scifihorroradventure

[scifihorroradventure]

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)

When a man (Al Berry) clutching a Halloween mask is admitted to Dr. Challis (Tom Atkins)'s hospital, the man is soon killed by a mysterious stranger, who also kills himself shortly after. Meeting up with the victim's daughter Ellie (Stacey Nelkin), Challis decides to look into her father's death and find those responsible. Their search takes them to the headquarters of Silver Shamrock, a company currently selling a line of extremely popular Halloween masks. Challis and Ellie encounter a few other people, toy store owners who sell the masks in their stores, who have come to discuss their next shipments with Shamrock's president - Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy). Ellie is soon kidnapped by Cochran's followers, which turn out to be robots. Capturing Challis as well, Cochran explains that he is a follower of the ancient ways of witchcraft and Halloween's original, darker origins, and is using ancient magicks to pull the ultimate prank - Sacrificing the children who have bought his masks, a sacrifice he demonstrates on the Kupfer family. Escaping his imprisonment, Challis rescues Ellie and the two use Cochran's own technology against him, killing him and burning Silver Shamrock to the ground. Unfortunately, the masks are still being worn by thousands of children and the commercial that activates their magic begins to play...

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is known by a lot of people as that Halloween movie. The unrelated one, the separate one, the one that has nothing to do with the saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. Supposedly, the plan was to use Halloween III as a starting point to make the Halloween films a series of unrelated, anthology stories centered around the holiday. Unfortunately, with the original Halloween being an enormous hit and Halloween II only cementing the fact that the series was centered around the white-masked killer, Halloween III was doomed to failure no matter how good the film may or may not have been on its own. And how does it stand as its own film, a story of a believer in ancient magic using Halloween masks to slaughter children? Honestly, it has potential, but it's not perfect. It has a good premise and some genuinely creepy moments, but a lot of scenes are dedicated to Challis and Ellie simply sitting around and talking about how weird everything is. There are times where it almost doesn't even feel like a horror movie and comes across as more of a mystery/thriller type film.

The movie's most chilling sequence is easily when Cochran kills the Kupfer family, with Buddy Jr.'s mask apparently eating his head and releasing a torrent of snakes and insects to kill his parents. Unfortunately, while there are a few other gruesome kills throughout the movie (in fact, all the deaths in this film are surprisingly brutal, even for a horror movie), most of them don't really have the same unsettling supernatural feel as the Kupfer family's death, leaving the film without a lot of stand out horror sequences. Then there is the fact that Cochran's business suit minions are robots and his entire operation is so technology-heavy, with the masks even utilizing computer chips to activate their powers. Considering his plan is about dark magic and witchcraft and the ancient mystic power of Stonehenge, such a heavy emphasis on technology seems odd and out of place. Sure, a robot army can be creepy and all (the concept works perfectly in The Stepford Wives, among others), but why couldn't the henchmen simply be loyal followers of Cochran, or perhaps brainwashed by his power? Why do the masks need computer chips? Scrapings from Stonehenge (which has dark, supernatural properties) are already mixed into the latex, so why can't their death-dealing abilities simply be innate powers of the masks themselves? This doesn't ruin the film by any means, but it does succeed in making Cochran's scheme far more complicated than it needs to be.

Tom Atkins plays the heroic if not slightly sleazy Dr. Challis. A divorced man, he tries to be a good father for his kids but does not succeed, cancelling on them at the drop of a hat anytime something comes up. Though perhaps that isn't fair, as the film doesn't really give us a chance to become familiar with Challis and his family before we get thrust into the main plot. It's almost funny that he gets involved in Ellie's search for the truth so quickly and so heartily considering the police are still investigating her father's death and at the time he has no real reason to believe they won't solve it. Then, of course, there's his penchant for sleeping with a girl so young looking he actually has to ask her how old she is... After he's already had sex with her. This may have been an attempt by the movie to lampshade the age gap between Atkins and Stacey Nelkin, but it's not placed very well and either way it makes the hero a little more 'ew' than was no doubt intended. The aforementioned Nelkin plays Ellie - a pretty young woman looking for her father's killer - well enough, but sadly Ellie's fairly bland as a heroine. Being sad over her father's death is all we really get from her and she disappears for a good chunk of the movie once the final act begins. Once she's seemingly reunited with Challis, the twist that she's actually a robot is a good one, but it raises so many questions - Was she outright replaced by a robot duplicate? Was she turned into a robot? Was she a robot from the beginning (which could arguably be hinted at with "Aren't you just the least bit tired?" "No.")? If she was one of Cochran's robots, why did she help destroy Silver Shamrock, and why didn't she shut down once the control panel was destroyed like all the others? Such a huge twist might've worked better had it happened earlier in the film and was a little more clear as to exactly what the twist was. Irish actor Dan O'Herlihy brings us Conal Cochran, a good and very different villain from Michael Myers. Quiet and intense, he clearly finds joy in the idea of slaughtering untold numbers of innocent children. The scene where he monologues to Challis about the ancient ways of Halloween is captivating and one of the more memorable scenes. His death is a satisfying one, but the close up of his face turning into what looks like aluminum foil probably should've been cut and kept as simple as dying from the laser.

Thankfully, time has been kind to Halloween III. While it was panned upon initial release due to its lack of Michael Myers and overall connection to the first two films (aside from occasionally showing the original Halloween playing on TV...), people have since come to enjoy the film on its own merits. While not the most amazing horror movie, it does deserve this newfound love. The scares, while not plentiful, are effective; the special effects are done well and quite unsettling, and the Silver Shamrock commercial jingle is a tune that will never leave your head after you hear it. While Michael Myers has come back plenty of times, Conal Cochran and his malicious masks have yet to enjoy a revival of their own.

Rating: ★★★ ½

Cast: Tom Atkins ... Dr. Daniel Challis Stacey Nelkin ... Ellie Grimbridge Dan O'Herlihy ... Conal Cochran Ralph Strait ... Buddy Kupfer Jadeen Barbor ... Betty Kupfer Brad Schacter ... Little Buddy Garn Stephens ... Marge Guttman Michael Currie ... Mr. Rafferty Wendy Wessberg ... Teddy Al Berry ... Harry Grimbridge Essex Smith ... Walter Jones Nancy Kyes ... Linda Challis

Director: Tommy Lee Wallace. Prodicer: Barry Bernardi (associate producer), John Carpenter, Debra Hill, Joseph Wolf (executive producer), Irwin Yablans (executive producer), Moustapha Akkad (executive producer, uncredited), and Dino De Laurentiis (executive producer, uncredited). Writer: Tommy Lee Wallace, John Carpenter (uncredited), and Nigel Kneale (uncredited). Music: John Carpenter and Alan Howarth. Special Effects: William Aldridge (assistant), Jon G. Belyeu, Thomas R. Burman (special makeup), John Logan (special makeup effects artist, uncredited), and Don Post (Halloween mask creator).

#halloween iii season of the witch #silver shamrock #halloween #john carpenter #horror #tom atkins #conspiracies #holidays #robots #1980s

[scifihorroradventure]

KILLJOY (2000)

When Michael (Kareem J. Grimes) attempts to voice his affection for Jada (Vera Yell) once again, her gangster boyfriend Lorenzo (William L. Johnson) beats him and leaves him on the street. That night, Michael attempts to summon the entity known as Killjoy to do his bidding, but is interrupted by Lorenzo and his thugs. Lorenzo tells Michael to stay away from Jada, only intending to scare him, but accidentally shoots Michael and leaves him to die. A year later, Jada and Lorenzo have split up, with the former now dating Jamal (Lee Marks). A crazed demonic clown known as Killjoy (Angel Vargas) tracks down Lorenzo, killing his two henchmen (Corey Hampton and Rani Goulant) and finally Lorenzo himself. The killers dead, Killjoy turns his attention on Jada, Jamal, and Jada's friend Monique (Dee Dee Austin), and the three must fight to survive the clown's onslaught.

From B-movie studio Full Moon Entertainment comes this urban horror flick about an evil demon killer clown of unknown origin. The concept has potential, but the film is too short to really explore it properly. As such, major plot points happen suddenly without any build up or backstory whatsoever, or characters begin doing things without any explanation. Killjoy uses Freddy Krueger-esque powers to stalk and kill his victims, but unlike Freddy's powers, Killjoy's don't have any rules, so it's impossible to tell what he can or can't do, or how to stop him. Killjoy going after the thugs that tormented and killed Michael makes sense, because that's what he was summoned to do, but it makes no sense for him to also go after Jada, who Michael loved. It's never explained who or what the Homeless Man is, or why he knows the things he knows. As it is, he's just some random homeless person with supernatural powers. Killjoy's warehouse seems to be the entirety of his domain (like Freddy's boiler room), but then near the end of the film it's revealed he has an entire world to himself, which feels like it should be addressed in some fashion but never is. Lastly, once the heroes confront Killjoy in the final act, none of them die, which - considering we are talking about the main heroine's new boyfriend and her snarky best friend - feels off in a horror film.

The cast ranges from decent to laughable. Vera Yell is alright as the pretty yet slightly bland lead Jada, who doesn't really have much to do until Lorenzo and his crew are killed off halfway through the film. It's never really explained if she actually returned Michael's affections, or if she was just humoring him, which seems fairly vital to the plot. Lee Marks as Jamal is rather boring and ultimately feels pointless. With stilted delivery and dumb dialogue, Jamal is also rather annoying at times, especially with his endless insisting that the group split up near the end despite Jada and Monique shooting his plan down every single time he says it. Lorenzo is portrayed serviceably by William L. Johnson, but never really comes across as anything but a two dimensional gangster. Every time there might be some suggested character depth, it's quickly glossed over, and then he's killed by the halfway point anyway. Angel Vargas as the titular Killjoy is the highlight of the film, coming off as a cross between later era Freddy Krueger and Cesar Romero's Joker (while his voice sounds like SpongeBob SquarePants trying to imitate Mark Hamill's take on the Clown Prince of Crime). Though he can be grating, Killjoy nevertheless has a few funny lines and inspired moments of villainy here and there, and while the rest of his costume is lacking, his face paint and prosthetic make-up do look genuinely creepy at times.

Had the film written out the Jamal character and focused more on Jada and Lorenzo as the leads, equally trying to escape Killjoy's wrath while addressing the roles they played in Michael's death, perhaps also revealing that Michael wasn't quite as innocent as he would've had Jada believe, the story probably would have emerged much stronger. As it is, though, Killjoy is a dumb, rushed movie, with the wisecracking demon clown being one of the least over-the-top elements in the film. But despite this less than stellar debut, the evil clown struck a chord with audiences, resulting in four sequels to follow.

Rating: ★★

Cast: Angel Vargas ... Killjoy Vera Yell ... Jada Lee Marks ... Jamal Dee Dee Austin ... Monique Kareem J. Grimes ... Micheal William L. Johnson ... Lorenzo Corey Hampton ... T-Bone Rani Goulant ... Baby Boy Napiera Groves ... Kahara Arthur Burghardt ... Homeless Man

Director: Craig Ross, Jr. Producer: Charles Band (executive producer), Michael Deak, Mel Johnson, Jr., and Gary Schmoeller (line producer). Writer: Carl Washington. Music: Richard Kosinski. Special Effects: David Lange.

#sci fi horror adventure #killjoy #clowns #revenge #horror #2000s

[scifihorroradventure]

UNFRIENDED (2014)

A year after Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman) killed herself as a result of cyberbullying, teenagers Blaire (Shelley Hennig), Mitch (Moses Storm), Adam (Will Peltz), Jess (Renee Olstead), Ken (Jacob Wysocki), and Val (Courtney Halverson) all get together on Skype. While they all knew Laura, none of them liked her very much as she wasn't the nicest of people. However, a mysterious person known as "Billie227" appears in their chat, claming to be Laura as she messages Blaire on Facebook and torments the group. After Billie causes a rift between Val and Jess, Val mysteriously ends up dead. The group attempts to eject Billie from their computers, resulting in Ken's death. Billie soon makes the remaining four to play "Never Have I Ever" and begins to force them to reveal horrible secrets to one another. Adam and Jess die and the malevolent Billie turns their attention on Blaire and Mitch for the final round...

Unfriended is bad. Admittedly, the premise has some potential... A little. Maybe. In theory, it's an updating-in-spirit of the old "creepy phone call" plot, but the way it's presented here it in no way requires an eighty minute run time. The movie would fare much better as a short film - It could likely cut out twenty, maybe even thirty minutes, and come out stronger for it. There's also the problem that the ENTIRE film takes place in the point of view of staring at the screen of Blaire's laptop. While this is a good hook/gimmick for the movie, there desperately needed to be normal scenes of the main characters interacting with each other in person, with the Skype scenes being the occasional highlight sequence. As it is, we see nothing but the main characters' faces in Skype, and occasionally Facebook and YouTube, and it gets tiresome very quickly (though props to the movie for at least using the actual Facebook and YouTube instead of some generic knock offs like "MyFaceJournal" or "VideoTube"). There are also multiple instances of Blaire either underlining text with her cursor (which is amusing) and typing out sentences, then rethinking, deleting, and retyping them (which gets aggravating after the third or so time).

Of course, the biggest problem with the film is that, while a few scenes do admittedly get a little tense, it never really becomes scary at any point. Whenever a scene feels like it might even start to get creepy, something over the top and ridiculous happens. Blaire is instant messaged by Laura and is immediately linked to an article on dead people's Facebook pages possessing other people. The effective build up with the camera behind Ken is ruined by him suddenly jamming his hand into a blender that appears out of nowhere. Laura torments the group by posting threatening memes (no, seriously, she even uses one as a postmortem one liner). Making things worse, this film was made in 2014 and it was clearly made by someone who hadn't used the Internet since the 1990s, or possibly at all. Everyone's connection speed is slow enough to make '90s dial up seem Olympian in comparison. Everyone's camera glitches out every five seconds. At one point Blaire asks what a "troll" is.

Because teenagers didn't know what Internet trolls were in 2014.

Another problem lies with Laura herself. Throughout the movie, it is said that she was also a mean-spirited bully, suggesting that while she may not have deserved death, she certainly wasn't an innocent who earned seeking revenge on the main characters, and that the video that caused her humiliation may have been karmic justice as much as anything else. But beyond calling her mean, the movie never goes any further into it, making one wonder why they even brought it up. The same goes for her implied dark past with her uncle, which is only hinted at briefly and then never mentioned again.

To give credit where credit is due, the cast does well with what they're given, which unfortunately isn't much beyond "look at the screen and act upset." Honestly, if they weren't as good as they are (not to suggest they're Oscar winners by any means, but they have to essentially carry the entire movie by doing nothing but staring at computer screens), the film would be completely unwatchable. Shelley Hennig stars as Blaire and she's likable enough. It's disappointing that she turns out to be as bad as the rest of the characters, though not possibly in the way that the filmmakers intended. The fact that there's not one decent person among the group kinda feels like a cop out (especially as it comes at the very last minute) and makes one wonder why Laura didn't just kill them all much sooner. Mitch, played by Moses Storm, has an ongoing thing throughout the movie where he doesn't answer Blaire's instant messages for long periods of time, but it's never explained and makes no sense as Laura doesn't seem to be messing with him any worse than the others. The other four are alright, with Jacob Wysocki's Ken debatably getting the most memorable death scene. Will Peltz's Adam doesn't really get a chance to shine until the "Never Have I Ever" sequence, while Renee Olstead's Jess is just kinda... there. She has literally nothing to do for a decent chunk of the film as Blaire, Mitch, and Adam have their relationship drama near the end. Courtney Halverson as Val is entertaining but she's killed off not too long after being introduced.

Unfriended has potential, but unfortunately it doesn't do anything with any of it. It could've taken its place among The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity in the "watching spooky things through video media" genre, but the unintentional comedy and being unendingly stuck at Blaire's computer screen make this hard to watch, at least as a horror film. Also, unfortunately, for anyone even remotely familiar with horror movies, you're likely able to call the jump scare at the end of the movie roughly three minutes in.

Rating: ★★

Cast: Shelley Hennig ... Blaire Lily Moses Storm ... Mitch Foussel Will Peltz ... Adam Sewell Renee Olstead ... Jess Felton Jacob Wysocki ... Ken Smith Courtney Halverson ... Val Rommel Heather Sossaman ... Laura Barns

Director: Levan Gabriadze. Producer: Timur Bekmambetov, Jason Blum (executive producer), Nelson Greaves, Alan Khamoui (co-executive producer), Couper Samuelson (co-producer), and Adam Sidman (co-producer). Writer: Nelson Greaves. Music: N/A. Special Effects: Steve Haggiag (lab manager), Serge Aleynikov (visual effects artist), Kristel Brinshot (compositor), Paul Carnegie (paint artist: International Release), Dan Davydov (compositor), Aleksandr Gorokhov (visual effects), Joel Griffen (compositor), Pavel Perepyolkin (visual effects artist), Jamie Rios (paint artist), Russell Sadeghpour (visual effects supervisor), Dmitry Semyonov (visual effects art director). Scarecrow VFX: Alexis Andrade Jr. (compositor: international release), Melissa Brockman (visual effects producer), Josh Bryer (visual effects supervisor), Annie Caps-Wightman (lead compositor: international release), Robyn Ducharme (lead compositor: international release), Rich Hardy Jr. (senior compositor and pipeline techincal director: international release), Julianne Holzschuh (lead compositor: international realease), Jacquelyn Minnich (compositor: international release), and Alejandro Vargas Jr. (compositor: international release).

#sci fi horror adventure #unfriended #horror #ghosts #facebook #revenge #2010s

[scifihorroradventure]

INSIDIOUS (2010)

Not long after Josh (Patrick Wilson), Renai (Rose Byrne), and their children move into a new home, their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) suffers a superficial injury while exploring their new attic, but before too long he falls into a deep coma from which he cannot wake up. As the stress of his condition starts to affect Renai and Josh's marriage, the former continues to encounter frightful apparitions who grow increasingly aggressive. Soon, upon the suggestion of Josh's mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), they bring in medium Elise (Lin Shaye) to help figure out what to do to save Dalton. After encountering a frightful creature in Dalton's room, Elise informs the couple that their son’s spiritual self has left his body and become stuck in a realm known as the Further, leaving it open to possession by an evil demon. Helping Josh to achieve astral projection, Elise sends him into the Further to rescue Dalton, even as the demon and countless other ghosts attempt to steal their bodies.

Almost a sort of proto-The Conjuring from director James Wan, Insidious is a well-made, if not derivative haunted house (er, child) film. The story is simple and to the point, the cast all does a good job with their roles, and the frights are plentiful and effective. And while ultimately Insidious is an enjoyable, scary film, one can't help but notice that the film centers around a happy family where something supernatural happens to one of their three children that takes that child out of commission for most of the story, while the rest of the family is forced to deal with ghastly apparitions. When they've finally had enough, they bring in a team of paranormal investigators to help, and when the team discovers that the haunting is real, they proceed to bring in the real expert, a psychically gifted old woman who has experience in such things. Ultimately, to save the child, the expert must send one of their parents into the afterlife/Heaven/Hell/ghost dimension to bring their child back and rescue them from the demonic force that wants them for their own evil purpose.

...Why, yes, I did just describe the plot to Poltergeist (and to a lesser degree, Poltergeist II).

While this doesn't make Insidious a bad movie, the blatant similarities are rather noticeable and feel odd for a new, theatrically released film where said similarities aren't intentional. That having been said, Insidious almost makes for a better, though inadvertent, remake of Poltergeist than the actual remake of Poltergeist. That having been said, the film has a nice, eerie atmosphere (though some scenes can be a little too greyed out at times) and the music by Joseph Bishara, while not always a hit, can be effectively startling at times, particularly the shrieking notes that accompany the film's title at the beginning and end.

Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are good as couple Josh and Renai. The two are a relative breath of fresh air, not charging ahead and kicking the demon's ass, but they aren't whimpering, useless idiots, either. They don't know how to help their son, but they don't sit idly by and do nothing but worry. If there's any complaint to be had with them (and it's not even so much a complaint as it is an observation) is that the first half of the film clearly focuses on Renai as she deals with the various ghosts, but when it comes time for the climax, Josh is suddenly thrust into the spotlight after not having done much but be the skeptic. Nothing wrong with it necessarily, but it's a fairly jarring switch. Ty Simpkins (who would later go on to appear in Iron Man 3 and Jurassic World) as Dalton is good, thankfully avoiding being the usual annoying kid in a horror movie, but he doesn't get to do very much, as Dalton is in a coma for most of the film. Lin Shaye is good as supernatural expert Elise Rainier, though she lacks the captivating presence that, say, Tangina does. The scene where she "sees" the demon on the ceiling of Dalton’s room is an effectively creepy moment, though, and the end of the film comes as an honest shock, if not a bit of a cop out. Barbara Hershey as grandma Lorraine just feels kinda... there, not really intervening until the 11th Hour despite knowing exactly what the problem is from fairly early on.

The main monster of the film, a terrifying red-faced boogeyman known as... the Lipstick-Faced Demon... is a creepy, visually striking creature, his most famous moment being when he appears behind Josh at the dinner table. However, when Josh finds Dalton in the Further, we see the Demon enjoying itself during some down time, sharpening his claws while listening to Tiny Tim amongst his marionette collection. While it's an interesting touch and gives the Demon a bit of personality most movie monsters don't get these days, it's a bit too much too fast, and while the Demon still has some creepy moments after this scene, it's nevertheless an odd choice for a creature that was mainly shown to be a purely evil, primal force prior to this.

A few years later, James Wan, Patrick Wilson, and Joseph Bishara would later collaborate once again in The Conjuring, a film that would ultimately feel more confident with its identity than Insidious does. Again, it's not a bad film, but almost everything it does has been done before in very notable films. The only saving grace is, while nothing in the film is entirely new, it is at least done well, enough to receive three sequels in the following decade.

Rating: ★★★ ½

Cast: Patrick Wilson ...  Josh Lambert Rose Byrne ...  Renai Lambert Ty Simpkins ...  Dalton Lambert Lin Shaye ...  Elise Rainier Leigh Whannell ...  Specs Angus Sampson ...  Tucker Barbara Hershey ...  Lorraine Lambert Joseph Bishara ...  Lipstick-Face Demon Philip Friedman ...  Old Woman

Director: James Wan. Producer: Jason Blum, Jeanette Brill (line producer), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (executive producer), John R. Leonetti (co-producer), Oren Peli, Steven Schneider. and Aaron Sims (co-producer). Writer: Leigh Whannell. Music: Joseph Bishara. Special Effects: Spypost.

#sci fi horror adventure #insidious #james wan #ghosts #demons #children #2010s

[scifihorroradventure]

ELVES (1989)

When Kirsten (Julie Austin) and her friends head into the forest to perform an "anti-Christmas ritual," she inadvertently raises an elf from the depths of Hell. The elf wanders about the small town, moving around in secret, killing the occasional townsfolk. Kirsten, meanwhile, has to put up with her abusive mother (Deanna Lund) and eccentric, wheelchair-bound grandfather (Borah Silver). As ex-con Mike (Dan Haggerty) tries to go straight and gets himself a job as a mall Santa, former Nazis arrive at Kirsten's house and begin discussing past doings with her grandfather. When Kirsten, Brooke (Laura Lichstein), and Amy (Stacey Dye) break into the mall they work at for some late night fun, they run into Mike and all come under attack by the Nazis and the elf. Brooke and Amy are killed and Kirsten and Mike try to figure out what's going on. Kirsten discovers that her grandfather is actually her father while Mike seeks out the origins of the elf and how it figures into the Nazis' supernatural plan to conquer the Earth with an army of human/elf hybrids. Caught between an elf that wants to mate with her and Nazis that want to ensure it happens, Kirsten fights to escape her twisted destiny.

Clearly an attempt to cash in on the craze of films about miniature monsters such as Gremlins, Critters, and Ghoulies that were popular at the time, Elves is an utter abomination of film. There are no likeable characters, almost all the scenes are barely even lit, the effects are bad, and worst of all, it's boring - And for a movie involving a killer elf, Nazis, and incest, that's a hell of a feat. To begin with, the title is a lie. There are no elves, only a single elf, an elf that is never really shown. We occasionally see its face in extreme close up, or its arm reaching out to grab something, but we never see the full elf in action. Though perhaps that's for the best, as each time we see the elf's face it is painfully stiff and expressionless. Perhaps most bizarrely about the film, even though it takes place during Christmas and revolves around a killer elf, the obvious connection between the two is never made by anybody. One would expect Kirsten or Mike to say "I thought elves were cute little people who work for Santa," or for Dr. Fitzpatrick or Professor O'Conner to say something along the lines of "People these days think elves are short people with pointy ears who make toys for Santa Claus, but that isn't true at all. Our perception of them has drastically changed since the olden days," but nothing like this ever comes, with everyone instead talking as if elves are universally agreed upon as being ugly little demons, which is just noticeably off in a film like this. Even movies like Santa's Slay and Jack Frost weren't foolish enough to ignore their monsters' connection to the holiday.

Another big problem are all the long stretches where nothing happens, or the things that seem as if they're going to be ongoing subplots only to fizzle out before they even get started. The film opens with Kirsten performing an anti-Christmas ritual, only for her to apparently be back into the holiday for the rest of the film. Kirsten's mom kills Kirsten's cat only for Kirsten to never find out. There's the a-hole store manager at the mall who never gets killed by the elf or really becomes an obstacle to our heroes. There's the police officer who might suspect Kirsten of the elf's killings but it's never pursued beyond his first scene. There's the bit with the tape on the door that allows Kirsten and Mike entrance to the mall at night. The film spends a lot of time on these things and they all result in nothing.

Julie Austin plays heroine Kirsten and she's okay at best. She's not outright unlikable, but she doesn't really do anything to endear herself to the audience, either. She's just sort of... there. Visually, she's reminiscent of Amy Steel from Friday the 13th Part 2 and April Fool's Day and that's about all she really brings to the table. It's also a little ridiculous that the film keeps treating her like she's a teenager because she’s clearly in her mid thirties. Dan Haggerty of Grizzly Adams fame plays Mike "Santa" McGavin, Kirsten's only real ally in this elf-related chaos, and again, all we really get from him is that he's a nice guy. He's not a bad or useless character (in fact, Mike does nearly all the work when it comes to researching the elf and how to stop it), just not a very fleshed out one. Also, maybe he dies at the end of the film? It's not really clear. Deanna Lund as Kirsten's mother, meanwhile, pulls off the impressive feat of becoming an even bigger hate sink than Nazis or a killer demon elf. Hating Kirsten with a force that would make the Evil Stepmother from Cinderella blush, Kirsten's mother is downright reprehensible in her hatred of her own daughter, even going so far as to kill Kirsten's cat while she's away. True, we eventually get a reason as to why she's so mean, but it's far too late to make her sympathetic, and it's never explained why she's even still living with her elf worshipping, daughter raping, Nazi father in the first place. Laura Lichstein and Stacey Dye as Kirsten's friends Brooke and Amy respectively provide a couple laughs, but they're killed off halfway through. Dr. Fitzpatrick and Professor O'Conner are fun enough eccentric monster expert types (mainly Dr. Fitzpatrick), but they too are only featured briefly. Like the quickly discarded subplots, if a character might be interesting or fun to watch, the movie quickly does away with them.

Ultimately, Elves is a chore to watch. It has enough going for it in its premise that it should be a fairly entertaining watch - Not good by any means, but fun in a bad, cheesy horror movie type way. But instead it just squanders what it has and feels like it does everything it can to make you dislike it. The film is just filled to the brim with unpleasantness and feels roughly twenty minutes too long. Even among stupidly bad Christmas horror movies, this is one entry in the genre that should forever remain wrapped.

Rating: ★

Cast: Julie Austin ... Kirsten Dan Haggerty ... Mike McGavin Borah Silver ... Kirsten's Grandfather Deanna Lund ... Kirsten's Mother Mansell Rivers-Bland ... Rubinkreuz Laura Lichstein ... Brooke Stacey Dye ... Amy Christopher Graham ... Willy Allen Lee ... Dr. James Fitzpatrick Paul Rohrer ... Professor O'Conner

Director: Jeffrey Mandel. Producer: John Fitzgerald (executive producer), Jerry Graham (executive producer), Dan Haggerty (associate producer), Al Loberger (line producer), Dale Mitchell (executive producer), Mark Paglia, and Michelle Werry (line producer). Writer: Jeffrey Mandel, Mike Griffin, and Bruce A. Taylor. Music: Vladimir Horunzhy. Special Effects: Ken Brilliant (sculptor: close up elf), Evan Campbell (creator: fetus elf / designer and sculpturer: elf fetus), Patrick Denver (radio control mechanics: elf), Jane Dispersio (additional special effects crew), Tim Drnec (special effects coordinator), Vincent J. Guastini (designer: elf / sculptor: elf / shop supervisor / operator: elf, second unit), Joe Macchia (additional special effects crew), Mike Rios (chief technician / operator: elf, second unit), Brian D. Veatch (special effects), Ken Walker (mechanics: close up elf), Linda K. Wilson (manager: Fantasy Workshop), Gary Yee (additional special effects crew), Evan Campbell (sculptor, uncredited), Bryan Sisson (special effects assistant, uncredited), Lynn Cress (special visual effects), Tom Matthies (visual effects: apocalypse sequence), and Tom Richardson (special visual effects).

#sci fi horror adventure #elves #christmas #holidays #horror #1980s

[scifihorroradventure]

BLOOD RAGE (1983)

As their mother Maddy (Louise Lasser) makes out with her date at the drive-in, twin brothers Todd and Terry sneak out of the car and explore the area. Terry comes across a couple having sex in their car and attacks the man with an axe. Acting quickly, Terry frames the assault on Todd, causing him to be locked up in a mental institution for the next ten years. As Maddy and Terry (Mark Soper) prepare for Thanksgiving dinner, Todd (also Soper) begins to remember what really happened, having been in a catatonic state since that fateful night, and escapes the institution. This development, combined with Maddy becoming engaged to Brad (William Fuller), causes Terry to snap once again, killing Brad, then Todd's doctor (Marianne Kanter) as she attempts to search for Todd. Terry cuts his way through the residents of his apartment complex, before finally zeroing in on his girlfriend Karen (Julie Gordon). As Terry hunts her down, Todd tries to put an end to his brother’s wrath, and Maddy's sanity ebbs away at a rapid pace, Karen does her best to survive.

Blood Rage is one hell of a film. It's not a good film by any stretch of the imagination, but it's just so bad and over the top and goofy and filled with enough gore and nudity that one can't help but be thoroughly entertained by it anyway. The movie almost feels like a spoof of the slasher genre at times, with Terry hacking people apart at the drop of a hat, hilarious dialogue, and long stretches of Maddy doing absolutely nothing. If there is one area where the film does excel, though, it’s the special effects. The gore effects in this film are really well done, with even more ambitious effects like Dr. Berman's sliced apart torso and Brad's split apart skull pulled off very well, providing some of the film's most shocking moments. The music by Richard Einhorn doesn't fare quite as well, at best sounding highly inappropriate for tense and scary scenes (coming off more like it was meant for a feel-good, heroic, action montage), at worst sounding like someone just discovered what a piano is.

The star of the show, Mark Soper plays twins Todd and Terry. For what it's worth, he does a great job differentiating them. Terry is a confident, truly insane young man, whereas poor Todd stands all hunched over, unkempt and afraid. That having been said, that's about all the praise one can give his performances. Terry is all over the place as a character, just deciding to kill people out of absolutely nowhere (at least as far as the audience can tell), and the motivation for his killings is never explained (sex and/or intimacy seem to be a trigger, but he decides to kill at least half of his victims without sex having played any role). While a lack of motive can sometimes be used to a character's advantage (Michael Myers being a prime example), if done badly it just comes across as laziness, which unfortunately is the case here. Furthermore, one can’t help but wonder what it would have been like had the movie decided to be more mysterious with the killer’s identity, keeping you guessing if it was Terry or Todd who was really responsible for the murders. Julie Gordon, playing Terry's girlfriend Karen, takes a while to become part of the main story, but once she does she becomes a decent if not slightly bland main heroine. And while one should commend her for trying to save the baby as she attempts to escape Terry's wrath, she does a terrible job of holding him properly - In a few shots it looks like she's carrying him directly by the head.

However, while Soper may technically be the star of the movie, it's Louise Lasser as mother Maddy that one will likely remember best after the film is over, and not necessarily in a good way. She starts off well enough, a single mother simply trying to cope with the trauma of one of her children being a murderer and shakily trying to move on with her life. But once Thanksgiving dinner is over and Terry starts murdering people, Maddy goes completely off the rails, manically cleaning her apartment, sitting on the floor and eating out of the refrigerator, and all around just losing her grip on reality. Lasser chews the hell out of the scenery during her scenes, screaming and sobbing into a telephone trying to reach someone who's literally only a couple apartments away. It's slightly amusing at first, but soon becomes annoying and hard to sit through. There are also a couple brief moments with the twins that vaguely suggest that maybe Maddy and Terry have become just a little too close over the years, but it's never acknowledged. Probably the highlight of her performance is the doozy of a climax in which she arrives to put an end to Terry's rampage once and for all... or does she? Overall, it's a strange performance that ultimately doesn't seem to know what it wants to be.

The film has three titles, which can be a little confusing. The film itself boasts the title Slasher, but it was also theatrically released as both Nightmare at Shadow Woods and Blood Rage (the latter of which was also its video release title and has become the best well known out of the three). Whatever title you know it by, the film is a highly entertaining entry in the slasher genre, though likely not for the reasons it intended. Nevertheless, the over the top acting is amusing and the gore effects are impressive, resulting in a fairly enjoyable - though insane - way to spend eighty minutes.

Rating: ★★ ½

Cast: Mark Soper ... Terry Simmons / Todd Simmons Louise Lasser ... Maddy Simmons Julie Gordon ... Karen Reed James Farrell ... Artie Lisa Randall ... Andrea Chad Montgomery ... Gregg Ramsey William Fuller ... Brad King Marianne Kanter ... Dr. Berman Douglas Weiser ... Jackie Jayne Bentzen ... Julie Ed French ... Bill Keith Hall ... Young Terry Ross Hall ... Young Todd Brad Leland ... Teen Boy at Drive-In Rebecca Thorp ... Teen Girl at Drive-In

Director: John Grissmer. Producer: William C. Brakefield (executive producer), Jared M. Drescher (executive producer), Marianne Kanter, Bonnie Leslie (associate producer), J.W. Stanley (executive producer), and Stanley Westreich (executive producer). Writer: Bruce Rubin. Music: Richard Einhorn. Special Effects: Ed French (special makeup effects artist).

#sci fi horror adventure #blood rage #horror #slashers #holidays #evil twins #1980s

[scifihorroradventure]

FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE MUMMY (2015)

As Victor Frankenstein (Max Rhyser) is nearing completion on his life's work, his girlfriend Naihla (Ashton Leigh) returns from an expedition to Egypt, bringing with her the mummy of Userkara (Brandon deSpain). When Naihla's colleague Professor Walton (Boomer Tibbs) inspects the mummy, he accidentally awakens it, then helps Userkara to restore his strength. After killing his assistant, Victor uses his brain to successfully bring his creation to life: a powerful, stitched together man (Constantin Tripes). Learning to speak and escaping, the Monster vows to get his revenge on Victor for killing his original body. At the same time, Userkara sees a picture of Naihla and believes her to be the reincarnation of the woman who cursed him centuries ago. Quickly finding themselves cornered by the two beasts, Victor and Naihla's only chance is for the two to destroy each other in a fight to the death.

To put it mildly, Frankenstein vs. the Mummy is a bad film. The acting is horrid, the dialogue laughable, the pacing almost nonexistent, and there is certainly not enough pay off concerning the titular battle to warrant the film's lengthy run time (very nearly two hours when there's barely enough material for ninety minutes). Even the most basic of plot points are muddled for no real reason (some scenes suggest that Victor and Naihla have only recently become a couple, while others suggest that they have been together for quite some time). It's not entirely certain if Professor Walton is working for the Mummy of his own volition (and if he is, whether it's out of fear or just being evil) or if he is being mind controlled. The film keeps insisting that Victor is the hero (not just the protagonist, but the hero) of the movie, despite him doing some really deplorable things.

Max Rhyser is abysmal as our lead, Victor Frankenstein. First off, Rhyser does not look old enough to be a doctor or professor of any kind, looking roughly the same age as the students he's teaching. This wouldn't be so bad if he at least did justice to the character, which he does not. At all. He plays the brilliant scientist (here a professor of philosophy) like a frat boy player, with an obnoxious, shit-eating grin plastered across his face throughout his entire performance, even when highly inappropriate for the scene. Of course, this grin is likely his attempt to make up for not being able to emote like a human being in any way. Every time Rhyser has a chance to bring something to the table he fails miserably - The scene where the Monster fails to come to life should have Victor furious at the failure, yet determined to never give up and try again. But instead of that, Rhyser literally collapses to the floor and starts openly sobbing. It's a pathetic scene that even fails to make you feel pity for him. Ashton Leigh as Naihla fares a little better, but not by much. She lays the tour guide smile on a little thick in the first half of the film, but she can at least emote like a normal person, unlike Rhyser. The film is essentially a Frankenstein movie and a Mummy movie happening alongside each other, but whereas Victor is obviously the star of the Frankenstein half, Naihla feels almost shoehorned into the Mummy half, never really doing anything unless she's sharing a scene with Victor. By the time she's suddenly thrust into the role of main heroine in the final act, she hasn't really earned it. And good lord, does this poor girl get abused over the course of the movie, getting beaten, drugged, abducted, nearly raped, and nearly eaten. Clearly, this is not her day. The only other character of any real note, Boomer Tibbs plays the evil (?) Professor Walton, minion of the Mummy. Walton makes for a decent enough sinister old man type, looking like a cross between Peter Cushing and Reverend Kane from Poltergeist II.

As for our two titular titans, one must admit the designs for the Mummy and the Frankenstein Monster are very nice... Well, except for the Monster's hair, which gives him a very stoner dude/surfer dude/Tommy Wiseau type look that almost ruins the entire thing. But the face is really nice, almost resembling a stylized, exaggerated version of Christopher Lee's Creature. The large 'Y' incision on his chest during his shirtless scenes is a nice touch as well. Constantin Tripes plays him decently enough, sounding like Nick Nolte whenever he speaks and making him more full-on evil than the usual dangerous-yet-misunderstood approach. Userkara the Mummy looks rather good as well, a creative blend of the old school bandage-covered Mummy and the rotted corpse look of Arnold Vosloo's Imhotep from the 1999 remake. Of course, one can't help but think of Universal's Imhotep during the Mummy's scenes, as Userkara has essentially the same plot: Using a human minion to help locate a woman who the Mummy believes to be a reincarnation of someone he knew long ago. Unlike Imhotep, though, Userkara never speaks in anything other than ancient Egyptian, nor does he show any supernatural powers like the 1999 version (they presumably didn't have the budget for any). But of course, the reason we're here is the final showdown between the two iconic monsters. And on that end, does Frankenstein vs. the Mummy deliver? The answer is... no. It really doesn't. Nearly two hours of build up, and the big fight is maybe two minutes of the creatures punching each other like normal people before the Monster finishes the Mummy off disappointingly easily.

While not the absolute worst film ever, Frankenstein vs. the Mummy comes pretty close, what with its bad acting, nonexistent plot, and hugely anticlimactic showdown between two of the silver screen’s most iconic monsters (even if they are direct-to-DVD incarnations of them). It’s not even enjoyable in a “so bad, it’s good” kind of way. It has a few (very few) faint sparks of good ideas here and there, but ultimately, nothing in it lives up to the film promised to us by the title.

Rating: ★ ½

Cast: Max Rhyser ... Professor Victor Frankenstein Ashton Leigh ... Professor Naihla Khalil Boomer Tibbs ... Professor Walton Constantin Tripes ... Frankenstein's Monster Brandon deSpain ... Userkara (The Mummy) John Picket ... Carter Robert MacNaughton ... Isaac Stefanie Merola ... Lenora

Director: Damien Leone. Producer: Jesse Baget, Gary Lo Savio (co-producer), Lisandro Novillo (associate producer), Troy Scoughton Sr. (co-producer),  and Neal Seidman. Writer: Damien Leone. Music: Paul Wiley. Special Effects: Damien Leone (special makeup effects artist) and Ian Minshull (visual effects artist).

#sci fi horror adventure #frankenstein vs. the mummy #frankenstein #mummies #2010s

[scifihorroradventure]

FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND (1990)

The year is 2031. Completing his work on a new particle beam weapon for the government, scientist Joe Buchanan (John Hurt) assures that the atmospheric "time slips" appearing in the skies are harmless and totally reversible. Unfortunately, as he returns home that day, a time slip appears above his house and sucks him in, sending him through time and space to Geneva in 1817. As he attempts to piece the situation together, Joe encounters none other than Doctor Victor Frankenstein (Raul Julia). An innocent girl (Catherine Corman) is currently on trial for the death of Victor's brother William, but Joe soon discovers that the culprit is none other than Victor's own Monster (Nick Brimble). Despite Joe's pleading for Victor to come forth with the truth, the girl is executed for the murder. Having met her at the girl's trial, Joe spends time with Mary Shelley (Bridget Fonda), the author of the "Frankenstein" novel, though at this point she has yet to write it. When Victor refuses to give in to the Monster's demands to create a mate for him, the Monster lashes out and kills Victor's fiance Elizabeth (Catherine Rabett). Desperate, Victor forces Joe into helping resurrect her as a second monster. Realizing he has to stop Victor and the Monster before they cause any more harm, Joe uses a newly constructed version of his particle beam to teleport them all into a frozen wasteland of a future. Victor and Elizabeth are killed and Joe hunts the Monster down to finish him once and for all.

A downright bizarre film, Frankenstein Unbound is an oddly captivating experience. Its premise is completely insane and yet somehow it works far better than it has any right to. Based on Brian Aldiss' novel of the same name, Unbound was the first film Roger Corman had directed in nearly twenty years (the last one being Von Richthofen and Brown in 1971). Part of why the film works so well is that, despite all the time travel and dystopian framework, once Joe ends up in 1817, the movie mostly forgets about all that and turns into a pretty decent Frankenstein movie. The relationship between Victor and the Monster is portrayed rather well, with the latter much more humanized than most incarnations. Wisely, the film skips the more well known parts of the Frankenstein story - Victor creating the Monster - picking up well after the Monster has escaped out into the world, allowing the story to venture into new territory right off the bat (or at least new territory for most film adaptations). The movie looks very nice, filmed in some very pretty sets and locations. The special effects in the future at the start of the film are serviceable, most notably the purple space-like time slip that opens and absorbs Joe throughout the movie, which is a really striking visual.

What really makes the film work, though, is its cast. John Hurt makes for a great lead as Joe Buchanan, a well-meaning man who is nonetheless blind to his own creation's side effects, even as giant portals begin to open in the sky. Luckily, Joe proves to be a likeable hero who lets common sense prevail more often than not when he could've easily been a jackass know-it-all type. If there's anything about Joe that could be legitimately complained about, it's that there are times where it doesn't feel like he has very much to do other than stand around and watch the story of Frankenstein unfold around him. This, of course, changes by the explosive finale, where he takes a very active role in things. But while John Hurt may be the hero of the story, Raul Julia steals the show as the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Julia is such an odd casting choice for the doctor, but like the over the top premise of the movie, somehow it just works. Julia's Victor is a clearly unstable man, having reached a peak of frustration and fury with the Monster, not caring for much else. While he views the Monster as a threat that must be destroyed, he otherwise sees nothing wrong with what he's done, even letting innocent Justine hang so that he can be allowed to carry on with his work. By the time Elizabeth is killed, he has completely lost it, vowing to not let her pay for his mistakes even as he turns her into an even more hideous creature than the Monster. Bridget Fonda plays Mary Shelley and honestly doesn't have very much to do. She acts mainly as a love interest for Joe, but all she really accomplishes is muddling the line between fiction and reality for no real reason. This is supposed to be "real life," yet Victor and the Monster actually exist, and nothing is really said about it either way, not even by Joe. Later, Joe shows Mary a completed version of "Frankenstein," but apparently isn't worried about what possible effect this will have on history. While Fonda plays the character well enough, she's an overall strange addition that doesn't really do anything but raise several questions that otherwise wouldn't have been there.

As the titular Monster, Nick Brimble plays the character less like a hulking beast and more as the lost and confused being that he is in the original story, resorting to violence when his anger with Victor reaches its peak - which is frequent. Brimble is far more talkative and coherent than most screen incarnations of the Monster, though he still has trouble comprehending concepts such as what murder truly means, even after killing Victor's brother William. He also can't seem to understand that Victor didn't make everyone else in the world (he asks Victor why he didn't "make William stronger" and later asks Joe if Victor made him or not), which is odd considering the whole "I am all alone and I want you to make me a mate so I can no longer be alone" thing. While not one of the most iconic incarnations of the Frankenstein Monster, Brimble makes for a good one, his stretched out face prostheses effectively grotesque yet striking in a way completely different from the traditional look most people associate the Monster with. If there's one oddity about the Monster's role in the film, it's not because of Brimble, but rather the film itself. Throughout the film, the Monster is portrayed as an admittedly violent, but still ultimately sympathetic, misunderstood, and tragic character, as he usually is. Which is why it's so disturbing when the film goes full on Jason Voorhees on him during the climactic fight with Joe in the futuristic laboratory. We have to watch him get shot multiple times, impaled, his arm torn off, and then finally slowly, slowly burned to death, screaming in agony and confusion all the while. Yes, the Monster had to be dealt with by the end of the film, but the way they went about it was just so drawn out and needlessly cruel, it's rather uncomfortable to watch.

Upon first glance, one might be inclined to dismiss Frankenstein Unbound. Roger Corman's involvement, the initially odd casting of Raul Julia, the futuristic, dystopian, and time travel elements, when all rolled together, might make one think that this will be a bad, over the top film that does no justice to the Frankenstein story. And while it certainly is over the top and cheesy, it's done in such a serious manner that one can't help but find themselves drawn in by it. At the very least, the performances by the cast alone make this movie worth a watch.

Rating: ★★★★

Cast: John Hurt ... Dr. Joe Buchanan Raul Julia ... Dr. Victor Frankenstein Nick Brimble ... The Monster Bridget Fonda ... Mary Shelley Catherine Rabett ... Elizabeth Terri Treas ... Computer Voice Jason Patric ... Lord Byron Michael Hutchence ... Percy Shelley Catherine Corman ... Justine Moritz

Director: Roger Corman. Producer: Jay Cassidy (associate producer), Roger Corman, Kobi Jaeger, Laura J. Medina (associate producer), and Thom Mount. Writer: Brian Aldiss (original "Frankenstein Unbound" novel), Roger Corman (screenplay), F.X. Feeney (screenplay), and Mary Shelley (original "Frankenstein" novel). Music: Carl Davis. Special Effects: Nick Dudman (special makeup effects), Suzy Evans (prosthetic makeup assistant), Suzanne Reynolds (prosthetic makeup), Renato Agostini (set special effects), Reza Karim (foam latex supervisor), Betzy Bromberg (optical supervisor), Syd Dutton (matte artist), Bruno George (optical effects), Rhonda C. Gunner (computer animation and displays), Richard E. Hollander (computer animation and displays), John Huneck (visual effects camera), Adam Kowalski (special rigging), Lynn Ledgerwood (special engineering), Gregory L. McMurry (computer animation and displays), Bret Mixon (rotoscoping supervisor), Gary Rhodaback (modelmaker), Mark Sawicki (matte photography), Robert Stromberg (matte artist), Catherine Sudolcan (production manager: visual effects), Bill Taylor (visual effects camera), Gene Warren Jr. (visual effects supervisor), Christopher Warren (visual effects assistant), John C. Wash (computer animation and displays), and David S. Williams Jr. (optical effects).

#sci fi horror adventure #frankenstein unbound #roger corman #frankenstein #mad scientists #time travel #1990s

[scifihorroradventure]

FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD (1965)

At the tail end of World War II, the heart of the Frankenstein Monster is smuggled out of Germany by the Nazis. Taken to Japan in order to be studied, its experimentation is cut short by the bombing of Hiroshima. Several years later, scientists Dr. Bowen (Nick Adams), Sueko (Kumi Mizuno), and Kawaji (Tadao Takashima) work night and day in their clinic, tending to patients dying from radiation sickness. Sueko and Bowen encounter a young boy (Kenichiro Kawaji) desperate for food, even killing animals for it, and soon bring him to their clinic for further study. At the same time, a large, ravenous reptile known as Baragon surfaces from deep within the earth, devouring humans every chance it gets. A discussion with a German scientist convinces Kawaji that the boy is in fact the reincarnation of the Frankenstein Monster, only for an episode with some overzealous reporters resulting in the boy - now an immense size - escaping the clinic. Unfortunately, as Baragon eats more and more people, his carnage is blamed on Frankenstein. As Bowen, Sueko, and Kawaji try to convince the military that Frankenstein is innocent, the two monsters unknowingly head for a final showdown.

The second of Toho's collaborations with American producer Henry G. Saperstein, Frankenstein Conquers the World answers the question "What if the Frankenstein Monster got mutated into an even bigger monster?" The film opens with a great sequence set during World War II. This opening bit has some really nice atmosphere that sadly isn't carried over throughout the rest of the film. What's interesting is that this opening and some of the later dialogue ("Frankenstein was actually murdered many times...") suggest that this could loosely (very loosely) follow the Universal films. Eiji Tsuburaya's special effects are top notch, as always, and Akira Ifukube provides yet another memorable score (some of which was later reused for Godzilla vs. Gigan). Of course, one interesting bit of trivia concerning this film is that it was initially planned to be a far different movie. Instead of simply being a Frankenstein film with another monster for him to defeat and save the day from, the movie was originally going to continue the tradition started by King Kong vs. Godzilla and pit the immortal Monster against the King of the Monsters himself! At this point, however, Godzilla had already begun his transition from villain to hero with Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster and Monster Zero, and thus his role as the antagonist that Frankenstein must overcome no longer made any sense, thus necessitating the creation of Baragon. Portrayed by Toho suitmation veteran Haruo Nakajima, Baragon is a fun monster to watch, his large, frill-like ears flopping about as he leaves a trail of carnage in his wake. Unlike Godzilla, Rodan, Varan, and other previous giant monsters, Baragon isn't given a backstory or origin to tell us where he came from, he's just a huge prehistoric reptile that shows up one day, using his fiery heat ray to help blast away rock and earth as he tunnels around Japan. Baragon would prove to be an extremely popular creation of Toho's, returning in Destroy All Monsters and, decades later, Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.

But of course, the star of the show is Frankenstein. Portrayed mainly by Koji Furuhata, this incarnation of the Monster is a different sort of kaiju for Toho, an oversized man rather than a giant reptile or insect. As a portrayal of Mary Shelley's famous creation, Toho's Frankenstein Monster is - while ultimately effective - a mixed bag. While Eiji Tsuburaya faithfully recreates Jack Pierce's iconic raised forehead, Furuhata is a noticeably thin man, resulting in a rather scrawny Frankenstein. Honestly, there are times where one may forget this is intended to be the Frankenstein Monster and not just some giant caveman type being. That being said, Furuhata plays Frankenstein well, eliciting just the right amount of sympathy while still keeping the Monster very much a threat. Unfortunately, Frankenstein turns out to be too much of a threat by the time he fights Baragon. Instead of the heroic Frankenstein struggling to overcome and defeat the vicious, man eating monstrosity, he quickly begins to overpower and out think Baragon from the very beginning until he finally kills him. While yes, Frankenstein has always been known as a very strong character, there's nothing tense or rewarding about watching the hero effortlessly beat the tar out of the villain for fifteen minutes, making for an admittedly entertaining, though not entirely satisfying final battle. Oddly, Frankenstein has a notable lack of an exact origin in this film. While he clearly comes from the heart of the Monster at the start of the movie, it's never really said if the creature we follow throughout the film is an entirely new body generated by the heart, or if he is a starving street urchin having been mutated by eating it, or what. It ultimately doesn't affect the film, but it's strange when the character is usually so specific in its science and origins ("We dug up body parts, then sewed them together, then gave it a brain, then used lightning to bring it to life, then gave it a new brain, etc." vs. "It was the heart somehow maybe").

For the cast, the winning duo of Nick Adams and Kumi Mizuno return as the leads. And while Glenn and Miss Namikawa are clearly the more iconic couple played by the two (and rightfully so), their chemistry really shines here as the two are allowed to play more of a traditional couple as opposed to literally star crossed lovers who don't even share too many scenes together. The two have some really nice moments together, especially the dinners they have in each other's native culture. It's a nice little touch that one might not even notice at first. It's also nice that, unlike most other scientists in Frankenstein movies, Dr. Bowen never goes crazy and tries to use Frankenstein for his own ends. That honor, kind of, goes to Tadao Takashima as Dr. Kawaji. Kawaji is vastly uneven compared to Bowen and Sueko, at first insisting that Frankenstein is just as human as the next person, deserving better than being held in a zoo and being treated like a science experiment. But then, when discussing the Monster's origins with Dr. Liesendorf (a delightfully over the top Peter Mann, whose dub voice sounds like Kenneth Mars in Young Frankenstein), he quickly decides that the boy should be immediately hacked apart and studied. Kawaji later eases up on this train of thought, only to then decide that he should be the one to kill Frankenstein by throwing bombs into his eyes! Going from one to the other would be one thing, but the continuous back and forth is a little ridiculous. Also odd is the fact that Kawaji survives the film, when any other Frankenstein movie would have killed him off.

The film is also known for its original, unused ending, in which Frankenstein encounters Toho's infamous Giant Octopus after slaying Baragon. The Octopus attacks Frankenstein, who does well at first, only to become ensnared by the animal's tentacles, then dragged into a nearby lake, where he drowns and is presumably eaten. It's a fun enough scene, but comes completely out of left field, as the Octopus had clearly not been foreshadowed in any way prior to it simply popping up in the middle of the mountains.

Frankenstein would be the last American creation to receive his own Toho film, but he nevertheless left a strong mark on Toho's legacy which continues to be felt to this day, even more so than King Kong. As previously mentioned, Baragon would go on to become one of the more popular characters within the Godzilla franchise, while the semi-sequel to this film, War of the Gargantuas, remains one of Toho's most popular kaiju films to date, especially among their non-Godzilla films.

Rating: ★★★ ½

Cast: Nick Adams ... Dr. James Bowen Kumi Mizuno ... Dr. Sueko Togami Tadao Takashima ... Dr. Yuzo Kawaji Yoshio Tsuchiya ... Kawai Peter Mann ... Dr. Liesendorf Jun Tazaki ... Military Advisor Takashi Shimura ... Axis Scientist Koji Furuhata ... Frankenstein Kenichiro Kawaji ... Frankenstein (Juvenile) Haruo Nakajima ... Baragon (uncredited)

A.K.A.: Frankenstein vs. Baragon. Director: Ishiro Honda. Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Reuben Bercovitch (executive producer), Henry G. Saperstein (executive producer), Samuel Arkoff (executive producer), and James H. Nicholson (executive producer). Writer: Takeshi Kimura, Reuben Bercovitch, Jerry Sohl, and Mary Shelley (original "Frankenstein" novel). Music: Akira Ifukube. Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya (director), Teruyoshi Nakano (assistant director), Fumio Nakadai (scene manipulation), Akira Watanabe (art director), Sadamasa Arikawa (director of photography), Sadao Iizuda (optical photography), Kuichiro Kishida (lighting), Yukio Manoda (optical photographer), and Sokei Tomioka (director of photography).

#sci fi horror adventure #frankenstein conquers the world #frankenstein vs. baragon #frankenstein #toho #ishiro honda #kaiju #giant monsters #1960s

[scifihorroradventure]

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957)

A priest (Alex Gallier) visits Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) in prison as he awaits execution. Desperate for someone to believe him, Victor begins to tell him the tale of the events that led to his imprisonment. As a young boy, Victor inherited the Frankenstein fortune and estate, becoming the Baron after his father's death. He hired Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) to be his tutor, and the two became fast friends. Over the years, they sought out new knowledge, eventually discovering the secret to life itself. But while Paul was content with resurrecting a dead dog, Victor thirsted for more, declaring that instead of returning life, he would forge an entirely new body out of various parts and create it instead! Though Paul was first attracted to the idea, the gravity of the situation quickly struck and he tried to dissuade Victor from his plans for his own sake, while at the same time trying to protect Victor's fiance Elizabeth (Hazel Court) from the truth. Victor killed Professor Bernstein (Paul Hardtmuth) in order to use his brain for his creation, though the brain became damaged thanks to Paul’s interference. Despite this, Victor finished work on his creation, but the resulting Creature (Christopher Lee) was mindless and violent, escaping out into the woods and killing an old man (Fred Johnson) and his grandson (Claude Kingston). Victor and Paul killed the Creature but unbeknownst to Paul, Victor revived it, keeping it deep within his lab and using it to kill his maid Justine (Valerie Gaunt) when she threatened to expose his work. Shortly before Victor and Elizabeth were to be married, the Creature escaped again, menacing Elizabeth before Victor killed his creation once and for all. His tale finished, Victor is visited by Paul one last time before heading to the gallows for his crimes.

The Curse of Frankenstein was the first of Hammer Film Productions' Gothic period piece horror films, getting the franchise off to a good, though slightly shaky start. Loosely based on Mary Shelley's original novel, it is a much slower, more character-driven interpretation of the story than Universal's Frankenstein, which focused more on the horror aspects. Not to suggest that Curse has no horror of its own - Christopher Lee's Frankenstein Monster (or "the Creature," rather) is a harrowing looking beast, with sickly pale skin, dead eyes, and more stitches than Universal's Monster would know what to do with. Lee plays the Creature as more of an instinctual, feral creature, which honestly probably makes more sense, especially with a damaged brain. Sadly, he doesn't get to do very much, and by the time he does start to go on his climactic rampage, he's killed by Victor almost immediately. Also, once the entire story has been told and the movie ends, it's not entirely clear why Victor is in prison, let alone about to be executed. Yes, he's responsible for the deaths of Justine, the old man, and the little boy, but there's no way for the authorities to know that. Quite some time passes between Justine's death and the rest of the movie - certainly Victor had disposed of her body by then (likely in the acid bath), and there's no real way to pin the old man and grandson on him (assuming their deaths were even known about), so while he may deserve the sentence, the fact that he even has it is questionable. Justine (played by Valerie Gaunt), meanwhile, ultimately feels like a waste. She’s set up as the treacherous maid having an affair with Victor, but then does absolutely nothing for the rest of the film until she foolishly decides to blackmail him near the end. She’s pretty to look at, but essentially only there so the Creature has someone resembling a main character to kill.

The star of the show, Peter Cushing plays the infamous Baron Frankenstein, turning in a rather interesting take on the character. This Frankenstein is no doctor, merely interested in the sciences as a way to increase his own genius. He starts off resurrecting a previously deceased dog, and when he succeeds at that, he simply wants to take the experiment to its next logical step: human beings. Despite the insanity of his experiments, Cushing plays Victor as a calm, logical man, a sharp contrast to Colin Clive's openly unhinged Henry Frankenstein from the Universal films. Very rarely does Victor lose his cool or raise his voice, doing so only when somebody threatens his work. Of course, despite his cool demeanor, he's not afraid to get his hands dirty, turning people into bodies and then hacking them apart for use in his creation. Cushing would later consider Victor his most popular role, and he would go on to play him again five more times.

Finally, we come to Paul. Played by Robert Urquhart, Paul is undoubtedly the most problematic element of the film. Initially, he is right alongside Victor in the thirst for knowledge and the quest to create life itself, but he soon changes his tune and then does nothing but complain for the rest of the film. Yes, the movie clearly intends for Paul to be a conscientious objector, the moral compass for the audience to identify with as he tries to convince Victor to cease his experiments... The only problem is that he instead comes off as nothing but a whining wet blanket, with both him and the film itself ignoring the fact that it had to have been him who set Victor down this path. After all, Paul was his tutor, who taught him everything he knew, and Victor clearly had no interest in playing God beforehand. Certainly, Paul could have second thoughts upon realizing the gravity of the situation, but the execution is severely lacking, and Paul instead comes off as a petulant child throwing a tantrum. Instead of trying to appeal to Victor in any real meaningful way, countless scenes end with Paul essentially saying, "This is crazy and I don't like it," and then huffing and stomping out of the room. It's also Paul's fault that the brain Victor had planned for the Creature is damaged, potentially making him responsible for the deaths the monster caused. And lastly, when he visits Victor in jail at the end of the film, he literally does nothing to help him, showing up, watching Victor desperately beg for his life, and then leaving. Now, if Paul believed Victor deserved execution for what he'd done, that would be understandable, but then why even go to the prison at all and taunt him with a moment of false hope at the eleventh hour? Paul is supposed to be the sane man of the two - the hero, even - but he just comes off as an indecisive ass who tries to have things both ways and he ultimately bogs the film down.

Though it faced a series of obstacles behind the scenes that made its creation difficult (including a too short script, concerns over the level of gore, and a potential lawsuit from Universal over similarities between this and Son of Frankenstein), The Curse of Frankenstein nevertheless gave birth to "Hammer Horror," the only real franchise capable of rivaling Universal's iconic monster movies. The film paved the way for multiple sequels starring Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein, as well as other films by Hammer involving Dracula and the Mummy.

Rating: ★★★ ½

Cast: Peter Cushing ... Baron Victor Frankenstein Robert Urquhart ... Paul Krempe Hazel Court ... Elizabeth Christopher Lee ... The Creature Valerie Gaunt ... Justine Paul Hardtmuth ... Professor Bernstein Fred Johnson ... Grandpa Claude Kingston ... Little Boy Alex Gallier ... Priest Melvyn Hayes ... Young Victor

Director: Terence Fisher. Producer: Michael Carreras (executive producer), Anthony Hinds, Anthony Nelson Keys (associate producer), and Max Rosenberg (uncredited). Writer: Jimmy Sangster (screenplay) and Mary Shelley (original "Frankenstein" novel). Music: James Bernard. Special Effects: Les Bowie (uncredited matte painter).

#sci fi horror adventure #the curse of frankenstein #peter cushing #frankenstein #hammer horror #mad scientists #1950s

[scifihorroradventure]

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939)

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone), son of Henry Frankenstein, returns to his home town along with his wife Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and son Peter (Donnie Dunagan), a fact which understandably upsets the citizens of the nearby village. As the family moves into the old Frankenstein castle, Wolf is given old research papers from his father. Visiting his father's old laboratory after its destruction at the hands of the Monster, Wolf encounters the deformed Ygor (Bela Lugosi), a murderous criminal who hates those in the village who tried to have him hanged. But Ygor is not alone, as he reveals to Wolf the still-living body of the Frankenstein Monster (Boris Karloff)! Though initially taken aback Wolf is eventually talked into rebuilding the laboratory and bringing the Monster back to full health by Ygor. But once this is done, Ygor merely uses the Monster to exact his revenge on his would-be executors. Angered by more death in their village, the citizens storm Castle Frankenstein, demanding justice, even as Wolf attempts to put an end to Ygor and the Monster's rampage...

After such classics as Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein is unfortunately a disjointed, nearly boring mess. The first in the series to not have James Whale and Carl Laemmle Jr. involved, Rowland Lee takes over both of their positions, while Wyllis Cooper handles the writing alone, as opposed to the previous films' teams. Unfortunately, this new duo does not prove to be to the movie's benefit, as basic story elements and character motivations either make no sense or take far too long to happen. Wolf von Frankenstein returns to his family's castle outside of... Frankenstein (apparently Cooper was unaware or had forgotten that the village's name had been Goldstadt in both previous films) and at first tries to make amends between his family and the villagers, but then later quickly laughs off their fearful history with his father and the Monster. The men who convicted Ygor and sent him to the hangman's noose start showing up dead, but instead of suspecting Ygor seeking revenge, the people of the village immediately blame Wolf. There are several scenes of Wolf and Inspector Krogh discussing the villagers and their distrust of the Frankenstein name and legacy, which make for nice character moments but ultimately feel very repetitive and mostly unnecessary. It is said that much of the script was written on the fly, just before shooting the respective scene, and it sadly shows. There's also the oddity that we are often shown the massive sets (especially in Castle Frankenstein) in wide, far away shots... revealing that the sets haven't been furnished at all, showing us huge, empty walls. While this obviously doesn't affect the story, it's still strange to see such enormous sets without any furniture or paintings or anything to communicate "people live here." Wolf and Elsa sit at their dinner table with nothing around them at all, and on the rare occasion we do see a properly furnished set (the library, Peter's room), we don't spend very much time there.

Basil Rathbone, best known as Sherlock Holmes, plays Wolf von Frankenstein, the son of the infamous doctor from the first two films. Sadly, the Baron is as uneven as the rest of the film. Rathbone plays him very well, appropriately nervous and eccentric, but nothing he does makes any sense. He has no interest in continuing Henry's work, but is talked into reviving the Monster by Ygor stupidly easily. His motivation essentially boils down to:

Wolf: "I don't want to make a monster or continue my father's work!" Ygor: "Yes you do." Wolf: "Yeah, you're right."

Honestly, even Frederick needed more convincing in Young Frankenstein. Just why Wolf allows Ygor to push him around is never explained, either. Perhaps if Ygor had something to blackmail him with (maybe Wolf had been keeping his identity as a Frankenstein secret and Ygor threatened to tell the town) it could've worked, but as it is, it just sort of... happens, with the brilliant, mostly respected scientist listening to the creepy deformed criminal for no real reason. Yes, Wolf wants to prove to the world that his father wasn’t an evil madman, but following the instructions of an unhinged killer is likely not the best way to go about it. Ygor doesn't even entice him into it, as Dr. Pretorius had done with Henry in Bride of Frankenstein. With Ygor, Bela Lugosi finds his most iconic role, second only to Count Dracula himself. A bizzare, graverobbing outcast, the people of Frankenstein/Goldstadt had attempted to execute Ygor for his crimes, only for the hanging to fail and leave him deformed (the moment where he knocks on the bone in his neck is effectively unsettling). As Ygor, Lugosi is perfectly creepy and bitter, having come to use the Monster as his weapon to exact revenge on those who had attempted to kill him. He's a great villain and Lugosi definitely deserves the praise he received for the role.

If there's one complaint to be had about Ygor, it's that he's such a well done villain and takes up such a large part of the movie that the Frankenstein Monster himself feels rather shoehorned in and almost unnecessary in his own film. Boris Karloff was jealous of the praise Bela Lugosi received as he himself got very little, but honestly, it's not hard to see why. It takes forever for the Monster to finally appear and when he does, for the most part he's either sleeping or standing there staring at Wolf and Ygor. Karloff does have a few brilliant moments - The first real scene with the Monster, where he first encounters Wolf and stares at himself in the mirror, seemingly confused and saddened by being alive once again, is a great sequence. But bits like this are way too few and far between. For some reason, the Monster is mute again, with his ability to speak completely ignored or forgotten. Wolf mentions that the Monster is not "well in the head," but this is never expounded upon. Does the Monster have amnesia, thus forgetting his time with Henry, the Bride, and learning to speak? Or does he remember everything, but suffered an injury to the head in the destruction of the laboratory that renders him no longer able to speak, unable to vocalize his misery at having failed to die in the last movie? Thanks to the shoddy writing, we will never know. Equally strange is the lack of any resolution as to what happened to the Bride of Frankenstein and why the Monster survived while she did not, despite most of the monster action happening in the same laboratory as Bride and the fact that, theoretically, she should be just as powerful as he is. And while Jack Pierce's prosthetic makeup looks as good as ever, the decision to cover the Monster in a fur poncho is an odd one, giving him the look of an "expensive head, cheap body" type monster, such as Ro-Man from Robot Monster.

While not necessarily a bad film, Son of Frankenstein is incredibly lackluster compared to its predecessors, though it did leave its own mark on the Frankenstein franchise and horror as a whole. Over the years, the character of Ygor would become blurred and often combined with Fritz from the original Frankenstein, becoming a hybrid, often Peter Lorre-sounding hunchbacked Ygor that never really existed. This would also mark the last time Boris Karloff would play the iconic role, leaving Lon Chaney Jr. to pick up the bolts and stitches in The Ghost of Frankenstein three years later.

Rating: ★★ ½

Cast: Basil Rathbone ... Baron Wolf von Frankenstein Bela Lugosi ... Ygor Lionel Atwill ... Inspector Krogh Boris Karloff ... The Frankenstein Monster Josephine Hutchinson ... Elsa von Frankenstein Edgar Norton ... Thomas Benson Emma Dunn ... Amelia Donnie Dunagan ... Peter von Frankenstein

Director: Rowland V. Lee. Producer: Rowland V. Lee. Writer: Wyllis Cooper (screenplay) and Mary Shelley (original "Frankenstein" novel). Music: Frank Skinner. Special Effects: John P. Fulton (uncredited) and Jack P. Pierce (uncredited makeup artist).

#sci fi horror adventure #son of frankenstein #universal #frankenstein #boris karloff #bela lugosi #mad scientists #1930s #black and white

[scifihorroradventure]

This year, I thought I would do something a little different for October, the official month of monsters and horror. Something I’d mentioned before but never got around to. And so, in celebration of this blog's third Halloween, I bring you Sci-Fi Horror Adventure's first themed month...

Frankenstein Month!

#sci fi horror adventure #frankenstein month #frankenstein #halloween #horror

[scifihorroradventure]

IT (1990)

In the small town of Derry, Maine, an ancient evil makes its presence known, slaughtering multiple children. Recognizing the pattern, Mike (Tim Reid) calls his old childhood friends Bill (Richard Thomas), Ben (John Ritter), Beverly (Annette O'Toole), Richie (Harry Anderson), Eddie (Dennis Christopher), and Stanley (Richard Masur) and tells them that "it" has returned. Though glad to hear from him again, they are terrified of the memories that come flooding back to them, as together they all faced the same evil when they were children - A murderous clown known as Pennywise (Tim Curry). The group eventually conquered their fears and defeated the beast, sending it into a deep slumber, but their fears quickly resurface when faced with the prospect of dealing with Pennywise once again. Reuniting in Derry, the adult Losers Club prepare to defeat Pennywise once and for all, even as the clown preys upon every fear they've ever had...

A two part television adaptation of Stephen King's famous novel, It definitely has its heart in the right place, but is unfortunately besieged by a series of problems. One of the biggest of these becomes almost immediately apparent in the first few attack scenes involving the girl on the tricycle and the flashback with Georgie - The movie can't show anything. Each time Pennywise attacks anyone in this movie, he either only sticks around long enough to give them a quick scare, or the aftermath of his attack is never shown. As such, despite how fearsome the clown is supposed to be, he never really accomplishes anything, making him seem scary, yet ultimately ineffective at... anything, really. Yes, this was intended for television and not a theatrical release, thus they could not show carnage one might expect to see on the silver screen, but this was still a feature length film adaptation of a Stephen King novel intended for adults, and the movie fails to show a level of 'gore' one might expect to see on detective shows of the time like Columbo or Murder, She Wrote. Frankly, when Henry Bowers gets stabbed near the end of the movie, it's almost out of place in this otherwise non-violent film. It's almost enough to ask the question "If they couldn't do It justice, why bother?"

The second largest problem is that the adult sections of the film are massively uneventful and almost feel like filler. It takes forever for the adult Losers Club to finally reunite, and when they do they spend an incredible amount of time just sitting around, either worrying about Pennywise or remembering about when they used to worry about Pennywise as children but never actually doing anything, despite destroying Pennywise being the entire reason they returned to Derry! It’s also odd that, while understandable that they would be creeped out at the prospect of fighting Pennywise again (who wants to fight an evil alien demon clown twice?), no one brings up the train of thought “We beat him as kids, why should we be worried now?” There's also the head scratcher that they all came to destroy Pennywise once and for all but didn't actually bring anything to help get the job done (a fact that the movie brings up via Richie and then immediately ignores). Now, as children, this makes total sense - things like slingshots would be the only thing they have access to. But as adults? They should have been packing guns, hunting knives, swords, axes, machetes, bows and arrows, crossbows, or hell, even baseball bats! Instead, all they bring is Beverly's old slingshot and Eddie's inhaler. Literally over half of the Losers Club didn't even bring weapons of any kind. Aside from this, the movie also suffers from being unable to decide what to adapt and what to leave out from King's novel - The flashback sequences feel like they're being rushed so the film can return to modern day, while the modern day scenes feel like they're being rushed so the film can begin the next flashback. It's this odd rushing of scenes that result in several pivotal plot points like the kids realizing what Pennywise truly is, and even their ultimate (childhood) showdown with him in the sewers, being hurried to and then being done with before they've barely even begun. Meanwhile, sequences like Ben's family troubles, Bill and Mike messing around on Bill's old bicycle, and adult Ben watching a child being attacked by bullies (and not helping) are given ample screen time. Amazingly, despite the film being over three hours long, it feels incredibly rushed and disjointed.

Overall, the cast is serviceable. The kids do alright, in particular Jonathan Brandis and a young Seth Green as Bill and Richie, though Eddie (Adam Faraizl) and Stan (Ben Heller) never really get a chance to shine over the others at any point. Jarred Blancard as the young Henry Bowers does well, effectively portraying an incredibly nasty young man (though thanks to this being television, he never does anything too nasty). As far as the adult cast goes, they almost all have odd, even awkward introductions, such as Beverly being stuck in an abusive, 50 Shades-esque relationship, or Ben trying to turn his date on by discussing how fat he used to be as a child. Richard Thomas as Bill is a decent, if slightly bland lead, responsible for a couple meta Stephen King in-jokes which are funny at first but then just become annoying by the end. Despite having interesting characters, John Ritter and Annette O'Toole just feel kinda there as Ben and Beverly. Harry Anderson as Richie probably shows the most personality out of the adults, while Richard Masur as Stanley doesn't even get to do anything before he's killed off. Tim Reid's Mike seems like he's going to be a major player in the story, as he is responsible for recognizing that Pennywise has returned and summoning the rest of the Losers Club, but is injured and removed from the story not too long before the climax, while Dennis Christopher's Eddie is killed off almost as an afterthought. Ultimately, the actors are good, but none of them really have any interesting material to work with, resulting in most of the scenes being rather boring to watch.

Of course, the one thing this film is often remembered and praised for is Tim Curry's iconic performance as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. And honestly, this is one aspect where the film really does shine. As Pennywise, Curry exudes an air of utter menace and malice while also retaining plenty of clown-like playfulness. There are a few instances where he threatens to go overboard with the silliness (such as when he taunts adult Richie in the library), but they never cross the line. Pennywise's scenes are the only time where the movie actually starts to become creepy, but unfortunately he is never on screen long enough for the atmosphere to take full effect. And lastly, while the unveiling of Pennywise's true form was necessary for the climax of the story, it does suffer from a total lack of Tim Curry during the encounter, and while the Spider's design is decent, the puppet's movement is laughably stiff and it features amusingly large, Cookie Monster-like eyes that are focused on very clearly in a few shots. If only they had been able to find a way to work Curry into the monster's final scene, even just his voice. On the plus side, though, the effect of the shimmering light traveling through the sewers as Pennywise attacks and devours Belch is effectively unsettling, a rare case of keeping the monster off screen done right.

While the cast and crew give it their all, It ultimately falls short of what was required to bring Stephen King's novel to the big (or even small) screen, with director Tommy Lee Wallace and various members of the cast echoing these sentiments for a variety of reasons. While the film can be scary for younger viewers, it can be tedious and boring to older audiences, which would be bad enough if this were a regular length movie, but with the monstrous run time of 192 minutes (187 on the DVD), it can be a Herculean task to get through at times. Of course, one must watch this at least once if for no other reason than Tim Curry's amazing performance as Pennywise, but after that I can't honestly recommend watching this again for at least another twenty seven years.

Rating: ★★★

Cast: Tim Curry ... Pennywise the Dancing Clown Richard Thomas ... Bill Denbrough Jonathan Brandis ... Bill Denbrough (Age 12) Tim Reid ... Mike Hanlon Marlon Taylor ... Mike Hanlon (Age 12) Annette O'Toole ... Beverly Marsh Emily Perkins ... Beverly Marsh (Age 12) John Ritter ... Ben Hanscom Brandon Crane ... Ben Hanscom (Age 12) Harry Anderson ... Richie Tozier Seth Green ... Richie Tozier (Age 12) Dennis Christopher ... Eddie Kaspbrak Adam Faraizl ... Eddie Kaspbrak (Age 12) Richard Masur ... Stanley Uris Ben Heller ... Stanley Uris (Age 12) Michael Cole ... Henry Bowers Jarred Blancard ... Henry Bowers (Age 14) Olivia Hussey ... Audra Denbrough Tony Dakota ... Georgie Denbrough Chris Eastman ... Belch

Director: Tommy Lee Wallace. Producer: Mark Bacino (associate producer), Allen S. Epstein (executive producer), Jim Green (executive producer), and Matthew O'Connor (supervising producer). Writer: Tommy Lee Wallace (teleplay), Lawrence D. Cohen (teleplay), and Stephen King (original novel). Music: Richard Bellis. Special Effects: John Thomas (coordinator), John Deall (uncredited crew), Tony Lazarowich (uncredited assistant), Bob Comer (uncredited animatronics), Gene Warren Jr. (special visual effects supervisor: Fantasy II), David Emerson (uncredited optical camera), Michael Joyce (uncredited model shop supervisor), Bret Mixon (uncredited roto supervisor), and Tim Scannell (uncredited rotoscope artist and camera operator).

#sci fi horror adventure #it #stephen king's it #stephen king #pennywise #clowns #monsters #1990s

[scifihorroradventure]

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (2007)

When couple Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) start experiencing strange paranormal phenomena in their house, the latter buys a camera to help document the events. Katie brings in psychic Dr. Fredrichs (Mark Fredrichs) to advise them on the matter, sharing her history of being followed by some type of entity her entire life in the process. Dr. Fredrichs tells them not to antagonize or attempt communication with the ghost, but despite his warnings, Micah does exactly that on multiple occasions. The disturbances grow increasingly worse until the ghost stops playing games and makes one final attempt to claim the terrified Katie...

The biggest "found footage" movie since The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity should be a truly frightening tale about a couple at the mercy of a violent specter, but unfortunately, the finished film is anything but. While the concept is good, nothing is really done with it for a majority of the film. As such, while the cast (all two of them) are decent enough, they don't really have much to do other than react in fear at a door moving or a noise in another room. At no point is actually doing something about the haunting, or leaving the house, or kicking Micah out, ever discussed, and if it is, it's given an unconvincing write off like "That won't work." By the time something finally does happen - Katie's leg getting pulled out of bed near the end of the film - while effective, it's far too little too late. And as the film is going for a more 'realistic' approach, the ghost haunting the couple is never seen aside from a brief shadow on the bedroom door.

While they don't have much to do, Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat do a serviceable job as... Katie and Micah (apparently they didn't have the budget for character names). Katie easily comes across as the better of the two, portraying a poor woman who has been plagued by this demonic entity since childhood. You honestly feel sorry for her as she grows more and more frightened... Until she isn't. Micah, however, comes across as nothing but an utter douchebag, a total jackass who instead of comforting his girlfriend in her desperate time of need, mocks her, antagonizes her, and literally does everything he can to make the haunting worse, because he thinks it's amusing. While he has a point when he says Katie should have told him about the haunting earlier in their relationship, it's because of Micah that the film ends the way it does, and it's hard to understand why Katie would've stayed with him for more than a couple of dates. Also, it’s a little strange that he so openly mocks Dr. Fredrichs when he comes to meet with them - He believes in ghosts, but thinks psychics are nonsense? Mark Fredrichs as the previously mentioned psychic consultant of the same name doesn’t really stand out in his initial appearance, but provides a good laugh when he is called back later on in the film, realizing how bad the haunting has become and quickly fleeing the house. Amber Armstrong, as Katie's friend Amber... exists.

The film ends with an almost silly 'monster movie' jump scare that doesn’t really fit the movie, but the DVD features an alternate ending that actually works much better. Not only is it far more appropriate for the overall tone of the film but it also utilizes the butcher knife that Micah introduces rather blatantly at the start of the movie. Despite the drawn out, anticlimactic nature of the film, Paranormal Activity did well enough at the box office to generate a series of five sequels, ending with Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.

Rating: ★★

Cast: Katie Featherston ... Katie Micah Sloat ... Micah Mark Fredrichs ... Dr. Fredrichs Amber Armstrong ... Amber

Director: Oren Peli. Producer: Jason Blum, Oren Peli, Steven Schneider (executive producer), Jeanette Brill (line producer: additional photography, uncredited), Rick Osako (line producer: additional photography, uncredited), and Amir Zbeda (associate producer, uncredited). Writer: Oren Peli. Special Effects: Craig Jensen (utility stunts, uncredited).

#sci fi horror adventure #paranormal activity #ghosts #haunted houses #found footage #2000s

[scifihorroradventure]

VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS (1961)

Moments before they are about to engage in a duel to the death over a woman, Hector (Cesare Danova) and Michael (Sean McClory) find themselves struck by a comet and swept away to a prehistoric world, filled with gigantic predatory animals and savage man-like creatures. Putting aside their differences in order to survive, the two of them traverse the land and discover a pair of tribes of more human-like, comparatively civilized people. Becoming separated by an attacking mammoth, Hector and Michael each end up at a different tribe, gaining their trust as well as the affections of one of their women. Unfortunately, all is not well as a nearby volcano erupts, threatening both tribes and forcing them all to work together. Once the immediate danger has passed, a group of giant reptiles disturbed by the eruption begin to menace Michael's tribe, bringing the two even closer together as they unite against the beasts. With both tribes now on friendly terms, Hector and Michael begin to plan for their eventual return home.

Loosely based on Jules Vernes' story "Off on a Comet," Valley of the Dragons is a highly entertaining film, though likely not for the reasons the filmmakers intended. While the movie starts off well enough (though it does feature some clunky Twilight Zone-style narration as if worried that the audience might not be able to piece the story together themselves), as soon as Hector and Michael begin to explore their new prehistoric surroundings, things quickly go awry. The first ancient creature we see is not a brand new creation for this film (not even an inept one), but rather stock footage. And not stock footage of a nondescript, generic dinosaur either, but of Rodan, from the Toho film of the same name! Unfortunately, this is the movie's biggest problem: Its special effects are all taken from other films. It's not just Rodan, but King Dinosaur, One Million B.C., and Cat-Women of the Moon are all pillaged to create effects sequences for this movie. And when you're not having fun recognizing the unmistakable stock footage used from other films, you're cringing at the blatant animal abuse as you watch a monitor lizard get literally tossed at an alligator-turned-slurpasaur and see the two tear into each other. And then there's the shot of the not-too-bad-looking woolly mammoths hanging out next to... giant armadillos. Finally, the catastrophic eruption of the volcano feels like it should be the grand finale of the movie (or at least very close to it), but the film instead continues for quite a while after that, not quite wearing out its welcome, but coming very close. It's during the eruption that Rodan makes his return to the film, emerging from the ground and flying away. Amusing, once you realize that he finally succeeded in escaping a volcanic eruption after failing to have done so in his debut movie (surprisingly, none of the Rodan footage used in this sequence is from the eruption scene).

Cesare Danova and Sean McClory are serviceable as our leads Hector and Michael, but unfortunately their character development ends roughly twenty minutes into the movie. Instead of stretching out their uneasy alliance and learning to trust each other for a majority of the film, they quickly save each other from savages and a giant spider respectively, then become best friends from there on. And while admittedly that is a refreshing change of pace (as most other movies would make them distrust each other for the entire movie while there are killer dinosaurs running around, which would be rather aggravating), they unfortunately don't have anything else for the two to deal with once that first development is taken care of. They become friends near the start of the movie and then there's no real challenge to overcome or goal to accomplish. Even the "bully" caveman in Michael's tribe, Anoka (Mike Lane), is taken care of fairly quickly with a single punch and never becomes a problem again. Playboy Centerfold Joan Staley plays Deena, Hector's cavegirlfriend, and essentially has to mime her entire performance, grunting out the occasional nonsense caveman word (though the scene where she and Hector teach each other their respective languages is admittedly a cute one). There's an underwater sequence where she swims around in skimpy clothes (providing a surprising amount of underboob in the process) which is nice to watch, but like the volcanic eruption and resulting lizard attack, it goes on for far longer than is necessary - And honestly, it's surprising they didn't use stock footage of the Gill Man looking up at her from Creature from the Black Lagoon. Danielle De Metz plays Nateeta, Michael's girl, and she has even less to do than Deena does. Whereas Deena's relationship with Hector (such as it is) is shown evolving and her capture is eventually what brings the two tribes together, Nateeta basically just stands around looking pretty, her only real contribution to the plot is that she’s briefly jealous of Deena, and even that is resolved quickly. As one might imagine for characters of this type and era, almost everything concerning Deena and Nateeta is hilariously outdated and sexist, with a few moments even bordering on offensive, like a brief scene where Michael leads a captured Deena around via a rope tied around her wrists (which sounds far worse than it is in the movie - it's a heroic moment where he rescues her from the men of 'his' tribe - but still gives one pause for a moment) then proceeds to reassure Nateeta with "you belong to me."

While doing absolutely no justice to the classic works of Jules Verne, Valley of the Dragons is nevertheless fun to watch. It's definitely filled with problems, but none of them make the film unwatchable and in fact come together in an enjoyable "so bad it's good" sort of way. If you like your dinosaur movies with a healthy dose of animal abuse and objectifying women, give it a watch! It won't disappoint.

Rating: ★★ ½

Cast: Cesare Danova ... Hector Servadac Sean McClory ... Michael Denning Joan Staley ... Deena Danielle De Metz ... Nateeta I. Stanford Jolley ... Patoo Mike Lane ... Anoka

A.K.A.: Prehistoric Valley. Director: Edward Bernds. Producer: Byron Roberts and Al Zimbalist (executive producer). Writer: Edward Bernds, Donald Zimbalist (story), and Jules Verne (original story "Off on a Comet"). Music: Ruby Raksin. Special Effects: Richard Albain.

#sci fi horror adventure #valley of the dragons #jules verne #cavepeople #dinosaurs #crocs and gators #stock footage #1960s #black and white

[scifihorroradventure]

ALIEN (1979)

As the space freighter Nostromo heads back to Earth, it receives a signal from a nearby planet. Its crew decides to investigate in case somebody needs assistance and Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Kane (John Hurt), and Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) follow the signal to a large ship, finding a giant, dead extraterrestrial. Investigating the area further, Kane finds a large amount of egg-like objects. One of these eggs hatches and a small creature latches itself onto Kane's face. Getting back to the Nostromo, Kane is taken to the medical bay, in some sort of coma. Science officer Ash (Ian Holm) tries to cut it off, but finds it impossible due to the animal's acidic blood. Before too long, the creature is found dead and Kane has awoken, seemingly unharmed. But as the crew later sits down to dinner, Kane seizes and falls onto the table, a small creature erupting from his chest. The animal escapes into the ship and the crew do their best to track it down. The alien grows very quickly, however, soon becoming man-sized. One by one, the beast slaughters the crew, until only Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) remains...

For years, movies about monsters from space attacking astronauts had almost always been cheesy B-movies. That all changed with the release of Ridley Scott's Alien, a tense, atmospheric film featuring one of the screen's most iconic monsters. The story by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett is simple - A crew in deep space encounter an extraterrestrial life form and everything goes horribly wrong - but it's all that's needed for the film, and its execution is perfect. The claustrophobic sets of the Nostromo really help sell how isolated and alone the crew is, millions of miles away from anyone who can help. From the various vents and control rooms of the Nostromo to the enormous chambers of the Space Jockey's ship, the sets really help build a convincing world. The effects, while simple, are almost flawless (though there is an unfortunate hiccup involving Ash's severed head) and serve the story rather than the other way around. The film does not rush things, taking its time to properly introduce our characters and the world they inhabit. While this works to the film's advantage for the most part, it also works against the movie at a few key points - Mainly, the Nostromo's self destruct/"searching for Jones" sequence goes on at least twice as long as it needs to. It goes on just long enough to properly build the right amount of tension, but then unfortunately doesn't stop. The music by Jerry Goldsmith is appropriately eerie, particularly the opening credits theme.

Quite possibly the most recognizable of all cinematic space monsters, the Alien (later known as a "Xenomorph") is a strange, frightening beast, completely inhuman in its behavior and motivation. From the spiderlike Facehugger to the bloodstained Chestburster and finally the razortoothed, dome headed final form, the Alien is a striking, unforgettable creation. Originally designed by H.R. Giger, the beast has a striking, sleek, almost biomechanical appearance. Story wise, the Alien went through many changes during the film's inception; Its blood was originally not acidic, but when O'Bannon couldn't figure out why the crew wouldn't simply shoot the monster, concept artist Ron Cobb suggested the idea. Secondly, the Alien was originally going to emerge victorious, killing Ripley and reporting back to Earth using a human voice. Suit actor Bolaji Badejo gives an effective performance as the Alien, never coming across as too human-like in his movements, with its final showdown with Ripley an especially memorable sequence. Here the Alien has an air of mystery to it as well as horror, a vibe that would sadly be lost in sequels as the creature was reduced to a cannon fodder species.

Though it takes a while for her to take center stage, Sigourney Weaver eventually shines as Lt. Ellen Ripley, the only survivor of the Alien's attack and eventual series star. At first she seems to come across as a cold woman, initially unwilling to let Dallas and his crew back on the ship with Kane 'infected' by something. But she soon comes into her own when she discovers Ash's secret plan and deals with the quickly unraveling events that take place shortly after. Thanks to Weaver's performance, you can really feel Ripley's desperation and terror as she tries to escape the self destructing Nostromo and defeat the murderous Alien. Tom Skerritt is good as Captain Dallas, but never really gets anything across other than "the leader." Initially his and Ripley's relationship was to be much more involved in earlier versions of the script, but most of it was removed to make way for the proper story. That said, he does get the most effective scare in the entire movie, surpassed only by the famous Chestburster itself. Ian Holm gives a great performance as Ash, the science officer-cum-secret android. Reserved and logical, Ash keeps making comments to not harm or touch the Alien throughout the film, which seem reasonable at first. But eventually comes the grand reveal, in which Ash is nothing more than a robot with a devious mission planted by Weyland-Yutani (here referred to as just "the company"), sent to protect the Alien at all costs, even if it means the loss of the crew's lives. It's a shocking reveal, but with all great twists, there are plenty of clues to go back and catch during repeat viewings. John Hurt is good as Kane, even though the man severely lacks even the most basic of self preservation skills, coming across an enormous nest of large, alien eggs, then deciding to get closer to investigate. At least he gets the honor of being the first person in the series to receive their very own Chestburster. The scene is intense and horrifying, making it one of the most memorable in all of cinematic history. Veronica Cartwright does alright as Lambert, but all she really brings to the table is being the whiny, panicky one, and somehow she survives for most of the movie. Honestly, the most entertaining thing about Lambert is knowing Cartwright had no idea she was going to be sprayed with blood during the Chestburster scene. Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton are amusing enough as Parker and Brett even though they honestly don't add very much to the film, but at least they're more entertaining to watch than Lambert is.

With nearly all of its elements coming together perfectly, Alien emerges as a solid, tense thriller, and one of the genre's best. The Xenomorph quickly became one of horror's most iconic monsters (with its inner mouth and copious amount of drool a source of endless spoofs and rip offs), while Sigourney Weaver's portrayal of Ellen Ripley would cement her as one of Hollywood's most notable leading ladies. As of 2017, the series is still going strong seven entries later without once being rebooted or remade, including two crossovers with the Predator series.

Rating: ★★★★★

Cast: Tom Skerritt ... Captain Dallas Sigourney Weaver ... Ellen Ripley Ian Holm ... Ash Yaphet Kotto ... Parker John Hurt ... Kane Veronica Cartwright ... Lambert Harry Dean Stanton ... Brett Bolaji Badejo ... The Alien

Director: Ridley Scott. Producer: Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill, Ivor Powell (associate producer), and Ronald Shusett (executive producer). Writer: Dan O'Bannon (story and screenplay) and Ronald Shusett (story). Music: Jerry Goldsmith. Special Effects: Nick Allder (supervisor), Alan Bryce (floor effects supervisor), Clinton Cavers (coordinator: 'Alien' effects), Carlo De Marchis (additional 'Alien' mechanics), Roger Dicken (maker: small 'Alien' forms), Guy Hudson (technician), Brian Johnson (supervisor), Phil Knowles (technician), Dennis Lowe (technician), Roger Nichols (technician), Carlo Rambaldi (creator: 'Alien' head effects), Neil Swan (technician), David H. Watkins (technician), David Watling (additional 'Alien' mechanics), Anton Furst (uncredited), Bob Keen (modeller, uncredited), Philip Sharpe (technician, uncredited), Christian Wolf-La'Moy (model maker, uncredited). Dennis Ayling (director of photography: miniature effects), Martin Bower (supervising model maker: miniature effects), Ray Caple (matte artist), Dick Hewitt (electronics and video coordinator: main unit), David Litchfield (operator: miniature effects), Bernard Lodge (special graphic effects), Terry Pearce (focus: miniature effects), Bill Pearson (supervising model maker: miniature effects), Peter Woods (key grip: miniature effects), Alan Buchan (visual effects, uncredited), Jon Sorensen (visual effects miniatures, uncredited), and Rick Cortes (Inferno artist (2003 director's cut re-release), uncredited).

#sci fi horror adventure #alien #ridley scott #xenomorphs #aliens #robots #outer space #1970s

[scifihorroradventure]

RODAN (1956)

In the small mining town of Kyushu, a series of strange deaths has been plaguing the local mine. As Shigeru (Kenji Sahara) consoles his girlfriend Kiyo (Yumi Shirakawa) over her missing brother, the two are attacked by a carnivorous insect the size of a horse! Miners and police officers chase the monster back into the mine, where it is discovered there are more than one. During the chaos, a cave in is caused, and Shigeru is lost within the mine. Days later, he returns, stricken with amnesia. At the same time, a mysterious UFO begins appearing around the world, abducting people and decimating aircraft. Shigeru regains his memory and recalls the horrors he saw in the mine, far greater than the giant insects. He tells the authorities about a gigantic, prehistoric flying reptile, which is identified as a Rodan. As a group heads back to the mines to investigate, not one, but two Rodans emerge! The Rodans attack Fukuoka, burning the city to the ground. With the Rodans returning to their underground caverns to rest, the military decides to bomb Mt. Aso, the volcano connected to the caves. The attack is successful, initiating an eruption. But just as it seems that the Rodans will escape, one of them succumbs to the heat and the fumes, falling into the lava. Calling out to its dying mate, the other creature refuses to leave and the two Rodans perish together.

The same year that Godzilla was making his presence known in the United States, Toho unleashed another behemoth upon the silver screen. Rodan was Toho's third kaiju film, and the first that had nothing to do with the King of the Monsters. And even though the film lacks the symbolism of Gojira and is more of a straight up monster movie, Rodan is nevertheless just as solid as its predecessor. The story is effective, the characters serviceable, and the special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya are absolutely top notch. The story, crafted by Takeshi Kimura, Ken Kuronuma, and Takeo Murata, is done very well, allowing the unease in Kyushu to build before ramping up the horror elements, the greatest of these being the scene in which the police officer and the two miners investigate the flooded mine, only to be slaughtered one by one by... something. The scene in which the identity of the killer is exposed - giant, voracious insects known as Meganuron - is truly a shock, as the creature appears without warning, bursting through Kiyo's door. Once the mine is closed via a cave in, another strange presence makes itself known - a UFO that would later be revealed to be Rodan. This section also provides some great tension and mystery, particularly with the Air Force pilot that tries to keep up with and identify the "craft," only for it to grow tired of being chased and knock the jet from the sky. The scene with the newlywed couple taking their pictures on Mt. Aso, while not quite as intense, is still a good scene. Rodan looks amazing in his debut. He has a truly regal, powerful look, one that would sadly never be recaptured in any of his subsequent appearances. Here he is just as imposing as Godzilla, if not more so, what with his large wings draping across the sky like a cloak. He also sounds much more threatening in this appearance, his reverberating cackle much lower here, sounding almost like thunder. He also lets loose with an occasional jaguar snarl, which would never be used after this film. As mentioned before, the air of mystery surrounding Rodan's initial appearances works really well, providing a reasonable explanation as to why he would be difficult to spot at first. One oddity during his attack on Fukuoka is the stream of black smoke he exhales from his beak in a few shots - It's never mentioned and is completely forgotten about after this movie. The cast of characters is well acted, but rather simplistic. Kenji Sahara does well as our hero Shigeru, but the character is sadly rather one note. Shigeru is always stoic and heroic and ready to help anyone out, but that's about all we get from him. Similarly, Yumi Shirakawa is good as Kiyo, Shigeru's girlfriend, but she never really has anything to do other than stand around and be worried about things, not even really getting menaced by the Meganuron when one attacks her house. Unlike the main characters of the previous two films, Shigeru and Kiyo are almost completely separated from the Rodans, story wise. They completely disappear when the monsters escape from the mine and attack Fukuoka, only showing back up at the very end to watch them perish in the volcano, a far cry from the likes of Dr. Serizawa (who killed Godzilla with his world-changing invention), Ogata (who clashed with Dr. Yamane about how to deal with Godzilla while at the same time wanting his blessing), and Tsukioka (who demanded he be one of the pilots to put an end to Godzilla/Gigantis). Again, they're well acted, but they're easily the weakest protagonists thus far.

When released in America, Rodan underwent some notable editing, but nothing as drastic as Gojira or Godzilla Raids Again. The editing is much tighter and shifted around a little, which really helps in some cases - both Rodans are introduced at the same time, as opposed to the second Rodan appearing at the very end of the attack on Fukuoka and basically serving no purpose, as happens in the Japanese cut. It also makes the first Rodan becoming overwhelmed by Mt. Aso's eruption a little clearer, as in the Japanese version it seems as if it simply forgets how to fly and falls straight down. Unfortunately, the American editing also has its drawbacks, as we lose the majority of Rodan's battle with the Air Force, losing the movie's one really memorable Ifukube track in the process. Keye Luke returns as the voice of Shigeru and gets plenty of narration in, though thankfully nowhere near as much as in Gigantis the Fire Monster. We get a brief stock footage prologue detailing the power of atomic weapons, but again, it’s nowhere near as intrusive as Dr. Yamane’s “formation of the world” from Gigantis.

Rodan debuted in American theaters only seven short months after its Japanese release, much faster than either of Godzilla's initial outings. While nowhere near as deep as Gojira, the film is still a great monster movie, with the titular pterodactyl becoming an iconic movie monster in his own right, often being referenced to or making cameo appearances in various media, even without Godzilla joining him. Along with Godzilla and Mothra, Rodan would go on to form part of Toho's Big Three, appearing in numerous movies throughout the decades.

Rating: ★★★★★

Cast: Kenji Sahara ... Shigeru Kawamura Yumi Shirakawa ... Kiyo Akihiko Hirata ... Professor Kashiwagi Kyuichiro Ren Imaizumi ... Sugiwara Ishikawa Yoshifumi Tajima ... Izeki Akio Kobori ... Police Chief Nishimura Minosuke Yamada ... Colliery Chief Osaki Yutaka Oka ... Kitahara, F-86F Pilot (uncredited) Yasuko Nakata ... Female Honeymooner Kiyoharu Onaka ... Male Honeymooner Ogata Rinsaku ... Goro Haruo Nakajima ... Rodan Keye Luke ... Voice of Shigeru (American dub)

Director: Ishiro Honda. Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka. Writer: Takeshi Kimura, Ken Kuronuma, and Takeo Murata. Music: Akira Ifukube. Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya (director), Akira Watanabe (art director), Hiroshi Mukoyama (opticals), and Sadamasa Arikawa (assistant camera, uncredited).

#sci fi horror adventure #rodan 1956 #ishiro honda #rodan #toho #kaiju #giant monsters #1950s