The Monstrous Movie Clip Of The Day: James T. Kirk vs The Gorn

For today's main event we have two titan's of interstellar combat!

In this corner, wearing a metallic tunic and utility belt, with slow reflexes, a bad temper and a speech impediment ... THE GORN!!!!

And in this corner, wearing a yellow Starfleet uniform and pants that are tighter than they should be, with an overactive libido, huge ego ... and a speech impediment ... Captain Kirk!!!!

This heavyweight bout to be decided by knock out, death, or makeshift cannon blast per Metron and Nevada Boxing Commission regulations.

One has a boulder the size of a VW Beetle and the other has a tree branch ...

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!

KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS - Did You Know?

Trivia Compiled By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: IMDB / Wikipedia

Movie trivia can be fun and here at Monster Island News we think of ourselves as fun ... and trivial.

Here are a few little items that you may or may not know about the 1977 creepy crawly movie "Kingdom of the Spiders" which starred William Shatner (post Star Trek).

$50,000 of the movie's budget went towards spiders. The producers offered to pay $10 each for live tarantulas, and handlers collected 5,000 of them.

Tiffany Bolling was cast in the female lead role because she was the only actress who auditioned who had no trouble working with spiders.

Donna Mills auditioned for the female lead, but couldn't do it because she was uncomfortable with spiders.

When Rack Hansen and Diane Ashley arrive at Terry's farm, they get out of Rack's truck and close the doors. A moment later when they rush back with Rack's niece, Linda, the truck doors are open.

At Colby's accident site, the deputy tells the sheriff that an eyewitness was a quarter of a mile behind Colby's truck and saw the accident. However, during earlier wide shots of Colby driving, there was nobody as far as the eye could see on the straight highway.

The stunt driver who hits Mayor Conner misjudged his speed and hit the brakes just as he made contact. Instead of the car taking out the mayor and then careening into the water tower, you can see it stop briefly and then accelerate again to get enough speed to take out the water tower.

The large amount of tarantulas kept on-hand led to some unusual production difficulties. Not only did each spider have to be kept warm, but because of the creatures' cannibalistic tendencies, all 5,000 spiders had to be kept in separate containers. Additionally, tarantulas are usually shy around people, so fans and air tubes often had to be used to get the spiders to walk towards their "victims". Indeed, in a number of the scenes where the tarantulas are "attacking" people, it is obvious to the viewer that the spiders are merely moving around, usually away from their intended victims.

Due to the film's low budget, most of the music used in the film (particularly the "startle cues") was taken from the logs of stock music used on suspense TV series. For example, most of the music used in the film during the scenes with the spiders can also be heard in notable episodes of The Twilight Zone, including "To Serve Man" and "The Invaders", as well as in at least one episode of The Fugitive. The country music songs heard on the radio in the movie, as well as over the opening and closing credits, were performed by country singer Dorsey Burnette.

Although Shatner and Bolling were ostensibly the "stars" of the film, many who have seen it (along with the producers) have said that the movie's "great performances" came from the extras (according to Kantor, usually friends and family of the crew) who were required to stay motionless (since they were supposed to be dead) as several live tarantulas crawled all over them.

It is always entertaining to see how the cast from the original "Star Trek" television series tried to move on after the show got the ax. Many of the cast members continued to look for jobs in the industry. DeForest Kelley starred in the giant rabbit flick "Night of the Lepus" and Walter Koenig actually began writing episodes for TV series, including the "The Stranger", which introduced Enik on "Land of the Lost". Nichelle Nichols, Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner all attempted singing careers, the less said about that the better.

William Shatner, who is the star of today's film, continued to get sporadic work, post Trek, most of which were bit parts in made for TV movies and cult films, like "The Devil's Rain". Probably the most notable of all of these, is the 1977 John "Bud" Cardos horror, "Kingdom of the Spiders."

American horror film makers have always had an attraction to insects, both huge and regular sized. While the Japanese were focusing on dinosaurs, there North American counterparts were playing with bugs. Films like "Them!", "The Deadly Mantis" and "Tarantula" did very well in the 1950s and though the trend ebbed somewhat in the 1960s, by the early 1970s things were back in full swing. "The Giant Spider Invasion" and "Food of the Gods" are two examples of how Hollywood tried to recapture the magic of the prior decades.....and failed.

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And now you know!

Our Very Own Twilight Zone Marathon - Part 2

Written By: Ken Hulsey

I honestly had so much fun putting together yesterday's MIN Twilight Zone mini marathon that I wanted to jump right back into it this morning.

There are so many excellent episodes from this show that it was literally impossible to post them all in one article. Actually even with this follow up I will only be scratching the surface.

On side note I wanted to dedicate these articles to the late Anne Francis who passed away earlier this year. Anne was most noted for her roles as Altaira in "Forbidden Planet" and the title character in "Honey West" but she also starred in two wonderful episodes of "The Twilight Zone", "Jess-Belle", which I featured yesterday, and "The After Hours".

Here is what Anne Had to say about her roles in both those episodes:

"The After Hours"

"I loved it. My first impression was what fun it was going to be to play that role. The humor in the beginning. The spaciness of each little step that took place, sort of just a little bit off-center until the horror begins for this young woman who has absolutely no memory at all of who she is or why she's on the ninth floor. The progression of that character was a lot of fun.

And then about the episode "Jess-Belle":

"(In) This one, we were able to indulge more in the different characters. Like Jeanette Nolan as the witch was wonderful, and she had her great scenes. And Jimmy (Best) as the innocent young man who is tormented really with these two women - the darkness of Jess-Belle and the spell of Jess-Belle, and the other woman, the sweet woman that really should be his love. But every time Jess-Belle was around, her spirit invaded him. There was more time to play with these emotions (referring to the fact that the episode was an hour long) and characters, and sit back and see how all of them were tormented in their own way. Except for the witch. I've told Earl (Hammer) I want to play the witch in his musical version. and he said 'No, I want you to do Jess-Belle.' But I think that it would be such fun to play the witch. With all the little potions, and wear the wonderful crazy nose and put warts on and the wild hair..."

So let's get things rolling with the appropriate intro:

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension— a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.

The Eye of the Beholder

It's pretty bad, isn't it? I know it's pretty bad. Ever since I can remember... ever since I was a little girl...people have turned away from me. The very first thing I can remember is a little child screaming when she looked at me. I never wanted to be beautiful. I never wanted to look like a painting. I never even wanted to be loved. I just wanted... I just wanted people not to scream when they looked at me.



I say to you now...I say to you now that there is no such thing as a permissive society, because such a society cannot exist! They will scream at you and rant and rave and conjure up some dead and decadent picture of an ancient time when they said that all men are created equal! But to them equality was an equality of opportunity, an equality of status, an equality of aspiration! And then, in what must surely be the pinnacle of insanity, the absolute in inconsistency, they would have had us believe that this equality did not apply to form, to creed. They permitted a polyglot, accident-bred, mongrel-like mass of diversification to blanket the earth, to infiltrate and weaken! Well, we know now that there must be a single purpose! A single norm! A single approach! A single entity of peoples! A single virtue! A single morality! A single frame of reference! A single philosophy of government! We cannot permit... we must not permit the encroaching sentimentality of a past age to weaken our resolve. We must cut out all that is different like a cancerous growth! It is essential in this society that we not only have a norm, but that we conform to that norm. Differences weaken us. Variations destroy us. An incredible permissiveness to deviation from this norm is what has ended nations and brought them to their knees. Conformity we must worship and hold sacred. Conformity is the key to survival.

Execution

Commonplace, if somewhat grim, unsocial event known as a necktie party. The guest of dishonor a cowboy named Joe Caswell, just a moment away from a rope, a short dance several feet off the ground, and then the dark eternity of all evil men. Mr. Joe Caswell, who, when the good Lord passed out a conscience, a heart, a feeling for fellow men, must have been out for a beer and missed out. Mr. Joe Caswell, in the last quiet moment of a violent life



This is November, 1880, the aftermath of a necktie party. The victim's name - Paul Johnson, a minor-league criminal and the taker of another human life. No comment on his death save this: justice can span years. Retribution is not subject to a calendar. Tonight's case in point in the Twilight Zone.

The After Hours

Express elevator to the ninth floor of a department store, carrying Miss Marsha White on a most prosaic, ordinary, run of the mill errand. Miss Marsha White on the ninth floor, specialties department, looking for a gold thimble. The odds are she'll find it, but there are even better odds that she'll find something else, because this isn't just a department store. This happens to be the Twilight Zone.



Marsha White in her normal and natural state…But it makes you wonder, doesn't it? Just how normal are we? Just who are the people we nod our hellos to as we pass on the street? A rather good question to ask, particularly in the Twilight Zone.

Mr. Dingle, the Strong

The uniquely American institution known as the neighborhood bar. Reading left to right are Mr. Anthony O'Toole, proprietor who waters his drinks like geraniums but who stands foursquare for peace and quiet and for booths for ladies. This is Mr. Joseph J. Callahan, an unregistered bookie, whose entire life is any sporting event with two sides and a set of odds. His idea of a meeting at the summit is any dialogue between a catcher and a pitcher with more than one man on base. And this animated citizen is every anonymous bettor who ever dropped rent money on a horse race, a prize fight, or a floating crap game, and who took out his frustrations and his insolvency on any vulnerable fellow barstool companion within arm's and fist's reach. And this is Mr. Luther Dingle, a vacuum-cleaner salesman whose volume of business is roughly that of a valet at a hobo convention. He's a consummate failure in almost everything but is a good listener and has a prominent jaw. And these two unseen gentlemen are visitors from outer space. They are about to alter the destiny of Luther Dingle by leaving him a legacy, the kind you can't hardly find no more. In just a moment, a sad-faced perennial punching bag who missed even the caboose of life's gravy train will take a short constitutional into that most unpredictable region that we refer to as the Twilight Zone.



Exit Mr. Luther Dingle, formerly vacuum-cleaner salesman, strongest man on Earth, and now mental giant. These latter powers will very likely be eliminated before too long, but Mr. Dingle has an appeal to extraterrestrial note-takers as well as to frustrated and insolvent bet-losers. Offhand, I'd say that he was in for a great deal of extremely odd periods, simply because there are so many inhabited planets who send down observers, and also because, of course, Mr. Dingle lives his life with one foot in his mouth, and the other in the Twilight Zone.

Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up

Now before you faint dead away,I think I should tell you my name isn't really Ross and I wasn't really going to Boston. No, I was sent as sort of an advance scout. You know, these cigarettes, do you call them? They taste wonderful. We haven't got a thing like this on Mars. That's incidentally where I come from. We're beginning to colonize. My friends will be arriving shortly. I think they're going to like it here. It's a lovely area. So remote and off the beaten track. Just the perfect place to set up a colony, don't you think? Now while we're waiting, how about some of what you call music.



Oh I don't mind. You see, Mr Ross, my name isn't really Hayley. And I do agree with you, this is an extraordinary place to set up a colony. We folks on Venus had the same idea. We got it several years ago. And I think I should tell you now, your friends aren't coming. They've been intercepted. Oh, a colony is coming. But it's from Venus. And if you're still alive, I think you'll see how we differ. [We takes off his hat,revealing a third eye] And I agree with you about what they call music. Why don't you play some?

The Grave

Normally, the old man would be correct. This would be the end of the story. We've had the traditional shoot-out on the street and the badman will soon be dead. But some men of legend and folk tale have been known to continue having their way even after death. The outlaw and killer Pinto Sykes was such a person, and shortly we'll see how he introduces the town, and a man named Conny Miller in particular, to the Twilight Zone.



Final comment: you take this with a grain of salt or a shovelful of earth, as shadow or substance, we leave it up to you. And for any further research check under 'G' for ghosts in the Twilight Zone.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

Gremlins! Gremlins! I'm not imagining it, he's out there! Don't look, he's not out there now. He jumps away whenever anyone might see him, except me.



The flight of Mr. Wilson has ended now, a flight not only from point A to point B, but also from the fear of recurring mental breakdown. Mr. Wilson has that fear no longer, though, for the moment, he is, as he said, alone in this assurance. Happily, his conviction will not remain isolated too much longer, for happily, tangible manifestation is very often left as evidence of trespass, even from so intangible a quarter as the Twilight Zone.

See Also: Our Very Own Twilight Zone Marathon / SyFy To Once Again Air The Annual TWILIGHT ZONE Marathon July 4th / Comic Con Exclusive William Shatner Twilight Zone Doll / The Twilight Zone - Talky Tina Doll Replica / A Tribute To Anne Francis (1930 - 2011)/ / The Twilight Zone - Talky Tina & Willie Figures - Comic Con Exclusives! / The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #81 - #90

Comic Con Exclusive William Shatner Twilight Zone Doll

Source: Entertainment Earth

Order Your William Shatner Twilight Zone Doll Here For Only $32.99!

William Shatner is TV royalty-- this is unquestionable. As Captain Kirk, he was transformed into a huge number of collectibles, but his other TV appearances don't quite seem to get the quantity of toys. The Big Giant Head? Nothing. T.J. Hooker? Zippo. But we're helping to solve the Twilight Zone oversight with this swell Twilight Zone Bob Wilson / Don Carter Figure Exclusive! You get a great deluxe-boxed figure with two outfits, both based on his appearances in the classic sci-fi anthology series. Don't miss out on this one. Pre-order now!

Twilight Zone Bob Wilson / Don Carter Figure Exclusive

• Fully articulated, 8-inch tall Bob Wilson / Don Carter Deluxe Action Figure!
• Comic-Con Exclusive based on Rod Serling's enduring The Twilight Zone TV series.
• Features one action figure body along with clothing and accessories to recreate William Shatner's image from two episodes: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "Nick of Time."
• All-new head sculpt officially approved by William Shatner!
• Real fabric clothing and a 1970s retro style.

Entertainment Earth Comic-Con Exclusive! Bif Bang Pow!'s incredible line of fully articulated action figures grounded in Rod Serling's enduring The Twilight Zone TV series rolls on with this extraordinary figure. The 1970s-style figure stands 8-inches tall in shades of black and white and features episode-fabric clothing, in addition to multiple points of articulation and an all-new head sculpt officially approved by William Shatner. It would make an excellent collectible and appreciated gift for any Twilight Zone aficionado! Limited edition of 1,500 pieces.

Features one action figure body along with clothing and accessories so you can recreate William Shatner's image from two episodes: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "Nick of Time."

Note: This item will first be available to purchase in person at San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic-Con. Online orders will ship after New York Comic-Con, while supplies last.

True to William Shatner's performance in the captivating "Nick of Time" episode from November of 1960, this Don Carter Action Figure sports accurate clothing (including his watch) and a miniature Mystic Seer fortune-telling machine accessory! If you're hooked on The Twilight Zone, you need this!

Based on the spine-chilling episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" that featured William Shatner and the ultra-creepy Gremlin, this terrific action figure presents former mental patient Bob Wilson with handgun and newspaper accessories, just like in the show. If you don't order this, you too may come to doubt your sanity!

"You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead. Your next stop… the Twilight Zone." (Spoken by Rod Serling at the beginning of each The Twilight Zone episode.)

Age:	14+
Size:	8-inches tall

See Also: The Twilight Zone - Talky Tina Doll Replica / A Tribute To Anne Francis (1930 - 2011)/ / The Twilight Zone - Talky Tina & Willie Figures - Comic Con Exclusives! / The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #81 - #90