Category Archives: Film

New: Raimi and the Monster Zoo

Posted on Friday, March 21, 2008 by Robert Hood

Variety reports that Paramount has bought up the rights to a new graphic novel, Monster Zoo by Doug TenNapel — a story about a boy and a zoo full of mutant monsters that threaten to break out and destroy the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Giant Monsters, News | 2 Comments

When Film Commentary Loses the Plot

Posted on Friday, March 21, 2008 by Robert Hood

Ever seen the Japanese giant monster movie about a gigantic rampaging X? It’s hard being a film commentator — and this is particularly so when attempting to do an encyclopedic overview of a somewhat esoteric genre such as, say, “Giant … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Giant Monsters, Reading, Review | 3 Comments

Vintage Robots, Part Six: What Came First?

Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 by Robert Hood

In an article on BoingBoing about the DVD release of some of Houdini’s films, and in particular his serial made in 1918, The Master Mystery, which includes a robot [see my blog post here], it is claimed that this was … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Living dolls, Robots | 1 Comment

Vintage Robots, Part Five

Posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 by Robert Hood

Larry Blamire, the writer and director of 1950s-style scifi spoof, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001), has a long-gestating project that sounds too good not to happen eventually. It’s one that he says has been with him since the 1980s, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Mecha, Robots | 3 Comments

Those All-Singing, All-Dancing Ghosts

Posted on Monday, March 17, 2008 by Robert Hood

Here is a 7-minute scene from the Indian ghost comedy Bhoot Bangla [aka Ghost House] (1965; dir. Mehmood). R.D. Burman and Mehmood form a sort of Bob Hope/Bing Crosby combo in a haunted house — where everyone, in true Bollywood … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Ghosts, Indian, Weird stuff | Leave a comment

Vintage Robots: Part Four

Posted on Sunday, March 16, 2008 by Robert Hood

Kino is about to release a box set of Harry Houdini’s movies from the early part of the 20th century. One of these features what some have claimed is the first instance of a robot (called “The Automaton”) on film, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Robots, Trailers | 3 Comments

Monster Archive: The Savage

Posted on Sunday, March 16, 2008 by Robert Hood

The Savage (US-1926: dir. Fred Newmeyer) According to Stephen Jones in The Illustrated Dinosaur Movie Guide, this film features a young reporter named Danny Terry (played by Ben Lyon), who accompanies a scientific expedition to the Mariposa Islands, just as … Continue reading →

Posted in Dinosaurs, Film, Giant Monsters | 2 Comments

New: Remaking Day of the Dead

Posted on Sunday, March 16, 2008 by Robert Hood

Despite the sheer historical importance of Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), the innovative nature and satirical power of Dawn of the Dead (1978), and more recently the Zombie King’s much-underrated extension of the franchise in Land of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Apocalypse, Film, Trailers, Zombies | Leave a comment

Beyond the Loch Ness Terror

Posted on Saturday, March 15, 2008 by Robert Hood

From Kaiju Search-Robot Avery, an interesting-looking lake monster flick: Beyond Loch Ness [aka Loch Ness Terror] (Canada-2007; dir. Paul Ziller) The original title Beyond Loch Ness was obviously changed so no one would confuse the film with 2001’s Beneath Loch … Continue reading →

Posted in Dinosaurs, Film, Giant Monsters, Kaiju Search-Robot Avery, Lake Monsters, Trailers | 6 Comments

When Bread gets Dead…

Posted on Friday, March 14, 2008 by Robert Hood

First there was The Gingerdead Man (US-2005; dir. Charles Band), where the soul of a killer animates (with the help of SFX artist John Carl Buechler) a gingerbread man, creating a murderous cookie monster. Now director Silvia St. Croix brings … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Ghosts, Horror, Trailers | 5 Comments