836. Gammera IS Invincible!

Yep, it is Gamera's "origin" movie, slightly redone from several years ago.

823. Famous Japanese Monsters of Filmland zine review!

There isn't a lot to add to the vast amount of reviews for this magazine, but I did it anyway!

816. Space Wars 05 review!

 How did I miss this yesterday?

Gamera vs Supersonic monster Gyaos!

This Italian poster is pretty much spot on for the third Gamera movie.

767. Dai Kaiju Book reviews!

                       Here are seven books that I really enjoy!

687. Plumbing the depths of Gamera vs. Zigra! review

                    Here we have the nadir of Gamera movies.  I hate saying that, as I love most all of them.

Gamera vs. Zigra (ugh)

 I reviewed the first six Gamera movies on the podcast early, then stopped before I could get to the last two.

647. Batman and the Ninja Turtles vs. Various Miscreants! (2019)

                 This is a pretty fun movie, if a bit graphic.  Perhaps the Turtles do such things now?  I dunno.

Gamera The Showa Era Blu Ray box set

Just got this from Arrow Video, as an early Yule present.  I am looking forward to watching most of these movies yet again.  I have most of them on DVD, but I couldn't resist the lowered price of this set.  And knowing what quality work Arrow does (I have mentioned that, I bet) it was an easy choice.  It is all eight of the Showa movies, which means six are easy to watch and two are not.  You, my dear reader, can figure out which two movies I am talking about.  I am glad I got to see all of the fun ones growing up, though.  Thanks, Channel 2 KWGN.  A young monster fan appreciates you.  Japanese monsters were on a lot while I was growing up, and that didn't happen in all parts of the country.

261. Attack of the Monsters pt 2!

     The finale!

259 Attack of the Monsters 1969 Part 1

         Special Comment below.

Revenge of the Fire Monster

 

I watched War of the Monsters last night, the best version of Gamera vs. Barugon.  From Wiki- Gamera vs. Barugon (大怪獣決闘 ガメラ対バルゴン, Daikaijū kettō: Gamera tai Barugon, lit. 'Great Monster Duel: Gamera vs. Barugon') is a 1966 Japanese kaiju film directed by Shigeo Tanaka, with special effects by Noriaki Yuasa and Kazufumi Fujii. Produced by Daiei Film, it is the second entry in the Gamera franchise, and stars Kōjirō Hongō, Kyōko Enami, and Yūzō Hayakawa, with Teruo Aragaki as Gamera. In the film, Gamera returns to Earth to battle a reptilian monster born out of an opal brought to Japan by greedy entrepreneurs.

Gamera vs. Viras magnet

 

Forgot I had this little gem.  Carl Craig himself sent it to me nearly twenty years ago.  I can't believe it has been that long.  I was corresponding him via email back then.  He was really nice and sent that magnet and a business card to me.  I wish I had kept in contact with him.  He was great.  I just checked, and the website is still active!  How about that?  You can still get magnets there.  I may have to order his DVD with commentary.

Xeno-Gamera

 Frequent Xenorama contributor Bryan Kuriawa suggested an issue about Gamera's first movie.  I gave that some thought, but in honor of 60 years of Gamera, I think we will do an issue about the Showa movies.  This will be in line for 2025.  Yes, it will include that last two movies, no matter how difficult they are to get through.  The others are all pretty fun.  I have all the AIP-TV versions in widescreen, thanks to one Constantine Furman.  He does the best restoration work ever.  Also, he writes some great books, so go purchase some if you have not done so yet.  His knowledge about genre movies is great.

King Kong and Godzilla vs. The Italians?

In doing research for the upcoming King Kong vs. Godzilla issue. I came across this interesting poster.  I wonder what goes on in the marketing heads when they do things like this.  I mean, it has to be about name brand recognition, at least for some of it.  I wonder how many people were disappointed when they went to this movie and got Destroy All Planets?  I mean, I would have loved it, but dang, not one of the monsters shown is in the movie itself.

Facts and Figures of Japanese Monster

Constantine Furman has done it again.  This book contains so much information about these movies and monsters.  It is over 300 pages of greatness.  This information covers various titles of movies, along with translations of the titles.  There are also so many lyrics from the various song in these movies.  The reader gets them in Japanese (with English words) and then the English translations.  Now you can sing along in either language to Miyarabi's Prayer.  It is also peppered with Furman's sense of fun.  His commentary is witty and very on point.  He knows when to add a little fun at exactly the right time.

monster of the week - Zigra

Much like Gigan, Zigra is a monster in search of a better movie.  It's a cool looking alien, and nearly as smart as Viras.  In my dream of a Godzilla/Gamera team up from 1972, the two heroic monsters would have joined forces against Zigra, Ghidrah and Viras.  That would have been more fun than both Godzilla vs Gigan and Gamera vs Zigra, I must say.  Alas, this was never to be, and probably never will be.  Still, it is fun to think about.

Gamera, Super Monster handbook

 I haven't talked too much about Gamera recently.  I just received this amazing book, though, and it's great.  I'm not a big fan of this movie, but Mr. Furman has made me want to watch the movie again.  This book is packed with information about this movie, the actors and the director.  It's also loaded with reviews from other fans and more.  The commentary about the movie is really good.  I am thinking I would like Mr. Furman (who is a friend of mine, I must say) to write more books like this for other genre movies.  He really knows his stuff.

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.  

ice MOTW- Barugon

 

Gamera fought Barugon, the Quick Freeze Monster in his second movie.  Like most of Gamera's foes, Barugon had more than one power.  He had a prehensile tongue that could shoot ice and snow out of it.  Later on, we see the deadly rainbow beam that disintegrates everything it touches.  Oddly enough, for a monster that uses ice vapor as a power, Barugon's weakness was water, which is exactly how Gamera dispatched his foe.