Crawler: Exclusive Images

Posted on Friday, July 9, 2010 by Robert Hood

Independent horror filmmaker Sv Bell and Black Flag Pictures is going great guns in the production of impressive-looking low-budget genre films, the latest being Crawler — a film about a monstrous bulldozer that goes several steps beyond Jerry London’s 1974 malicious ‘dozer pic Killdozer. Here, the monstrous ‘dozer isn’t merely a piece of machinery that has become inhabited by a supernatural force. Rather it is an entity is its own right — a bad-tempered alien that takes on the appearance of objects with which it comes in contact. What it first comes in contact with is a huge bulldozer. The result is more slimy, has more tentacles and looks considerably weirder and more bloody than Theodore Sturgeon’s famous killer earth-mover.

crawler04

crawler08

Above: independent film production can cause the strongest of men to go to pieces!

You can read more about the film when Undead Backbrain highlighted it back in October 2008. Since then Crawler, completed in 2009, has been an Official Selection at several international film festivals, winning Bronze as Best Quebec Feature Film 2009 at the Fantasia Film Festival and Best Feature Film 2009 at Wreck-Beach International Film Festival.

crawlerposter

Crawler (US-2008; dir. Sv Bell)

Synopsis:

A crew on a remote construction site [working for Overdrive Construction in an allusion to that other famous sentient machinery tale, Stephen King’s 1986 Maximun Overdrive] are plagued by a series of bizarre mishaps. As the incidents turn more and more savage, it becomes clear that the sole link to the deadly events … is a 50-ton bulldozer.  The aggressive bulldozer, which appears to have a mind of its own — and an insatiable hate for the human race, is in fact a shape-shifting lifeform that mimics and inherits the characteristics of its surroundings.

And did I mention that the entity doesn’t just bulldozer its victims into the ground, but is quite capable of turning them into zombies?

crawler22

Crawler-0077-Sylvain Legare

Director Sv Bell appeared on Electric Playground at the end of last year, talking about Crawler, Black Flag Pictures and the value of independent filmmaking:

Bell has also provided Undead Backbrain with a gallery of exclusive images from the film as well as behind-the-scenes and production shots, and alternative Canadian and European posters. Check them out below. As soon as we hear more about the film’s availability we’ll let you know.

Trailer:

Gallery:

Posted in Horror, Independent film, News, Posters, Preview, Update | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Pseudo Grindhouse Movie Marathon

Posted on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 by Robert Hood

Taking a retro approach to films isn’t new. A retro sensibility can make both low-budget and not-so-low-budget films look extra classy, if done well. Designers love the idea. Or maybe it’s just nostalgia. In any case, there have been many within genre circles in recent times, including Max Neptune and the Menacing Squid (US-2010; dir. John Garside and Colin Fleming), The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (US-2008; dir. Paul Bunnell), Monster from Bikini Beach (US-2008; dir. Darin Wood), Alien Trespass (US-2009; dir. R.W. Goodwin) and the upcoming Iron Sky (Finland/Germany/Canada/Australia-2011; dir. Timo Vuorensola). And that’s barely scratching the surface of the phenomenon. Jun Awazu’s 2005 animated tribute to early Toho giant monster/scifi flicks, Negadon: The Monster from Mars, is certainly worth seeking out for monster fans.

Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino took the idea one step further, of course, in their 2007 Grindhouse project — a double feature of two pseudo-80s exploitation films, Planet Terror and Death Proof, along with fake trailers for coming attractions by Rodriguez, Eli Roth, Rob Zombie and Edgar Wright. The full thing came complete with scratches and an “old-film” look, including breaks in the action that were supposedly the result of the film being split and haphazardly spliced back together in the projection booths of umpteen flea-pit cinemas. Ironically, Rodriguez’s fake trailer for “Machete” has turned into a real film — again adopting the retro-80s style. There were rumours of Zombie doing likewise with his “Werewolf Women of the SS” trailer, but as far as I know that one hasn’t come to fruition.

Now Ollie Bostock and his film partner Jonny Eveson have concocted something along the same lines — and it has the potential to grow.

banner

The story goes:

In 1970s New York one cinema broke all the rules: The Hewitt and Walker Cineplex of Brooklyn, a cinema that played back-to-back hardcore horror and non-stop gut-wrenching gore.

The cineplex was burned to the ground by an angry mob in 1985, killing both the owners who were trapped inside.

Now for the first time in motion picture history, out of the ashes of time and the rubble of eternity, comes the last remaining film reel from the most infamous cineplex of all time.

Trailer:

Opening of the Film:

Bostok explained to Undead Backbrain:

The film came about after my filmmaker partner and I made a spoof 80s B-movie horror trailer called “Death Chair”. That film was so much fun to make, we decided to make another. “Killer Flies from Mexico” won a competition to be among the extras on the UK release of the Paranormal Activities DVD earlier this year.

Since making “Flies” we have made three more. A Vietnam war film trailer called “Hunter”, a horror called “The Return of Dr Mike Griffin” and another B-movie horror called “Sponge”.  These trailers now feature on the film we are in the final stages of editing: The Hewitt & Walker History of Cinema.

It’s about a fake Cineplex in the 80s Brooklyn called the Hewitt & Walker Cineplex. Our film is the last remaining film reel to come from the burned-down wreckage of that cinema.

You can see the posters for all the “fake” films in the Gallery below. But here’s Killer Flies From Mexico, followed by the trailer:

killer-flies-from-mexico

Bostock commented on this: “Killer flies could be a good feature. I might think about a script!” Let’s hope so.

flie

  • Source: Ollie Bostock via Avery Guerra. Pictures via MySpace site. Writing by Robert Hood.

Gallery:

Posted in Big Bugs, Exploitation films, Horror, Humour, Posters, Retro | 1 Comment

The Millennium Bug Has Finally Arrived!

Posted on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 by Robert Hood

But don’t panic! We’re talking about the horror thriller by director Kenneth Cran and his brother James rather than the fanciful computer scare that led us into the new millennium. The Cran Brothers’ millennium bug isn’t a programming glitch and is very very big — near enough to Godzilla-big. It has lots of teeth. It rises from the depths as the millennium clocks in and sets about dealing with a bunch of the most violent and nastily inbred hillybilly lunatics ever to torment wandering innocents. The Crawfords make Leatherface’s clan look like viable genetic material!

mbug01a

The Millennium Bug (US-2010; dir Kenneth Cran)

millennium-bug-poster03

Synopsis:

When the Haskin family seeks refuge from Y2K hysteria in the isolated forests of the Sierra Diablos mountains, madness and terror find them there. Abducted by a vicious hillbilly clan, the Haskins fight for survival, but neither they nor the hillbilly Crawfords can comprehend the monstrous nightmare about to erupt from the bowels of the earth.

mbug116

mbug113

mbug124

mbug122

mbug123

The Millennium Bug, which from available stills looks a little like the mutant spawn of House of a 1000 Corpses and Tremors, stars Jon Briddell, Adam Brooks, Christine Haeberman, Trek Loneman, Ken MacFarlane, John Charles Meyer, Ian Pfister, Ginger Pullman, Ben Seton, Jessica Simons, Sandi Steinberg and Benjamin Watts as “The Bug” — (see the official website for more details).

mbug105

Director Kenneth Cran had supplied Undead Backbrain with a monster-truck load of new stills like those above, to add to the ones previously released (see links below). You can see the latest in the Gallery at the end of this post. From all appearances, The Millennium Bug looks set to be a redneck-maniacs-vs-giant-monster classic!

millennium-bug-poster01

Production Status Notes:

Ironically, during post-production, the schedule suffered a setback thanks to a bug in the main computer and an apparent meltdown. I guess, the mBug was getting its revenge. But the problem was speedily rectified, with little lasting damage. In fact there were benefits. Cran commented on the film’s Facebook page:

The month off because of the computer crash has allowed me to look at the cut with fresh eyes. I’m finding ways of improving the movie. Long live independent filmmaking!

Things were going well, particularly in regards to VFX:

Dustin “El Toasto Blanco” Yoder continues to dazzle us with his composites of full-sized actors into miniature sets. He didn’t even KNOW Shake until just a few months ago (it’s out of production now, and only available from some guy named Pixel Pete — he’s in the green Chevy Impala in the alley behind the bowling alley…… tell ’em Joe sent you. Cash only).

Then came the announcement:

The movie has been restored, editing is complete. Meeting and viewing of the workprint with Ugo the sound designer and Andrew the composer goes well. After 2.5 years, the movie will soon be out of my hands, and into theirs.

Currently, The Millennium Bug is getting an immaculate new soundscape and music score, while the Cran Bros. set about marketing matters, including the production of a trailer. The trailer is expected to be completed in about two weeks, or even less, and you will see it here, first, on Undead Backbrain. So keep a mutated eye out!

This is going to be big…

Sources: Kenneth Cran via Avery Guerra

Written by Robert Hood

Gallery:

Posted in Daikaiju, Film, Giant Bugs, Giant Monsters, Horror, Independent film, Monsters in general, Update | 2 Comments

It’s a MM(+9)ystery!

Posted on Sunday, July 4, 2010 by Robert Hood

This post is about a mystery contained in a mystery.

Last week Undead Backbrain’s Avery Guerra stumbled upon a video posted to YouTube by tomoro55 — a Channel that concentrates on the work of Japanese director Kiyotaka Taguchi. Taguchi is best known among kaiju enthusiasts for two quite spectacular giant monster short films: Chohatsu Daikaiju Gehara [Long-haired Giant Monster Gehara] (2009) and G (2008). He has also been involved in creating the SFX for Gojira tai Megagirasu: Jî shômetsu sakusen [Godzilla vs Megaguiras] (2000) and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) as well as VFX on Grudge 2 (2006) and The iDol.

One of the reasons the new YouTube video was interesting was the text beneath it, which reads: “15 days remaining until the unprecedented emergency”. As well, on all three trailers for G on tomoro55’s Channel, the video is linked under the heading “NEW PROJECT”. Does that mean it’s a tease for Taguchi’s latest project?

The tags provided are very suggestive, too, reading as follows:

Ocean of organism mysterious, surrealistic, supernatural another world different space different grotesque dimension living thing of mystery mysterious monster space strange life lives

Here then is the “mystery” video:

Ominous sounds and music, World’s Greatest Mysteries-type footage and slimy dripping tentacles.

After employing his finely honed search skills, Kaiju Search-Robot Avery found a Japanese site that displayed not only that video but 12 others of a similar nature. For your convenience, I’ve joined them all together in the order of their numbering, each one preceded by the tags that appear with them on the site.

So what do you make of that? The hand-held footage as well as the mysterious nature of the videos and the enigmatic qualities of the tags suggest that it is some sort of viral promotion (along the lines that we saw in the months before the release of Cloverfield).

But what was it?

Well, now we know. Avery has been told by tomoro55 that it all relates to the forthcoming Kaiju TV series MM9, which Undead Backbrain featured back on May 28. The series — which concerns the lives and adventures of a team of scientific experts who form the special “living creatures” division of the Japan Meteorological Agency, specifically tasked to deal with kaiju (monsters) — begins its 13-episode run on Japanese TV this week. From my (poor) reading of the Japanese site, I think Kiyotaka Taguchi had directing chores for episodes 05 and 09.

Here is a new trailer for the series:

You might notice some connections between the imagery there and some of the elements contained in the “Mystery” videos. At any rate the hints that exist in each of the 13 videos and their tags obviously provide teasers for each of the 13 episodes. Have fun guessing at the content! Some of the hints look fascinating. Be sure to watch for the Yeti/Yokai!

Previously, on Undead Backbrain:

Posted in Daikaiju, Giant Monsters, Horror, Japanese, Mysteries, News | 2 Comments

Gone Fishin’

Posted on Friday, July 2, 2010 by Robert Hood

British filmmaker Chris Jones found that successfully teaching folk how to make films guerilla-fashion (as he did when he wrote the popular The Guerilla Film Maker’s Handbook series and when he tutored hopefuls on how to do it, face-to-face) had reduced his industry cred because he’d been distracted from actually making films for some time. So he decided to do something about it.

GF020-GoneFishingPoster

The “something” he did was to make a short film called Gone Fishing.

Gone Fishing was conceived in the spring of 2007 after a meeting with a key British film producer who liked one of Chris’ scripts, “Rocketboy”, but doubted the film would be fundable with Chris attached as a director, as Chris did not have any up-to-date work to show his abilities. Chris immediately began work to rectify this problem, and within a few weeks the first draft of Gone Fishing was written. (Press release)

Gone Fishing was finished in 2008; it went on to win at over 40 festivals and got itself shortlisted for an Oscar. Not a bad display by Jones of how to use his own teachings to make a film.

poster2

Trailer:

Gone Fishing 720p HD Trailer from Chris Jones on Vimeo.

The Inspiration

Though the relative hugeness of the legendary pike may be larger than life, Gone Fishing is at least partly autobiographical. Jones explained:

It’s based on my own childhood experiences with a Pike in the Blue Lagoon, an mysterious lake at the end of my road. … [My friends and I] would often attempt to catch the legendary ‘Oscar the pike’ … This was the inspiration behind the legend of ‘Goliath’, the big fish in this even bigger tale.

S004-Fighting with Goliath

The Cast

Veteran Scottish actor Bill Paterson plays Old Bill. He said of his involvement:

“I immediately liked the screenplay and felt that it was intriguing and touching without being too sentimental. It was a treat to work with young James, whose talent and personality was a delight to share. We had a great time and I really think he’ll go far. Anyone who can look impressed by my fishing technique must be a very fine actor!”

GF001-Bill Patterson in Gone Fishing

“James” is newcomer James Wilson, who plays Simon, a young boy to whom Old Bill tells the story of Goliath, intriguing him and enticing him into the battle.

GF003-James Wilson in Gone Fishing

The third main cast member is Devon Murray (who can be seen as Seamus in the Harry Potter movies). Here he plays Young Bill, who appears in flashbacks during the film as in memory Old Bill fights with Goliath, the killer pike of local folklore. Said Murray:

When playing a young version of a character that also appears as an older incarnation of that same character, but with another actor, it’s important to work closely with the other members of the cast, to get mannerisms and personality nuances the same, so the two performances portray a single character.

GF002-Devon Murray from Gone Fishing - Gonna Need A Bigger Hook

The cast also includes Ruth Gemmell (Fever Pitch) and Lin Blakley.

S005-Bill Paterson as Old Bill in Gone Fishing

The Production

Jones raised the £20,000 (US$40,000) they needed to make Gone Fishing by the simple expedient of asking the filmmakers he had tutored and worked with over the years. The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook had by then sold nearly 100,000 copies over ten years, and Chris had personally tutored over 1,000 emerging film makers, so he asked for their help.

The idea was simple. Ask everyone I’d ever met for £50 ($100 US), and if enough people agreed, we had our budget. No profit share. No hope of returns. Just a ticket to the black-tie première in central London, a DVD, and an Associate Producer credit.”

The response, as Jones put it, was “overwhelming, positive, and quite humbling”. They got more than they needed — and oodles of best wishes and enthusiasm to boot. It was a process played out on Jones’ blog, which also offers ongoing insight into the production itself through what amounts to a diary on the making of Gone Fishing. For those interested in the process, you can also read about it in the comprehensive press release (downloadable as a PDF). It contains fascinating information, too much for me to outline here.

gone-fishing01

Above and below: the enormous rubber killer pike, dubbed Brucie,
was operated from under the water by two police divers

gone-fishing02

Below: Of course, we had no budget so we had to improvise!

gone-fishing04

Above and below: stuntman Jude Poyer uses a tennis racket
with a plastic fin to create the fin in the water effect

Festivals:

Gone Fishing has been a prominent attraction and award winner at many festivals. Here is a documentary on the film’s adventures getting to and at the Rhode Island International Film Festival:

The Long Road to Rhode Island Complete Edit from Chris Jones on Vimeo.

The film looks like a wonderful achievement. It can be bought on DVD or Blu-ray from the website.

Gallery:

Posted in Film, Giant Monsters, Independent film | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Keeping the Werewolf Drugged

Posted on Sunday, June 27, 2010 by Robert Hood

Making a connection between lycanthropy and drug addiction should add an effective metaphorical texture to Joel Potrykus’ short film, Coyote.

coyote poster

Drugs and addiction have been effectively applied to the vampire mythos, where an obvious synchronicity exists between the vampire’s need for blood and the addict’s need for drugs, but I don’t recall a werewolf film that has used this particular metaphor to give a human dimension to the supernatural curse that plagues the lycanthrope.

coyote still 1

heroin

coyote still 3

Synopsis:

Joshua Burge stars in this genre-mixing, postmodern, werewolf short. After each full moon, Coyote wakes up in the forest, confused and sick. With no family, no friends, and no real home, he turns to drugs to try and escape the horrors of his late-night madness.

Coyote was shot on super 8 film, something that has become very rare these days but it’s an approach that arises from the Grand Rapids (MI) filmmaker’s belief that low-budget needn’t mean shooting on video. “I studied film at Grand Valley State University,” explained Potrykus, “where I got into the French New Wave. This, combined with my love for The Evil Dead, made me want to make gritty, artsy monster movies. And keep them on film. My previous short, Gordon, was also shot on super 8. It’s about a lonely zombie who can’t find his way in the world.”

[Coyote is] a tribute to the old monster movies, with no flashy editing, CGI, or modern music. It’s about a junkie who happens to be a werewolf. Not much blood and guts. It stars Joshua Burge, of the Friction Records band Chance Jones. Minor Threat and Paul Simon have been secured for the soundtrack. It will be playing at the Thriller Chiller Film Fest in Grand Rapids, MI in October.

A rough cut of Coyote won the Audience Award at the Movie Mitten Project festival in March this year, and the film is now available on DVD via mail. Potrykus isn’t publicizing it too much in the area (MI) until the new cut premieres, but he’s taking payment via Paypal or cheque (check) to out-of-area fans. Paypal payment can be made to zoozersadd@yahoo.com — cheques to Sob Noisse Movies, 22 Lafayette Ave NE Suite 1, Grand Rapids, MI 49503). He says the new cut is finished, ready to be shipped out. Cost: US$9, postage paid, in the US and US$14, postage paid, outside the US.

Trailers:

Note: Potrykus comments on the above trailer: “The Tales from the Darkside thing was kind of a goof … I just love that TV show and wanted to experiment with the format.”

The image below is of Potrykus with “Beetlejuice”. When I asked who “Beetlejuice” was, Potrykus answered: “Beetlejuice is a c-list celeb. Made famous by Howard Stern — in no way related to the movie. Just a sweet photo.”

joel_and_beetlejuice

Addendum: Trailer for Joel’s earlier zombie film, Gordon:

  • Source: Joel Potrykus via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood
Posted in Film, Horror, Independent film, Monsters in general, Trailers | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Weekend Fright Flick: The Smog

Posted on Saturday, June 26, 2010 by Robert Hood

Firmly ensconced in that “Nearly Dead” (that is, Not Quite Zombie) category of zombie movies, today’s Weekend Fright Flick features a toxic green smog bank that turns victims into ravenous, drooling, demon-toothed maniacs, rather like the titular creatures in Lamberto Bava’s 1985 film Demons.

The Smog (US-2010; short [9.30 min]; dir. Owen Mulligan)

Smoggies

One warning as you go into this film: if you have problems with blood and vomit make sure you haven’t just eaten breakfast.

Mulligan commented on his blog:

Little did I know when writing The Smog that there was a children’s cartoon from the 80’s called The Smoggies.

There is a big difference between the cartoon Smoggies and the Smoggies that appear in my film though.

The cartoon Smoggies were a trio of filthy treasure hunters that traveled around in a water polluting boat called the Stinky-Pooh. Their goal was to destroy the island paradise inhabited by the Suntots for their own benefit.

My smoggies are people that have been exposed to a highly toxic and mysterious smog and suffer from severe skin and respiratory disorders. Their goal is to kill anyone they can get their hands on. The Smog has somehow turned them into murderous maniacs. (DeadFi)

  • Source: Avery Guerra
  • Writer: Robert Hood
Posted in Horror, Independent film, Weekend Fright Flick, Zombies | 2 Comments

Writing Doctor Who

Posted on Saturday, June 26, 2010 by Robert Hood

As those of you who know me will be aware, I have contributed, as a writer, to the history of the iconic time-travelling Doctor — officially. This came by way of a short story published in one of the Big Finish Productions’ Doctor Who anthologies — a series called Doctor Who: Short Trips. The stories in these anthologies used only the Doctors from Hartwell to McGann, and had to fit into the time cracks existing between the TV adventures. Published under the scrutiny of the BBC to ensure that they were a good “fit”, they offered writers a chance to contribute to one of TV’s great scifi mythologies.

Recently George Ivanoff began a series of short posts on his Literary Clutter blog (in association with Boomerang Books) highlighting some of the authors who can be counted among the Doctor’s literary chroniclers. Here’s mine, for those who are interesting in reading brief reminiscences on the experience.

As a longtime stalker of the Doctor (since the show was first aired in Australia in 1965 – when I was 12), I was naturally overcome with nerdish glee when Steve Savile suggested I should submit to a Doctor Who: Short Trips anthology he was editing for Big Finish.

Read the full article.

Posted in My Writing, Science Fiction, Stories, TV | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Popstar vs Popstar vs Mega-Beasts

Posted on Friday, June 25, 2010 by Robert Hood

Everyone ends up in the Asylum.

Or so it seems.

Hollywood Reporter has revealed that 1980s pop-stars Debbie Gibson and Tiffany are to star together in one of the SyFy Channel’s signature Saturday night original movies — a giant monster mash-up flick made in conjunction with The Asylum. The film is to be called Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. So there’ll be a friggin’ huge snake and something that’s almost (but not quite) a gigantic alligator — not doubt some sort of mutated species. Perhaps an alligator that’s drunk too many sports drinks … (you know, Gatorade. It’s a joke. Sorry.)

If you’re not all that acquainted with 1980s pop, you may remember Debbie Gibson from The Asylum’s giant monster hit Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus (US-2009; dir. Ace Hannah) and Tiffany from its hugely successful Mega Piranha (US-2010; dir. Eric Forsberg).

Note: I describe Mega Piranha as “hugely successful” because when it premiered on SyFy in April it drew a reported 2.2 million viewers — making it the Channel’s highest rating film of the year, gaining higher audience numbers than SyFy’s Caprica and even beating the average audience for Stargate: Universe.

Seems the two gals will be sluggin’ it out while the two reptilian monsters do likewise.

Gibson will play a fanatical animal-rights activist who frees illegally imported exotic snakes from pet stores, sending them into the Everglades, where they grow to mega sizes. Tiffany will play an overzealous park ranger who uses dangerous methods to save endangered alligators.

In the script, the pair brawl at a party, then take matters outside into the swamp. (Hollywood Reporter)

But for me the real item of interest is that the film is to be directed by Mary Lambert. Lambert has actually made at least one genre classic in the past — 1989’s Pet Sematary (based on Stephen King’s excellent novel), as well as the less successful Pet Sematary II (1992) and the patchy ghost flick Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005). Hollywood Reporter says that this marks “the first time a woman has helmed a Syfy creature feature” — though the same can’t be said for The Asylum, whose Sherlock Holmes (2010) was directed by Rachel Goldenberg.

Anyway, what with the success of previous monster mashes and the recently reported addition of Mega Shark vs Giganotosaurus and Moby Dick to their schedule, it seems The Asylum has no intention of holding back on their rabid exploitation of the “monster vs monster” subgenre — thankfully.

Posted in Exploitation films, Film, Giant Monsters, Horror | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Destroy All Planets 2010

Posted on Friday, June 25, 2010 by Robert Hood

No, not a remake, but a digitally tarted-up reissue from Fred Olen Ray’s Retromedia.

destroy-all-planets2010-cover

Gamera tai uchu kaiju Bairasu [trans. Gamera vs the Outer Space Monster Virus] (1968; dir. Noriaki Yuasa) was the fourth Gamera film from would-be rival to Toho’s daikaiju eiga crown, Daiei Studios. Like the same period’s minor Godzilla film Oru kaiju daishingeki [trans. All Monsters Giant Attack] (1969; dir. Ishiro Honda) [aka Godzilla’s Revenge] — which was made, at least in part, in reaction to the success of the Gamera films — Gamera tai uchu kaiju Bairasu was firmly aimed at juveniles, not the adult/cross-generational audience that Godzilla generally appealed to. Things were kept relatively cheap during this time, full of stock monster footage from previous Gamera flicks and containing minimal new city-trashing. What it did have in abundance was a plethora of surreal weirdness — and Boy Scouts.

gamera_vs_viras_poster_02

Gamera tai uchu kaiju Bairasu is an alien-invasion daikaiju film featuring a bunch of Boy Scouts who are kidnapped by pointy-headed alien cephalopods in flying beach balls to be used as a shield against the protective antics of the child-friendly flying turtle.

destroy-all-planets02

destroy-all-planets03

Oh, yeah!

destroy-all-planets01

destroy-all-planets04

The aliens plant a brain-control device on Gamera and send him off to trash Tokyo (in black-and-white footage from the first Gamera film), something he hadn’t been able to do since that film in fact, as he had subsequently become rather too much the Good Monster to indulge in such anti-social behaviour.

destroy-all-planets05

Naturally the alien plot goes awry thanks to the kids. In the last ten minutes or so of the film, the master squid chops off the heads of the other aliens (who are hiding in human bodies) and absorbs them. In true daikaiju fashion, he thus becomes a huge alien squid-monster so that Gamera can fight him, monster-on-monster, in defense of Earth (and the children). This even involves Gamera being skewered through the chest, though that doesn’t seen to faze him too much.

destroy-all-planets06

destroy-all-planets07

destroy-all-planets08

Some of the cast were played by Americans, specifically the second lead Carl Craig (on the right below), which helped when the film was subsequently manhandled into an American format as Destroy All Planets [aka Gamera vs. Viras]. Gamera vs Viras was never one of the best to start with, though it looks way better and less cheap in the original format than it has tended to look in the pan-and-scanned, cut, and endlessly recopied US version that most viewers in the West are familiar with.

destroy-all-planets09

Now Retromedia’s new release of the US version — with the silly title that was no doubt meant to suggest Toho’s famous Godzilla epic, Destroy All Monsters — seeks to redress some of the visual problems that have plagued available public-domain versions of the film.

Fred Olen Ray is reported as saying:

We’ve transferred an original 16mm AIP-TV print and color corrected it two times to produce the best version of this film available… But the real reason to catch this Special Edition is the commentary track by American star, Carl Craig… his recollections of the film making process is fascinating. Hosted by Brett Homenick and Damon Foster, recorded in Chicago by our own Randy Carter. (As reported by Brett Homenick)

It is, of course, no substitute for a copy of the Japanese original, but this release will be the best edition of the AIP-TV version of the film ever made available on DVD and should please many fans.

DAP banner

  • Source: Amazon.com; Brett Homenick; via Avery Guerra; also Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo! by Stuart Galbraith IV and Videohound’s Dragon: Asian Action and Cult Flicks by Brian Thomas.
  • Written by Robert Hood
Posted in Daikaiju, Film, Giant Monsters, Giant Squids, News, Posters, Review | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments