Battle in Outer Space (1959)

again, the original one has been removed or something, so here's the theatrical trailer and a few tv trailers when it's paired with "Gigantis, the Fire Monster".  I would have been all over that show!

Rodan, the Flying Monster (1957)

reposting the trailer since the original one is gone now. click on the tag and you can see where and how I've talked about Rodan in the past. I love the prehistoric flying reptiles, always have, and the pteranodon is my favorite, which means Rodan is one of my favorite monsters.

JLA: Metamorphosis (22, 23)

this is a self absorbed self centered douche bag named Simon Stagg.  he was that way in the comics and he's that way in these two episodes. he's trying to create an genetically gifted worker that can adapt itself to any conditions.  he calls this creation "Metamorpho"  and he's using illegal mutagens to do this.

House of Frankenstein (1944)

I saw the Universal movies a lot growing up- more than any of the Hammer versions. so I'm not surprised I prefer them overall, though I really enjoy many of the Hammer movies as well. they all had a rather loose continuity to them, even including the ones with Bud and Lou.

Starcrash (1979)

I so want to like this movie more than I do. it really tries hard, and has a great title character with Caroline Munroe. too bad they redubbed her with some generic voice, her English one would have been more exotic.

Invisible Invaders (1959)

remember when TNT was fun and used to show cool movies and tv shows? 100% Weird aired many movies I'd never seen before, and this was one of them. I remember it being a neat little yarn about aliens possessing the recently dead so they can take over the Earth. anyone watching the movie will notice similarities to a few other movies that were released later.

Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)

once again, I post this trailer- it was removed from last year's blog post. I'm not sure why youtube takes them down, since it's just promotional material for the movies. makes no sense to me!

Valley of the Dragons (1961)

here's an interesting little movie, loosely based on Jules Verne's "Career of a Comet," which is full of stock footage from several movies, notably (and not surprisingly) "One Million, BC". I didn't see it until it aired on TNT in the early 90s, but I kind of like it. the actors are good and the stock footage is integrated as well as possible overall.

Monster Zero (1965)

you actually get two trailers for the price of one, as it was released on a double bill with War of the Gargantuas here in the States in 1970. a pretty good pairing, if you ask me. I'd have loved to see that on a drive in back then.

The Wolf Man (1941)

my other favorite Universal monster, after the Creature, is the Wolfman. he sort of becomes a hero in a few movies, notably House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).  heck, he's even cured in the House of Dracula!  uh, hope that's not a spoiler for anyone.

The Flesh Eaters (1964)

I can't believe I've never put up this trailer, much less talked about this movie! I never saw it as a kid, and I'm kind of glad I didn't as I think it would have freaked me out. it's incredibly effective at what it does. it's really quite creepy and almost too realistic. this is a shorter trailer, but has Jack Curtis talking at the beginning. gotta love the hype!

The Angry Red Planet (1959)

the earlier movie from Ib Melchior, which is a bit better than "Journey" I think. saw this one again on late night Sci-Fi Flicks, and somehow, missed the ending completely. it really through me! and then it NEVER aired again. sure stuck in my brain though. so I was quite happy to find it on VHS and finally see how it ended. damn channel 2 and their drunken editing!

Journey To The Seventh Planet (1962)

saw this one once or twice as a kid... it reminded me of The Martian Chronicles even then. I like the movie for what it is, though, and it has some really cool effects. I remember seeing it after I had tried making my own laser effects on film, by scratching lines into the actual film. the lasers in this movie were accomplished the same way!

Godzilla vs Megalon DVD... extras edition

I really like this shot of the car driving up to the battling monsters.

just watched the entire movie with commentary by Steve Ryfle and Stuart Galbraith. I usually never listen to commentaries on movies.  I'd rather watch a documentary.  mostly because I end up wanting to watch said movie without people talking over it.  however, I know this movie very well, and these two men know their stuff.  they almost know it too well.

GHIDRAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (1964)

I'm always surprised at some of the trailers that I haven't used here- like this one! one of my favorite Godzilla movies and this is the first time I've used the trailer. perhaps I just figured it was here already (after five years of blogging, who can blame me for forgetting such things?). I've talked about the movie a few times, I know that.

great Megalon news (part 2)!

remember this here post from a year and a half ago? well, there was a lot of controversy and speculation before during and after it's production.  Toho had it's say about all sorts of things, and Media Blasters was reduced to releasing a "movie only" version (I don't like the term "bare bones").  Or was it?

The Time Machine (1960)

yes, I just saw the episode of "The Big Bang Theory" where the gang buys a full size replica of the Time Machine. it was pretty cool, and when they "used" it they did a really good and funny job pretending to be moving in time.

JLA: A Knight Of Shadows (20, 21)

Batman and Jason Blood/Etrigan run into Morgaine le Fey and her son, Mordred.  she's after the Philosopher's stone.  Dumbledore must have hidden it better after this attempt.  she will use it's power to give recreate Camelot for Mordred to rule over. Batman calls in the League to help stop her.

Godzilla vs Megalon (1976)

I'm astounded I have not shown this trailer before now, since it had such an influence on me when I saw it before the re-release of Bambi in 1976. I have recounted that experience (search Megalon and you'll find it easily) but here's the actual trailer that was screened that fateful day.

The Brain From Planet Arous (1957)

one of my favorite B movies, due to the sheer outragenousness of the execution of it's concept. good and evil space brains coming to Earth? possessing both man and animal? everyone's favorite sci-fi hero, John Agar (how many genre movies did he make?)? it's just too cool.

Mermaids of Tiburon (1962)

It's not an actual trailer, but it's a promo for the R2 UK DVD. I've never seen the movie in color, so this was a real surprise to me that it is a gorgeous as it is. I saw this film as a kid, in the middle of the night, and it was always in b/w to me. the copy I have now is in b/w, still, and was recorded from a tv station in Boston.

Kronos (1957)

this is a good movie- it was made fun of a lot back in the 70s in various monster mags and books, but it's got a higher reputation when seen in it's proper scope. the "monster" is quite unique, and the effects are really well done. to top it off, it's got a decent script and actors.

JLA: Legends (18, 19)

or as some of us might call it, "Crisis on Two Earths"...

Luthor has attacked the city (with a robot slightly resembling Annihilus) and defeating it causes the Flash, GL, Hawkgirl and the Martian Manhunter (they never call him this) to be sent to an alternate Earth.  let's call it Earth 2A.  in the commentary of the second episode they say they really wanted to use the JSA, but DC told 'em no.  there's no sequel if they did!

20 Million Miles To Earth (1957)

here's a Harryhausen movie that was aired once that I know of when I was growing up. I remember this because it was Friday night in September, when the new Saturday morning line ups were about to premiere. I'm thinking it was either 1977 or 1978, since Darth Vader was appearing on both ABC and NBC that evening. well, we watched the specials (and not being very impressed with the new lineup, all those damn Scooby Doo clones) and shut off the tv for the night.

Revenge of the Creature (1955)

the second best Creature movie (it's not hard to decide which order they go in, really) is a lot of fun. he is captured and brought to Florida where he escapes and runs amok. someone at KWGN Channel 2 was a fan of Universal monster movies, as these aired almost on a monthly basis, either late Friday night or Sunday afternoons.

Avengers #37

let's just start off with what an awesome cover provided by Gil Kane.

"To Conquer a Colossus!"
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Don Heck
Letterer: Artie Simek

the story picks up right from where we left off, and pretty much is one battle after another.   this issue moves right along, which is a good thing, and there's a fair amount of characterization along with the action.

The Mole People (1956)

what is the deal with the prologue at the beginning of this movie? I've watched it a few times, and yet I never remember it, or how hilarious it is. the "scientist" who is a language professor goes on about how the Earth could be hollow. I can't believe anyone over the age of 15 believed that he was serious.

Ultraman 24: The Underwater Science Base

nice forced perspective shot here!  all done in camera.
anyway, an underwater science base is opened.  a bunch of civilians show up and a little girl, Jenny, is selected to go with them.

The Mysterians (1959)

I've written about my first viewing experience with this fine movie. the trailer is quite awesome though. I was talking about it to a friend of mine, mentioning the slight differences between the US and Japanese versions. In fact, I can only really think of one edit in the movie:

The Unholy Rollers (1972)

had never heard of this movie until the other day.  so far it's a pretty typical 70s exploitation movie, but at least it's got some good movie and a decent cast.  the banked track isn't very banked, but I think that's how it was in the early 70s.

Tobor the Great (1954)

this is one I saw as a kid, so I remember it fondly. it's not a bad little movie, though I said that about the Slime People recently, and when I watched it I was not as impressed. so perhaps I'll watch this one again soon. but I like the design of the robot here a lot.

Tarantula (1955)

these 50s sci-fi monster movies are in a class by themselves. they have fun casts and a sense of let's try anything to scare the audience. and not all of them were about radiation. this movie has a pretty scary monster, who wouldn't be afraid of a giant spider? though as slow as it moves, if you can't outrun it you deserve to be eaten.

GAMMERA THE INVINCIBLE (1965)

I know the movie was made in '65, but I am pretty sure it was released on the US in 1966. just for the record, right? anyway, the last version I posted is no longer on the blog, so here it is again. you can even hear the cool theme song in the back ground. I should learn to play that!

The Bride of the Monster (1955)

I can't say I like this more than Plan Nine, but I bet it's almost on the same level. I really appreciate Ed Wood being able to get anything made and distributed at all. by all intents and purposes he should never have been able to make anything on film, let alone a complete movie.

Avengers #36

"The Ultroids Attack!"

Writer: Roy Thomas

Penciler: Don Heck

Letterer: Sam Rosen

(same crew as last time, I wonder if Don was inking his own pencils at this time?)

Wanda shows up at the Mansion, exhausted.  she tells Cap Peitro has been kidnapped by a UFO and the rest of the Avengers head off to help him.

The Blob (1958)

I saw this movie for the first time in 1978. someone decided that the jr high should show movies for the kids on Fridays and this was the first of many promised to be shown. sadly, it was the only movie they did the entire three years I attended Longs Peak Jr High.

Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)

perhaps some of the most iconic of 50s aliens are these Saucer Men. their pictures were always in magazines. oddly enough, it never aired in my area while I was growing up. we got the lousy remake, "Invasion of the Eye Creatures" but not the original. weird, and sad, since this is one cool little flick.

The Slime People Trailer (1963)

I saw the beginning of this movie on the Saturday Sci-fi-o-rama show (I really wish I could remember the name of it) and it really scared me. remember, this would have been the early 70s and I would have been about 7 or 8. it scared me enough that I didn't sit through the end of it.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

as is my custom during the month of October, I'll be presenting a trailer a day from various movies, monster themed of course. some may be repeats from the previous years, but I'm going to go under the assumption that the trailers have been removed, as happens now and then. so without further ado, let's proceed!

Avengers #35

"The Light That Failed!"

Writer: Roy Thomas

Penciler: Don Heck

Letterer: Sam Rosen
some guy named Lee edited it, with his name at the top.

this is Roy Thomas first Avengers story.  and as that, I can't quite believe the huge mistake that happened in the first two pages of the comic.  what the heck was he thinking?

yes, it really is that boneheaded.  it's probably what caused the invention of the famous "no-prize" for readers to try to explain it away, and I'd love to see how it was done.  'cause I just can't grasp it.