Horror Bites - Stone Cold

THE GORGON (1964)

 
Part of the 2nd Great Cinematic Catharsis Hammer-Amicus Blogathon

After watching so many of these releases from Hammer over the years I've never really stopped to think why so many of them are set in a vaguely Victorian time period. Their attempts at depicting actual history and those films set in the modern day not withstanding of course. I guess it's just visual shorthand for spooky goings on and it probably saves money. Gothic scenery and fancy threads are always nice to see, don't get me wrong I'm not complaining. But this is a story about Greek mythology right? At least on the surface. Maybe a more ancient location would have made it stand out from the crowd, after all the studio had a hand in making at least a few fantasy films.

Monster Bites - ゴジラ

GODZILLA (1954)

So I guess it goes without saying, but the original Godzilla is a wholly different beast from anything that came before, or anything that would follow. As someone who usually writes about his later adventures and the many other colourful science fiction films from Toho in the 1960s, it's a viewing experience like no other. Even knowing what's to come on a re-watch it's never an entertaining film in the usual sense. It remains a down beat shock to the system after so many films about giant sea monsters versus giant space aliens. Even without looking at the real life tragedy of the crew of the Lucky Dragon No.5 there's something sombre about the whole film. On the surface it might resemble The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms in many ways, but it never feels the same for a variety of reasons.

Review Roundup - Sound and Fury

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019)

So here we are another year, another attempt to further a cinematic universe. And yet another attempt by Hollywood to make a Godzilla film. Things seemed to be on the right track when Kong: Skull Island injecting a much improved boost of visual clarity and style to the proceedings, and despite some dud performances it had a lot of character in all the other places that mattered. By combing the sense of scale brought to table by Gareth Edwards with the kind of monster mayhem Jordan Vogt-Roberts confidently delivered, surely this had to be a winner? Well there are certainly more creatures in the roster, but whether any of it comes together to be compelling is another question.

Review Roundup - Z-Day

OVERLORD (2018)

There are a lot of dubious movies out there mixing Second World War images with science fiction, whether the Third Reich is depicted building moon bases or zombie stormtroopers. There's a lot to choose from but very little in terms of quality, with most of it being firmly rooted in direct to video cheapness. Many other examples exist in the realms of electronic entertainment. But what can usually be achieved in a low budget film and what can be done with the latest Id Software game engine is usually leagues apart, and while I may enjoy an occasional blast through Castle Wolfenstein it's not really something that translates to the big screen. However in the right hands this all has potential for both horror thrills and action schlock, so let's take a look at how it fares.

Monster Bites - Monster Island

GODZILLA VS GIGAN (1972)

AKA Earth Destruction Directive: Godzilla vs. Gigan. So it's been said that the movie prior to this was considered too weird and outlandish? Maybe it was all the disco dancing and animation in Godzilla vs Hedorah that made the studio suits at Toho think twice, but at least it was something different. Casual viewers could never say that it was another formulaic release at any rate, a complaint that is certainly true here. Despite a few odd moments this is about as cheap and by the numbers as it gets, with yet more aliens, and several monsters that have been on screen so often they're falling to pieces. In this case they're flogging not a dead horse, but poor old King Ghidorah.

Monster Bites - Fuel My Fire

GAMERA THE GIANT MONSTER (1965)

Gamera gets a bad rap in terms of movie monsters, particularly in the original run. I can't imagine why... but maybe it's something about all the cheaply produced sequels. Or the way they're aimed squarely at children. Or the dozens of videos and images available, mocking everything from the theme tune to his acrobatic antics. But surely the debut film avoids a lot of this at least? Well yes and no. This is a more sombre and destructive monster movie overall, but it does have a few questionable inclusions that stop it from being a true classic. But let's take things back to the start, to the Cold War, to a time before flying turtles shot across the big screen.

Horror Bites - Monster Mash

WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (1966)

AKA Frankenstein’s Monsters: Sanda vs. Gaira. In the grand scheme of things this is a minor foot note in the Toho back catalogue; a weird pseudo sequel without any big name monsters. Sure it says 'Frankenstein' up there, but how it actually works as a follow up to Frankenstein vs Baragon is never clear since the idea of a direct follow up was dropped somewhere during production. There are only a few vague hints this is a continuation of a previous story but nothing solid is ever set out. Like Godzilla being resurrected through lighting in Ebirah or King Kong gaining electrical powers it's a weird situation, and that's without going into all the strange titles these films were given for the German market. But as ever it's not really that important as the results are fun anyway.

Horror Bites - Turtle Power

GAMERA 2: ADVENT OF LEGION (1996)

If I had to take a guess I'd say that the Biblical excerpt in the title might just be misquoted. Maybe that whole 'we are many' line refers to an actual horde, since it's one of those clichés that must be out of context most of the time when it appears on film... but it's probably not referring to a swarm of giant bugs. From space. But I digress, let's get to the second outing of Gamera in the reboot trilogy. Out of the three this is probably the best of them and for the genre it definitely holds up well. That is considering it's another story about a giant turtle with super powers which involves the staple ingredients of rubber suits, a lot of collateral damage, and a few ecological messages.

Scorecard

MAY

FILM OF THE MONTH: Southern Comfort ☆☆☆☆

HCF Review - Vice Makes a Visit

THE COMING OF SIN (1978)

Time for a bit of super-seventies euro-nonsense in the third part of Arrow’s José Larraz collection, a film which has many lurid titles to advise you of the narrative contents. In this instalment the excuse for all the skin on show isn’t psycho-thriller or vampire related but instead the occult, or at least I think that’s the idea. However for exploitation genre fans looking to pick up the trilogy this is probably the most lethargic and tepid inclusion despite a story of tarot, doomed romances and sinister uninvited guests. There’s a lot of talk about nightmares and the hands fate but there’s also a whole lot of melodrama.

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