Let me just say that I am actually really proud of this book (which you can buy here!). I want to document how it came to be. It started all the way back right after I had finished my undergraduate degree. I was languishing and a bit directionless, but I used my time to write… Continue reading Corstae – Available Now!
King Kong Escapes
So much of the enjoyment of these kaiju films of the 60s is wrapped in how the third act plays out. If it's generic monster smashy stuff, it can work decently. If it's interesting in a new way, it can help to every so slightly elevate what came before. If it's merely in line with… Continue reading King Kong Escapes
Son of Godzilla
The return of Jun Fukuda to the Godzilla franchise pushes the whole affair more fully towards silliness and outright appeal to childish entertainment. Ishiro Honda did not approve, but he was not involved. There was almost always a certain seriousness to the monster action, making them real threats with puny humans underfoot, but the introduction… Continue reading Son of Godzilla
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
So much of what I get out of these monster movies from Japan in the 60s is how they take on the aspects of different genres to try and keep things interesting. This, the first Godzilla film not directed by Ishiro Honda since he was too busy to make Godzilla Raids Again, decides to take… Continue reading Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
Come Marry Me
This is such a weird little film in the middle of science fiction and monster mashes from Ishiro Honda, and it really just seems to have come together because Toho wanted to use Honda's bankable name on the project. It seems like a cheap little romance, something they could throw together pretty quickly, film on… Continue reading Come Marry Me
War of the Gargantuas
A direct sequel (with some small retconning) of Frankenstein vs. Baragon, War of the Gargantuas is mostly a generic Honda kaiju (or kaijin?) movie. There's still the thin characters, the insistence on categorization as a major plot thread, and then Eiji Tsuburaya's great special effects work. There's an extra wrinkle in the final act that… Continue reading War of the Gargantuas