Elias’ Vampiric Existentialism

Posted on Friday, November 7, 2008 by Robert Hood

Dead Sucks pic 2

Ever wondered about all those smug self-satisfied vampires that seem to be out there now,  well-groomed and sexy, leading the lives of romantic heroes despite being living deficient?

Well, the latest feature film from Elias and BiFF JUGGERNAUT Productions blows the lid off that myth. If you think life sucks, just wait until you see what death’s like for Burt the vampire.

Dead Sucks poster

Dead Sucks (US-[in production, 2010]; dir. Elias)

Dead Sucks … tells the story of Burt, a wayward vampire with a messy past, an uncertain future and a disproportionate need for sleep. Rejected by both humans and his own kind, he searches to find his place in a world where the only thing that sucks more than being alive is being dead.

Pursued by a Stranger with a thirst for more than blood, and a mad trucker hellbent on taking his “gift”, Burt finds an unlikely ally when he crosses paths with Besty, a punkish girl who knows how to kick some ass and doesn’t look back.

Will Burt escape the the Stranger that stalks his every move? Will he find in Besty someone to share his cursed existence with or will he be doomed to a life of endless hitchhiking and one night stands?

Find out why it sucks to be dead.

Elias — writer, producer, director and actor (though not in this one) — is the maniac responsible for the very suspicious Lovecraftian anthology film LovecraCked: The Movie, my review of which you can read here, along with an interview. He says about this new film that he would “love to see [it] spawn a TV or web series”. From the snippets we get of it on the just-launched website, that doesn’t seem such a bad idea.

Dead Sucks pic 1

With a dark sense-of-humour, offbeat narrative, awkward romance subplot and decent production values, Dead Sucks has all the makings of a cult favourite.

Elias says: “In the coming weeks I will release a full trailer, featuring some music by pal Chvad SB of things outside the skin. To top things off, I’ll follow the trailers soon after with the release online of the Dead Sucks Prologue, a 7-minute short designed to give you a taste of what’s planned for the full film. Right now you can view the teaser, so check it out at www.deadsucks.com.”

Dead Sucks pic 3
Director Elias deals with script issues
during early filming with stars

He added that he’ll let us know as new videos are uploaded, so stay tuned for more soon.

Posted in Film, Horror, News, Vampires | 5 Comments

Chinese Giant Robots

Posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008 by Robert Hood

Starved for giant robot movies, while we await the arrival of Transformers 2? Well, it seems Hong Kong director Jeffrey Lau will begin shooting a Transformers-inspired giant robot epic called Robot later this month. Fond of including scifi moments into his non-scifi movies, Lau apparently used a spaceship he designed himself in his most recent work, A Chinese Tall Story.

A Chinese Tall Story poster

Zhuo Shunguo from investing company Le TV.com commented that Robot would take “a refreshing look at Chinese robots for people who are used to stereotypical Hollywood figures like Spiderman and Superman. … the Chinese robot, in comparison, would feel closer and more human to audiences, as it is the incarnation of Oriental wisdom and strength.” (Crienglish.com)

Read more here.

  • Source: Twitch via Kaiju Search Robot Avery
Posted in Film, Giant Monsters, News, Robots | 1 Comment

Say That Again, Ultraman!

Posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008 by Robert Hood

Ultra Galaxy 1

I’m not sure what I think of this.

Tsuburaya Productions’ latest offering in the ultra-long-running Ultraman TV franchise — Urutora Gyarakushii Daikaiju Batoru [lit. Ultra Galaxy: Giant Monster Battle; aka Ultra Galaxy: Mega Monster Battle] (2007; TV series; dir. Yuuichi Kikuchi; main writer and series organiser: Kenichi Araki) — will be made available to non-Japanese countries under a new customisation arrangement that Tsuburaya have dubbed the “Visual Translation System”. In essence, this system will allow other countries to insert their own actors into the scenes more easily — so the monsters and SFX stuff, and even the standard backgrounds, stay the same, and only the actors change. The live-action is apparently filmed largely against a blue-screen and is kept separate for ease of “visual translation”.

Tsuburaya Productions has been disappointed with the lack of interest in recent Ultra shows displayed by representatives from foreign countries and hope that this new system will increase the incentive to purchase. As reported by SciFi Japan, the company explained their intentions like this:

“Our shows attract fans from all over the world, but we feel we can do more. For many of the superhero programs dubbed in a foreign language and exported abroad, the impact of the original piece is diminished. This is often due to the main character being a foreigner. We realize that audiences overseas may not be familiar with the Japanese actors and actresses in our shows. We want our audience to have a stronger connection with the actors. In order to solve this issue, we’ve created the Visual Translation System.

“With VT, it is now possible to repackage the latest of the popular Ultraman series as a high quality country-specific production. We take the same base script of the program produced in Japan, and using the same set and backdrop, we refilm the scenes employing actors native to the country in which the program will be shown. Using this new system, overseas customers can modify our shows to be localized using actors from their own countries. Our internationally known characters like Ultraman and his monstrous enemies can now be viewed all over the world along with locally known celebrities.”

Personally I like the shows, at least in part, because of their difference from our own more familiar TV series. I want the Japanese faces. I want the original tone. But I can certainly understand why networks struggling to attract viewers more attuned to the familiar might prefer this new approach.

Ultra Galaxy monsters
Some of the Monsters of Ultra Galaxy

As a compromise between the bad dubbing of the 1970s and the complete mangling of the popular Power Rangers series (where script, plot and actors have been “re-imagined”), it certainly gains kudos points for adaptation.

Posted in Daikaiju, Film, Giant Monsters, News, TV, Ultraman | 2 Comments

A Glint in the Eye of Poseidon

Posted on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 by Robert Hood

Harris Films — an independent production company run by cinematographer Nick Harris — has a giant monster film bubbling away deep in its backbrain. The monster goes by the name of “the Eye of Poseidon” (for reasons that are obvious from the sketches below), though the film in which it features is called A Mouthful of Misfortune. From the plot synopsis, it sounds as though the film is a sort of surreal drama/comedy and the monster’s role is a cameo.  Harris started work on the film in 2006, but it’s still in very early pre-production days.

Back in 2006, after completing a second draft of the script, Harris wrote:

Finally, I have been able to sit down and start chipping away at the humungous amount of pre production concept artwork that needs to be done, which is both exciting and horrifying. We’ve got set design, costuming, props, storyboarding, and concept design for the sea monster to contend with (… this film will involve a two-story tentacle and that is all I will say). So, one item can now be safely crossed off of the list. Below is a rough concept design for the sea monster, which I finished the other night. I hope you enjoy it… for me, it’s very exciting to even see one tiny piece of this insane story taking its first baby steps toward being realized on screen.

Eye of Poseidon sketch

A bit later Harris persuaded artist Aaron Bahlman to produce a colour version:

Eye of Poseidon colour

The idea of seeing this conceptual image turned into a live-action two-storey critter certainly interests me!

Synopsis:

Jake returns from backpacking across eastern Asia stunned to find that his roommate Rusty has practically wolfed through his entire bag of souvenir, Chinese fortune cookies – in one sitting. The pile of tiny paper destinies on Rusty’s lap threaten the fabric of his and even possibly the world’s existence. Jake’s got problems of his own – his not so ex-girlfriend Stacy sees marriage in their future, and the cookies aren’t helping. Vague proverbs of after dinner fun turn into direct and unmistakable predictions thrusting Jake and Rusty on a journey of self-discovery, reaching from the sunny streets of San Diego, to the darkest depths of the ocean, to the snow-capped heights of a forgotten Shaolin temple.

Panicked and confused, they seek answers from Harvey. This wizened ex-Mormon sea captain with a mysterious past tells “tall” tales from the Indochina Sea, lives in an oceanic world of Greek mythos, and might just have the answers they’re looking for. Together, they must remain one step ahead of destiny, unlocking the secrets and origins of fortune cookies themselves.

How will Jake and Rusty safeguard the good fortunes, thwart the bad ones, and figure it all out? To what end does Fate move these unwitting pawns? The answers lie in the cookies themselves: Pandora’s box awaits. (Harris Films website)

Test Footage

During December of 2006 some initial scenes were filmed (as seen above), but the project seems to have gone into abeyance, making way for other projects and the accumulation of funds. Says Harris: “We have a film hitting the festival circuit called Donut Shop Hero, which … may get us the funding to do A Mouthful of Misfortune.”

So in a spirit of giant monster optimism, here is a synopsis and the trailer for Donut Shop Hero:

Synopsis

After spending a Saturday morning dealing with bored, unruly teenagers, Pete, a parking lot security guard, decides to take his lunch break and get some donuts.

Pete’s day takes a turn towards the better when a beautiful woman takes notice of him and strikes up a flirtatious conversation, under the assumption that all of his badges and well ironed uniform indicate he is a cop. Pete, with his tenuous grasp on this rare chance, doesn’t exactly say he IS a cop, but he doesn’t exactly admit he ISN’T either. Things seem to be going Pete’s way, when the doors to the donut shop kick open and the worst day of all time waltzes in, brandishing hellfire spittin’ guns and the attitude to match.

Terror will reign. Love will be tested. And one man will rise, a donut shop hero.

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

Monsters vs Aliens vs DreamWorks

Posted on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 by Robert Hood

The trailer for the newest DreamWorks film, Monster vs Aliens, has appeared, referencing 1950s monster flicks including The Blob and Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman. There’s a gigantic alien robot, a yeti, a mad scientist, a giant insect thing …. and lots of other good stuff.

Monsters vs Aliens (US-2009; animation; dir. Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon)

When California girl Susan Murphy is unexpectedly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall and is instantly labeled a “monster” named Ginormica. The military jumps into action, and she is captured and held in a secret government compound. The world learns that the military has been quietly rounding up other monsters over the years. This ragtag group consists of the brilliant but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link; the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B.; and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confinement time is cut short, however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country.

As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger (on a desperate order from The President), the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction. (Trailer Addict)

Set for release in March next year, it supposedly uses the newest 3D technology — True 3-D — so the image poking out at you isn’t all blurry and we don’t get nauseous.

I just noticed that Hugh Laurie (whom I fondly remember as Wooster in the British Jeeves and Wooster series of the 1990s) does the voicing for Dr Cockroach and Reese Witherspoon is Ginormica. Cool.

Just in case you had trouble with the download of the above trailer (which can be slow), here it is on YouTube:

  • Source: io9 via Kaiju Search-Robot Avery
Posted in Animation, Film, Giant Monsters, Trailers, Update | Leave a comment

Super Zombies

Posted on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 by Robert Hood

What if the Justice League of America got turned into zombies?

Justice League of the Living Dead

These model kits (available here [Sorry, the link has apparently been shutdown — ed.]) do for DC characters what Marvel did for their own characters in the wonderfully splendid Marvel Zombies series of comics.

Marvel Zombies

Good stuff!

  • Source: via Craig Neufeld
Posted in Pictorial art, Superhero, Zombies | 5 Comments

MegaFrog vs Giant Serpent

Posted on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 by Robert Hood

Frog vs Snake

This epic struggle between a mighty frog and a giant snake is in fact about a thousandth of the scale necessary for a “real” giant monster tussle. The photo won its photographer the 2008 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. It is titled “Deadlock” and was taken by David Maitland, who spent the night in a Belizean rain forest in order to record this image of a rare Morelet’s tree frog that “doggedly refused to become supper for a cat-eyed snake”.

The struggle went on for some hours and Maitland finally left them to it.

“I would love to have seen them go their separate ways, but I was exhausted,” the photographer said. “The frog was all the time trying to pull the snake off, but the snake just wouldn’t let go.

Posted in Daikaiju, Giant Monsters, Pictorial art | 1 Comment

The Giants of Leroy

Posted on Monday, November 3, 2008 by Robert Hood

Last week the Backbrain featured the latest film from Jeff Leroy — Rat Scratch Fever, a low-budget epic about giant rats from outer space that actually looks like it will be a lot of fun.

Now Kaiju Search-Robot Avery has discovered what Leroy has been up to in the recent past, monster-wise — and they look like even more fun than the rats.

They’re giant spiders, with SFX that may be low budget but are more interesting than I’ve seen from some bigger budgeted flicks, featuring all the scale-model thrills of daikaiju eiga. If Rat Scratch Fever was an ode to Bert I. Gordon’s brand of giant monster SFX, this one looks like an ode to Godzilla and his pals.

Creepies poster

Creepies (US-2003; dir. Jeff Leroy

Some nice destruction there, eh? Well, check out this next one — a sequel to Creepies. For some reason the following preview is the Japanese version, which seems rather appropriate given how much it looks like a product of that film industry and uses its characteristic SFX techniques. It features giant spiders, maser cannons and a giant spider-fighting giant robot!

Creepies 2 pic - robot

Creepies 2: King Spider Vs. Mega-Destructor [aka Creepies 2: Las Vegas Attack] (US-2005; dir. Jeff Leroy)

Finally, here’s a sequence from the above film in which Las Vegas and a lot of bystanders get totally trashed by the military, who try to deal with the giant spider while displaying all the delicacy of Godzilla on a bender.

I have to get copies of these flicks!

Source: Avery

Posted in Daikaiju, Film, Giant Monsters, Trailers | 1 Comment

Minimal SFX from the Rock

Posted on Monday, November 3, 2008 by Robert Hood

Attack of the Giant Cicadas title card

And now you can catch some footage featuring the most minimal SFX in a giant monster movie ever! Filmed entirely in camera, using perspective techniques and fingers!

Attack of the Giant Cicadas pic 1
Giant Cicada attacks a landmark

Attack of the Giant Cicadas pic 2
Giant Cicada eats a pedestrian!

Says Kaiju Search-Robot Avery:

Here’s at least some of this year’s Halloween special appearance of David “The Rock” Nelson on WGN TV News out of Chicago, Illinois. He’s absolutely nuts in it as usual, and we get to see a tiny bit of footage from both Killer Cicadas and Attack of the Giant Cicadas! It’s so terrible it’s terribly funny and just plain fun! When The Rock’s involved there’s never a dull moment.

And while we’re on the topic, here’s a faux movie trailer for another giant cicada movie, “Attack of the Giant Killer Cicadas”, this one not quite as no-budget as Nelson’s, but close. It really captures that ol’ Bert I. Gordon ambiance. View it here.

Posted in Film, Giant Monsters, It's True! Really!, Kaiju Search-Robot Avery, Update, Weird stuff | 1 Comment

Godzilla Spotting

Posted on Sunday, November 2, 2008 by Robert Hood

Kaiju artist and chief Godzilla spotter Todd Tennant has just sent the Backbrain this picture of SFX guru Stan Winston. Apart from the fantastic full-sized Pumpkinhead looming over the Master, look who’s hangin’ around of the top shelf…

Stan Wiinston with Pumpkinhead and Godzilla

Posted in Archival, Daikaiju, Film, Giant Monsters, Godzilla | 1 Comment