In 1959 came the first attack by giant leeches, set in a Florida swamp and executive produced by Roger Corman: Attack of the Giant Leeches [aka The Giant Leeches] (US-1959; dir. Bernard L. Kowalski).
The leeches famously looked a little like deflated swimming-pool mattresses that had eaten a scuba-diver alive.
But there was sex and violence and giant leeches with perverted lusts!
Now Brett Kelly — writer/director of a slew of low-budget independent genre flicks, such as The Bonesetter (2003), The Bonesetter Returns (2005), My Dead Girlfriend (2006) and Kingdom of the Vampire (2007) — is remaking the film, no doubt retaining the sex and violence and giant leeches with perverted lusts, but replacing the mattresses with something more leech-like.
The film is now in post-production, with a release planned for later this year. Meanwhile, Kelly has tossed a few production shots into the cyber-swamp. Here are some of them:
“Oh no! It’s got the cellphone! Now it can call us!”
Cameo by one of the 1959 leeches?
He wouldn’t return the call!
“Okay, which of you leeches keeps callin’ 9-1-1 ?”
Source: Retromedia Messageboard via Kaiju Search-Robot Avery
Much of the following is mere deduction based on Japanese websites (the text of which I don’t have the knowledge to decipher), the odd video clip and scraps of information found on forums. Hence the accuracy of the account is open to question.
I would welcome any corrections or additions.
Den Ace is a comedy character created by Minoru Kawasaki — director of such weird genre films as Ika resuraa [aka The Calamari Wrestler] (2004), Nihon igai zenbu chinbotsu [aka The World Sinks Except Japan] (2006) and the upcoming full-on daikaiju movie, Girara-no Gyakushuu Touyaku Samitto Kiki Ippatsu [lit. Guilala’s Counter Attack: the Touyaku Summit One-Shot Crisis]. Kawasaki is responsible for many, if not all, of the Den Ace short films.
A satiric, slapstick take on the Ultraman franchise, Den Ace tells of Den Hajime, an ordinary, not-overly competent bloke, who changes into a giant, 2000-metre tall superhero named Den Ace when he feels contentment. Den Ace’s motto: “His power is pleasure”.
Whenever a giant monster attacks the city, Hajime drinks a beer, or, failing the availability of beer, throws himself at a woman. The resulting sense of pleasure causes him to grow large and become very powerful indeed. Of course randomly making love to whatever woman is available at the time causes some tension between himself, his girlfriends and his mate, so beer is the preferred option. But whatever it takes! Heroes must suffer in order to save humanity from the monsters!
As far as I can determine, Minoru Kawasaki himself plays Den Hajime in the short films and sequences, which have a strange habit of turning up in unexpected places.
Above: Minoru Kawasaki as Hajime, transforming into Den Ace
through the pleasure derived from beer.
The Filmology of Den Ace
The original Den Ace TV shows apparently dated from the 1980s and early 1990s, with brand new episodes following in more recent times, including TV specials, straight-to-DVD releases and cameo appearances in at least one other movie. The episodes seem to be short — about 5 minutes — in duration.
I have no idea exactly how many episodes of the TV series there were, but here are the DVD releases I have managed to track down:
Ganso Den Ace (2001 release?): “Contains episodes 1 through 5 originally aired on TV in 1989”, and five newly produced episodes.
Zettai Yaseru Den Ace – Uchu Dai Kaiju Girara Tojo! / Uchu Kaiju Sho Shingeki (2007, title translates as something like Den Ace: “I Will Lose Weight”: March of the Space Monster — Giant Space Monster Guilala Appears): a short promotional film designed to showcase the director’s upcoming Guilala feature film).
Cameo appearance in Nihon igai zenbu chinbotsu [aka The World Sinks Except Japan] (2006).
In Nihon igai zenbu chinbotsu, the Den Ace TV show is an entertainment that has become popular among the Japanese in the aftermath of a worldwide catastrophe that left Japan as the only nation not drowned by rising waters. It is said that the show lightens Japanese spirits and expresses the native population’s growing impatience at all the foreigners now seeking refuge on their shores (see image sequence below).
Below are what appears to be a few of the short TV episodes:
And another (unconnected) episode:
Sources:
Kaiju Search Robot Avery
August Ragone on the Club Tokyo/Monster Zero Forums
An official teaser trailer has appeared for Girara-no Gyakushuu Touyaku Samitto Kiki Ippatsu [lit. Guilala’s Counter Attack: the Touyaku Summit One-Shot Crisis] (Japan–2008; dir. Minoru Kawasaki). Few visuals (watch very carefully!), but lots of noise:
Another of science fiction’s greats — an artist rather than a writer this time — passed away on 29 April 2008. John Berkey is recognisable to anyone who reads SF — in particular those who did so during the 1970s and 1980s — for his iconic spaceships, such as this one:
But others might be more likely to remember him for the renditions of King Kong he did for the 1976 version of the film. One of his pictures was used as the key image in advertising for the film:
Berkey is also known for his Star Wars paintings and other work that formed the basis of various film advertising campaigns.
But seeing as the Backbrain is obsessed with giant monsters, here are some more of his Kong pictures, first the original “rough” artwork for the poster image. Changes were demanded, in particular removal of the shadow on the far tower of the World Trade Center, as executives — concerned for realism as they always are — wanted to make it look more like Kong was leaping between the buildings rather than straddling the impossible distance.
Source of King Kong paintings and more information on their creation: John Michlig and his articles KongisKing.net and KongisKing.net
More of Berkey’s space paintings can be viewed here.
There’s a lot that’s attractive about films that attempt to combine zombies and an “Old West” setting, though to date no one has succeeded in capturing the essence of an undead western mythos as well as Joe Lansdale in his “Dead in the West” novel and graphic novels.
Perhaps this new film will be an exception:
Gallowwalker (US/UK-2009; dir. Andrew Goth)
A mysterious gunman, Aman, is the son of a nun who breaks her covenant with God to ensure his survival. This act brings a curse upon Aman – all those that die by his gun will return. Soon, he is hunted by a gang of his undead former victims, led by the vicious Kansa. Aman enlists Fabulos, a new young warrior, to fight by his side. (IMDB)
The following trailer has just been posted at DreadCentral:
At any rate, the film, which stars Wesley Snipes as Aman) may be a change from the standard presentation of zombie tropes (not that there’s anything wrong with those ….).
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (US-2004; dir. Wes Anderson)
Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his crew — Team Zissou — set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elusive, possibly nonexistent Jaguar Shark that had killed Zissou’s partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure.
Kaiju Search-Robot Avery mentioned this film yesterday and wanted to know how big the Shark was. Though not really a giant monster film as such, the Jaguar Shark is certainly big and makes a thematically significant cameo appearance at the end of the film. The film has a Moby Dick undercurrent and plays out against that classic story, though in tone and narrative it is quite different.
Here’s a few screenshoots. Click on them to see them bigger.
from Shark: Rosso nell’oceano
[aka Apocalypse dans l’ocean rouge; Monster Shark;
Devouring Waves; Devilfish]
(Italy/France-1984; dir. Lamberto Bava)
[Hogan, trying to record the monster’s cry] You filthy rotten bloody shark, LET ME HEAR YOU!
Famed horror master Mario Bava’s son, Lamberto Bava, directs his own take on the ‘creature feature’ genre. It mixes “Jaws” with “Tentacles” to create one of the wildest monsters ever: a giant mutant shark/octopus hybrid. However, there’s more to the creature’s appearance than that; it almost looks prehistoric in nature. Whatever it is, it’s a weird one — as you can see from the above French poster.
This film — Guardians (US-2006; dir. Drew Maxwell) — could be interesting. Decent-looking mutants, at least, which may squeeze into the giant-monster category, at the bottom end of the size scale.
The film was a Finalist for Best Science Fiction Feature at Shocker Fest 2006, though the site says it is in post-production and other information is scarce. I guess we’ll find out as time passes…
Twilight Cove, a small forgotten town, is under siege by hideous creatures summoned into our dimension by a group of occultists. Soon the creatures will develop an army to wreak havoc on the world. It is only a matter of time before the creatures will be ready to attack the rest of civilization.
At dusk, a beat-up truck rolls into town. The truck’s door slides open, and a rag-tag team of hardened mercenaries emerges from the creature-killing arsenal-on-wheels. This is not the first time they’ve been called in to exterminate. They are part of a secret society operating outside of the government and the public eye for thousands of years. Their mission is to keep our world safe from evil — of our own creation and from beyond.
Using their cunning skills and unconventional weapons, The Guardians are the only people capable of battling the mutating creatures and saving mankind from their infestation before it’s too late.
The latest Japanese genre to meet with an enthusiast’s attempt to replicate it for the West is the kaiju-tokusatsu, giant-monster vs superhero genre of such TV series as Ultraman. Zero Trooper-F is a 39-minute film directed by an indie filmmaker from Madison, Wisconsin.
The following description is from the Robo Japan website:
A certified genius, and local celebrity, named Dr. Abrams (played by Rob O’Brien) has developed a special device that can be used to turn an elite group of soldiers, called the “Zero Troopers”, into giant sized, Power Ranger-like, defenders.
While Greenside City, a town that looks amazingly like Madison, Wisconsin, is being attacked by a giant white, “fuzzy-wuzzy” monster, the Good Doctor’s invention is put into use. A giant Zero Trooper appears and begins a knock-down fight with the monster. In a surprise move, Dr. Abrams quits the defense force, right in the middle of the battle, and goes in search of his ex-girlfriend, who he discovers has already moved on in her life with another man.
To date, the short film has only been available for viewing at film festivals, but hopefully a DVD release will eventuate at some point.
Kaiju Search-Robot Avery also informs me that currently in production is Greenside, a feature-length sequel to Zero Trooper-F. Below is a trailer, which, unfortunately, doesn’t include any kaiju! Looks good though. I think both these films are something I’ll keep an eager fannish eye out for!
