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Beautiful Monsters by David McIntee
01/06/2005 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Telos. 266 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 9.99 (UK), $17.95 (US), $22.95 (CAN). ISBN: 1-903889-94-4. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.telos.co.uk
An odd title for an unofficial unauthorised guide to the 'Alien' and 'Predator' films and all the books, comicbooks and paraphernalia. I'm sure if you were being kissed by a face-hugger, imprisoned in resin by its adult Xenomorph (a term only used once in this book) or faced being skinned or slain by a Hunter Predator, the last thing I would be saying is 'Beautiful Monsters'. I'd probably kick their asses. We editors are pretty tough.
As with all unlicensed books, there is a dependency on words because you can't use photographs. The 'Alien' films are already fairly well documented. The 'Predator' films less so, although with the Special Edition of the second film out now, even that option is being covered. As such, someone like me knowing a lot of the information already is likely to be checking for accuracy as much as things not known. I'm sure fans of these films will go through similar checks so pardon me if I hit on these highlights.
A couple errors that should have been covered by Telos' editor is that William Daniels and not Peter Cullen is the voice of Knight Rider's KITT talking car and calling Schwarznegger's character 'Dutch Schultz' instead of 'Schaeffer' on page 180 is plain carelessness. The oddest thing was with the books and such. It's pretty obvious where there's scant information, author McIntee probably didn't have some comicbooks to consult and it only stands out when so much detail is elsewhere. I was also surprised that the other books on the 'Alien' films were in the bibliography but weren't covered in any real detail elsewhere in the text. If you are going to be a completest and you were after everything to do with them then I'd have been more inclined to go for these than the comicbooks, which at the end of the day aren't exactly canon. He also missed a rather vital point that the first editions of the first two 'Alien' novelisations had photo inserts and harder to get than the later copies. Whether or not this would be deemed as me being rather picky or not is up to you when you go after this book but generally where there are errors on the obvious things then you have to wonder what come up with those who are more expert than me on these films.
This isn't to say that this book is a hopeless cause and if you want to have a briefing on these seven films then there's more good than bad in here if you can't remember all the material from the DVD extras. There is nothing substantially not known here and its only when I'm really critical that things look worse than they are. I mean, for example, take the number of hibernation chambers that were made for the film. Where there is a dispute in numbers, author McIntee should have explained why he was more accurate than Jim Cameron.
I can see fans of these films buying this book to take it apart than for information so ultimately it will be bought but I'd hesitate in calling it the final definitive volume on the subject but isn't too bad for a start. See. I said I was tough.
GF Willmetts
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