HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM MONSTER MOVIE WORLD!

GET SPRUCED UP AND HAVE A GREAT TIME.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM MONSTER MOVIE WORLD!

"VINCENTENNIAL" 2011

St. Louis is planning 100th birthday anniversary festivities next year for one of its favorite sons . . . Vincent Price!

WILL THIS GIRL SERVE DINNER, THEN BECOME DINNER?

Will this nyotaimori girl only be serving dinner, or end up being dinner? Find out here soon at MONSTER MOVIE WORLD!

HAPPY 100TH ANNIVERSARY, FRANKENSTEIN!

This year marked the 100th anniversary of the first FRANKENSTEIN movie. No, it wasn't the one starring Boris Karloff! Filmed in 1910 and long thought a lost film until just recently, this short, one reel version was produced by the Edison Company (yes, that Charles Edison) and starred Charles Ogle as the monster. Here is the full-length version.

And, if you're in the mood for more silent horrors you can watch the orginal, Lon Chaney, Sr. full-length feature, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Find it behind the MONSTER VIEWER tab under the MONSTER MOVIE WORLD title header. For a sneak peak, below is the famous unmasking scene.

IS THIS GIRL A ZOMBIE?

Is this pretty young girl also a zombie? Find out soon here at MONSTER MOVIE WORLD!

ELVIRA KIT COMING FROM MOEBIUS MODELS

MOEBIUS MODELS and our most favorite living Scream Queen, ELVIRA MISTRESS OF THE DARK, have teamed up to bring model kit makers and hobby enthusiasts the ELVIRA plastic model. The kit is due sometime next year. Pictured is the prototype. The one sitting in the chair is the real deal.

Below are close-ups of the prototype kit.

KAIJU FRIDAY

KAIJU (怪獣, kaijū) n. Japanese word loosely translated as "strange beast". Often used in English to mean "monster".

Some nice illos of various kaiju eiga.

INGRID PITT (1937 - 2010) VAMPIRE LOVERS MEMORIAL POST

KAIJU FRIDAY

KAIJU (怪獣, kaijū) n. Japanese word loosely translated as "strange beast". Often used in English to mean "monster".

An ad featuring giant monsters Godzilla and King Kong model kits from Aurora Plastics (1964)

BLACK FRIDAY AT MONSTER MOVIE WORLD

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hope your bird isn't too much trouble.

R.I.P. INGRID PITT (NOV. 21, 1937 - NOV. 23, 2010)

DEAR BORIS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY

KAIJU FRIDAY

KAIJU (怪獣, kaijū) n. Japanese word loosely translated as "strange beast". Often used in English to mean "monster".

Here's a Japanese film poster for Goijira (1954)

MOVIE REVIEW: NOT OF THIS EARTH (1986)

Jim Wynorski's films can never be taken seriously . . . not that there’s anything wrong with that. Whether he can or he won’t make a serious movie isn’t the question. The fact is people always talk about his films, albeit usually with a wry smile. And, when 19 year-old Traci Lords (she turned 20 that year on May 7, 1986) accepted the part of nurse Nadine Story in Wynorski’s remake of the sci-fi horror cult classic, NOT OF THIS EARTH, people really started to talk! Here was a girl who hadn’t previously acted in anything except for hours of underage video porn, having a go at a legitimate role.

The eyes of Traci Lords

Miss Lords says she “had a lot of fun” making NOT OF THIS EARTH, but was puzzled as to why the breakneck pace of filming was being employed by the oftentimes cantankerous director. Turns out Roger Corman agreed to let Wynorski remake his film and at the same time made him a bet that he couldn’t make his version quicker than the notoriously short schedules that Corman was famous for. Wynorski ended up beating Corman’s 12-day original shoot, which fully explains Lords’ comment of exasperation.

The movie is played with tongue planted somewhat firmly in cheek. As a result, it’s humorous but not really laugh-out-loud funny. The cleverest lines come usually from Our Man From Davanna, Arthur Roberts, who plays the character originally acted by Paul Birch in the 1957 AIP version. When Traci/Nadine shows up at “Mr. Johnson’s” house to be a live-in nurse, Johnson she’s he has a room ready for her. Nadine says, “I’m just dying to see it”. Johnson replies, in his steady, deadpan voice, “You’re not dying . . . I’m dying”, referring of course to his need for constant blood transfusions and the reason for Nadine’s professional services. In another scene, when the house butler tries to keep Nadine from bashing through an Earth/Davanna portal, Nadine intones, “I never screw around!” One can’t help but to chuckle at the irony.

Traci Lords in her best Fay Wray pose

The film stays somewhat close to the original, and views much more like a re-imagining rather than an outright homage. Miss Lords has never looked better, and her exotic, natural (wink! wink!) allure steals just about every scene she’s in. In the DVD special interview feature “Nadine’s Story”, Lords explains that right after NOT OF THIS EARTH she was asked to play a role (probably the one by the late Lana Clarkson) in THE HAUNTING OF MORELLA, but refused because Corman’s and Wynorski’s contracts always included obligatory nude scenes. Since she was at the time trying to break out of the near impossible situation of being a porn queen aspiring to be a “serious” actress, she (wisely) refused. The interview is enlightening in these respects. Now 42, but still showing some Hollywood chic and a bit of sass, Lords is quite articulate, as well as very self-aware of her perspective on acting and her goals. As a result, NOT OF THIS EARTH may be the last time we see Traci Lords “in the flesh” as it were. That’s okay, because she’s really a pretty good actress and funny to boot. The veteran Richards as Mr. Johnson is, at times, as good as Birch’s. The other cast members are competent in their roles, and by being so keep this movie above true schlock, and in the end, make it really entertaining viewing. NOT OF THIS EARTH floats close to the top of the froth in the B-Movie beer barrel, and arguably is one of Jim Wynorski’s best films.

Released by SHOUT! FACTORY as a part of the “Roger Corman’s Cult Classics” series, the DVD is an excellent print from film. The colors are all great and the sound is punchy. It is obvious that the folks at SHOUT! have a love for B-Movies and their steady string of quality re-issues are a testament to that. The packaging is first rate and it’s good to see the return of the DVD clamshell insert! Recommended viewing.

Arthur Roberts as "Mr. Johnson"

Traci Lords as the sassy nurse Nadine

TRAILER: BLACK SWAN

Coming soon . . . a new psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman . . .

KAIJU FRIDAY

KAIJU (怪獣, kaijū) n. Japanese word loosely translated as "strange beast". Often used in English to mean "monster".

Meet THE MYSTERIANS from THE MONSTER TIMES #17, November 1973.

DOUBLE TROUBLE FROM SHOUT! FACTORY

In THE TERROR WITHIN, it's the post-apocalypse, and the world has been changed by a chemical warfare experiment gone awry leaving only a few remnants of the human race. Eight lab students work to create a vaccine before they are forced outside in search for food. It is then that they discover creatures mutated by the plague.

In DEAD SPACE, a space solder and a scientific community on another planet try to destroy an alien monster created by a series of out-of-control genetic experiments.

Both movies are available as a special 2-fer DVD from SHOUT! FACTORY.

NOTE: REVIEWS OF THESE MOVIES WILL BE HERE SOON AT MONSTER MOVIE WORLD.

NOT OF THIS EARTH REMAKE REDUX

An alien race dying from radiation sends an emissary to Earth to find out if transfusions of human plasma might be a cure for their affliction. If the plan is a success, the creatures intend to launch a full scale invasion to harvest people ... Full Descriptionfor their blood.

A tongue-in-cheek remake of Roger Corman's 1957 film of the same name. An alien comes to earth in search of food for its people. Unfortunately for us, these extraterrestrials depend upon blood -- human blood -- to survive. The creature takes on human form so nobody suspects anything. However, beautiful nurse Nadine Story figures out what the monster is up to and, with her cop boyfriend, tries to stop it...

In this remake of Roger Corman's 1957 sci-fi thriller now available from SHOUT! FACTORY, a woman discovers that her boss is a blood-sucking alien. She must fight to save the Earth from certain destruction.


NOTE: A REVIEW OF THIS MOVIE WILL BE APPEARING SOON AT THE MONSTER MOVIE WORLD BLOGSPOT.

KAIJU FRIDAY

KAIJU (怪獣, kaijū) n. Japanese word loosely translated as "strange beast". Often used in English to mean "monster".

Here's more Gojira for ya. From THE MONSTER TIMES #23 (June, 1973).

VAMPIRELLA: SHE'S YOURS FOREVER FOR ONLY 300 BUCKS!

Due in March 2011 is the Vampirella "Comiquette", a stunning representation of the vampire huntress. Cast in heavyweight polystone, each piece is individually crafted and finished, each with its own unique quality and detail - the trademark of a handcrafted product. Capturing the raven-haired vamp herself, the Vampirella Comiquette is a stunning addition to any collection. Product Size: 18" H (457.2mm) x 14" W (355.6mm) x 16" L.

MONSTER TOY FEST: BORIS KARLOFF 12" ACTION FIGURE

Coming this November . . .
Probably as a tie-in to the recently released DVD Box Set of THRILLER, Boris Karloff "Icons of Horror & Sci-Fi Collection" Premium 12" Action Figure with 3 interchangeable heads that show Karloff during different stages of his career -- LIMITED EDITION OF ONLY 500 PIECES WORLDWIDE!

METROPOLIS, THE FINAL VERSION?

Of all the versions of the classic silent film METROPOLIS that have been released over the years (about 40 in my recollection), the KINO INTERNATIONAL 2-disc version releasing November 16 is promoted as being the most complete. They have found over 20 extra minutes to add to their restored version. The film historian and sci-fi/fantasy fan in all of us await its release in eager anticipation.

"Fritz Lang's Metropolis belongs to legend as much as to cinema. It's a milestone of sci-fi and German expressionism. Yet the story makes minimal sense, and the "theme" belongs in a fortune cookie; to experience the film's pagan power, you have to see the movie. But for decades we couldn't, not really--not with so many versions, all incomplete, often in public-domain prints like smudged photocopies. This Murnau Foundation restoration changes all that. Some shots, scenes, and subplots may be lost forever, but intertitles indicate how they fit into the original continuity and the characters' individual trajectories. Most crucially, the images are crisp, vibrant, and three-dimensional instead of murky and flattened. The composite sequences (the Tower of Babel, a sea of lusting eyes) have been restored to their hallucinatory ferocity. And there's one moment when you can see a bead of sweat roll down a man's cheek--in medium long-shot." - FROM AMAZON.COM