The American President. He (or she, just hang on) is committed to protecting the nation from all enemies foreign, domestic or supernatural, right? We are assured that the Pentagon has considered plans for a Zombie Apocalypse, but if the movies are to be believed (and why wouldn't they be?) this is not the first time that the President has had to deal with the Undead Un-American Activities. Many of our greatest presidents have faced down some of our most classic monsters already, and they did not shirk their responsibilities.
What with the internet being the hotbed for "This + That" nerdistry and wannamemes that it is, there are as many spawns of this idea as a hot bed is wont to bring forth, especially with zombies. There is zombie every-damn-thing on the internet. Go on, think of a word, add zombie to it and Google. Yup, there it is. Zombie Pool, both billiards and swimming. Zombie Ice Cream. Zombie Pope. As such, I'm not addressing every damn variation on this theme, but simply hitting some of the bigger cinematic moments in American Presidents versus Classic Monsters. Fanfic (and there's puh-lenty) need not apply.
I was surprised to discover that this was a June release, because it has the key ingredients of a May movie; specifically traditional monsters, a forgettable story, B-list effects and double cheese. That's not to say that it's bad, mind you. I often have more fun with May movies than I do with, say, the July ones. They're frequently more fun, and AL:VH is certainly that.
The film doesn't so much posit an alternate timeline as a secret history. Lincoln, in his youth, had a run in with some pretty vicious vampires, which led him to a night job as a slayer of the undead while he pursued his legal and political career by day. He trains with a mentor hunter in the finer points of axe-handling, which you just know is gonna end poorly for the mentor yet motivationally for Honest Abe. This comes in handy, since there is a much larger vampire threat with endangers the future of American freedom... or something.
The movie makes more than a token effort to fit the vampires in around the events of Lincoln's life. Sure, whenever you shake a tree like this, four score and seven history nerds fall out to tell why nuh-uh, but for a movie that tell you in its title that it gives not one shit about such fussbudgets, it's more faithful than it needs to be.
The action is slick and cool. Lincoln is a reluctant badass, much as history holds him to be... plus, you know, the axe. Lincoln wields it like a kung fu artist and it provides a unique visual profile to what might otherwise have been some pretty rote violence. The not-terribly-memorable villain is played by an Englishman, because ALL the villains are played by Englishmen nowadays. The narrative takes itself seriously internally, but it is fully aware that you won't.
Really, the weakest thing about it is that I've seen it twice and I still don't remember the full core story. I think that's probably because it was pulled along more by the chronology of Lincoln's life (lives being less tightly structured than stories) rather than by A-to-B narrative tropes.
It's good mindless fun that won't fill you up or weigh you down.
This movie has every excuse to be terrible, and there's certainly no denying the bargain basement production values, but despite all the obvious shortcomings, it's really rather funny thanks to its script and performers. I can only assume it was conceived as a low-budget satire on the idea of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, being released straight-to-video within months of the bigger-budgeted film. Where Lincoln takes itself remarkably seriously, FDR takes absolutely NOTHING seriously, and that is its trump card.
As a younger man, Franklin Roosevelt was good at everything and so beloved by everyone that his massive ego was merely another beloved characteristic. And then he was attacked by a werewolf, and werewolf bites cause polio, dontcha know? In a sight gag that will recur throughout the movie, FDR's legs are reduced to wildly quivering children's legs. That sets the "story" into motion, and establishes the level and premise for much of the movie's humor. As FDR, Barry "Brad" Bostwick is an over-the-top caricature of the manly man of bygone days. He drinks hard, he laughs hard at his own jokes, and he's predominantly concerned with how the polio will affect his "cack." After the werewolf attack, he's more determined than ever to become President.
Little does he know at the time, but the werewolf was a German agent. It seems that all the Axis powers are werewolves, and werewolves Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini chat with each other on the phone like teenage girls while making their plans for world conquest. Fortunately, FDR is a take-charge kind of leader, and takes point on the D-day invasion with his armored and machine gun-enabled wheelchair.
In case I've been too subtle, this is not a delicate comedy of manners. It's crude in as many ways as possible, but there's an ounce of brain under the hood of it all, as opposed to, say, just another Wayans movie. My personal favorite joke comes from a left-field cribbing of Bon Jovi lyrics in a campaign meeting FDR has with a struggling constituent. Some people will be put off by some of the humor which comes across as racist or sexist, but there are enough instances that expose enough awareness to suggest that what they are really mocking is not races and sexes, but racists and sexists.
For a movie that didn't need to accomplish much to attain "so bad it's good" low-low-budget and expectations status, it really seemed to me that FDR: American Badass! delivered more than it needed to, and much more cleverly than is likely to be appreciated.
Bruce Campbell is a sad old man in a nursing home. He drifts in and out of awareness, and isn't sure he cares. He also may or may not be Elvis.
Ossie Davis is his best friend in the nursing home. He also may or may not be JFK.
Together they become aware of an entity that haunts the nursing home by night, sucking the life energy out of the home's defenseless residents. He definitely IS an Egyptian mummy!
Jack and Elvis have to push themselves to their limits to confront the mummy and free the souls of their friends. While it takes the obvious guise of a monster movie, much of what makes Bubba Ho-Tep so good is the way it uses these recontextualized horror tropes to consider issues of age, ability and respect. The majority of monster movies are about impulsive young people who don't think about what they're doing. Jack and Elvis aren't like that. They don't run screaming like a bunch of ninnies. They face their enemy fully accepting that they will likely die. It's not about survival for them. They're past that point. It's about being useful, having value, and dedicating their lives to doing something with meaning. They continue to EARN respect, even if no one gives it to them anymore.
Must-see if you appreciate the way that Bruce Campbell can turn just about any line into something hilarious and cool. Easily one of the best mummy movies ever, which isn't really saying that much.
See also: JFK vs zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Yeah, you could just as easily put Independence Day in this slot, but Mars Attacks! is the better movie by far. They're essentially the same movie, but ID takes itself completely seriously, which makes it all the more ridiculous. Mars Attacks! however, is based on a fan favorite trading card series from the 1960s and takes very little seriously. ID wants you to care about the outcome. MA! gives you credit for already knowing that the human have to win in the end, so it doesn't really matter if it's a silly victory. That approach is woven throughout the movie. ID teases you with its aliens and insists that they're badass and scary even after it's been revealed that they're cheesy and dopey. MA!'s aliens fully embrace their anachronistic origins and simply play their required role. This all frees up MA! to be more creative and fun while essentially doing the same things.
It's an ensemble cast, and just happens to include Jack Nicholson in two roles, one of whom is the President. While one might initially question the judgment of casting Nicholson in two roles when he is always so clearly Nicholson, Mars Attacks! reminds you that it couldn't possibly matter. The film is full of recognizable faces and at no point does it matter if they embody the role with transcendent gravitas. It's more like an episode of the Love Boat. It's just fun to have them there because they're them, and them being them is a convenient shorthand to who they're playing. There's no extra exposition required, which again, frees up MA! to be the silly fun that it is.
Nicholson's President oozes with transparent people-pleasing charm. His triteness is summed up with the go-to refrain for late 20th century naivete, "Can't we all just... get along?" shortly before he learned the hard way that the Martians have not come all this way to... get along.
See also: President Colbert vs aliens in Monsters vs. Aliens
Death Race 2000 is one of that select class of 70s exploitation films that manages to have it both ways. It's a brutal satire that gets away with just being brutal if that's the way you watch it. The premise presages the like of The Running Man, The Hunger Games or CBS's Survivor, where a cross-country race in which hapless victims of automotive homicide are scored for points, all of this in a bread-and-circuses effort to distract from the corruption of the government. The racers are all over-the-top personalities a la Hanna Barbera's Wacky Races, professional fake wrestling or "Real" "Housewives."
Under the surface of all these goings-on there's the political machinations of the president, and the underground movement to overthrow him. One of the most successful racers, Frankenstein played by David Carradine, is sympathetic to the cause. He's seen and been the worst of the best and the best of the worst.
In the interest of full disclosure, Frankenstein is not a Frankenstein's monster. He's just a man who survived a disfiguring accident and earned the moniker for his appearance. Nevertheless, it was too golden an opportunity to round out the roster of classic monsters faced by presidents.
Death Race 2000 was a midnight movie classic that has now attained the status of just plain classic. The satire is still bitingly timely, which says a whole lot of bad things about the ground we've covered in the past 40 years.
Obama vs Zombie image from the internet, no rights or credit claimed
Okay, I said I wasn't going to do this, but here I am doing this. The thing of it is; monster mash-ups in comic books went some truly crazy places, and I'd just feel like I'd done an incomplete job if I didn't at least try to drive past that cemetery on our way home. I'm still going to do an incomplete job, but you'll have some kind of idea what has been going on out there.
Casper began life (so to speak) as a cartoon from Famous Studios, and he was, in fact, first introduced to comic books in 1949, but it's his association with Harvey Comics that is best known. In the 30 years that Harvey published Casper, his cast expanded to include friends like Spooky the Tough Little Ghost, the Ghostly Trio, Hot Stuff the Little Devil and Wendy the Good Little Witch. Now that I'm reminded of them, it's startling to consider that they may have been a large influence on me as a young child. And believe me, that's the only startling thing about these ghosts.
In the 60s, publisher Jim Warren took the idea employed by Mad Magazine -- publish magazine sized comics in black & white for the newsstand rather than the comics rack, thus escaping the scrutiny of the Comics Code Authority -- and applied it to horror comics. These tended to be more monster oriented than the EC comics which inspired them. With the addition of Vampirella to the line-up, the "host" character moved into the spotlight, and Vampirella had her own adventures which strayed, on occasion, into the other titles. More than a mere vampire, Vampirella came from Drakulon, a planet of vampires where the rivers flowed with blood. The character gained her own cast of characters, including ties to Dracula and Lilith, mother of demons. She has also crossed over with other comics LIKE CRAZY. There's a movie too, but you didn't hear that from me.
Amid the monster craze of the late 60s, Dell Comics tried to get in on the action with three interrelated monster-themed superheroes based on the Universal Monsters. They each lasted only 3 issues, across which the same creative team was spread.
The Frankenstein character had a sidekick named Miss Ann Thrope. That should give you some clue what we're dealing with here. Frankenstein ranked "highly" in the World's Worst Comics Awards.
You know, I'm honestly not sure that they even lasted long enough to meet each other, but it seems pretty evident that they were intended to form a team. A terrible, terrible team.
Swamp Thing
Created by Len Wein & Bernie Wrightson
DC Comics - 1971
Swamp Thing was first introduced in DC's horror anthology House of Secrets, then moved to his own title in short order. While the character (in its original incarnation) owed elements of story and tone to Gothic horror like Frankenstein, the character was an original creation. Nevertheless, he would soon encounter a Patchwork Man, werewolves and much more as he went about his life of existential torment. The character has gone through many changes over the past 40 years, but he remains the DC Universe's central figure in matters of supernatural horror. Yes, Marvel's Man-Thing (obligatory snicker) predated it by a few months, but that character was never as well developed as Swamp Thing. Then again, with Alan Moore delivering a large part of his narrative in the 80s, very little else comes close.
In the early 70s, the Comics Code Authority loosened some of its restrictions (which were arbitrary and self-imposed in the first place) on what comics could depict, and Marvel took full advantage of their new freedom by introducing a whole line of comics based on classic monsters. Not only did these monsters then cross over with each other, but they were considered part of the greater Marvel continuity, and crossed over with everyone from the X-men to Spider-man. As a matter of fact, Marvel's first significant film success came from the Blade, a character that first appeared in Tomb of Dracula #10.
I've only read a couple issues of these, but I'd really like to read more. It's my understanding that some of the comics are really pretty good. Tomb of Dracula has some pretty extraordinary art from the legendary Gene Colan, and the great Mike Ploog took turns on both the Frankenstein and Werewolf titles.
Marvel's Man-Thing (which I was shocked to learn, predated DC's Swamp Thing by months) also crossed over heavily with the rest of their supernatural horror line.
Godzilla has been licensed to a number of comics companies over the years, but naturally it was during his two-year stint with Marvel that he did most of his crossing-over. He mostly encountered super-teams like the Avengers (sadly the Hulk was not with the team at the time) and the Fantastic Four (so at least he met the Thing), but he did also clash with Marvel's own Godzilla knock-off, Devil Dinosaur. Marvel created the Ren Ronin character for the comic. Ronin was a Mazinger-like giant robot who would then filter back into the periphery of the Marvel Universe after the Toho license expired. The greatest missed opportunity was that Marvel's publication of Shogun Warriors overlapped with Godzilla, and despite planning a crossover, they didn't get it together before the license ended.
In the 90s, Dark Horse published a one-shot called Godzilla vs Barkley featuring basketball star Charles Barkley. Despite some super-growth, Barkley isn't strictly a monster. Now, if it was Shaq...
The
Creature Commandos were a special ops type unit during WWII. They made their debut in DC's Weird War Tales anthology title in 1980. The team
included a vampire (named -- I kid thee not -- Velcro), a Frankenstein's monster, a werewolf, a gorgon (Medusa, for our less literate friends) and a normal human leader (such bigotry!). Oh, sometimes a robot. They were originally
introduced into DC's Weird War Tales shortly before the "DC Implosion"
when the publisher scrapped a bunch of titles and fired a bunch of
talent. Despite this, and at least 2 universal reboots, DC actually
brought the concept BACK in 2000 and again within the past year in Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
Though loosely based on a twice-published 1940s Canadian comics character of the same name, Michael T Gilbert's Mr Monster is his own character. He's a superhero, albeit one strongly influenced by the pulp heroes of the 30s and 40s. He fights all manner of monsters with blazing pistols in both tribute to, and satire of superheroes and the monster movies of the 30s, 40s and 50s.
The books don't seem to have gained traction with readers, although more 10 publishers have been willing to present Mr Monster's adventure across that past 30 years. You have to admire Gilbert's tenacity and commitment to a vision.
It just seems bizarre to me that Mr Monster and Hellboy haven't had a crossover.
Once Dark Horse had acquired both the Aliens and Predator licenses for publication, it was only a matter of time before they figured out that the should meet... and kill each other. The core premise is that Predators are the ultimate hunters in the galaxy, and Aliens are the most deadly game, so there's an honor principle at stake for the Predators. The combination proved so popular that numerous miniseries have been published to date, also spawning a video game and returning the concept to movies. While the comics occupy a future continuity that makes sense in the context of the original films, the movies based on the comics based on the movies have been set in contemporary times -- one presumes to reign in costs, since a future setting would cost more to design and build, taking away from the monsters budget. Comic books cost the same to produce, no matter where and when they are set, nor how large the explosions or rampaging creature hordes.
The rivalry has spilled over into crossovers with Top Cow Comics' Witchblade & The Darkness, DC Comics' Superman & Batman, and The Terminator, also licensed to Dark Horse. Both Aliens and Predators have crossed over with Judge Dredd in comics as well.
Comics based on the Terminator films had been done before, but it was when Dark Horse started buying up licensing rights in the late 80s and experienced success with the Aliens vs Predator crossover that things really got rolling. In addition to crossovers with AvP, Terminators have had miniseries meet-ups with the RoboCop (also published by Dark Horse) franchise and DC's Superman. After all, what is RoboCop if not a Frankenstein in armor? RoboCop vs Terminator also spawned a video game.
Hellboy
Dark Horse Comics - 1993
Created by Mike Mignola
The comic upon which the movies are based. I love the movies but the comics are even better. They're such a pure expression of Mignola's creative vision, combining Lovecraftian mythos, legends and folklore from around the world, re-imagined Universal Monsters and good ol' silver age face punchin', all told in his oft-imitated yet inimitable graphic arts style.
For an hilarious variation on the whole Hellboy thing, seek out the Hellboy Junior specials which put a Mad-Magazine-but-more-gross spin on the character, thanks to Bill Wray and other extraordinary talents.
Wetworks
Image/Wildstorm - 1994
Created by Whilce Portacio & Brandon Choi
When comics readers razzed Image Comics for struggling with schedules in their early years, they were mostly talking about Wetworks. It wasn't the only one that struggled, but it was the longest delayed, and nobody really cared if Rob Liefeld wasn't taking a steaming dump on the comic racks for another week. When the comic DID finally come out, it was about a black ops team (because ALL the image books were about black ops teams) that were armored with golden symbiotes. Two members of the team were werewolves, and many of their foes were updated versions of classic monsters. I know there was a pretty cool Frankenstein's monster in there, because I have the action figure and the head broke off. Crap was always breaking off on those cheap/expensive McFarlane toys. Oh yeah, Wetworks also had a crossover with Vampirella (but then who hasn't; you know what I'm sayin'?).
A few years after the seven season run of the TV series, many of the writing talents behind the show got together to create a new "season 8" in comics. Each writer took an arc within the greater "season" telling a story that built up to a whole. There had been Buffy comics before, but excepting a few instances, they had been made by comic writers meddling within the established chronology. Season 8, however, was considered new canon. The transition to comics allowed the series to deal with all variety of monster madness on the much larger scale (think: Tokyo) that the narrative development really demanded. The Season 8 arc has concluded, and the series has continued into Season 9. With the success of the Buffy continuations, Whedon & Co have also been producing Angel and Spike comics which serve to continue from the end of the Angel series as well as bridging with Buffy.
What I read of Buffy was (mostly) good, but I must admit, I have considerable catching up to do.
There aren't too many people in comics who can get their name above the title without actually doing anything, but Frank Frazetta is one of them. Frazetta painted the image for the cover of Creepy in 1966, and then 42 years later someone else wrote and drew a comic book based on it, and he still got paid. THAT is what you call solid brass BALLS, my friend. What's more, it's not even the first time he's done it. His Death Dealer painting spawned TWO comics series, in addition to being the main reason anyone ever bought a Molly Hatchett album. You can also buy a statuette of the Wolfman wailing on Dracula for $225.
BALLS.
And with that, I can't think of a more appropriate bookend to an article that began with Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Thanks for hanging in there, monsterphiles. It was a gas, gas, gas.
Okay, so the facts have made me a fibber once again. This was intended to be the final entry in the series, but new information has necessitated one more Appendix, so READ ON, dear reader for the FINAL final chapter, The Monster Mash-Ups - Part 10: El Hombre Lobo Appendix!
When I was very young, my imaginary friend was a ghost named Marvin. I don't think he was ever the kind of imaginary friend that I played with or talked to, but he was my explanation for why doors would shut suddenly and I pointed him and his father out to my parents when we saw some laundry blowing in the breeze. Sometimes I made up stories about him -- at least I think I was making it up. In time, I expanded Marvin's cast of supporting characters. He had a skeleton friend named Mr. Bones who lived in our attic, and a vampire friend named Fangs who dropped by on rare occasion. I'm pretty sure there was also a wolf man, and there might have even been a Frankenstein's Monster of some sort, but these were additions that came toward the end of my "imaginary friend" arc -- somewhere in my first couple years of school. I don't think I made up as many stories about them, but it seemed natural to me that a ghost would have a supernatural supporting cast.
I suppose that's a large part of the impetus behind this article. From the very edges of memory, I was thinking about monsters who were friends with me and with each other. I don't know what planted that seed specifically, but given when I was born, there were all kinds of cheeseball possibilities from the 60s and early 70s. It's altogether likely that it was a combination of those elements that reinforced the idea for me and inspired me to add to Marvin's retinue. Looking back, it's easy to make fun of those things, but I sure wish I'd had access to some of these books back then. Adam Rex's books, in particular, would have blown my mind.
I'm not going to make any effort whatsoever to be comprehensive here. It's simply not possible, particularly given the history of monsters in comic books, and comic books' fetish for crossovers. So if I forgot your favorite, or simply something that you remember, that's okay. It's not a Master's thesis.
Neal Adams' Monsters - 1984 (collected 2003)
Written & Illustrated by Neal Adams
Comics industry superstar Neal Adams tried to break away from the Big Two in the 80s. The business of comics still wasn't quite ready, and Adams had neither the business acumen nor the writing chops to really make it work the way that it would for the Image founders a decade later. One of his projects was an anthology comic called Days of Future Past (I know, right?) and Adams' contribution to the short-lived title was a story than combined Dracula, Frankenstein and a Werewolf with his own designs, to avoid any legal toe-stepping with Universal and, one suspects, to show off a little because he was still Neal freakin' Adams after all.
The story would actually have been a better a better House of Dracula than "House of Dracula." It still works within the same themes as the Universal pictures, adds some new elements of its own, and remixes them into a much better story with more interaction between the monsters we'd like to see. It's not necessarily great, but it does pay tribute while improving upon the notion.
It turns out, the comic was expanded from a record and storybook that Adams originally made in the 70s. If Universal had taken the bait then and developed it as a movie, we could have seen much different development through the 70s and 80s.
Rampage is an arcade video game that puts players in the role of giant monsters tearing cities apart. While the characters are not licensed from existing monsters, they are clearly "inspired by" them. George is a giant ape, akin to King Kong. Lizzie is a giant dinosaur like Godzilla, but also looks a little Black Lagoon-y to me. Ralph is a giant werewolf. Okay, sure, why not? With its large character sprites, Rampage definitely looked different in the arcades, but I always felt that gameplay ran a little thin fell short of the concept's potential. Clinging to the sides of buildings and moving fairly slowly just didn't embody the sense of rampaging that I wanted from it. There would be sequels for consoles later on, but none of them were terribly well-rated. Small surprise.
King of the Monsters was a giant monster fighting/wrestling game for the SNK's Neo-Geo arcade/console system, which made it an unusual creature indeed. Players selected monsters which took their cues from Godzilla, King Kong and Ultraman characters, then fought it out in large cityscapes. The concept was great and the large figures in urban environments were impressive for their time (like Rampage), but (also like Rampage) the gameplay just really wasn't there. Being more inspired by Japanese wrestling games than martial arts styled fighting games, the controls were less intuitive and satisfying than a giant smash-fest really demanded. There was also a sequel. Due to its oddity and its SNK basis, it really didn't get much traction in the west, despite ports to the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis.
Darkstalkers - 1994
Capcom for Arcade and various consoles
Featuring: a vampire, demons, a mummy, ghosts, a Frankenstein type monster, a werewolf, an Uzi-packin' Red Riding Hood, a cat girl and more!
Darkstalkers (known as "Vampire" in Japan) is a 2D arcade fighting game series from Capcom, similar to the Street Fighter series, but with monster characters and more fantastical fighting techniques. There have been 3 main entries in the series and a couple compilations. It's also spawned cartoons and comics. It has been suggested that there won't be a new Darkstalkers game until Capcom gets a million requests. I suck at the games about as much as I suck at most 2D Capcom fighters, but it was always my favorite of the bunch because the characters are so cool. Some of the characters turn up in other Capcom crossover projects.
Featuring: The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, a giant samurai demon and a giant naked mole rat
Creature Features collects 4 monster tales illustrated by enemy of deadlines everywhere, Art Adams. The largest story is a fairly straight adaptation of Universal's Creature from the Black Lagoon. It's beautifully illustrated (let's just say they all are, because Art Adams), thanks also to the coloring by Matt Hollingsworth. The other main feature is a story from the Godzilla Color Special, and that's the real money shot, as far as I'm concerned. It's the story of an isolated Japanese island whose residents have turned their backs on the ways of the 20th century. An anti-kaiju strikeforce known as G-Force (90s continuity) is sent to evacuate the villagers due to an impending Godzilla attack. The villagers are unwilling to leave, and it soon becomes a moot point once Godzilla devastates the naval blockade. It turns out the villagers aren't quite so defenseless as they appear. Legend tells of an 800 year old demon that attacked the village long ago. The body of the demon became a huge statue which the villagers believed would come to life to protect them, which it does (although there's a story behind it). Every time Godzilla smashes the statue, it reforms itself from the dirt and stone, coming back bigger. With the help of G-Force, it's able to go toe to toe with the King of Monsters and ultimately redirect his course. Now, this giant samurai demon statue is a tribute of its own to the Daimajin trilogy from the 60s, about a guardian statue in medieval Japan. I like this story so much that I had partly convinced myself that it had been an actual movie, or that the statue had at least existed in one of the, at some point. It would indeed be a great Godzilla movie, or half a movie, at some point when Toho starts making them again. There are also a couple short stories in Creature Features. One stars Adams' own characters, Monkeyman & O'Brien against the Shrewmanoid and a giant naked mole rat, and the other is by Alan Moore. I don't know that piece, as I purchased all the original comics separately, but hey, Alan Moore, so that can't suck.
War of the Monsters - 2003
Incog Inc. for Playstation 2
Designers: Dylan Jobe, Kellan Hatch, Eric Simonich & Scott Campbell
This free-roaming fight game pays homage to giant everything in a 1950s drive-in movie setting. While none of the characters are licensed from existing franchises, it features a giant ape, a couple reptilians, giant robots in both American & Japanese varieties, a giant mantis and more, wreaking havoc across 10 highly destructible environments. Players can duke it out hand-to-hand or use ranged attacks, but the most fun comes from using environmental weapons. My favorite is skewering an opponent with an antenna tower and watching them flail around trying to pull it out. I love this game. I can only assume that it's been criminally slept-on, because it would have become a mega-series if it was getting the following it deserves.
Mommy? - 2006
Story by Arthur Yorinks
Illustrated by Maurice Sendak
Papercraft by Matthew Reinhart
If you haven't seen a pop-up book in a while, let me just tell you; they are doing amazing things in papercraft nowadays.
Maurice "Wild Things" Sendak pays tribute to the Universal Monster movies of his youth in this very simple tale of a little boy looking for his "Mommy" in all the wrongest places. The pop-up art does more than merely fold out of the page. It creates a deeper sense of space, and often animates as it unfolds. The scene with The Mummy is a real show-stopper. The papercraft doesn't just show off the art, it plays a role in telling the story. But oh that art! Sendak clearly had fun illustrating it, and the whole product just radiates with the love that its creators put into it.
Adam Rex started out as an illustrator. I think he painted card art for Magic: The Gathering before he moved into children's books. Then he started writing them too. Then shifted into juvenile & young adult fiction, and he does it all brilliantly. I've loved everything he's done, but this was my first real exposure to him. The whole book is filled with poems that play with classic monsters. Imagine Shel Silverstien wrote a book about Universal (and other) Monsters and had it illustrated by the Usual Gang of Idiots from Mad magazine, and you'll have kind of a sense of what to expect here.
Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich must have worked out well for Adam Rex, because 2 years later he was back with more monster madness. This time, there's a bit more of a narrative thread connecting them as Frankenstein prepares to marry his Bride.
Sometime more IS better!
Rex has gone on to write the HI-LARIOUS juvenile lit book "The True Meaning of Smekday" (soon to be a major motion picture!) and the young adult satire, "Fat Vampire." He's partnered with Neil Gaiman on Chu's Day and Chu's First Day of School, so, you know, the guy's got mad nerd cred.
While very similar on paper to Adam Rex's Frankenstein books, The Monsterologist goes a very different direction with it. Like the previous books, it's meant to be a humorous poem tome about a very similar variety of monsters, framing them as the research notes of a monsterologist. This device serves to distance the reader from the monsters and their personalities. It's hard not to compare it negatively in light of Rex's books. While it's certainly a different beast, those different choices don't seem to serve it well. I just didn't find the poems to be funny or endearing. Sadly, the art only magnifies this distancing from the material. McCauley's art isn't really fun or cuddly. It's very graphical with a more punk aesthetic better suited to something like the New Yorker than a children's book. They clearly invested in book production, employing gatefolds and die-cuts inside and a pseudo-leather embossed cover with metallic ink. It's an interesting piece of graphic design, but it disappoints in almost every category as a children's book.
King of Tokyo is a tabletop board game by superstar game designer Richard Garfield (Magic: The Gathering, RoboRally, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, etc). It's based on the general premise of Godzilla movies, and each player plays a monster inspired by Godzilla, King Kong, a Cthulhu-like Kraken, a giant robot bunny, etc. It's a most-ages game that uses Yahtzee-like dice mechanics to empower your monster as it fights to become the last monster standing.
It's much easier to grok than it initially seems like it will be. Strategy centers around a simple kind of resource management, balancing life, damage, victory points and power cells that allow you to buy cards to power up your creature. In our own gaming sessions, we've found that more is better -- more monsters is more fun, and setting a higher bar for victory lengthens the game, making the power-up cards more worthwhile and the strategy of dominating or yielding Tokyo more significant. My only real complaint is that it has a LOT of little pieces, which really comes into consideration if you have younger kids around. Not necessarily a complaint, but a questionable choice is that the dice are pretty big for an Ages 8 & up game. It can get kind of... dicey ... shaking 6 or more dice. You may want a cup, a la Yahtzee. That being said, it IS a lot of fun to go all rampagey and try to get the upper claw on your friends and family.
Featuring: ghosts, a vampire, a werewolf, ghouls and more
When sudden death comes to the family of a toddler, he wanders off to a nearby historical graveyard. When the cause of their deaths pursues him, the ghosts in that graveyard take it upon themselves to raise the boy and keep him safe. Renamed Nobody Owens, or "Bod," he is granted the freedom of the graveyard and raised in the ways of ghosts, with additional tutelage by Silas, a neither dead nor alive resident of the cemetery. The flow of the narrative is semi-episodic, illustrating chapters in Bod's life which offer fun little encounters and adventures in their own right which will each provide the lessons he needs to overcome the dark forces which pursue him.
Highly recommended for spooky kids.
It's also come to my attention that the novel for kids has been adapted into a graphic novel with Gaiman's frequent collaborator and American national treasure, P. Craig Russell, so that's bound to be a gorgeous and satisfying option. I fully expect this one to get turned into a movie, so wait for that if you're lazy, or get on it now if you enjoy telling people you told them so.
So... I kinda lied. I ended up deciding to include more comics after all. It's still not comprehensive, but it's representative. Continue on to the penultimate chapter of the Monster Mash-Ups IN The Monster Mash-Ups - Part 9: Comics Appendix!
Groovie Goolies was a Filmation cartoon, spun off from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Remember when someone thought laugh tracks made sense for cartoons? Yeah, this was that era. The Groovie Goolies is the name of a far-out rock-and-roll band featuring Drac, Frankie and Wolfie, in a world inhabited by all sorts of monster caricatures. I blame "The Monster Mash" for this.
Santo & Blue Demon Against the Monsters - 1970
AKA Santo el Enmascarado de Plata y Blue Demon Contra los Monstruos
Written by Rafael Garcia Travesi & Jesus Sotomayor Martinez
Directed by Gilberto Martinez Solares
Featuring: "Franquenstain," werewolf, cyclops, zombies, vampires and mummy
Superstar luchadors, Santo and Blue Demon faced off with all kinds of monsters and foes across more than two dozen films, but this is the one with mas monstruos. It's sort of the Destroy All Monsters of Mexican wrestling films, which evidently means it wasn't as good as it should have been, but hey, look at all the monsters! And oh, did I mention there are musical numbers?
Amid an evident monster craze, in 1971, General Mills began selling monster-themed cereals in "chocolate" and "strawberry" flavors, each represented by a vampire and Frankenstein's monster, respectively. These animated commercials were probably more successful than all other monster cartoons combine at presenting crossover monster camaraderie. They certainly outlasted all the shows.
Dracula vs Frankenstein - 1971
Written by William Pugsley & Samuel M Sherman
Directed by Al Adamson
Featuring: Dracula with a 70s man-perm and a putty-faced Frankenstein's monster
[This film not viewed due to inaccessibility. I'm given to understand that I'm better off that way.]
Dracula contra Frankenstein - 1972
AKA Dracula Prisoner of Frankenstein
Written by Paul D'Ales & Jesus Franco
Directed by Jesus Franco
Featuring: Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and a wolf man
In the years 1970 to 1972, there were three different movies released under the title "Dracula vs Frankenstein" although they didn't all start out that way. Paul Naschy's 1970 Spanish/German/Italian Los Monstruos del Terror was renamed Assignment Terror for US theaters, but gained the "versus" title for its VHS release. Al Adamson's DvF came out in 1971 and was sometimes titled Teenage Dracula. Then Jesus Franco's Spanish/French Dracula contra Frankenstein reached America in 1972, often called Dracula: Prisoner of Frankenstein.
The three films carry a combined rating of 11 on IMDb, although I doubt one's enjoyment would have such an additive effect were they to be watched back-to-back.
Rankin/Bass produced this semi-prequel to Mad Monster Party. Rather than using stop motion models as the original had, this one-shot TV special was made with more traditional (and less expensive) cel animation. It was also bereft of the influence of Mad Magazine's Harvey Kurtzman.
Boo Berry - 1973
In 1973, General Mills added Boo Berry (a "blueberry" flavored cereal with a ghost mascot, what else did you expect?) to their successful line-up of monster cereals. I'm pretty surprised it was only 2 years later. To this day, I still think of Boo Berry as the "new" one.
Featuring: Godzilla, Anguirus, King Caesar & Mechagodzilla
Of all the Godzilla movies I've seen lately... this is one of them.
Director Jun Fukuda was responsible for the most notoriously campy Godzilla movies from the 70s, and while GvM is blissfully free of shrill children, it's definitely silly. Fukuda tries to do some "mod" film making with over-saturated colors and stylish framing. The monster sequences sometimes have great angles, and sometimes are shot like a ringside camera at a boxing match. The non-monster parts drag on way too long while making too little sense, which is a shame, because there's some potential in the story. In fact, a key element of the story -- the summoning of King Caesar -- is done much better in the Art Adams' Creature Features (see Part 8). Much of the rest of it involves another alien invasion story and a bunch of nitwitted people who are supposed to be smart running around and getting themselves captured. The effects are pretty lazy. The quality and quantity of miniature use is way down, and the monsters do most of their fighting in what amounts to a wrestling ring cluttered with vague shin-high scenery. King Caesar is as goofy as Mechagodzilla is cool. It's unsurprising that he wasn't used again until Final Wars. It's a shame, again, because he had potential but was poorly executed.
All that being said, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla is a vastly important film for one single reason. It gave us the gift of "Mecha." Everything should have a 'Mecha" version. Try it out for yourself... MechaBatman (Iron Man; Check). MechaAliens (Ripley's power loader; Check). MechaBuffy (Check). MechaJohn McClane (RoboCop; Check). MechaNinjas (multiple; Check). MechaG.I.Joe (Transformers; Check). MechaFreddy Kreuger. MechaVincent Vega. MechaSmurfs. MechaBlack Swan.
I rest my case. Fruit Brute - 1975
Two years later, they added the werewolf-mascotted Fruit Brute. I am shocked to learn that it lasted 9 years.
This was essentially a Saturday Morning Cartoon, but live-action. It was developed by Stanley Ralph Ross who was behind the Batman, Wonder Woman and Monkees TV shows, so that probably gives you a pretty good idea what to expect. It starred Fred "Gopher" Grandy as a night watchman in a wax museum where the statues of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man came to life to fight monster-themed criminals. So that's what THAT's about. It was also about 13 episodes.
Looking at the 60s, there are two trends that become abundantly clear. American monster mash-ups were becoming alarmingly cornball, and Japan was on the rise.
The Godzilla series came out of the giant atomic creatures of the 50s and became King of Monsters. The ambitions of Toho studios far exceeded the low-budget drive-in camp coming from America, although it seems pretty evident to me that kaju wrangler Ishiro Honda's enthusiasm waned as the 60s wore on.
Hammer Films in England was reviving several of the classic monsters, but avoiding many of the choices that now looked particularly campy in retrospect -- including the crossover. Then again, they would have been hard pressed to make crossovers with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing playing three roles each.
The use of the name "Frankenstein" got abused pretty badly, and nothing good came of "The Monster Mash." Yeah I said it.
King Kong vs Godzilla - 1962
Written by Shin'ichi Sekizawa & team
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Featuring: a giant ape, a giant octopus and a giant monster
Godzilla is freed from ice and makes a b-line for Japan. Meanwhile, the Groucho-esque showman/president of a pharmaceutical company foots an expedition to Faro Island to harvest and exploit a giant berry with the promise of promoting health and longevity. The natives aren't too keen to bargain with the berries, since its juice is what keeps their mysterious jungle god appeased. The jungle god is, of course, King Kong, or at least the Toho version of him. First he fights with some forced-perspective footage of an octopus (which is actually pretty cool) and then he drinks his juice, which puts him to sleep long enough for the expeditionaries to strap him to a raft and tow him back to Japan. Kong and Godzilla fight, but Godzilla is too powerful despite Kong's greater intelligence, so he retreats. They both wail on Japan some more and Kong is knocked out again and hauled with balloons to face Godzilla again. Getting dosed up on electricity (because everyone suddenly knows that electricity makes him stronger), Kong is stronger and wiser and thus able to throw down kaiju-style.
Despite its shortcomings -- and there are plenty -- KKvG was much better than I expected. Sure, Kong looks more like Jim Belushi in a rented gorilla suit than the classic version we're used to and he's really just filling the role of Godzilla's Next Round, but the effects still impress for 1962. The models, I thought, were particularly well done. The live octopus crawling across a miniature jungle was a nice effect, although when it turned from a live, orange octopus to a gray model in Saran Wrap when King Kong picked it up took a little something away from the moment.I also enjoyed some of the subtext about commercialism, exploitation and industry. I'm not saying it was deep, but it's still relevant, and that says more bad things about us than it does a silly movie.
Monster Mash - 1962
by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers
I'm not a fan of the song (or indeed most novelty songs), but I can't deny that it played a role in our continued impression of classic monsters hanging out together.
Mothra vs Godzilla - 1964
Written by Shin'ichi Sekizawa
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Featuring: Godzilla, a flying Mothra, 2 caterpillar Mothras
While Mothra is now an ensconced part of the Godzilla universe, there was in fact a Mothra solo movie in 1961, making their meeting here a genuine crossover. This is almost certainly my favorite of all the old-school Godzilla films, although I now realize that it must have only been 10-12 years old when I first saw it on TV as a kid. I never forgot the tiny twin fairies from Mothra's home island, and I still find them completely charming. Despite Mothra's lack of expression and ineffectiveness in fights (while in moth form), it's really the most consistently good monster in the Godzilla pantheon. MvG also has one of the least convoluted stories ever, and the non-monster scenes don't annoy me the way so many of the others do. I tend to feel that Godzilla is at its best when it has a message about relevant issues, and MvG has several; addressing exploitative capitalism, corruption, native rights, the environment and of course nuclear threats. The effects are pretty cheesy in places and the Godzilla suit looks floppy and silly, but it succeeds on passion (where Destroy All Monsters stumbles).
Like Mothra vs Godzilla, this film folds another Toho giant monster with a solo debut into the greater Godzilla cast. In this case, it's the pterodacular Rodan joining the proceedings along with the returning Mothra, and one of Godzilla's greatest rivals, Ghidorah making its debut. And as you might guess, it's kind of a mess!
In addition to all the monster juggling, it also throws a convoluted story in on the human side of things. First of all, there's a meteor shower with a large strike occurring on the far side of some mountains, so a team of scientists is dispatched to investigate that. They discover a strange meteor that is magnetic at times, super-heated at others, and slowly growing. Then there's a police detective sent to meet a foreign princess on a security detail. She comes from some country with outfits that combine style elements of Arabian sultans with 17th century frilly collars. There's a plot to blow up her plane, but when she hears a voice in her head, she jumps out of the plane just before it explodes. The police detective's sister is a reporter who's friends with one of the mountaineering scientists, and she's also investigating the mysterious new prophetess in town who claims to be a martian. But wait, there's more! The twin fairies from Mothra's island are in town for a TV appearance on the Japanese equivalent of You Asked For It. The detective figures out that the prophetess from Mars is actually the believed-dead princess and tries to find her. She shows up when the Double-Moth Twins are about to board a ship back home with warnings of its doomed fate, so they decide to follow her. Then Godzilla just shows up and destroys the ship. About the same time, Rodan bursts out of a volcanic crater, so he and Godzilla decide to fight, 'cause that's what you do. Meanwhile, back in the mountains, the meteor goes nuts and cracks open, releasing a golden three-headed monster into the sky. Fortunately there's a prophetic Martian to tell us that its name is Ghidorah, and it was responsible for wiping out all life on Mars. Speaking of princess/prophetess Martian, she's pursued by a team of goons from her homeland, and we spend a lot of the movie distracted with that.
With all this mayhem loosed upon Japan at once, the pressure is on the government to do something, so naturally they turn to the twin fairies, who eventually agree to summon Mothra, still in caterpillar form, to come and reason with Godzilla and Rodan that they should all team up on Ghidorah. This leads to a particularly ridiculous scene where the three monsters discuss the situation. Coming so soon after Mothra vs Gozilla, I had higher hopes for this installment but they really seemed to make some different choices, which is odd since it's exactly the same creative team. MvG delivered a much cleaner, more solid story, while this one tried to cram so much in that none of the parts were as satisfying, and ended up either too easily solved, or just left dangling.
The Munsters - 1964-1966
Developed by Allan Burns & Chris Hayward
Featuring: a vampire, a Frankenstein's monster, a vampiress, a wolf boy and a teenage girl
The Munsters ran concurrent with the similarly themed Addams Family, although the Addams Family doesn't qualify as a monster mash-up because they were really just weird humans, whereas the Munsters were based on Universal Monster archetypes. Consequently, the Munsters were a bit more over-the-top, which was just fine and dandy in the 60s, and it had the slightly better ratings of the two. That didn't last for long, however, when the full color Batman series debuted against the black-and-white Munsters, and it was kaput. It's funny how many 2 and 3 season shows from the 60s would go on to become "classics" in syndication.
Looking at the way things have developed, I can't help but see The Munsters as a gateway to all the really dumb monster mash-ups for kids that would come after. And yet, I am also obligated to acknowledge they planted the seeds of monster love in dumb little me.
Featuring: a giant Frankenstein's monster and Baragon
Nazis raid a science lab during WWII, claiming a locked trunk and shipping it to the Pacific for experimentation. The trunk, we soon learn, contains Frankenstein's heart (the heart of the monster, anyway), which, it is said, cannot die. The heart is believed lost after the atomic bomb strike on Hiroshima. 20 years later, a feral boy stalks the outskirts of the rebuilt city. When scientists start experimenting on him, they unleash the full regenerative properties of the heart, discovering not only that he is Frankenstein, regrown from the heart, but that he is capable of radical growth. Soon, he's big enough to tromp around Toho Studio's miniature sets.
Meanwhile, the prehistoric "Baragonasaur" Baragon (a Godzilla rival/comrade) surfaces from beneath the earth where it has survived for millions of years. Each cause havoc in their own way, but Frankenstein doesn't really mean it. He's just hungry and misunderstood. Ultimately, they have to throw down while humans flee their swath of destruction.
This movie had every excuse to suck. And yet... it did not suck. Most of the film is focused on the Frankenstein part of the story, and it actually makes an effort to pay homage to the story of the misunderstood monster. Barugon mostly seems to be there for him to fight, which is fine; we've heard pretty much every variation possible to explain the rising of giant lizard monsters from dozens of kaiju movies. Frankenstein also makes a more credible giant hero than, say, in the 70s when Godzilla was supposed to be good. Also good; we get plenty of effects scenes, and they're really rather well done. Some of the "miniatures" are massive, really giving Frankenstein a credible environment to inhabit. He occupies urban and forest settings, and both work very well to demonstrate a sense of scale. The forests are lush with large, realistic trees, so he doesn't just tromp around knocking them over, but thrashes through them and uproots them as weapons. Sure, it's super corny, but that's a given here. As far as giant monster movies go -- especially for a second stringer of its era -- it really... grows beyond expectations.
Featuring: an android, aliens and an alien monster
When all the women (except the princess) on an alien world die, thanks to ATOMIC WAR, they send a ship to Earth to replenish their stock. As they approach Earth, they shoot down a space capsule containing an android named Frank. The android is disfigured and "brain" damaged, sending it on a rampage in Puerto Rico, and earning it the nickname "Frankenstein." Meanwhile, the aliens get to work kidnapping bikini babes. Then "Frankenstein" fights with the aliens' pet monster.
With a premise like that, it's hard to see how it could be considered among the worst movies ever made. Sadly, I can neither confirm nor deny this position, as I have not had an opportunity to view it. I can't imagine why I haven't made it a higher priority.
An anthology using a tarot reading to frame assorted tales of terror. It also brings together longtime Hammer Horror comrades Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing with horror stalwart of the 70s, Donald Sutherland.
Featuring: TWO giant Frankenstein's Monsters and a giant octopus
War of the Gargantuas is a sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World, although the "F" word is never used. It refers back to the original, but the monsters are now known exclusively as "gargantuas," natch.
It opens with a giant octopus attacking a fishing boat, and then a giant hairy humanoid beast attacks the octopus. Once he's disposed of the octopus, then he too attacks the fishing boat, leaving one traumatized survivor with a hard-to-believe tale. Following that mysterious attack, the beast is seen closer and closer to shore. After the events in the previous film, the gargantua-formerly-known-as-Frankenstein is handed the blame, although the scientists who encountered him in the past remain skeptical. Eventually he reaches the shore, causing wanton destruction on cities and towns, gulping down humans when he manages to catch one. The military reacts the way militaries do, developing plans to kill the monster. Meanwhile, there are also sightings of the beast in the mountains, far removed from the coastline. How could he cover so much ground so quickly, and unseen?
The military lures the shaggy green beast into a trap, hitting it hard with lasers, lightning guns and an electrified stretch of river. He seems near death when, from around the mountain comes a second shaggy monster to rescue him and help him limp away. This new one is brown, as it turns out that he is the gentle but misunderstood "Frankenstein" we once knew. How are there two? Why are they different? Can the gentle giant be saved from the scorched earth policies of the military? Why is Russ Tamblyn dubbing his own dialogue when he shot his parts in English in the first place? Only some of these questions ever get answers, and none of them satisfactorily. But that's okay, because there's plenty of giant combat.
The gargantuas are not as large to scale as the monsters in Godzilla movies. At first you'd think that bigger would be better with giant monsters, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Shorter monsters means larger miniatures. The forests are up around their armpits here, rather than simply trod underfoot. They battle down the canyons of Tokyo, crashing into buildings that reveal individual floors within. Godzilla, particularly moving into the 70s, battles in much emptier arenas, squashing buildings like shoeboxes and trees like cotton candy loosely cluttered around his shins. As in FCtW, Gargantuas makes extraordinary use of its miniatures. Though seen as an also-ran to the Godzilla series, both films make exemplary contributions to the kaiju oeuvre.
Mad Monster Party - 1967
Written by Harvey Kurtzman & Len Korobkin
Directed by Jules Bass
Featuring: Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Monster's mate, Gill-man, Werewolf, Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, the Mummy, Zombies & more
This is a stop-motion animated movie for television from the people that brought us Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and the like. While Rankin/Bass' Christmas productions continue to skate by on nostalgia, schmaltz and holiday goodwill, Mad Monster Party cannot do quite the same.
The story is that Dr. Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff) has invited all the monsters (and one human) to his island for a party to show off his latest experiment (a massively destructive explosive) and to name his heir once he steps down from his role as leader of the monsters. The heir-apparent is his nephew Felix, a clumsy, wheezy human with a Jimmy Stewart impression for a voice. The mad doctor's inappropriately-hot-for-a-kids'-show assistant, Francesca, plots with Dracula to kill off Felix, making her the most likely heir. This backfires on her when Dracula double crosses her, and she conveniently (and literally) falls for Felix. Then there's a chase, a party crasher, a sacrifice and and explosion. The end, thank heavens.
Mostly... it's just disappointing. The jokes are not funny AT ALL, and that's not even taking into account the sexism. Oh, and there are songs -- painful songs. It's clear that the movie just has not aged well, but doesn't help that it aimed low to start with. Like our lower-aiming animation today (Shrek, Hotel Transylvania), it doesn't attempt a good story well told with universal themes and naturally occurring humor. Rather, it assumes that its target audience of children are stupid, and treats them thus. Further, it decides that any adults in earshot can be bought off easily with stale jokes based on pop culture. These are not things that become richer like wine over the years. They spoil or desiccate. Gutless jokes dry out like a mummy's husk. Bloodless songs crumble like a vampire in the sun. Well, except in this movie where Dracula constantly wanders around in daylight. In fact, the monsters are very rarely true to type except in the most token ways possible -- usually when it's convenient. With Mad Magazine impresario Harvey Kurtzman listed as a writer, I had some hope, but this was that other side of Mad, where the jokes are supposed to work because they've already repeated them to death.
There is a part that's not bad, and that's the art direction. Many of the characters are designed by Jack Davis, legendary illustrator for Mad and EC's horror comics. Many of them are pretty cool, and I'd buy a set of toys based on them, even though I cannot count myself as a fan of the movie. The sets are often stylish and full of details. I'd buy the Frankenstein's Lab play set in which to pose the toys. Unfortunately, the animation is pretty low quality; maybe even jerkier than the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials.
Sure, there are bound to be people who still get nostalgic for Mad Monster Party, but then, there are still people who get nostalgic for slavery, so that tells you what nostalgia is worth.
Destroy All Monsters! - 1968
Written by Ishiro Honda & Takeshi Kimura
Directed by Ishiro Honda
It's the far distant future year of 1999, so naturally there's a base on the moon. Many of the giant monsters have been rounded up and sent to live on the "Monsterland" island. That is, until an alien force in spangly outfits frees the monsters, and using mind-control devices, turns them loose on the world's major cities. All of this is designed not only to weaken Earth's defenses, but to distract from their establishment of a secret base in Mt Fuji. Or something. Who cares? That's the part with the humans, and we're here to see monsters. Sadly, for a movie so jam-packed with monsters, we don't get to spend as much time with them as it seems like we ought to. There's the first scene with the monsters frolicking around their island. Then the shots of them attacking cities, which is pretty cool albeit brief. Then a bunch of people scenes happen.
FINALLY we get the big throw-down between King Ghidorah, a space monster doing the space invaders' bidding and everyone else. They go straight hate-crime on his ass, knocking the side off a mountain and revealing the secret alien base in the process. As Godzilla's son Minilla dances triumphantly atop the defeated foe, big poppa blasts and stomps his way into the base. There's some rocketship scenes, but they're remarkably slow and there's that issue with the exhaust smoke flowing upward like a road flare on a wire. Once again, the miniature work is excellent, although we barely get any urban settings this time out. Even being "miniature" the mountain with the alien base is taller than Godzilla, so it had to have been at least 10 to 12 feet tall in the studio. In addition to the paucity of kaiju scenes, much of the King Ghidorah battle felt a little lazy to me. The attacks were fairly pedestrian, and the camera did little to emphasize the scale of things. We're treated to a few shots over Godzilla's shoulder, which just doesn't seem like an angle we should ever see -- certainly without a helicopter. I'm sure I'll get kicked out of the Monster Squad for this, but I felt like King Kong vs. Godzilla had a much better sense of scale. For the biggest giant monster movie of its time, it just didn't feel that, well, big.
Wacky Races was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon in which a variety of racing teams competed to dubbed the "World's Wackiest Racer." One of those teams was the Gruesome Twosome; Big Gruesome being a lumbering Frankensteinian monster, and Little Gruesome being a small purple vampire. They drove car #2, the Creepy Coupe; a cross between a hearse and a haunted house. They ever-scheming duo kept various secret weapons in the belfry of their car, including a dragon.
