COMMENTARY CLUB 122 - Gorgo

It's cult film time again and so we are watching a movie from the dawn of the Swinging Sixties starring Britain's answer to Godzilla! London's landmarks beware for here comes the marvellous monster mayhem of Gorgo (1961) ! 

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COMMENTARY CLUB 012 - Space Amoeba (1970)

It's crap movie time again, and as Godzilla is on the loose in the cinemas once again, we thought it would be fun to watch an old kaiju movie! Hence we settle down with Space Amoeba (1970) from Toho Studios which features not one, but three giant monsters!

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MICROGORIA 68 - Godzilla King of the Monsters

In the first of a few little mini-casts sprinkled on the feed while The Mound runs, Mr Jim takes a look at the latest chapter of the Monsterverse, Godzilla King of the Monsters

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TOMB OF THE TRUMPS #21 - Dracula Pack V

Welcome once again dear friends to the mysterious world of the Tomb of the Trumps! This week, we are looking at two of the most enigmatic cards in either of the decks, although they are mysterious for very different reasons! 

Now then, this porridge faced fellow presents something of a puzzle. To start with he resembles neither titular terrors found in the two horror movies of the same title - looking not a bit like Boris Karloff in the 1933 British horror thriller The Ghoul, nor the diseased and crazed Don Henderson in the Tyburn movie of the same name from 1975. However we do have the source image: quite clearly the card is based on this still...

However here is where the mystery lies - for although this still is often credited as being from the 1944 mad science flick The Monster Maker, this fellow doesn't actually appear in the movie. A publicity still from something cut out of the finished film? Well, it is possible... 

...But our whey-faced fellow bears a close resemblance to a character in another vintage fright flick - George Sawaya as Sailor in The Black Sleep (1956), seen here in a behind-the-scenes shot enjoying a smoke! 

Although in the movie Sailor sports a distinctive scar or wound across his melty bonce, I think it's safe to assume that the fella on the card and in the still is the same mutated miscreant! So that's one mystery solved.. let's move on swiftly to the next more troubling one... 

Now the monster featured in our next card surely needs no introduction.... but by the power of Greyskull, his appearance needs one helluva explanation! 

Yes, that's Godzilla! Dressed as Jason King apparently! And, no I haven't a freaking clue why! All I can think is that the Unknown Artist responsible for this cavalcade of lurid imagery really had something against the Big G. Perhaps he felt the original series of Godzilla movies (which had just drawn to close when these cards were made) had descended too far into camp and silliness, and therefore he chose to dress the big fella accordingly.

...Or maybe, there was some really, really hallucinogenic fumes from those paints and felt tips he was using...

We will probably never know... And frankly that might be for the best! 

However what I can tell you, with some degree of certainty, is that actually ain't Godzilla! Now the Big G has had several face-lifts and makeovers during his six decades on the screen, and this lizard just isn't one of 'em! But that scaly fizzog always seemed strangely familiar to me... And so I started looking through pictures of other screen dinosaurs and monstrous reptiles, and I think I got a match! 

Yes, I think this 'Godzilla' - technically another Gino (Godzilla In Name Only) like that tuna-guzzling chump in the botched 1998 Hollywood version - is actually the plesiosaur from The Land The Time Forgot (1975), seen here trying to take a chunk out of Doug McClure's woolly jumper. Sadly I can't find a matching still but those heavily lidded eyes and slightly wonky teeth are uncannily close... 

I'm not 100% on this, but I am certain that this card was taken from another movie dinosaur - if you have any better candidates, do get in touch! 

TOMB OF THE TRUMPS #09 - Devil Priest Pack Part IX

Welcome once again to the dark and dubious world of Tomb of the Trumps! This week our investigations of the inspirations of the infamous vintage Horror Top Trumps, first dumps us in a very dank dungeon, the domain of Killer Rat! 

Now this was a very tricky fellow to track down! Indeed many of my predecessors who have probed the mysterious and arcane origins of the Horror Top Trumps concluded that this was a rare example of a wholly original piece by our Unknown Artist. And in all fairness, there seemed a reasonable assumption as there was no relevant rat-man in any monster movie that could have served as a model for this beastie. However there was something naggingly familiar about him, something I recognised even when I had these cards as a nipper, but could never quite place... That is until now! 

First up, the whole rodentine thing is something of a red herring, for what we have here is a bit of artistic collage. Yes, this is actually a rather better known monster disguised with a new head. Now the actual rat bonce could have been copied from almost anywhere - not wanted to sound rat-ist here, but they do all look alike! However given our Unknown Artist's usual selection of sources for images to copy from, I'd reckon a still for either killer rat flick Willard (1971) or its sequel Ben (1972) as the model for the rat head itself. But the main figure comes from a rather less obscure source. 

Now the key clues here are the barred window and the ripped white shirt. Ring any bells yet? No? Well, how about this... The bars suggest a scene in a prison cell, while the style of the shirt, one of those floppy affairs favoured by Romantic poets, suggests a ye olden days settings. Furthermore the fact it is torn rather suggests a violent bodily transformation has occurred. And the image of a rodent headed man does in itself conjure the words 'wererat'. So then, given that the rat head is paste-on job, we should be looking to werewolf cinema! 

Now then, can you name a movie in which a man transforms into a werewolf while in jail? Well, if you are in anyway acquainted with cinematic lycanthropy, I'm sure you know the answer - Hammer's 1961 classic Curse of the Werewolf. So then, I began scouring stills from that movie, and just for good measure it's demi-remake from Tyburn Legend of the Werewolf  (1975), which also features a floppy shirted wolf-man. However rather frustratingly I could not find a photo that matched, and it looked like the trail of the Killer Rat had gone cold...

...Until I remembered our Unknown Artist' previous form for cribbing from 1970s monster mags. Then it clicked - and I knew why this image had always been oddly familiar. In 1976, British comics maestro Dez Skinn launched the House of Hammer, a monthly mag devoted to the legendary horror film studio. And as well as articles and features on classic horror flicks, each issue boasted a comics adaptation of a classic Hammer movie by some of the finest creators working in the field at the time. Now Issue #10, published in March 1978, saw a gorgeous comicstrip version of Curse of the Werewolf, with art by the great John Bolton, and flipping through my aged copy, I found at last the template for the elusive Killer Rat! 

Note the pose and the distinctive shirt tatters - large drape on the left, and a pointy shred flapping out to the right!  On a purely personal and utterly self-indulgent note, I must say it's so satisfying to finally find the origin of Killer Rat - this one has been bugging me literally since I first got the Devil Priest pack three decades ago!

Thankfully the next exhibit in our rogue's gallery is far easier to identify!  

Now I'm sure this chap needs no introduction to kaiju fans, for "The Living Gargoyle" is in fact one of Godzilla's famous foes - the intergalactic space bastard Gigan. In the original cycle of Big G movies, the Showa series, this cyborg kaiju was first summoned to earth in Godzilla Vs. Gigan (1972) by aliens from the M Space Hunter Nebula, and called in once again by undersea miscreants from Seatopia the following year in Godzilla Vs. Megalon (1973). He would later appear again in more recent times in the third cycle of Godzilla movies, the Millennium series, in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), actually the final Big G movie from Toho (well, at least for now). In this flick, which features a whole array of famous kaiju, Gigan got to appear in two forms - in his original incarnation, and then later resurrected with new cybernetic enhancements, most notably twin chainsaws replacing his hook hands! Fun fact - Gigan was the first of Godzilla's foes to make the Big G bleed! And he was an utter bastard too - aside from some distinctly dirty fighting techniques, twice the big cyborg abandoned the monster we was allied, fucking off back into space when Godzilla was winning! Yes, there was a large element of chicken in Gigan, and not just in his design! 

However we do have a further possible mystery in this card. As we have discovered previously, our Unknown Artist was prone not just cribbing the monsters but also their victims. And given  the prone chap on this card has a very distinctive hand shape on his out-thrown arm, I rather suspect he has been copied from a movie still. But so far I've been unable to place the poor disemboweled sod... But if you recognise him, do drop me a line! 

MICROBOBS 01 - Oh My Godzilla

In what was intended to be the first of a new strand - Microbobs - that brings short, quick casts between the main show, Mr Jim Moon completely fails in that objective and talks for roughly a hour and a half about the new Legendary Pictures version of Toho's classic monster Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards. This monster-sized 'cast comes complete with a potted history of the Big G, a lengthy spoiler-free review, and a spoiler-tastic closing section for all who have seen the movie already.


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PACIFIC RIM (2012)

Giant monsters fighting giant robots... Now for some of us just the thought of a multi-million dollar Hollywood movie with the concept of kaiju versus mecha is an instant ticket sale. And therefore, the temptation just add 'does what it says on the tin' and call that a review is very, very great!

However, I do appreciate that for everyone skyscraper-scaled monsters and droids knocking seven bells out of each other might not be enough. And I can understand why... No, honestly I can. After all, a lot of us - your humble reviewer included - were badly burned by those goddawful Michael Bay Transformers movies; horrendous flicks where everything exploding and a legion of big robots couldn't make up for ill-judged, ill-conceived and ill-executed jokes of scripts.

But on the other hand, Pacific Rim is the brainchild of Guillermo del Toro - a film-maker in a very different ballpark to that shitfox Michael Bay. It's one where everything isn't exploding for a start off, and unlike Bay, del Toro knows how to shoot robot fisticuffs so as that you can actually see what the hell is going on! Plus I can confirm that as wondrously detailed as the mechs and monsters are in this movie, we never ever see their titanic testicles clanging together.

Now I'm sure del Toro's previous works need no introduction, and if they do that why IMDB was invented, but I feel I should offer a word of warning here - this is not the del Toro of Pan's Labyrinth or The Devil's Backbone, who fused phantasmagoria and drama in movies that delighted both arthouse heads and genre fans. But neither is this movie the product of the del Toro who made the highly entertainingly offbeat Hellboy movies, although it is fair to say there's a large strand of comic book chromosomes in the DNA of Pacific Rim.

And that should be evident from the storyline - giant monsters, dubbed 'kaiju' have started to emerge from a crack at the bottom of the Pacific ocean to wreak havoc in the world. After having their cities stomped, humanity fights back with the Jaeger program - building giant robots, each piloted by a brace of humans, to indulge in some preventive stomping of their own. And that's basically it.

Now undoubtedly some will denounce this movie as dumb, just another blockbuster chock full to the gills of CGI destructo-porn. But, I ask you what you expect from a movie about giant robots smacking down equally giant monsters? Yes, it IS a ridiculous concept, and yes, it IS a blank cheque for FX crews go berserk creating improbably beasts and to rain down carnage upon the cities of the world. What were you expected? War and Peace?

However it is fair to say that Pacific Rim is del Toro's most simplistic film to date, but I wouldn't say that this isn't a case of the respected director selling out. Rather, and what I suspect some will fail to grasp, is that this movie has been made deliberately like this. Essentially this is del Toro setting out to make the 21st century equivalent of an old fashioned monster movie, designed to delighted the ten year old child in all of us. It's a homage to Godzilla and his ilk, to the big bug movies of the '50s, and to the creations of Ray Harryhausen. Hence simple story telling, exaggerated comic relief characters, lots of action and the monsters front and centre.

Now I shall not be claiming Pacific Rim is a new masterpiece from del Toro, for it is far more lightweight than the other movies in his oeuvre. But it is a glorious delight for monster movie fans - it's big, colourful, and slightly daft - just as the all the best Godzilla movies are. For lovers of old school kaiju flicks and creature features, Pacific Rim is like Christmas come early - it's tremendous fun right from the start, and if you a fan of the Big G and his brood, you'll be sat with a big grin on your face for much of the time and restraining the urge to wildly applaud in the big set pieces.

However while Pacific Rim is clearly modeled on old kaiju movies - even down to the slightly wonky plotting and scenery chewing performances - the big difference is the quality of the FX and the vision behind them. Now if you are a fan of the genre, you will be giggling insanely throughout - however rather than laughing at the cardboard cities and rubber suits as one does in old Toho movies, they'll be chuckles of joy and delight as del Toro delivers some of the most spectacular and imaginative giant monster mayhem you'll ever see. Not only is the action breathtakingly bonkers but with del Toro behind the camera it looks simply gorgeous too.

But I also suspect that Pacific Rim will prove to be tremendous fun for non-kaiju fans too. For while the story is simple and there are tons of special effects, this is a movie with a big heart too. While the human characters are largely just sketches, and in fairness that's all they need to be in a big screen fantasy like this - del Toro fleshes them out enough so we can get behind them and want to cheer them on. Yes, it's painted in broad strokes - but so are all the classic comicbooks and all the fondly remembered fantasy blockbusters of '80s.

And let's cut to the chase here folks - we often claim we want fantasy movies to be intelligent and gritty and dark and serious, but when they do, how often do we end up carping about them being too grim and joyless? Whereas Pacific Rim isn't trying to be weighty and profound - it's a giant monster movie that just wants to have fun, to revel in the sheer delight that can only come from seeing a tower block sized mech clobbering an interdimensional dino-dragon with a cargo ship. I wouldn't say it's a check-your-brain-at-the-door movie, but rather it's a bring along your inner ten year old who loved Star Wars, Destroy All Monsters  and Jason & The Argonauts deal. Go along and cheer on the Jaegers battling the kaiju!