made her an all round Human Being. Also it is a Love Story with a Difference, that is why it is a stand out from other Serial Killer movies. A Love Story of a Serial Killer is a bold and brillant step of our times when society and communities have different people, different minds from all walks of life, when one tragic soul finds love then the past catches up with them and they spiral out of control, Serial Killers are indeed addicts to their own impulses.The Film does have brutal moments that make you cringe bestowed on Aileen by a Misogynist, and pang of Guilt that Aileen felt on one Victim who tried to talk to her and being sympathetic. It's all there. sweet romance, Serial Murder, and One Woman's Life that is a tragic nightmare from the beginning to the very end. This movie will always stand the tests of time

Charlize Theron quite rightly was given Oscar, Golden Globe and other nominations/awards for her lead role in this film. Many of the most compelling scenes are where she is doubled up with Christina Ricci in highly charged intimate moments, but there are some wild rough-house action scenes too, and in my view it is that blend of moods and locations that really elevates this film to so much more than it might have been.Charlize Theron plays the part of Aileen Wuornos, America's first female serial killer. The 2-disc version of the DVD includes various interviews and making-of documentaries and featurettes, plus trailers, deleted scenes and so on. Thankfully, the cast and crew who made this film put in a huge amount of time and effort to get into the detail behind the tabloid headlines and to really try and understand Aileen's background and character. They've also taken great care not to either downplay or to glorify the violence. There are some very grim situations, but also some moments of humour and hope, plus a huge amount of superb acting in parts that the actresses were not known for portraying - during daily make-up they apparently had to "de-beautify" Charlize in order to give her face the weathered appearance of Aileen, plus vocal coaching for the changes in intensity needed. Recommended.

Arrived very quickly. Great value. A fantastic film and very moving she had an awful life no excuse for what she did but it explains the psychology behind her behaviour leading to the murder. If only she was given that chance to work and change her life. So sad. Excellent acting by the main woman and scary how similar she is made to look like the woman herself