Category: Movie Discussions
-
Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)
Following the surprise box office success of Gamera: The Giant Monster, Daiei Studios put more money, but not more time, into producing a sequel. A mere six months after the original film was released, Gamera vs. Barugon (1966) opened in Japanese theaters. Based on what everyone learned during the low-budget process of making the first…
-
Gamera: The Giant Monster (1965)
Welcome to the five-week series I’m calling, “GaMAYra.” I have to start by saying that I’ve never (until now) seen a Gamera movie (that I can remember.) However, I was compelled to purchase Arrow Video’s spectacular box set of twelve uncut original Japanese versions of the films, spanning the years 1965-2006. This will be a…
-
The Devils (1973)
Watching The Devils (1971) is an experience not unlike riding a roller coaster. The film has a slow climb at the beginning and you’re not sure what lies ahead. It reaches a peak where you probably figure out what’s happening and decide if you like it or not. It then speeds to the end and…
-
Day of the Animals (1977)
Day of the Animals (1977) is sincere with its science. The opening crawl reminds us that… In June 1974, Drs. F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina of the University of California startled the scientific world with their finding that fluorocarbon gases used in aerosol spray cans are seriously damaging the Earth’s protective ozone layer. Thus,…
-
The Monster & the Girl (1941)
Universal monster movies from the 1940s have a distinct look. Had I not seen the Paramount logo at the beginning of The Monster & the Girl (1941) from Shout! Factory’s The Universal Horror Collection Vol. 5, I still would have suspected something was different about it. Indeed, this is one of over 700 films that…
-
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
It’s been years since I’ve seen King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and, until now, I’d never seen the original Japanese version, Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962.) It’s found as a bonus feature on the eighth disc of Criterion’s wonderful Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975 collection. Either version you watch, the movie has only gotten better…
-
The Beyond (1981)
The Beyond (1981) is as straightforward a movie as any… really. In fact, it’s so simple that you might think you’re confused or missing something when watching it. All you need to know is that a young woman named Liza (Catriona MacColl) inherits an old hotel in Louisiana that was built on one of the…
-
Halloween II (1981)
Because I am taking a different approach to discussing Halloween II (1981) it’s going to sound like I don’t like it. Let me be clear: I love this movie. It’s just that when I watched it recently for the Nightmare Junkhead podcast, its flaws really showed. After watching something so many times, you hope to…
-
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
If you were a monster kid at the time and asked to pick your favorite werewolf movie released in 1981, you were faced with a real Sophie’s Choice between An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. The latter was released four months earlier and is the one to which I declared my love. Conversely,…
-
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
The opening scene of Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981) was filmed with a different director and cinematographer than the rest of the movie. Michael Miller (Jackson Country Jail, 1976) reportedly took too long making it, so was replaced by William Asher. The cinematographer was Jan de Bont (Speed, 1994; Twister, 1996, The Haunting, 1999.) He…
Classic Horrors Club 