Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Retro Sci Fi And Monster Movie Trailer Extravaganza



When Worlds Collide is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1932 novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The film was shot in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté and was the winner of the 1951 Academy Award for special effects.



The Colossus of New York (1958) is a science fiction film directed by Eugène Lourié. It starred Ross Martin, Otto Kruger, John Baragrey, Mala Powers and Charles Herbert.

Jeremy Spensser (Martin), the brilliant young scion of a family of scientists and humanitarians, is killed in an automobile accident. His death occurs on the eve of his winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and he leaves behind a wife (Powers) and young son (Herbert). Jeremy's father, noted brain surgeon William Spensser (Kruger), is distressed that his son's gifts will be denied to Mankind. He conceives a plan to give Jeremy's excellent mind another chance to benefit humanity by transplanting the brain (which he has revived and kept on life support) into an artificial, robotic body. William convinces Jeremy's brother, Henry, to assist with the process in secret, but there are unforeseen complications and the huge cyborg they've created is kept in seclusion for nearly a year. The massive metallic creation is superhumanly strong and damage-resistant, a possibly dangerous combination under the control of anything but the gentle Jeremy. However, lacking reliable sensory apparatus and deprived of normal human contact, Jeremy's mind begins to lose its humanity, and his focus changes from simply being a secret laboratory assistant to finding his wife and son at any cost. As Jeremy loses control, the machine develops other powers including the ability to conduct and transform energy, and Jeremy's mental confusion leads to the cyborg conducting a rampage through New York City. Only the presence of Jeremy's son is able to focus Jeremy's self-control, long enough for the cyborg to teach the boy how to destroy the "colossus".

The film is noted for its haunting minimalistic piano score composed by Van Cleave.



Attack of the Giant Leeches is a low-budget 1959 science fiction film from American International Pictures. It was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski, produced by Gene Corman, and the screenplay was written by Leo Gordon. The film is in black and white, and runs for 62 minutes. It was one of a spate of monster movies produced during the 1950s in response to cold war fears; in the film a character speculates that the leeches have been mutated to giant size by atomic radiation from nearby Cape Canaveral.



King Kong vs. Godzilla is a 1962 Japanese science fiction/monster film produced by Toho Studios. Directed by Ishirō Honda with visual effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, the film starred Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, and Mie Hama. It was the third installment in the Japanese series of films featuring the monster Godzilla. It was also the first of two Japanese made films featuring the King Kong character and also the first time both King Kong and Godzilla appeared on film in color and widescreen. Produced as part of Toho's 30th anniversary celebration, this film remains the most commercially successful of all the Godzilla films to date.

Bonus Clip!



Here is some test footage shot by stop-motion special effects master, Ray Harryhausen for an film that never got made entitled, "Elementals".

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