The Monstrous Movie Photo Of The Day: Deep In The Icy Antarctic ... A Paradise Of Hidden Terrors!

Written By: Ken Hulsey

I am so happy that everyone has been enjoying my movie photo and poster series. Since I first started doing these regular occurring features I have gotten nothing but positive feedback ... and I thank you. Today I decided to tweak things just a little bit by combining the photo and poster series. For the foreseeable future I won't be scouring the internet like I have been for images to share but pulling items from my own personal collection. Some of these images will be studio originals, others will be rare items, and yet others will be copies, that is to say images that aren't original studio photos but copies of said photos.

I've got a scanner and I'm not afraid to use it people!

For my fist image I have chosen a promo advert for the 1957 Universal International release "The Land Unknown". Now what sets this particular image apart from any other movie poster, magazine add, or lobby card is the simple fact that it wasn't produced for the general public to see. It was instead produced for theater owners via trade publications. The image, which I think is truly amazing, was produced on heavy stock paper to be stapled into a magazine and actually appeared on the back of a two-page (three out of four sides) promo for the release of "Run of the Arrow" a western.

I will be posting the image from "Arrow" sometime later on.

Many of you probably remember "The Land Unknown" and may or may not remember "Run of the Arrow", anyway back in the 1950s westerns were way more popular than dinosaur flicks so this advert got the butt end of the promotion.

I hate to admit it but I haven't seen "Run of the Arrow" but the poster has a beautiful Indian maiden on it ... plus the movie stars Rod Steiger, Brian Keith and Charles Bronson so I really should search it out.

As for as "The Land Unknown" goes ... well it wasn't exactly "Jurassic Park" then again what movie is?

Synopsis:

The Land Unknown (1957) is a sci-fi, CinemaScope adventure film about a naval expedition trapped in an Antarctic jungle. The story was allegedly inspired by the discovery of unusually warm water in Antarctica in 1947. It starred Jock Mahoney and Shirley Patterson and was directed by Virgil W. Vogel. The film is notable for its low-budget special effects, which include men in dinosaur suits, puppets and monitor lizards standing in for dinosaurs. William Reynolds recalled the studio spent so much money on their mechanical dinosaur that they couldn't afford to shoot the film in colour as they first planned.

In other words it was "The Land That Time Forgot" from a time forgotten.

This little gem is one of my favorites and I hope to have it framed and mounted on my wall for all to see very soon!

"Deep In The Icy Antarctic ... A Paradise Of Hidden Terrors!"

This one is a treasure just for that tag line ... "Paradise?" ... "Terrors?" One of these words is not like the other! Gotta love that!

The Monstrous Movie Clip Of The Day: Dinosaur Wrangling Made Easy?

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Way back in 1969 the master special effects Ray Harryhausen created one of the most spectacular stop-motion animation shots for the movie "The Valley of Gwangi". To the casual viewer this sequence may not seem like a hard illusion to pull off but to those who know how the scene was achieved it stands as a true testament to hours of hard work and an amazing attention to detail.

Here is the problem that was presented to Harryhausen, "How do you get live action cowboy actors on horseback to lasso an Allosaurus model (Gwangi) that is only about a foot tall and make it look real?" The effect was achieved by having the actors actually lasso a pole that was the same height as a real Allosaurus that was mounted to the back of a Jeep. The jeep and pole when filmed with the miniature dinosaur are on a back rear projection plate and hidden by the body of the model, and the portions of rope attached to it's body are painted wires that are matched with the real ropes for each individual frame by Harryhausen using his keen eye looking through the camera's viewfinder to ensure everything lined up perfectly. The model of Gwangi also had to be manipulated to make it look like the horses and their human riders were reacting to the dinosaurs movements and not vice versa. Overall the five minute sequence took almost a month to complete via this process.

DANGER 5: THE DIAMOND GIRLS (Part Four)

If you loved "Planet of the Apes" then you will love today's episode of "Danger 5"!

After a quick round of Marconis at the Nassau airport bar, Danger 5 rendezvous with their Nazi liaison and embark on a road-trip to Göring's island getaway. However, Nassau roadways are a dangerous place and Danger 5 soon fall victim to the "Terror of the Streets" ...Italians.

Stay tuned for
the FINAL instalment
Of THE DIAMOND GIRLS:
PART 5

"Go To Hell Mario!"

DANGER 5: THE DIAMOND GIRLS (Part Three)
DANGER 5: THE DIAMOND GIRLS (PART TWO)
Danger 5: The Diamond Girls (Part One)
Can DANGER 5 Save The World From Nazi Dinosaurs?

DANGER 5: THE DIAMOND GIRLS (Part Three)

It's Monday again so you know what the means, a brand-new episode of "Danger 5"!

Danger 5 have scored themselves a free trip to the Bahamas, but it turns out this holiday package has hidden fees. Looks like Danger 5 will have to make a down payment in bullets.


Stay tuned for:
PART 4

... and everyone knows that you can shoot someone through the phone ... duh!

DANGER 5: THE DIAMOND GIRLS (PART TWO)
Danger 5: The Diamond Girls (Part One)
Can DANGER 5 Save The World From Nazi Dinosaurs?

DANGER 5: THE DIAMOND GIRLS (PART TWO)

DANGER 5: THE DIAMOND GIRLS - an online series exclusive to YouTube

In their first mission together as a team, Danger 5 must stop the Nazis from stealing the world's largest holding of black diamonds, which are kept in the Swiss World Bank. Seems like a piece of cake... served with gas and punishment.

This really is a slice of fried gold!

"Yes ... wait ... I can definitely smell Germany!"

THE LAST DINOSAUR - Did You Know?

Trivia Compiled By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: IMDB / Wikipedia

If your a child of the 70s, like I am, then you may or may not remember the rubber suited monstrosity known as "The Last Dinosaur." The movie was a Japanese/American co production about a billionaire big-game hunter who discovers an area under the polar ice where time has stood still since the age when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Needless to say the hunter, Maston Thrust (Richard Boone), gathers a rag-tag team together to hunt for the ultimate trophy i.e. the last Tyrannosaurus in existence. As you could imagine old Rex doesn't want to end up a trophy and chases the puny humans around for an hour and a half.

That pretty much sums that up. Here is what you may not know:

This was originally scheduled for theatrical release in the United States. The release was cancelled and the film premiered, in edited form, as a TV-movie on U.S. network television. This edited version became the U.S. version used for television showings and video releases.

The Tyrannosaur was said to be twenty feet high, but when Joan Van Ark is seen running between its legs evasively, the dinosaur is clearly taller.

When Francesca and Hazel are at the river and are attacked by the tyrannosaurus, Francesca's hair is wet, but when she looks up at the dinosaur, her hair is considerably dryer.

The model of the polar-borer capsule has exhaust ports on the rear, but the full-sized version does not.

From the outside, the Bore is noticeably too small to hold five people - it's bigger on the inside shots than the outside.(In other words it's a TARDIS -K)

When hit in the head by a boulder, the tyrannosaurus' head visibly dents and then pops back into shape.

Watch closely during the pre-opening airplane sequence between Maston Thrust and his current girlfriend. During the exchange, Richard Boone clearly reaches both hands forward to grope the breasts of the actress and scores "Two Doubles" (reaching "second base" twice) right before the editor is forced to cut to another shot in hopes that he can get this scene past Standards and Practices. The audacity by Richard Boone is amazing given that this was intended to be a kids popcorn movie. (Hey ... she was hot okay - K)

The score was composed, as was most of the music for all Rankin/Bass specials and series, by Maury Laws, while the title song, with lyrics by Jules Bass, was sung by Nancy Wilson(a Grammy ward winning Jazz vocalist), and arranged and conducted by Bernard Hoffer.

Unlike other bigger budgeted movies that have used state of the art effects (i.e.: Stop Motion, puppets, etc.) for the dinosaurs, this movie uses the cheaper "man in a suit" method, much like the Godzilla movies of the 1960s and 1970s. The "ceratopsian" (Uintatherium), as well as the Triceratops were done through the "two guys in a horse-suit" technique. The scale (size) of the Tyrannosaurus also changes literally from scene to scene, in some cases it appears to be over 40–50 feet tall (when it attacks the borer) and can carry it in its mouth, when the Polar Borer is easily well over 10 feet in diameter. However, they do correctly state in the beginning of the movie that a Tyrannosaurus Rex is 20 feet high and 40 feet long.

The suit of Tyrannosaurus was created by Tsuburaya Production, and was converted from Ururu of Tokusatsu Anime Dinosaur War Aizenborg. Also while the film featured mostly an English speaking cast a Japanese dub was created for the television release in Japan. The Japanese theatrical release as well as the Japanese laser disc used the English voice cast with Japanese subtitles.

And now you know!

Danger 5: The Diamond Girls (Part One)

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Avery Guerra

I'm certain that "Danger 5" will quickly become one of my weekly guilty pleasures. This series has everything including hot chicks, action, a guy with the head of a bald eagle with a British accent, camp, exploding miniature sets and Nazi dinosaurs. What more could you ask for right? Check out the first episode of the series entitled "The Diamond Girls" above!

What is "Danger 5"? Seriously ... where have you been?

Grumble ... here is a brief synopsis to get ya caught up:

Set in a bizarre, 1960’s inspired version of World War II, action comedy series DANGER 5 follows a team of five spies on a mission to kill Hitler. Danger 5 is the finest group of special operatives the allies have to offer; Jackson from the USA, Tucker from Australia, Ilsa from Russia, Claire from Britain and Pierre from Europe. Each episode Danger 5 unravels another of Hitler’s diabolic schemes and travels across a myriad of exotic locations spanning the globe. The action and offbeat humour never relents as Danger 5 mounts a series of thrilling missions which include discovering Josef Mengele’s perverted Antarctic death circus, busting down Erwin Rommel’s golden murder casino and posing as exotic dancers in an attempt to take out Hitler at his own birthday party.

Did I forget to mention Nazi dinosaurs?

Can DANGER 5 Save The World From Nazi Dinosaurs?

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Avery Guerra

Now this is really cool! Earlier this week our very own Avery Guerra shot me an email full of links to a new Australian TV series called "Danger 5", which from the trailer looks like a wonderful mix of "Team America", "Inglorious Bastards", "Thunderbirds" and "Austin Powers".

What can you really say about a series that has secret agents, an eagle man ..... a tiger man, sexy dames, Nazi dinosaurs and that evil, evil Adolf Hitler. It really speaks for itself doesn't it!

Check out this tagline: "Jam packed with SEX, VIOLENCE, NAZIS and COCKTAILS!

Victory has a new name! DANGER 5"

Here is your plot:

Set in a bizarre, 1960’s inspired version of World War II, action comedy series DANGER 5 follows a team of five spies on a mission to kill Hitler. Danger 5 is the finest group of special operatives the allies have to offer; Jackson from the USA, Tucker from Australia, Ilsa from Russia, Claire from Britain and Pierre from Europe. Each episode Danger 5 unravels another of Hitler’s diabolic schemes and travels across a myriad of exotic locations spanning the globe. The action and offbeat humour never relents as Danger 5 mounts a series of thrilling missions which include discovering Josef Mengele’s perverted Antarctic death circus, busting down Erwin Rommel’s golden murder casino and posing as exotic dancers in an attempt to take out Hitler at his own birthday party.

It's too bad that no one here in the states would take a chance on something as brilliantly creative as this!

"Danger 5" is the product of a collaboration between director Dario Russo and writer David Ashby that stars David Ashby, Aldo Mignone, Sean-James Murphy, Natasa Ristic and Amanda Simons.

Check out this trailer:



You really need to check out the "Danger 5" website (HERE) which includes a wonderful parody of a 1950's men's adventure magazine called "Danger! Monthly" (HERE). If you pass up on the article entitled "I Was A Plaything Of The Devil Kittens Of Hitler's Lust Dungeon" you will kick yourself. Really informative .....

A Gallery Of Great Monster Movie Posters - Part Drei

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Movie Info From Wikipedia

Halloween is upon us kids so I thought that it was about time for another installment of my ever so popular monster movie poster features. As usual I have collected a nice mix of the classic and the mind numbingly strange for you to feast your blood-thirsty eyes on.

Enough talk lets get to it!

Revenge of the Creature

For the sequel to "Creature from the Black Lagoon" Universal really wanted to play off the success of movies like "Godzilla" and "Them!" by bringing the Gill-man to civilization where he could go on a rampage. The poster for the film echos this with a giant Creature carrying off a woman while a mass of people in the foreground flee in terror.

A little history:

Revenge of the Creature is the first sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon. The film is notable for being the only 3-D film to be released in 1955; the only 3-D sequel to a 3-D film; and for being the first screen role for Clint Eastwood. The movie was released May 11, 1955, in the United States. It was followed by a sequel in 1956, The Creature Walks Among Us.

Having survived being riddled with bullets at the end of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Gill-man is captured and sent to the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida, where he is studied by animal psychologist Professor Clete Ferguson and ichthyology student Helen Dobson. Helen and Clete quickly begin to fall in love, much to the chagrin of Joe Hayes, the Gill-man's keeper. The Gill-man takes an instant liking to Helen, which severely hampers Professor Ferguson's efforts to communicate with him. Ultimately, the Gill-man escapes from his tank, killing Joe in the process, and flees to the open ocean. Unable to stop thinking about Helen, he soon begins to stalk her and Ferguson, ultimately abducting her from a seaside restaurant where the two are at a party. Clete tries to give chase, but the Gill-man escapes to the water with his captive. Clete and the local law enforcement must now try to track down Helen and her amphibious abductor.

The Gorgon
To be perfectly honest .... the only reason I posted this was for the tag line "She Had A Face Only A Mummy Could Love!"

Like I could pass that up?

A little history:

The Gorgon is a 1964 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer.

It stars Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley and Richard Pasco. The film was photographed by Michael Reed, and designed by Bernard Robinson. For the score James Bernard combined a soprano with a little-known electronic instrument called the Novachord. The film marks one of the few occasions when Hammer turned to Greek mythology for inspiration; this time it is the legend of the Gorgon that is respun for the Hammer audiences.

The year is 1910, in the rural German village of Vandorf, seven murders have been committed within the past five years, each victim having been petrified into a stone figure. Rather than investigate it, the local authorities dismiss the murders for fear of a local legend having come true. When a local girl becomes the latest victim and her suicidal lover made the scapegoat, the father of the condemned man decides to investigate and discovers that the cause of the petrifying deaths is a phantom. The very last of the snake-haired Gorgon sisters haunts the local castle and turns victims to stone during the full moon.

She-Wolf of London
Actually I was looking for an excuse to write about this film. When it comes to the classic horror films produced by Universal people always think of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr. One name is always missing from that list, June Lockhart. People often forget that there were some female monsters too!

I got your back ladies!

A little history:

She-Wolf of London is a 1946 horror film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring June Lockhart and Don Porter. The title evokes the earlier Werewolf of London (1935), although, unlike its forebear, it is concerned more with mystery and suspense than supernatural horror.

Phyllis Allenby is a young and beautiful woman who is soon to be married to lawyer and boyfriend Barry Lanfield. Phyllis is living at the Allenby Mansion without the protection of a male, along with her aunt Martha and her cousin Carol and the servant Hannah. As the wedding date approaches, London is shocked by a series of murders at the local park, where the victims are discovered with throats ripped out. Many of the detectives at Scotland Yard begin murmuring about werewolves, while Inspector Pierce believes the opposite and suspects strange activity at the Allenby Mansion (which is near the park), where the "Wolf-Woman" is seen prowling at night and heading for the park. Phyllis becomes extremely terrified and anxious, since she is convinced that she is the "Wolf-Woman", deeply believing in the legend of the so-called "Curse of the Allenbys". Aunt Martha tries to convince Phyllis how ridiculous the legend sounds, while she (aunt Martha) and Carol are suspicious in their own ways. Phyllis each day denies of Barry visiting her, and when a suspicious detective is murdered soon after he visits the mansion in the same way the other victims perished, Barry begins believing that something else is beside the so-called "Werewolf murders" and makes his own investigations both to the park and to the mansion.

King Dinosaur
King Dinosaur was hardly the "Mightiest Monster Of Them All" , but he had a great poster!

A little history:

King Dinosaur is a 1955 science fiction film starring William Bryant and Wanda Curtis with narration by Marvin Miller. In this film, four astronauts in 1960 travel to a planet called Nova that has just entered Earth's solar system. The crew begins to study the planet to see if it's able to withstand a possible Earth colony. After first discovering normal Earth animals such as a kinkajou and an alligator, they soon encounter giant insects, dinosaurs, and the titular King Dinosaur.

The Walking Dead
One of my favorite movie posters, it's simple and quite elegant. Well as elegant as a zombie movie poster can be.

A little history:

The Walking Dead is a 1936 horror film starring Boris Karloff as a wrongly executed man who is restored to life by a scientist (Edmund Gwenn). The film was directed by Michael Curtiz, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

John Elman (Boris Karloff) has been framed for murder by a gang of racketeers. He is unfairly tried and despite the fact that his innocence has been proven, he is sent to the electric chair and executed. But Dr. Evan Beaumont (Edmund Gwenn) retrieves his dead body and revives it, as part of his experiments to reanimate a dead body.

Dr. Beaumont's use of a mechanical heart to revive the patient foreshadow's modern medicine's mechanical heart to keep patients alive during surgery. Interestingly, although John Elman has no direct knowledge of anyone wishing to frame him for the murder before he is executed, he seems to have an innate sense of knowing those who are responsible after he is revived. Elman takes no direct action against his framers, and in the end it is their own guilt that causes their deaths.

House Of Dracula
No Karloff as The Monster, no Lugosi as Dracula, instead you get Glenn Strange, John Carradine and the pretty Jane Adams as a hunchback. It's safe to say that the Universal horrors got a little watered down in the forties.

Lon Chaney Jr did play the Wolfman though.

A little history:

House of Dracula was an American horror film released by Universal Pictures Company in 1945. It was a direct sequel to House of Frankenstein and continued the theme of combining Universal's three most popular monsters: Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula and The Wolf Man. The film was a commercial success, but would also be one of the last Universal movies featuring Frankenstein's monster, vampires and werewolves: after 1945, horror moved toward science fiction, Cold War paranoia, and the Hiroshima syndrome of super science creating its own monsters, themes which would be the hallmarks of 1950s horror and science fiction movies.

Godzilla vs The Sea Monster (German)


Tomoyuki Tanaka really wanted King Kong to battle "Ebirah, Horror of the Deep" but couldn't get the rights to use him from RKO. Instead Godzilla was substituted. This German poster for the film echoes the whole "Kong" theme with Big G chasing after the lovely Kumi Mizuno (The Japanese Fay Wray?).

A little history:

Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, released in Japan as Godzilla, Ebirah, Mothra: Big Duel in the South Seas (ゴジラ・エビラ・モスラ　南海の大決闘 Gojira, Ebira, Mosura Nankai no Daikettō) and known internationally as Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, is a 1966 science fiction kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda and written by Shinichi Sekizawa. This is the first film in the series with special effects directed by Sadamasa Arikawa. Eiji Tsuburaya, now very busy with Tsuburaya Productions, supervised the effects shoot. The film is the seventh in the original Godzilla series.

After Yata (Tooru Ibuki) is lost at sea, his brother Ryota (Tooru Watanabe) steals a yacht with his two friends and a bank robber. The crew runs afoul of the giant lobster Ebirah, and washes up on the shore of an island, where a terrorist organization manufactures heavy water for their purposes, as well as a chemical that keeps Ebirah at bay. The organization, known as the Red Bamboo, has enslaved natives from Infant Island to help them, but the natives hope to awaken Mothra to rescue them.

In their efforts to avoid capture, Ryota and his friends, aided by a beautiful native girl, stumble across Godzilla sleeping within a cliffside cavern. The group devises a plan to defeat the Red Bamboo and escape from the island. In the process, they wake Godzilla using a lightning rod. Godzilla fights Ebirah, but the giant lobster escapes. Godzilla is then attacked by a giant condor and a squadron of Red Bamboo fighter jets, but destroys them.

The humans retrieve the missing Yata, free the enslaved natives and Godzilla begins to destroy the base. Godzilla smashes a tower that has a self destruct button that makes the island unstable. Godzilla fights Ebirah and defeats it, ripping off both Ebirah's claws and causing it to retreat into the sea. The natives summon Mothra to save everyone, however, Godzilla challenges Mothra when she gets to the island. Mothra manages to push Godzilla away and carry the people off. Godzilla escapes the island just before it explodes.

The Food Of The Gods
The moral to this story, don't feed the animals, or more importantly don't feed the animals some mysterious goop you find oozing up from the ground!

What makes for a great monster movie poster? The answer is simple, a giant rat fondling a woman in a tree.

A little history:

The Food of the Gods is a 1976 film released by American International Pictures and was written, produced, and directed by Bert I. Gordon. He had earlier made a movie based on the same novel called Village of the Giants starring Beau Bridges.

The Food of the Gods starred Marjoe Gortner of Earthquake, Pamela Franklin, Ralph Meeker, Jon Cypher, John McLiam, and Ida Lupino. This film was loosely based on a portion of the H. G. Wells novel The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth. A sequel to the film was made in 1989, entitled Food of the Gods II.

The film reduced the tale to an 'Ecology Strikes Back' scenario, common in science fiction movies at the time. The food mysteriously bubbles up from the ground on a remote island somewhere in British Columbia. The couple that discover it, Mr. and Mrs. Skinner (McLiam and Lupino) consider it a gift from God, and promptly begin feeding it to their chickens. Soon, rats, wasps, and worms consume the substance, and the island is crawling with giant vermin. One night, some of them kill Mr. Skinner.

Morgan, a professional football player (Gortner), and his buddies are camping on the island, and one of them is stung to death by giant wasps. After ferrying his friends back to the mainland, Morgan returns to investigate. Also thrown into the mix are Thomas and Rita, an expecting couple; Jack Bensington, the owner of a dog food company (Meeker) hoping to market the substance; and his assistant Lorna (Franklin), a "lady bacteriologist." Eventually, the survivors are trapped in the farmhouse with the rats swarming around outside, and Mrs. Skinner and Bensington are killed by the rats.

Morgan eventually blows up a nearby dam, flooding the area and drowning the rats, whose size and weight renders them unable to swim. The food, however, survives. It is swept into a river and is consumed by cows, who give tainted milk, which is then drunk by schoolchildren.

Curse Of The Demon
Curse of the Demon features one of the coolest looking monsters to ever grace the silver screen. Unfortunately it only appears in the film for a couple of minutes.

Likewise the poster art featuring the monster is some of the best ever produced.

A little history:

Night of the Demon is a 1957 British horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. An adaptation of the M. R. James story Casting the Runes (1911), the plot revolves around an American psychologist investigating a satanic cult suspected of more than one murder.

The film's production was turbulent due to clashing ideas between producer Hal E. Chester on one side and Jacques Tourneur and writer Charles Bennett on the other. Planned to not show a literal demon, producer Chester inserted a monster over the objections of the writer, director and star Dana Andrews. To accelerate the pace, the film was trimmed down to 83 minutes (and retitled Curse of the Demon) in the US where it played the second half of a double feature with films like The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958).

Humanoids From The Deep (Monster)

Slimy monsters always come out of the ocean looking for women with big breasts in bikinis ...... it's part of nature's plan.

Whatever this poster is selling I'm buying!

Humanoids from the Deep (alternatively known as Monster is a 1980 science fiction monster movie, starring Doug McClure, Ann Turkel, and Vic Morrow. Roger Corman served as the film's (uncredited) Executive Producer, and the film was distributed by his New World Pictures. It was directed by Barbara Peeters (aka Barbara Peters). The musical score was composed by James Horner.

Victims On A Dinosaur Infested Military Base In TAPE 407

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Avery Guerra

Imagine this scenario, you take off with your family for a much needed vacation only to have the plane crash in some remote area. You survive that, thank goodness, only to learn that you are in a government test site infested with very hungry velociraptors. Now your in a life-or-death struggle to survive and escape from the dinosaurs who will go to any extreme to make you a meal.

Sounds like a real shitty weekend right?

Such is the plot of a brand new film that seems to have flown in under the radar called "Tape 407: The Mesa Reserve Incident" a dino-horror produced by Suzanne DeLaurentiis Productions in association with Factory Entertainment Group under the direction of Dale Fabrigar.

Like the upcoming UK production "The Dinosaur Project" this film is shot in the same POV style as "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield". From the trailer "Tape 407" looks a lot like "Lost" combined with "The Lost World" which is cool if not entirely original.

Here is the skinny:

One of Hollywood's most terrifying new films, Tape 407, features lost footage too real for reality and too disturbing for fiction. The film will take moviegoers on a whirlwind ride, with a twist ending that will leave you breathless, shocked, and terrified.

The film opens with two teenagers flying from New York to Los Angeles on New Years Eve. Their nightmare begins when their plane hits extreme turbulence mid-flight. The relentless weather attack causes panic and terror amongst the passengers until the plane ultimately crashes in a remote government-testing area. The handful of survivors from the crash, bloody and disoriented, are then insistently pursued in the darkness by unknown predators that, unbeknownst to them, are part of the government's top-secret Mesa Experiment.

The makers of "Tape 407" running a promotion through Facebook where fans can win a poster autographed by the cast and tickets to film's the opening weekend.

Check out the "Tape 407" website HERE

The History Of Dinosaur Cinema Explored In The BBC's REX APPEAL

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: BBC / Radio Times

The BBC has gone absolutely prehistoric with a new documentary about dinosaurs in the movies called "Rex Appeal". The hour-long special covers everything from "Gertie" to "Godzilla" with a collection of clips from the dino films that made all of our Saturday afternoons growing up all that more special.

Here is the scoop from the BBC:

From the beginnings of film-making to the triumph of Jurassic Park - the dinosaur has always been a movie star. Over 60 minutes, BBC4's Rex Appeal takes a bite out of the Cretaceous cinema and reveals the truth about T-Rex.

It's a story that stretches from the charming cartoon apatosaurus Gertie (1914), to the vicious and cunning velociraptors of Spielbrerg's imagination.

But it's not all teeth and trashing city centres - as our critics explain, dinosaur movies are always about more than just dinosaurs. The 'nature finds a way' DNA argument in Jurassic Park directly mirrored the arguements about GM crops in the early 90s. Godzilla - the radioactive-breathed dinosaur emerged from the seas of Japan just nine years after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. King Kong and his dinosaur pals on Skull Island have sparked a million film school theories.

Of course, not all dino dramas are so high minded - in the Hammer film One Million Years BC, the audience were just as fascinated with Racquel Welsh's fur tops as they were with the Triceratops. Despite Hammer's claim that 'This is the way it was', the science was a little dubious- the last dinosaur died 64 million years before the first modern human appeared.

Whatever cultural anxieties dinosaurs represent, they've always been a cinematic spectacle that has thrilled audiences on a instinctual level - with each new breakthrough in special effects giving us ever more real Rex's.

Willis O'Brien gave us the legendary Kong v Rex fight that taught us to love Kong, Ray Harryhausen invented 'dinomation' and put dinosaurs and cowboys together in The Valley of Gwangi. And since the 90s - CGI has banished the man in the dino suit, and made prehistoric protagonists are more real than ever.

Contributors include film critics James King and Kim Newman, science broadcaster Adam Rutherford, comedian Susan Calman and broadcaster and film historian Matthew Sweet.

In conjunction with the broadcast of "Rex Appeal" the Radio Times in the UK has released their own list of the top 10 dinosaur films of all-time. It's a decent list but I would yank out "The Land Before Time" and insert "The Valley of Gwangi" but to each their own. You can check out the list HERE

"Rex Appeal" airs again on Sunday (October 2nd) on BBC 4

THE DINOSAUR PROJECT Promises Reptiles On A Rampage

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Robert Hood / Avery Guerra / StudioCanal

Ah just what we all needed to break the mundane vibe of a Monday morning a good old-fashioned dinosaur movie!

Being hyped as “the most exciting dinosaur action movie since Jurassic Park!” is the latest project by Moonlighting Films and StudioCanal (the same folks who brought us Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz). The aptly titled "The Dinosaur Project." is presently in production under the direction of Sid Bennett (Prehistoric Park) and will feature CGI effects from the BAFTA award winning team at Jellyfish Pictures.

From the looks of it so far "The Dinosaur Project" looks a lot like a combination between "The Last Dinosaur" and "The Land that Time Forgot" which if you know your dinosaur films is a groovy combination. The script itself is very heavily inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel "The Lost World" in which dinosaurs are found to be alive and well living in a remote secluded area of South America.

Of course there has to be a modern spin on the story. This time around a film crew who is in the Congo to make a documentary about the local flora and fauna stumbles upon the "The Land that Time Forgot" and in true dino movie fashion spend the rest of the movie trying to avoid becoming a meal.

And who are the potential dinosaur snacks you may ask? Starring alongside the titanic terrors will be Natasha Loring (pictured above), Peter Brooke (Spooks, Doctor Who, The Wild West) and Matt Kane (The Cut).

According to sources "The Dinosaur Project" will be shot in the same "first person" style as "Cloverfield" and "The Blair Witch Project" so keep your motion sickness pills and barf bags at the ready.

Here is the photographic evidence that dinosaurs still inhabit the Congo:




Look for "The Dinosaur Project" to hit theaters in 2012.

A Gallery Of Great Monster Movie Posters - Part Dos

Written By: Ken Hulsey



As promised a few weeks back here is yet another gallery of great monster movie posters. I like to think of this little collection as "the good, the bad, the wtf and the boing." The reasons for this should become quite evident as you proceed through my hand picked selections.



What did we talk about last time? Was it the elements that make up a great monster movie poster? If memory serves I mentioned a few key items including a great monster (... well sometimes), dynamic action or violence and a sexy damsel (or damsels). Well these images have all of that in spades.



Godzilla vs The Cosmic Monster



You would probably guess that since this is a Godzilla movie poster that it would be one of my all-time favorites ... and you would be right! The image is truly beautiful ... well as beautiful as the image of a giant dinosaur fighting a robot version of himself can be.



Info:



Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (ゴジラ対メカゴジラ Gojira Tai Mekagojira), originally known in the United States as Godzilla vs. Bionic Monster and subsequently Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster, is a 1974 science fiction kaiju film. This was the 14th of the Toho studio's Godzilla series (set after Godzilla vs Megalon), it was directed by Jun Fukuda with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano and the original score composed by Masaru Sato. It is the fifth film to feature Anguirus and the first film to feature Mechagodzilla and King Caesar.



The Phantom of the Opera



Here is a truly amazing movie poster! It is a work of art that would rival anything hanging in a museum.



Info:



The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force the management to make the woman he loves a star. It is most famous for Lon Chaney's intentionally horrific, self-applied make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film's premiere.



The film also features Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland, John St. Polis, and Snitz Edwards. The only surviving cast member is Carla Laemmle (born 1909), niece of producer Carl Laemmle, who played a small role as "prima ballerina" in the film when she was about 15.



The film was adapted by Elliott J. Clawson, Frank M. McCormack (uncredited), Tom Reed (titles) and Raymond L. Schrock. It was directed by Rupert Julian, with supplemental direction by Lon Chaney, Edward Sedgwick and Ernst Laemmle.



The Crater Lake Monster

Hey, what's not to love about this! A giant dinosaur rising out of the lake to make a meal out of a couple of lovers out for a boat ride. Never mind the fact that the poster shows a T-Rex and the monster in the film is a plesiosaur ... who cares? Everybody knows a Rex sells tickets!



Info:



The Crater Lake Monster is a 1977 B-rated horror film directed by William R. Stromberg for Crown International Pictures, and starring Richard Cardella. The script was also written by Stromberg and Cardella, and their affiliation with The Crater Lake Monster marked the zenith of their careers.



The storyline revolves around a giant plesiosaur, akin to the Loch Ness Monster, which appears in Crater Lake, next to a small Oregonian town. As people are attacked by the monster, the Sheriff (Cardella) investigates along with a group of scientists in order to stop the creature.



The film is mostly notable for being an example of David W. Allen's early stop-motion animation, and "the best thing about the movie (make that the only thing)". Otherwise, the film was widely panned by critics, with DVD Drive-In calling it "one of the worst giant monster flicks of all time"



Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds



This Japanese import has all the things any monster movie maniac craves, two dinosaurs ripping each other to shreds while smashing a boat to pieces. One of the beasts is even enjoying a mid fight snack in the form of one of the ships sexy passengers.



Info:



Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (恐竜・怪鳥の伝説 Kyōryū Kaichō no Densetsu) (1977) is a Japanese science fiction film, released by Toei Company. The film featured a giant Plesiosaur and Rhamphorhynchus.



Curucu: Beast of the Amazon



Ever heard of "Curucu: Beast of the Amazon? Neither had I, but the film had one awesome movie poster!



Gamera: Super Monster



So what would happen if Gamera took on a Star Destroyer?



Look I don't remember Gamera being in any of the original Star Wars films either. Maybe George Lucas edited the scenes out because they made the films to long ..... like the Biggs Darklighter scenes?



Anyway.... giant turtle plus copyright infringing spaceship and three Japanese superheroes equals great poster!



Info:



Gamera: Super Monster (宇宙怪獣ガメラ Uchu Kaijū Gamera, Space Monster Gamera), a 1980 kaiju film, was the belated final entry in the Shōwa Gamera series, and the last Gamera film written by Nisan Takahashi and directed by Noriaki Yuasa. It relied heavily on stock footage from previous Gamera films. This movie was made when Daiei was brought out of bankruptcy by Tokuma Shoten publishing company. It was intended as a one-shot movie for children. There wasn't another Gamera film for another 15 years, until his revival in 1995.



Creepozoids

A big bad bug monster takes out the roided out jock while the buxom babes fall out of their blouses in fear. Ummm ..... what else do I need to say?



Info:



Creepozoids is a 1987 low budget science fiction/horror film directed by David DeCoteau, and starring Linnea Quigley, Ken Abraham, Michael Aranda and Kim McKamy (later known as Ashlyn Gere).



Set in 1998, six years after an apocalyptic nuclear war, a group of army deserters take refuge from acid rain in a seemingly abandoned laboratory complex.



They soon discover that the lab was a top-secret government research center, where a hideous (if rather fickle) genetically-engineered monster still lurks.



The Beast and The Vixens



Okay, I know that I just violated my own "no nudity" policy, but this one was too good to omit. I honestly got nothing on this one, but it sure looks like Sasquatch is having a good time!



"Bigfoot Gone Wild!" anyone?



See Also: GODZILLA vs HEDORAH 40th Anniversary Poster, Lobby Card And Photo Bonanza! / A Gallery Of Great Monster Movie Posters

A Gallery Of Great Monster Movie Posters

Written By: Ken Hulsey

As many of you may or may not know collecting classic movie posters, lobby cards and photographs is a real passion of mine. I often times spend hours rummaging through thrift stores, antique malls, flea markets and yard sales looking for authentic movie related items. I have put together quite a collection and one day I hope to get everything framed and up on my walls.

That being said, I woke up this morning with monster movie posters on my mind so I decided to post a collection of some great ones here for all to enjoy.

What makes for a great monster movie poster? Well a great monster is a good start but as you can see from some of the examples here a great work of art can sometimes make a bad monster look good. Of course that is the general idea isn't it? After all the sole purpose for these posters were to put butts in theater seats.

Another great element that most great monster movie posters share is a sexy damsel in distress. Monster plus half-naked woman means box office gold ... or so was the general idea during the golden age of monster films.

A great example of a great monster movie poster is this one (above) from "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth". You have dinosaurs fighting in the background, a giant dinosaur eating a bikini-clad cave girl, people chained up, more bikini-clad cave girls and yet another bikini-clad cave girl with a spear front and center.

Would you want to see this movie? Oh, hell yes!

Here are more such posters, some with sexy girls and some without, some with great monsters and some without:

Reptilicus


A great poster here! A giant dragon taking out the Golden Gate Bridge. Too bad the movie didn't live up to this artwork.

Info:

Reptilicus, a giant monster film about a fictional prehistoric reptile, is a Danish-American co-production, produced by American International Pictures and Saga Studios, and is upon close examination two distinctly different films helmed by two different directors.

The original version, which was shot in Danish was directed by Danish director Poul Bang and released in Denmark on February 25, 1961.

The American version, which was in English with a nearly identical cast, was directed by the film's American producer-director Sidney W. Pink; this version was initially deemed virtually unreleasable by American International Pictures and had to be extensively reworked by the film's Danish-American screenwriter, Ib Melchior, before being finally released in America in 1962.

King Kong (1933)


Of all the zillions of King Kong posters that were produced this one has always been my favorite. Great colors, great action pose, what's not to love?

Info:

King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling gorilla-like creature called Kong who dies in an attempt to possess a beautiful young woman. The film stars Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot and Robert Armstrong and opened in New York City on March 2, 1933 to good reviews. Kong is distinguished for its stop-motion animation by Willis O'Brien and its musical score by Max Steiner. The film has been released to video, DVD, and Blu-ray, and has been computer colorized. In 1991, the film was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

The Green Slime

Again everything you want in a monster movie poster. A sexy girls, great monster art and great action. The movie ..... well not so good, but one of my faves none the less.

Info:

The Green Slime (ガンマー第3号 宇宙大作戦, Ganmā Daisan Gō: Uchū Daisakusen, aka Gamma 3: Operation Outer Space) is a 1968 science-fiction film produced by MGM in the United States and shot in Japan at the studios of Toei Company by director Kinji Fukasaku. The film was spearheaded by the same creative team who produced similar Italian outings including Wild, Wild Planet, Ivan Reiner and Walter Manley.

Frankenstein meets The Wolf Man


Two great monsters combine for one great poster. There's Frankie carrying off a woman in her night-gown .... ya gotta have that .... and you have The Monster and The Wolf Man trying to kick the crap out of each other. Nuff said.

Info:

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, released in 1943, is an American monster horror film produced by Universal Studios starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. The movie was the first of a series of "ensemble" monster films combining characters from several film series. This film, therefore, is both the fifth in the series of films based upon Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and a sequel to The Wolf Man.

Frankenstein 1970


What can I say about this one? Great image of a sexy woman cowering in fear in the shadow of a truly grotesque looking Frankenstein silhouette. This one is just about perfect.

Info:

Frankenstein 1970 is a 1958 science fiction horror film, starring Boris Karloff and Don 'Red' Barry. This independent film was directed by Howard W. Koch, and its alternative titles were Frankenstein 1960 and Frankenstein 1975. Released on a low budget, the film was originally intended to be named Frankenstein 1960 but it did not sound futuristic enough. In October 2009, Warner Brothers released the DVD "Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics" which includes Frankenstein 1970 as one of the four films and features an audio commentary by co-star Charlotte Austin and historians Tom Weaver and Bob Burns.

Destroy All Monsters


This is pure monster heaven! You have just about every great Japanese movie monster in one poster. Japanese monster posters are always amazing and this one stands out on top!

Info:

Destroy All Monsters, released in Japan as Charge of the Monsters (怪獣総進撃, Kaijū Sōshingeki), is a 1968 Japanese science fiction kaiju. The ninth in Toho Studios' Godzilla series, it was directed by Ishirō Honda with special effects by Sadamasa Arikawa (supervised by Eiji Tsuburaya.) This is the fifth film to feature Mothra, third to feature King Ghidorah, fourth to feature Rodan, and second to feature Gorosaurus, Anguirus, Kumonga, Manda, Minilla, Baragon, and Varan. This film is also considered that last of the more classical era of Showa films.

Bride of the Monster


Great classic vampire poster! Again the reoccurring theme of the monster (or in this case vampire) carrying off a rather buxom maiden. What's with the meatball with tentacles?

Info:

Bride of the Monster is a 1955 sci-fi horror film starring Bela Lugosi, along with Tor Johnson, Tony McCoy and Loretta King Hadler. It was produced, directed and co-written by Edward D. Wood, Jr.

A sequel, entitled Night of the Ghouls, was finished in 1959, but due to last-minute financial problems, was not released until 1987.

Blood From the Mummy's Tomb


With this one you don't even need a mummy in the poster to sell the film. A severed hand choking a buxom victim ... that's all you really need. I love the look of terror on the woman's face. Great poster!

Info:

Blood from the Mummy's Tomb is a 1971 British film starring Andrew Keir, Valerie Leon, and James Villiers. This was director Seth Holt's final film, and was adapted from Bram Stoker's novel The Jewel of Seven Stars. The film was released as the support feature to Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde.


Beast From Haunted Cave / Attack of the Crab Monsters / The Navy vs The Night Monsters





To save time I decided to lump these three posters together because what can be said for one can be said for all three. Sub-par monster movies with great posters! All three contain the classic monster menacing sexy woman theme, except for "The Navy vs The Night Monsters" where that sexy woman is none other than Mamie Van Doren. In fact all that the poster really needs is MAMIE VAN DOREN in huge letters with a picture of her in her underwear. No monster .... just MVD. Anyway it's a great poster with jets and a-bombs going off plus a bunch of killer trees on a rampage.

More movie posters to come in future articles so stay tuned!

Fox's TERRA NOVA Turning Into A Real Prehistoric Monster

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: New York Magazine

Remember last year when I spent a lot of time getting all geeked up about the upcoming dinosaur themed TV show being produced by Steven Spielberg called "Terra Nova"? Remember when I reported last August that the show had begun filming in Australia?

What ever happened to that thing?

Well according to the latest reports from the production the show has turned into a real monster of T-Rex proportions suffering from too many chiefs in charge of too few Indians. Sources on the set note that the production has twelve producers, no scripts beyond the pilot episode and not enough footage in the can to fill an episode.

The problems initially started when the script for the pilot was submitted to Fox. The story was too long for an hour-long episode and the production team began bickering about whether to lengthen the pilot or break it up into multiple episodes. When a two-hour pilot was decided upon Fox then opted to lay off most of the writing staff until the show got underway. With twelve producers trying to flex their creative muscle and pour weather conditions in Australia "Terra Nova" has developed into a real mess.

Fox is presently looking for a new hit show, which it desperately needs, so there is even more pressure to get these dinosaurs into households across America, and fast.

It looks like Terra Nova will need a monster of an enforcer to come in and put this all together or the whole soup will likely implode upon itself.

Plot - "Terra Nova," will follow the exploits of a family from 100 years in the future, that travels back in time to the age of dinosaurs.

See Also: Steven Spielberg Heads Down Under To Shoot TERRA NOVA / Steven Spielberg To Bring Dinosaurs To Fox

Christine Nguyen: In Great Shape With Don's Dinosaurs

Text by Armand Vaquer. Photos Copyright 2011 by Donald F. Glut and used with permission.

Above, Christine with a pteranodon who seems to have plucked away a garment. Watch the birdie!

Dinosaur expert and movie producer/director Donald F. Glut (for Frontline Entertainment) sent over these photos from a photo shoot for his dinosaur collection web pages of actress/model (and fan favorite) Christine Nguyen. The photos were taken at Glut's Burbank residence yesterday.

Above, Christine with Don Glut.

Nguyen recently was involved in a serious traffic accident in Los Angeles which could have had tragic consequences. Although she sustained some injuries, as you can see, it hasn't dimmed her natural glow and sense of humor.

Above, strategically-placed dinosaur toy heads made this shot safe for this blog.

To see these and other photos of Don Glut's collection, go to http://www.collectorsquest.com. Then search: Don Glut's Dinosaurs.