Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Florida's bigfoot aka the "skunk ape"
As I have always been keenly interested in the sasquatch phenomenon, I regularly watch video clips of alleged sightings. I came across one clip taken by a gent in Florida(while in his boat) who shot what looks to be a large, hulking figure wading through a swamp. If it's a man in a suit then he's insane because swamps in Florida are common sanctuaries for large alligators and poisonous snakes including rattlesnakes and water moccasins. Take a look at the video below:
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Holding back the years: LOGAN'S RUN(1976)
Imagine an idyllic future in which wars are a thing of the past and people live inside enormous, climate controlled domes and without a care in the world. That's right: no stress, no job required, no bills to pay. Just get up everyday and basically do whatever you want. Every day is a vacation and anything(or anyone) one desires can be had. Sound too good to be true? It is. Why? Because in this future, set in the 23rd century, it all ends at age thirty. That's the catch: enjoy a paradise existence but when you turn thirty years of age you must voluntarily enter a mechanical device which terminates your life.
Such is the premise and storyline for LOGAN'S RUN, released by MGM in 1976 and directed by Michael Anderson. Michael York plays "Logan", a policeman referred to as a Sandman. The "Sandmen" are a police force tasked with tracking down and eliminating anyone who turns 30 years old and defies the government mandate of termination at age thirty. Logan is quite good at his job but soon it is his turn to flee from Sandmen. Logan, tasked with finding a rogue group of "runners"(those who have defied the government and fled rather than be terminated), himself becomes a runner and eventually discovers that there is a world beyond the dome he has lived inside his entire life. (no other spoilers)
The special effects are obviously dated by today's standards but the visuals are often colorful and interesting to watch including a shiny robot named "Box"(played by Roscoe Lee Browne).
I recently bought this movie on Blu Ray. Any sci-fi film fan who hasn't seen this movie should check it out!
This movie looks fantastic on Blu Ray(HD) and is presented in its original 2:35.1 widescreen aspect ratio. To see the BD for sale at Best Buy click the link: LOGAN'S RUN Blu Ray @ Best Buy
Such is the premise and storyline for LOGAN'S RUN, released by MGM in 1976 and directed by Michael Anderson. Michael York plays "Logan", a policeman referred to as a Sandman. The "Sandmen" are a police force tasked with tracking down and eliminating anyone who turns 30 years old and defies the government mandate of termination at age thirty. Logan is quite good at his job but soon it is his turn to flee from Sandmen. Logan, tasked with finding a rogue group of "runners"(those who have defied the government and fled rather than be terminated), himself becomes a runner and eventually discovers that there is a world beyond the dome he has lived inside his entire life. (no other spoilers)
The special effects are obviously dated by today's standards but the visuals are often colorful and interesting to watch including a shiny robot named "Box"(played by Roscoe Lee Browne).
I recently bought this movie on Blu Ray. Any sci-fi film fan who hasn't seen this movie should check it out!
This movie looks fantastic on Blu Ray(HD) and is presented in its original 2:35.1 widescreen aspect ratio. To see the BD for sale at Best Buy click the link: LOGAN'S RUN Blu Ray @ Best Buy
Monday, August 3, 2015
Has Bishopville's 'lizard man' returned? New video surfaces in c - WCIV-TV | ABC News 4 - Charleston News, Sports, Weather
Has Bishopville's 'lizard man' returned? New video surfaces in c - WCIV-TV | ABC News 4 - Charleston News, Sports, Weather
So is a humanoid "lizard" creature roaming Bishopville, SC?
So is a humanoid "lizard" creature roaming Bishopville, SC?
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Monday, July 13, 2015
Sunday, July 5, 2015
The online home of the films of CHRISTOPHER R. MIHM
If you enjoy the low(er) budget sci-fi film romps produced in the 1950's as much as I do then you should definitely check this website out. These movies are all in HD and can be purchased on either DVD or Blu Ray(on demand using recordable Blu Ray BD-R discs). All of these movies are written, produced and directed by Christopher R. Mihm.The DVDs include special features. The "on demand" Blu Rays(BD-R) feature the movies only.
My favorite among them is THE GIANT SPIDER(2013): The Giant Spider(2013) specs
Click the below link to see the website featuring these movies:
The online home of the films of CHRISTOPHER R. MIHM
My favorite among them is THE GIANT SPIDER(2013): The Giant Spider(2013) specs
Click the below link to see the website featuring these movies:
The online home of the films of CHRISTOPHER R. MIHM
Cellar dweller: NAILBITER(2013)
As a lifelong fan of horror movies I've found it more difficult to enjoy low(er) budget independent horror films. Maybe I'm getting spoiled by CGI in my advancing years...or maybe it's just because there aren't many directors who can make a decent horror movie now using practical effects on a smaller budget. While that may well be the case it certainly isn't for Patrick Rea, director of Nailbiter, released staright to DVD back in 2013.
Director Patrick Rea helmed Nailbiter on a reported budget of $300,000 and, for me anyway, he cranked out a horror movie well worth checking out for die hard horror movie fans.
The film's story: Kansas native "Janet Maguire"(played by Erin McGrane) jumps in the family car and heads to an airport in Kansas City(Kansas) to meet and greet her husband, a U.S. serviceman on a flight home from a long deployment overseas. The mother takes her three young daughters "Jennifer", "Alice" and "Sally" along for the trip to the airport. While on their way to the airport in stormy weather, the mother and daughters are forced to abandon their vehicle on the side of the road when a tornado bears down on them. The group finds refuge in the basement cellar of a small countryside house. The storm subsides and the tornado passes...but the group cannot exit the cellar because a large tree limb has fallen across the cellar doors. Later "Sally", one of the daughters, tries to escape but something outside the house bites her arm and she is forced to retreat back into the cellar. Then the trapped family hears voices and nails pounding outside...as someone is boarding up the cellar windows and cellar doors locking them inside!
At this point you might not think things can get any worse...but they do as the mother and her three girls realize there is something else in the basement with them. Eventually the terrified family encounters that "something", a hostile and bloodthirsty, humanoid monster. From this point on it's a fight for survival as the group tries to survive the creature's attacks. (no other spoilers as I would reveal too much of the plot)
Observations, some positive and some not:
Thumbs up:
-director Patrick Rea does a great job at building up the suspense and sense of peril and dread in this movie, mostly by not revealing the creature(s) too soon.
-the creature effects are all practical which I wholeheartedly approve of!
-the rendering of the creatures is IMO terrific. While I wouldn't characterize the monsters as werewolves they have a definite lupine quality with gaping jaws, what look life fore-claws and razor sharp teeth that look more like jagged shards of glass than, well teeth. I also thought the orb like, milky white eyes of the beasts added to their "creep" factor.
-Meg Saricks, who plays the oldest daughter. is the only actor I thought was effective throughout this film - at the beginning of the movie she seems melancholy, disinterested in life in general and disconnected emotionally not only from her mother but her two sisters. As the movie progresses her character definitely steps up for her family and she shows real character in the face of danger and calamity.
-the nature of the monsters themselves. There's never any clear cut explanation given as to what the creatures are or why people transform into these beasts...but their transformations are linked somehow to the stormy weather which apparently triggers the transformations. An unusual aspect of this movie that I found cool and original. A "Dread Central" reviewer of this movie likened the story to something out of an "X Files" TV episode and I agree with this sentiment.
-the ending of the film which included a plot twist(always welcome for me).
Thumbs down:
-the overall acting in this movie, except for Meg Saricks, was for me fairly well lacking.
-the movie's score sounded rather ordinary.
-the screen time for the monsters is too limited. I would have liked seeing more of the creatures.
Fans of this horror movie should definitely check this one out! It airs on the "Chiller" cable channel from time to time and is also available on DVD at Amazon. The film's IMDB page: IMDB page for NAILBITER film
A trailer:
The film's story: Kansas native "Janet Maguire"(played by Erin McGrane) jumps in the family car and heads to an airport in Kansas City(Kansas) to meet and greet her husband, a U.S. serviceman on a flight home from a long deployment overseas. The mother takes her three young daughters "Jennifer", "Alice" and "Sally" along for the trip to the airport. While on their way to the airport in stormy weather, the mother and daughters are forced to abandon their vehicle on the side of the road when a tornado bears down on them. The group finds refuge in the basement cellar of a small countryside house. The storm subsides and the tornado passes...but the group cannot exit the cellar because a large tree limb has fallen across the cellar doors. Later "Sally", one of the daughters, tries to escape but something outside the house bites her arm and she is forced to retreat back into the cellar. Then the trapped family hears voices and nails pounding outside...as someone is boarding up the cellar windows and cellar doors locking them inside!
At this point you might not think things can get any worse...but they do as the mother and her three girls realize there is something else in the basement with them. Eventually the terrified family encounters that "something", a hostile and bloodthirsty, humanoid monster. From this point on it's a fight for survival as the group tries to survive the creature's attacks. (no other spoilers as I would reveal too much of the plot)
Observations, some positive and some not:
Thumbs up:
-director Patrick Rea does a great job at building up the suspense and sense of peril and dread in this movie, mostly by not revealing the creature(s) too soon.
-the creature effects are all practical which I wholeheartedly approve of!
-the rendering of the creatures is IMO terrific. While I wouldn't characterize the monsters as werewolves they have a definite lupine quality with gaping jaws, what look life fore-claws and razor sharp teeth that look more like jagged shards of glass than, well teeth. I also thought the orb like, milky white eyes of the beasts added to their "creep" factor.
-Meg Saricks, who plays the oldest daughter. is the only actor I thought was effective throughout this film - at the beginning of the movie she seems melancholy, disinterested in life in general and disconnected emotionally not only from her mother but her two sisters. As the movie progresses her character definitely steps up for her family and she shows real character in the face of danger and calamity.
-the nature of the monsters themselves. There's never any clear cut explanation given as to what the creatures are or why people transform into these beasts...but their transformations are linked somehow to the stormy weather which apparently triggers the transformations. An unusual aspect of this movie that I found cool and original. A "Dread Central" reviewer of this movie likened the story to something out of an "X Files" TV episode and I agree with this sentiment.
-the ending of the film which included a plot twist(always welcome for me).
Thumbs down:
-the overall acting in this movie, except for Meg Saricks, was for me fairly well lacking.
-the movie's score sounded rather ordinary.
-the screen time for the monsters is too limited. I would have liked seeing more of the creatures.
Fans of this horror movie should definitely check this one out! It airs on the "Chiller" cable channel from time to time and is also available on DVD at Amazon. The film's IMDB page: IMDB page for NAILBITER film
A trailer:
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Movies I like...but probably shouldn't
Ever like a movie but question why you actually like it? I question myself sometimes. Here's my own list of films I like but have no idea why:
- Barbarella(1968)
- Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster(1965)
- The Giant Gila Monster(1959)
- Annie(1982)
- Megamind(2010) (animated)
- Creature From Black Lake(1976)
- Breeders(1986)
- The Incredible Mr. Limpet(1964)
- Robot Monster(1953)
- Frankenstein's Daughter(1958)
Monday, June 15, 2015
Monsterland Forums: nine years and counting!
Seems hard to believe that my internet message board called Monsterland Forums is over nine years old. I started this message board way back on January 29, 2006 on a used laptop computer. The early banners(made by me) looked terrible. The peak posting years for this message board have come and gone(2007, 2008 and 2009). Despite the decline in posting activity we still maintain a core member group of about a dozen people. Our active members include those living in the United States, Australia, England(Great Britain) and The Netherlands. Monsterland Forums still ranks fourth(4th) in posting activity among over 300 "entertainment" category message boards in the "Zetaboards" format. Our member community includes "Avery Guerra", a site contributor who does a fantastic job at finding and sharing info on the latest indie kaiju/sci-fi/horror film projects. Our message board community has topics on horror/sci-fi/fantasy cinema and television, video gaming, sports, "off topic" chat and DVDs and Blu Rays.
I admittedly can't manage this message board as much as I used to, partly due to my age and also due to my increasingly busy work schedule. Still, I cherish our small member community and still greatly enjoy my post exchanges with our members and along with two very helpful board admins keep our board fairly up to date.
Monsterland Forums will hopefully be around for a long, long time! Check out our site by clicking on the below link.
Monsterland Forums
I admittedly can't manage this message board as much as I used to, partly due to my age and also due to my increasingly busy work schedule. Still, I cherish our small member community and still greatly enjoy my post exchanges with our members and along with two very helpful board admins keep our board fairly up to date.
Monsterland Forums will hopefully be around for a long, long time! Check out our site by clicking on the below link.
Monsterland Forums
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