Monthly Archives: January 2008

Giant Snails!

Posted on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 by Robert Hood

This is probably the only film ever made about an invasion of Paris [well, some French city or other] by rampaging giant snails! A farmer cries!  The population flees, screaming! Bare-breasted women run, screaming! It’s all rather cute and delicately … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, Film, Giant Monsters | 2 Comments

Trailer: Strange World of Planet X

Posted on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 by Robert Hood

The Strange World of Planet X [aka Cosmic Monsters] (UK-1958; dir. Gilbert Gunn) When the inevitable 1950s mad scientist blows a hole in the ionosphere, a swarm of photographically enlarged insects from another dimension invade Earth and cause women to … Continue reading →

Posted in Daikaiju, Film, Giant Monsters, Trailers | Leave a comment

Big Win for “The Arrival”

Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 by Robert Hood

Back in 1991 I sold a story called “Groundswell” to Aurealis magazine — my first in that now-venerable Australian SF journal. The story was illustrated by a then little-known WA artist by the name of Shaun Tan. It was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, News, Pictorial art | 3 Comments

Update: Giant Monster Film List

Posted on Monday, January 28, 2008 by Robert Hood

I’ve just updated and perpetrated a major upgrade on my list of Giant Monster films. You can check it out anytime via the links to the right on the Backbrain main page — or here.

Posted in Giant Monsters, Godzilla, Sheer administration | 1 Comment

At the Aurealis Awards

Posted on Monday, January 28, 2008 by Robert Hood

Cat Sparks and I just did a flying visit to Brisbane over the Australia Day weekend for the Aurealis Speculative Fiction Awards (for fiction written in 2007). I was a presenter in the Horror Short Fiction section (it went to … Continue reading →

Posted in Activity, Books, News | Leave a comment

More Cloverfield

Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 by Robert Hood

With Cloverfield‘s opening weekend box-office clocking in at $41 million (from a budget of $25-30 million) — a record for January — it seems certain we’ll get a sequel. But what will it be? The Cloverfield “shadow” website (which consists … Continue reading →

Posted in Cloverfield, Daikaiju, Film, Giant Monsters | 2 Comments

A US Godzilla?

Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 by Robert Hood

This isn’t a review. That will come later. These are just some initial thoughts on Cloverfield, producer J.J. Abrams’ (of “Lost” fame) and director Matt Reeves’ excellent giant monster film. In literally the first moments, while the production company logos … Continue reading →

Posted in Daikaiju, Film, Giant Monsters, Idle Thoughts | 4 Comments

Preview: Diary of the Dead

Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 by Robert Hood

George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead – an alternative view of the beginning of the zombie apocalypse he began in Night of the Living Dead in 1968. What with the soon-to-be-released Cloverfield (giant monster apocalypse seen from “street level” … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Preview, Zombies | Leave a comment

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

Posted on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 by Robert Hood

Not the movie, but the t-shirt! This cool t-shirt design was created by Brian Walline and is available through the Threadless T-Shirt site.

Posted in Dinosaurs, Weird stuff | Leave a comment

The Las Vegas Monster

Posted on Tuesday, January 8, 2008 by Robert Hood

This animation is a rare piece of stop-motion footage, featuring a very peculiar and intriguing monster. It is a test animation for a film, The Las Vegas Monster, that never went through to completion. The designer was Pete Peterson, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, Daikaiju, Film, Giant Monsters, The Lost | 6 Comments