Category Archives: Fantasy

The Weed Spreads

Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2014 by Robert Hood

The good news is that Ryan Cauchi and Nick Stathopoulos’ superlative, low-budget, practical FX-driven, monster plant flick, It Grows!, is sending out its tendrils, and taking root in film festivals worldwide. The short film had its world premiere on October … Continue reading →

Posted in Apocalypse, Australian, Fantasy, Flying Saucers, Giant Monsters, Man-eating plants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tarzan In India, With Cyclops

Posted on Thursday, January 9, 2014 by Robert Hood

The mythic critter Cyclops, with one eye and optional horn, has turned up a few times in the history of cinema, usually in a cameo role. Though he did take the lead, sans horn, in the not-overly-memorable Cyclops (US-2008; dir. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Film, Giant Monsters, Indian | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Peter and the Colossus

Posted on Monday, December 2, 2013 by Robert Hood

A Backbrain New Release Exclusive What if your best friend was a giant tree monster? Peter and the Colossus (US-2013) is an independent feature-length film written, directed and produced by Mitchel Viernes. It stars Aubrey Robbins and new child star … Continue reading →

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Jellyfish Eyes: The New Yôkai?

Posted on Monday, February 25, 2013 by Robert Hood

Images of the cute yet bizarre kaiju (that is, monsters) inhabiting Takashi Murakami’s much-anticipated fantasy Mememe no Kurage (Jellyfish Eyes) reveal an imagination that has taken its own established aesthetic and created a weird, toy-like pantheon of creatures very reminiscent, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Film, Ghosts, Giant Monsters, Japanese, Monsters in general, News, Trailers, Update | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

First Sighting of Jellyfish Eyes’ Monsters

Posted on Saturday, November 24, 2012 by Robert Hood

Two of the monster designs for Part 1 of artist Takashi Murakami’s proposed live-action fantasy trilogy, Mememe no Kurage (Jellyfish Eyes) [if you need to catch up, see  The Art of Monsters: Takashi Murakami and Jellyfish Eyes], have surfaced — … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, Daikaiju, Fantasy, Film, Giant Monsters, Japanese, Update | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Second Helping of Jellyfish Eyes

Posted on Monday, October 15, 2012 by Robert Hood

A while back the Backbrain discussed at length Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and his upcoming live-action giant monster film, Jellyfish Eyes. (See The Art of Monsters: Takashi Murakami and Jellyfish Eyes.) As exciting as that is, the website for the … Continue reading →

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Now That’s Big

Posted on Sunday, July 8, 2012 by Robert Hood

Going on the latest poster created for this year’s Comic-Con, the giant robots of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim are utterly gigantic. Assuming their size is roughly comparable to that of the daikaiju enemies they are created to fight, we’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Daikaiju, Fantasy, Film, Giant Monsters, Mecha | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Giant Monsters in Award-Winning Drama

Posted on Thursday, June 7, 2012 by Robert Hood

Beasts of the Southern Wild (US-2012; dir. Benh Zeitlin) has been described as “a beautiful award-winning drama that just happens to include giant monsters”. In the aftermath of the film’s recent wins at Cannes and Sundance, words like “magical”, “moving”, … Continue reading →

Posted in Apocalypse, Fantasy, Giant Monsters, Independent film, News, Trailers | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wrath Brings Out the Monsters in Us All

Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 by Robert Hood

With Jonathan Liebesman’s Wrath of the Titans — a sequel to the much-spurned Clash of the Titans —  about to be released upon us, a new, rather spectacular trailer has provoked the usual irrelevant internet complaints of “mythological” inaccuracy — … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Film, Giant Monsters, Trailers | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Visions of John Carter

Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 by Robert Hood

Back in the day I read pretty well all the science fantasy of Edgar Rice Burroughs, from Tarzan, through the Pellucidar series and the tales of Barsoom — Mars — with its scantily clad Princess. Inevitably those of my generation … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Film, Pictorial art, Science Fiction | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments