Triple threat: fifty years of King Ghidorah

On this day(December 20th) way back in 1964 the kaiju "King Ghidorah" made his first cinematic appearance in Toho's Three Giant Monsters: The Greatest Battle On Earth. In the west we know this film by it's American(and international) title: Ghidrah The Three Headed Monster. King Ghidorah is an enormous, three headed and golden skinned space dragon who in this movie arrives to Earth inside a giant meteor. The monster escapes the confines of the meteorite in a giant fireball and begins an immediate rampage. Each of King Ghidorah's heads can discharge highly destructive, lightning like energy bolts and the space dragon uses these "gravity beams" to annihilate buildings while it's wings cause hurricane force winds as the creature flies overhead. Godzilla and Rodan, who have been fighting each other in this movie, eventually join forces with larval Mothra to fight the three headed space dragon. The combined might of Earth's three monsters succeeds in driving King Ghidorah away and back into space.

This film remains one of my all time favorite kaiju movies. King Ghidorah has gone on to appear in numerous other Toho kaiju films including Invasion Of The Astro Monsters(1965 -aka "Monster Zero"), Destroy All Monsters(1968), Godzilla vs Gigan(1972) and Godzilla Vs King Ghidorah(1991). The three headed space monster also squares off against adult Mothra in the 1998 Toho fantasy film Mothra 3 - Invasion Of King Ghidorah. King Ghidorah has long been considered, and I think justifiably, as one of Godzilla's greatest and most powerful on screen rivals. It's been reported that King Ghidorah will appear in the planned, 2018 sequel to Legendary Pictures' film Godzilla(2014).

Check out the Toho trailer below to see King Ghidorah's first appearance in movies:



I own the 2012 Classic Media DVD release(R1) of Ghidrah The Three Headed Monster, still my favorite kaiju film featuring this grand and menacing monster. This release offers the movie in its 2:35.1 Tohoscope widescreen aspect ratio and in both English audio as well as the Toho version in Japanese language with English subtitles. To see this DVD for sale at Amazon click the link: GHIDRAH THE THREE HEADED MONSTER Classic Media DVD

Monsterland Forums - eight years on the web and still going

It's hard to believe that my internet message board, MONSTERLAND FORUMS, is over eight years old. In fact, this online community will be celebrating it's ninth(9th) year online on January 30th, 2015.

This message board community enjoyed a quick rise in posting activity between 2006-2009 with our peak activity in 2009. Since that year posting activity has been on the decline BUT the board itself has retained a core group of active members(including myself). I'm likely going to purchase a full domain for this online community in 2015.

As always anyone is welcome to check out and join Monsterland Forums. There are discussion forums for just about everything ranging from movies(all genres) to video games, music and sports. To access this message board click the link below:
 
Monsterland Forums

Bite this - Queen Of Blood(1966)

With the recent additions of the MGM (HD) Channel and the Sony Movie Channel(HD) from my cable TV provider I've managed to watch many movies I've heard about but have never seen...including QUEEN OF BLOOD(aka "Planet Of Blood"), written and directed by Curtis Harrington and theatrically released by American International Pictures(AIP) back in 1966. The cast includes Basil Rathbone, John Saxon, William Hopper, Judi Meredith and Florence Marly, the latter who plays a green skinned female alien with a hypnotic stare and decided taste for blood. Up until now I've considered 1967's MISSION STARDUST to be the most bizarre yet enjoyable outer space sci-fi movie. QUEEN OF BLOOD may be that film now for me. The visuals in this movie, said to have been made on a scant budget of $50,000, are actually appealing at times and the movie itself is very colorful. I'm planning on buying PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES(1965) on Blu Ray in a week(or two) and I'm going to also buy the MGM DVD of QUEEN OF BLOOD(1966). Recommend any fan of older sci-fi and sci-fi/horror films check this one out!


Queen Of Blood -1966- by dashgami_itto
QUEEN OF BLOOD(1966) can be purchased online at Amazon by clicking this link: Queen Of Blood MGM DVD

The Doobie Brothers - "Minute By Minute"

Turkey Day thanks

On this and yet another Thanksgiving Day I always like to stop and interrupt my critical nature and curmudgeonly demeanor to express my thanks for things and people that, well I'm thankful for. Without further ado, what I am thankful for:

1. that I have enough common sense NOT to participate in the "Black Friday" shopping insanity that takes place annually in the U.S. the day after every Thanksgiving day
2.  that I can still, despite arthritis in my feet and knees and the periodic gout flare in my toes, ply my trade as a gardener/landscaper/lawn maintenance contractor with competence and consistency
3. college football and the NFL: I have held a lifelong passion for football(collegiate and profesional)
4. high definition televisions: they're lighter and provide a terrific picture which negates any need to put on my bifocals in order to watch television
5. the core group of loyal and active members of my internet message board called MONSTERLAND FORUMS, all of who make running my message board fun and well worth doing
6. sci-fi and horror movies, especially older films from the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's: these movies are for me not just entertaining but provide a welcome and fun glimpse back in time when films relied so much more on actors, acting and practical special effects
7. coffee: I remain a daily coffee drinker and still rely on this beverage to help get me through work days, especially during the cold winter months
8. my elderly landlord, a kind and great hearted woman who is like a grandmother to me
9. the friendship of two men here in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia-I've known both of these guys for eighteen years and they're like brothers to me
10. Facebook: this social media website permits me to keep in touch with people I would otherwise not be able to connect(and re-connect with)
11. my foster parents(deceased since 1983 and 1999, respectively): I think about both every day and will always be thankful that they took me in and raised me as one of their own. 
12. my dentist, who works at Buckhead Esthetic Dentistry here in Atlanta, GA. She has performed quite a bit of dental work on me(much needed work) since 2012 at a substantial discount and continues to help me keep my choppers clean and in good working order

Behind closed doors: THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD(1971)

Every October my DVR gets a workout as I record horror movies off Turner Classic Movies. Most I've seen before(on DVD or on TV) but every year I watch a few for the first time. My October horror movie binge included numerous "haunted house" movies including House On Haunted Hill(1959), The Haunting(1963) and Burnt Offerings(1976). I also managed to watch THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD(1971), an "Amicus" horror film which is an anthology of four stories. The cast is terrific and includes Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Joss Ackland and Ingrid Pitt. This film is available on official DVD and can be purchased online at Amazon.


To see the Lions Gate R1 DVD release(in 2003) of this film for sale at Amazon click the link: THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD DVD

Happy Birthday Godzilla!

Godzilla celebrates his 60th birthday today! Back on November 3rd, 1954 the Toho Motion Picture Company released a film in Japanese theaters called GOJIRA. This film, a major financial success, introduced the monster "Godzilla" to the world. The monster was realized on screen through a man in a heavy, vulcanized rubber suit. The Godzilla suit actor for the 1954 movie was Haruo Nakajima who would also "suit" many other giant monsters in subsequent Toho kaiju movies. The film GOJIRA was also a great showcase for the talents of the studios' special effects department lead by (the late) Eiji Tsuburaya. Much of this work can be seen in the detailed, intricate miniatures and the frequently spectacular pyrotechnic effects featured in the 1954 film and subsequent Toho films featuring giant monsters like Rodan, Mothra and Ghidrah(a three headed space dragon).

Godzilla is now arguably the world's most recognized movie monster and has appeared in films from 1954 through 2014, most recently the Legendary Pictures film entitled GODZILLA which arrived in theaters back in May of this year. GODZILLA(2014 - Legendary Pictures) was a financial success due to $520 million in worldwide box office receipts.

Godzilla is sixty years young today and as a lifelong fan of Godzilla here's wishing this legendary monster another sixty years of fame and prosperity!

Here's a Toho trailer for GOJIRA(1954), the very first Godzilla film and still in my opinion one of the greatest giant monster movies ever produced!


Gojira (1954) Trailer by mytrailerdose_com

Getting misty: THE FOG(1980)

I watched a lot of movies as a teenager at the Omni Theater in downtown Atlanta(GA) while in high school. One of them was THE FOG(1980), directed by John Carpenter. I had to watch this movie a second time in the theater to fully appreciate it. Without posting a lot of plot spoilers the film is about a mysterious fog that rolls in off the ocean and across the coastal town of Antonio Bay. There's a menacing, supernatural force that accompanies the fog...and it definitely isn't friendly.

The cast includes Adrienne Barbeau, Hal Holbrook, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Atkins. I just ordered this film on Blu Ray( released by Shout! Factory in 2013) from Amazon. Horror movie fans who haven't seen this film should absolutely check it out! This movie is also available on DVD.

A trailer:

Click the link to see the Blu Ray for this film for sale at Amazon: THE FOG(1980) Blu Ray

Long in the tooth: BLACULA (1972)

I had some free time last Tuesday after getting rained out from work and sat down to watch both BLACULA(1972) and its sequel, SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM(1973). While I like both of these horror themed blaxploitation films I have a decided preference for the '72 movie. William Marshall is effective as the African prince "Mamuwalde" who, bitten by Count Dracula while visiting the infamous vampire, becomes a vampire himself, taking a bite out of numerous citizens of Los Angeles(CA). Marshall is a tall, broad shouldered and imposing man whose deep voice and physical features make him an intimidating presence...and that's not even including the two fangs he bares when his thirst for blood kicks in - and it kicks in a lot in these two movies. BLACULA(1972) is directed by William Crain. This movie isn't my favorite vampire film but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It's definitely worth a look for horror movie fans who haven't seen it(or it's sequel). I will be buying the DVDs of these two films later this year. A trailer:

It's Hammer time: THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB(1964)

As someone who has been a fan of horror movies for over forty years(yes...I'm that old) I have concluded that mummies in these films have been forgotten amidst all the slasher, zombie, mutant creature, vampire and werewolf movies that have been released by the major(and smaller) film studios over the past thirty years. The one exception to this is undoubtedly 1999's The Mummy, a movie I like(and own on Blu Ray) but that plays out more like a bigger budget action film.

For creepy, unsettling mummy movies there's nothing better than a classic Universal or Hammer Films feature. Hammer's The Mummy(1959) is my favorite with Christopher Lee. Coming in at a very close second: THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB(1964), produced and directed by Michael Carreras and released by Hammer Films.


This marvelous horror movie can be bought online at Amazon and is part of a four film DVD set called Icons Of Horror Collection-Hammer Films, released back in 2008. To buy this release click the link: ICONS OF HORROR COLLECTION - HAMMER FILMS