One Eyed MOTW- the Cyclops

 

In honor of what would be Ray's 101st birthday (yesterday) we present: This may be Ray Harryhausen's most iconic creation.  It is sure one of his most expressive!  Featured in the wonderful 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) the beast was in the opening sequence.  I am sure that viewers at the time had to be surprised and in awe, since nothing like it had ever been seen before on the big screen.  Come to think of it, there's hasn't been a cyclops like it on the big screen since then.  I love the colors on it, and the fact that it is out in broad daylight.  No trying to hide it at night in a rainstorm.

The Interrupters - "Title Holder"

                         

This is a great song with a better message.  It's really a good reminder when you feel almost defeated.  I have always liked the energy of punk-ska bands, and The Interrupters are one of my favorite new bands.  I'd pay to see them live!

Alfred Hitchcock's Monster Museum

This was a book that I found at the local library in the 70s.  I wanted to read about monsters and the helpful librarian found this for me.  I don't remember how old I was, or if I had even heard of Alfred Hitchcock, either.  It seems like I might have known who he was, though, as he was still someone that people talked about.  He passed on in 1980, so was still alive when I read this.  My mother also knew who he was, so I'm sure I was aware of the name.  I think I might have been a bit young for this book, though.  It was published in 1965, making it as old as I am, and is a collection of previously published short stories.  I didn't quite understand all of them, and only remembered three of the twelve stories that were presented in here.  Two of those stories scared me silly.

Loki 3- Lamentis I

 

I keep thinking the name of the planet is Validus, but that might be a little too meta for the casual viewer.  You know, the ones that think the live action versions of characters are the only ones extant.  ANYWAY... 

Loki and Sylvie end up on a planet that is about to be destroyed by a runaway moon.  It's not Gorath, or Bellus, or even Planet R.  The TARDIS time/space zapper is out of power, and the Lokis have to get it repowered.  Failing that, they have to get off the planet.  In between all this are some adequate fight scenes and a lot of backstory from both characters.  They have a good chemistry with each other, that's for sure.  We are still no closer to finding out exactly what Sylvie's mission is, though.

work in progress

 

I've been playing with MS Paint and Paint 3D recently, which has been a lot of fun.  There's been some frustration that goes along with it, since I am still such a beginner and can't quite get the blending I want.  But I'm getting better!  This issue, which is still in the starting phase, is an homage to a very influential book.  I have had this book since 1978, but as of this writing has never gotten a second edition.  Much like FM #114, I decided it was up to me!  I'm not gonna mention the name of the book just yet, but it's probably pretty evident.

MOTW- Brontosaurus, the good dinosaur

 

This friendly and still ultimately doomed sauropod was probably the first "good" dinosaur in the movies.  It was unfrozen and befriended the mostly decent kid Julio in the movie Dinosaurus! (1960).  It's also a pretty smart thunder lizard, since it recognizes commands pretty quickly.  The poor thing puts up a brave fight against the Tyrannosaurus rex, but it's a losing effort.  The rex doesn't kill the beast, but it then walks into a huge pool of quicksand and quickly sinks out of sight.  Those early dinosaur movies were not friendly to their gigantic stars, were they?

Toei Team Ups

 

This is from a Sentai X Kamen Rider movie from ten or so years ago.  These four heroes show up at the end, and only in costume (which is good, since Ban Daisuke played both Kikaida and Inazuman's human form).  I have only watched it once and really don't remember what the whole movie was about.  I am sure I enjoyed it so some degree.  It just made me wonder why Toei kept most of their heroes in separate universes.  In the very first original Sentai movie, JAQK vs Goranger, both Kamen Riders and Kikaida were mentioned.  This was never mentioned again.

Curse of the Undead (1959)

 

This was just on Svengoolie last night.  I had seen it many years ago, back on KWGN Channel 2.  There was no description in the TV Guide, or perhaps it said "Horror" or "Drama".  TV Guides were not always sure about what genre of movies that were being aired back then.  So it was a surprise to see a vampire walking around in the Old West.  He was also a fast draw as well.  He's sort of an anti hero here, since he wants to help the woman against the evil human, but then he keeps biting her.  I didn't remember much about it for years, aside from the final shootout.  Spoilers-

Loki 2- Variant

 

Loki figures out how the Variant is hiding and causing chaos.  Of course, Loki being Loki, he is trying to do this to alter his destiny.  So for the time being he has to play nice with the Time Lords, I mean, TVA.  Not that Mobius trusts him, and Ravonna (I KNEW I knew that name from... well, I'll talk about that in a minute) tells Mobius anything Loki does is on him.  Then there is the final reveal, which was a surprise to me.  I thought she was the Enchantress, but it turns out I was completely wrong.  Loki goes after her, after she causes a multiverse to occur.  Great.

Rheostatics - The Tarleks- RIP Frank Bonner

  

In honor of Frank Bonner's passing, here is a video about his race.  He was great as Herb Tarlek.  His first movie was Equinox (1970) and who knew it would lead him town to town,and up and down that dial? 

MOTW - Marine Monster of the Deep

 

Thaddeus E (the E stands for Evil) Brackish has a murder of monsters he plans to use to conquer the seven seas.  In addition to being able to breath under water, they can fly and have a fiery breath.  How that works underwater is a mystery to me.  It's a good thing Marine Boy and the Ocean Patrol were around to stop Mr. Brackish.   You just can't go wrong with mermaids, monsters and exploding boomerangs!

The Tyrannosaur Chronicles

This is the book to get for nearly everything you need or want to know about Tyrannosaurus rex and it's immediate family.  It's just that good.
 

Three Giant Monsters

This interview was conducted between three Toho monster actors.  It was done for the publicity campaign for Godzilla  vs Biollante.  It had been published in Uchusen Magazine.  I had a translated copy sent to me, which at the time was most amazing.  I don't recall who sent it to me.  I published it in Xenorama #7  over 20 years ago.  I found the original recently, and wondered if I should post it or try and publish it again.  Here is the first page.  I hope it is easily read!

Loki episode 1- Glorious Purpose

 

Loki has almost always been a complete jerk in his comic book appearances.  Any time he was heroic was generally by accident.  He helped stop Dormammu from bringing the Earth into the Dark Dimension for revenge, not for noble purposes.  His first couple appearances in the MCU were pretty much the same, but enhanced by Tom Hiddleston's wonderfully nuanced performance.  Now we have the next series from Marvel, and he's still good, but it's about time.  

Gorgo and Reptilicus

 

Thanks to John Lemay's great zine Movie Milestones #4. I found out that Reptilicus/Reptisaurus made a "blink and you will miss it" cameo in Gorgo #12 "Monsters Rendezvous".  Poor Repti only get s  named in the last panel, despite helping Gorgo and Ogra save the planet from invading Venusians.  It's too bad they didn't have an actual team up, or do a longer story.  Gorgo and Konga both had pretty respectable runs in the comics.  Had Chartlon been more aware, they could have had some more continuing characters in all of their monster books, which would have been more fun for the reader.

MOTW- Gyaos

 

Gyaos, the Supersonic Monster, is arguable the most popular of Gamera's foes.  It's been overused in the newer movies, though.  The original is kind of a jerk, and is also a vampire, as it likes to drink blood.  It has the sonic laser to use, and also a deadly yellow fog that can put out fires.  Most of Gamera's monster enemies have an overkill of weapons to use.  Fortunately, Gyaos has a major weakness - it can't stand sunlight.  

Movie Milestones #4

That darn John LeMay has done it again!  He's been publishing his own fanzine for a while now, and somehow I just noticed it.  Serves me write for not paying attention.  This is a companion zine to his Lost Films Fanzine. I'll be ordering those soon enough as well.  Anyway, this one is all about Gorgo, Reptilicus and... Konga.  As anyone who knows me knows I love Reptilicus, both the movie and the monster.  I also enjoy Gorgo quite a bit.  Konga... well, I have seen it once.  This issue talks about all the origins of the movies, and all the other stuff you would ever want to know about them.  It's really well laid out and looks great.  He publishes both color and black and white versions for both zines.

Terror of Mechagodzilla Prologue (Channel 29 Theater Bizarre, 1984)

  

This is exactly the way I first saw the movie when it aired in 1980 in Colorado.  Back then we didn't know that this was an added prologue for US audiences.

My Beloved Brontosaurus 2013

 

This is such a fun book!  Anyone who's been a dinosaur kid from early will recognize Brian's story.  It's not just about Brontosaurus, it's more about dinosaurs and his love of them in general.  There is a lot of information in this book, and it's well written.  There will be a slightly more in-depth review in an upcoming issue of Xenorama, just to let you wonderful readers know.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea season one book

 

This is one extensive and monster sized book about the first season of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. I've only read the first part.  The first chapter is about the history of science fiction on television, and the second chapter is a biography of one Mr. Irwin Allen.  The history chapter was more fascinating regarding how quickly television sets infested the United States than about how little sci-fi was presented in the first decade of the medium.  The western was king back then.  He does provide exact episode runs of various shows, which is kind of cool.  Science fiction movies started taking off in the early 50s, but on television it was considered not a safe bet.  With the paltry budgets given to most of the shows, it's no wonder producers thought that.

MOTW- The Ugly Bird

 

The legend of huge birds existing in the North American continent have been around for centuries.  In fact, there are people who think monstrous avian creatures actually exist.  This Ugly Bird is from the oddball 1974 movie The Legend of Hillbilly John.  This is based on a couple Manly Wade Wellman stories, one of which is Who Fears the Devil?  I can't say it's a very good movie, but it's a very interesting movie.  It's very much a product of it's times, though. 

scary? come on

I just read some article about how scary The Blair Witch Project was.  What?  I rarely talk about movies I don't like, I don't have the time or inclination to bother with them.  But the article was about hos Steven King thought this movie was scary.   The movie made no sense, and the characters were awful.  I was cheering for them to get killed.  Come to think of it, that is kind of scary.