948. The ideal It Came from Beneath the Sea review!

This is volume two, as the first one was done over 700 episodes, and was not on YouTube.

once more, It rises from beneath the Sea!

I will be re-reviewing this movie shortly, since it was done on the Spotify-only days.  That was over 700 episodes ago, nearly two years!

726. Kikaida, the one-armed android! 29-32

                   You better believe I will use the octopus label when I can!  Even if this one is eville!

708. Takin' a Dive with The Warlords of Atlantis! (1978 review)

                     This movie works really well overall.  It is very pulpy, yet very original, at least as far as movies go.

505. Mysterious Island with giant creatures! (1961)

                  As you might have guessed, here is the new podcast!  No one should be surprised.

435. Take a Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea in 1961!

               Here's a review of the fun 1961 movie Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea!  It was popular enough to spawn a four season run on television as well.

Sven- It Came from Beneath the Sea

A giant octopus gets irradiated by atomic bomb tests,  It cannot eat the food on its regular diet so it turns to other food sources, animals and people.  This brings it to the surface of the Pacific Ocean, and it brings down ships, then moves to San Francisco.  For a water-bound creature, it can cause a lot of damage to land and land structures.  Humans must be a tiny, bite-sized snack for an animal of this size, but they also must taste good.  Our heroes figure out how to kill it while it sleeps, the cruel people that they are.  One big explosion later, the menace of the giant octopus is over.  Unless there are more in the deep ocean...

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) title sequence

   

Warlords of Atlantis 1978 theatrical trailer

    

It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955) - Movie Trailer

                         

A darn good little movie here, and one I have seen many times.  Part One of the stop-motion extravaganza Xenorama issue is almost complete!

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

 

I watched this again last night.  I haven't seen it for probably ten years or so, if not longer.  I really enjoyed it, in more ways than just the great storytelling that was present.  The way it was directed, filmed, the sets and especially the miniatures were all amazing.  It really is a great movie.  It was Disney's first big budget feature and it was a huge success.  I remember seeing it in the theater in Keyser, WV, probably in 1974, if that's when it was re-released.  The squid attack was amazing to me then, and it's even more impressive knowing how they had to film it, with wires and a massive prop.  I love that scene!

MOTW- Reptilicus

 

A frozen tail of an unknown prehistoric animal is found in the oil fields of Denmark.  Miraculously, the tail is alive, and when accidentally thawed grows into the monstrous Reptilicus.  It is naturally hungry and goes on a rampage in Copenhagen.  The military is reluctant to destroy it, as it's pieces could grow into even more reptilici, and that might be bad for the planet.  Eventually it is poisoned and dies.  Except for the claw that had been blown off...

GI Joe vs Octopus

 

I was never much into GI Joe, in either incarnation.  The dolls were too big and I had already discovered Mego dolls.  I wanted superheroes, and Joe was just not it for me.  I liked the concept, though.  I did have one doll, and the "Eight Arms of Danger" set.  I wanted the octopus far more than anything else, and I played with it a lot.  I had quite an octopus collection, actually, and those were not easy to come by back in the early 70s.  But I digress. 

Xenorama #20

This is a really good issue.  I have had a lot of stuff going on and haven't been able to promote it properly til now.

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

Haven't watched this in years, but it was always one I liked.  Probably because it was one I saw as a kid, and in one of the best memories.  We were away on a family vacation and in the mountains with a small b/w tv with reception of exactly one channel.  Thank Poseidon it was Channel 4, the very station that was airing this fine movie.  I set the alarm to go off about ten minutes before the movie started, since you had to let the set warm up before you could see your show.

Harryhausen on blu ray

Picked this disc up while in San Diego.  Neither of these are my favorite movies of his, but for a blu ray to cost $4 I couldn't turn them down.  Thank goodness these are just the black and white versions (at least from what I could tell by the back of the box, as I don't have them in my possession at the moment, thanks Southwest) and not the crayonized versions of a few years ago.  Ever notice how colorization rears it's poorly done head every few years only to fade from conversation shortly there after?  People that don't like black and white movies and shows should never get to watch them, and they are still less likely to watch older shows even if in color.  Those people are stupid and should be avoided.

King Kong vs Godzilla

King Kong! Godzilla! A giant octopus! This was my first exposure to all three of those monsters and I was hooked for life. Granted, I don't care for most ape movies that much, but I love Kong, so I love this movie and this version of the movie. Without it, there probably wouldn't be much of a US fanbase here now.

Giant Octopus vs the Golden Gate Bridge

Here's a fun clip from It Came from Beneath the Sea, in glorious black and white. I never realized there was a Captain Stacey in this movie. He must have had enough of this and went back to NYC, where interestingly enough, he was killed by Dr. Octopus. I'm sure Stan must have seen this movie back when it came out.

MotW- Giant Octopus

Here's a monster that's not really a monster, since they actually exist.  The Giant Pacific Octopus has been measured at 20' tip to tip, though there are reports of larger ones out there.  This of course has never stopped the movies from imagining gigantic octopi from menacing various heroes.  Before CGI was over-prevalant, it took a lot of skill and cunning to make these monsters come to life on the silver screen.  In 1962's KING KONG VS GODZILLA Tsuburaya and co used three different methods for their portrayal of the beast- a real octopus (four, actually) a dead one and some stop-motion tentacles.  I'll have a sequel to this page sometime in the future featuring the octopi from Japan.

They do make good monsters, since they look so alien.  They are also really smart.