Monster

Monster is a 1972 science-fiction mystery film directed by Willem Scott, and starring an ensemble cast including Leon Robins, Serenity Ward, Conrad Stevenson and Dominick Buck. The film centers on the relationships and conflicts between 10 crew members on board a spaceship heading back to Earth from Mars, when suddenly a symbiote comes on board and takes control of an unknown member of the ship, who then, without revealing their identity, starts killing members of the crew.

Monster was released on May 25, 1972 in the United States and September 6 in the United Kingdom. It was met with critical acclaim and found box office success, becoming the most successful sci-fi film ever released at the time. It won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Robins, as well as being nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Ward, Best Director, Best Score, Best Original Screenplay and Best Visual Effects. It has been consistently praised in the years since its release, and is considered one of the greatest films of all time. In 2002, Monster was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 2008, it was ranked by the American Film Institute as the seventh-best film in the science fiction genre, and as the thirty-third greatest film of all time by Empire magazine.

The success of Monster spawned a media franchise of novels, comic books, video games, and toys. It also launched Buck’s acting career, providing him with his first major role, as well as being the start of director Scott’s career.

The film received a sequel, Monster Ignited, in 1981 and a making-of story called Monster On Set in 1996, written by Willem Scott, which was adapted into a film in 2000 under the same name, directed by Alan Duncan and starring Camryn Brennan in the lead role as Scott, which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Academy Awards

 * Best Actor (Leon Robins, won)
 * Best Picture (nominated)
 * Best Director (Willem Scott, nominated)
 * Best Supporting Actress (Serenity Ward, nominated)
 * Best Original Screenplay (nominated)
 * Best Original Score (nominated)
 * Best Visual Effects (nominated)