Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Thursdays starting at 8pm Eastern in June 2011 on TCM.

Drive in Double-Features - Monsters, Mutants, And Martians will showcase THIRTY movies from the '50s and '60s all them featuring monsters, giants, mutants, and aliens.

Includes 15 TCM premieres! Toho & Godzilla lead the way!

[All times Eastern, movies marked with a P are TCM premieres]

June 2

Japanese Monster Classics
8:00 PM - Godzilla, King of the Monsters 1956 P
9:45 PM - Rodan 1957 P

Japanese Monster All-Stars
11:15 PM - Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster 1965 P
1:00 AM - Godzilla vs. Monster Zero 1970 P

Jurassic Classics
2:45 AM - Dinosaurus! 1960
4:15 AM - The Valley of the Gwangi 1969 P


June 9

Insects!
8:00 PM - Them! 1954
9:45 PM - The Cosmic Monsters 1958 P

Arachnids!
11:15 PM - Tarantula 1955 P
12:45 AM - The Black Scorpion 1957

Wings!
2:30 AM - The Giant Claw 1957
4:00 AM - The Wasp Woman 1959 P


June 16

Giant People
8:00 PM - Attack of the 50 Foot Woman 1958 P
9:30 PM - Village of the Giants 1965 P

Ladies of Sci-Fi
11:00 PM - Queen of Outer Space 1958 P
12:30 AM - Mars Needs Women 1968 P

Mutant Men
2:00 AM - The Cyclops 1957 P
3.30 AM - The Manster 1962


June 23

Out of the Deep
8:00 PM - It Came From Beneath the Sea 1955
9:30 PM - The Monster that Challenged the World 1957

Appetite for Destruction
11:00 PM - The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms 1953
12:30 AM - The Giant Behemoth 1959 P

Monsters from the Sea
2:00 AM - The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues 1955 P
3:30 AM - Creature From the Haunted Sea 1961


June 30

Blobs
8:00 PM - The Blob 1958
9:30 PM - The H-Man 1958

Radioactive Monsters
11:00 PM - The Magnetic Monster 1953
12:30 AM - X: The Unknown 1956

Killers from Space
2:00 AM - The Thing From Another World 1951
3:30 AM - It! The Terror From Beyond Space 1958

nitpicky, but i can't believe GKOTM has NEVER been shown on TCM before...


this is awesome though, gonna tuned in to some TCM this summer

I originally wrote this article for some DeviantART groups I often contribute to, and might as well post it here just to share thoughts and opinions on the said films. Please note this was written with non-kaiju fans and novices in mind.

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Every Thursday night in June, Turner Classic Movies will be airing classic (if not infamous) science fiction and monster movies for their Drive-In Double Features spotlight series.

Official Site: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/3 ... -June.html

Related Commercial: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/4107 ... -2011.html

Many of the said films are centered around our favorite subject of giant monsters, and as such, we'll be doing a Movie Alert for each night of this series, with a quick rundown of the chosen line-ups. It should also be noted that a lot of the movies are both new to TCM's programing, and haven't been played on mainstream cable in a very long time (or even readily available through DVD), so its certainly a cause of interest for us monster movie fans.

Here's what to expect come Thursday, with a bit of my own commentary thrown in. And please check you local listings for exact times and schedules.

June 2nd 2011

Japanese Monster Classics

8:00 PM Eastern - "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" (1956)

The American version with inserted scenes and new storyline featuring Raymond Burr; true, it would have been nicer had this been the uncut Japanese original, and hopefully TCM will do so in the future, where Godzilla doesn't have to share the limelight with other films in the evening. However, its still awesome the cable network is airing Kaiju Eiga, let alone as the first feature of the month-long series.

9:45 PM Eastern - "Rodan" (1957)

Again, the shorter American cut of the film, but "Rodan", in either version, is one of my all time favorites, which is a straight monster movie with some truly impressive scenes of destruction, caused by an equally nasty title menace, and well before the Rodan became Godzilla's comical sidekicks in latter films. The movie also has unexpected, but very welcomed horror-vibe throughout, such as the murderous Meganulon Insects and their brutally battered human victims. And the traumatic flashback to the title monsters' subterranean hatching, which has an 'indirectly Lovecarftean' feel to said segment. Highly recommend for those who've never seen it before, "Rodan" comfortably sits between the two emotional extremes of the Kaiju Eiga (Japanese monster movie) genre, as both darkly serious, and spectacularly imaginative.

Japanese Monster All-Stars

11:15 PM Eastern - "Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster" (1965)

If there's one thing I love about TCM is its insistence of presenting films in its original widescreen / letterbox format whenever possible, and although this is again an American version of the Japanese film, all evidence points to the preferred presentation. Despite the heavy editing by the original US distributor, and having some controversially silly moments (an argumentative meeting between monsters, translated by fairies), for those who've never seen a Japanese monster movie before might want to check this colorful romp, which illustrates the imaginative, fun, and utterly bold (if not insane) nature of the genre. Not to mention being the film that introduced the world to Godzilla's arch-nemesis, the three-headed space dragon destroyer of worlds, King Ghidorah.

1:00 AM Eastern - "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" 1966

Also known as "Invasion of the Astro-Monsters", this arguably darker, more serious sequel to "Ghidorah" has a lot less monster action (if fact, very little at all), but surprisingly still works viewing wise. This is largely due to the presences of American actor Nick Adams, whose always fun to watch in these films, with his spot-on enthusiasm; something that most other imported actors to Kaiju Eiga often lacked. The film also features the first appearance of the memorable humanoid inhabitants of Planet X (dubbed Xlians), whose emotions and entire way of life is ruled by the cold calculations of technology; a fear that director Ishiro Honda had for humanity's own future in real life.

Jurassic Classics

2:45 AM Eastern - "Dinosaurus!" (1960)

Inhabitants of a tropical island are threaten by trio of long dormant prehistoric creatures, which include a Tyrannosaurus, a Brontosaurus, and a Caveman. One of several giant monster movies from producer Jack H. Harris, that I actually prefer over to his way more famous creation "The Blob". "Dinosaurus!" has an adventurous feel, and other related elements that are more accustomed to Kaiju Eiga than American monster movies, such as the latter two prehistoric outsiders actually being good guys. The special effects (filmed in full-blown color) are a mix bag however, with the Brontosaurus coming off better than his predatorily counterpart, the Tyrannosaurus.

4:15 AM Eastern - "The Valley of the Gwangi" (1969)

Like all of the gathered films for the night's programming, "Gwangi" is new to TCM, but in my opinion is one of spot-motion animator's Ray Harryhausen's lesser works. The special effects and dinosaur animation is great as always, but the rest of the film is rather down-beat endeavor, with a less-than-subtle cynical edge. This is not something you'd expect from a cowboy-meets-dinosaur-adventure originally conceived by Willis O'Brien (effects man on "King Kong", 1933). To be fair though, I haven't seen "The Valley of the Gwangi" in ages, so maybe my opinion of the film might change upon revisiting it?

TCM Drive-In Double Features, NIGHT 2

Its (almost) nothing but giant bug movies tonight on the cable network's monthly spotlight. Here's a quick write-up on the films, but as always, please check your local listings for exact times.

Or Turner Classic Networks official page on the matter: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/3 ... -June.html

8:00 PM Eastern - Them! (1954)

The disappearances of desert dwelling citizens in New Mexico leads police and scientist to a colony of deadly giant ants, brought forth from the earliest atomic bomb tests from the ending days of World War II. Although the desert colony is destroyed, a 'winged princess ant' manages to escape, leading our heroes to track down a second colony beneath the streets of Los Angeles, in hopes to finish off the oversized menaces for good, before this new species has a third chance to spread across the globe.

Arguably the film that started the giant mutant bug genre in the fifties, even if its origins and final execution is a tad dubious. Originally "THEM!" was to be a big budget, 3D science fiction film, produced in full-blown color. Along with many sequences that were meant to be filmed, but became simple off-camera events mentioned in dialog, after Warner Brothers cut the production down to scale.

However, despite this, the finished "THEM!" still remains a fantastically moody film, which stand up to this day for a multitude of reasons. Awesome group of human characters, played by equally pitch perfect actors, with notable stand outs of the father/daughter scientist team of Doctors Harold and Pat Medford, played by Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon respectively.

The budget minded black-and-white ultimately helps the splendid 'film-noir' direction of the film, which literally does start off as a police drama in an isolated desert region, before the big monsters are reveal in the second act. And about the title antagonist; life-sized animatronics puppets were used for the giant ants, and they are surprisingly effective, compared to say stop-motion or men-in-suits.

There have been many giant insect movies to come after, but "THEM!" still stands above the rest in terms of quality, as well as being the granddaddy of them all. If you haven't seen this movie, I recommend it as required giant monster / daikaiju viewing. And thankfully, its one of those old school monster movies that are still worth a watch, even if its not exactly ones proverbial 'cup of tea'.

And for those who have seen it, I'd love to read you're opinions here in reply.

Here's the extended trailer for the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2PLls02gOU


9:45 PM Eastern - The Cosmic Monsters (1958)

Rarely seen British B-movie about enlarged insects; never having viewed it myself, I can't confirm how big said mutants actually get.

11:15 PM Eastern - Tarantula (1955)

Don't remember too much about the film's story and actors (more of a "Monolith Monsters" fan myself), but I can say for a fact that the visual effects in this movie are great! The title arachnid is beautifully added into the real-life desert landscapes, through some incredibly strong optical printing, which even goes as far to add shadows and spot-on interactions between Tarantula and its dwarfed surroundings. Diffidently worth a watch for this one element alone!

12:45 AM Eastern- The Black Scorpion (1957)

One of Willis O'Brien's final films which he did stop motion for, and is certainly an insane entry in the genre as well, for some of the outrageous sequences found within. Most notably multiple giant scorpions feasting on hundreds of poor souls of a train derailment, and then getting eaten themselves by the largest of their brethren, the Black Scorpion of the title!

There have been better entries in the world of 1950's American monster movies, but by its own twisted nature, and related scenario, "The Black Scorpion" kind of stands in a league of its own.

2:30 AM Eastern - The Giant Claw (1957)

One of these things don't belong together, one of these things are not the same...!

Yeah, this giant bird film is clearly the odd movie out amongst tonight's insect and arachnid theme features. It also doesn't help that its considered one of the worse films of all time, largely thanks to its truly cheesy title monster.

My opinion?

Believe it or not, the Giant Claw herself isn't half bad a monster, despite her cartoon-ish puppet appearance. And she has a pretty cool invulnerability against military attacks, unlike other giant monsters who weren't Made-In-Japan. The real problem with the film is practically everything else, especially the insane use of stock footage from countless other sci-fi films of the decade.

However, let's face it, with all those SyFy Original movies constantly popping up every weekend, with even greater incompetence than all other monsters movies of the pre-CGI past...maybe "The Giant Claw" has now become a good movie by comparison?

4:00 AM Eastern - The Wasp Woman (1959)

Never seen this film either, but do have fond childhood memories of its much more raunchy remake from the 1990's (if anyone has a copy of that version, contact me ASAP).

Despite the movie's infamous, but ultimately false poster art (of a giant black wasp monster, with a purely human woman's face, seductively pulling in a hapless victim towards his doom amongst a pile of skulls), this is not at all a giant monster flick.

I wish TCM would make this a summer tradition, or perhaps reserve a weekend slot for creature features - they have been known to try to preserve such old UHF traditions.