I liked this one a lot better when I first saw it. That happens. Astro Boy started life as a manga created by the man who is perhaps the most highly respected Japanese cartoonist of all time, Osamu Tezuka. Astro — or “Tetsuan Atom” (“Mighty Atom“) as he is known in Japan — was so […]
Read more "Astro Boy (2009)"Most people don’t realize that William Castle directed a science fiction film. Mind you, that’s at least partly because it hasn’t been shown much in recent years. It doesn’t get much love. I’d be the first to admit that Project X (not to be confused with that film about monkeys with Matthew Broderick, or the […]
Read more "Project X (1968)"I don’t know. I think the Japanese were willing to release almost anything on VHS back in the Eighties. Of course, from my point of view, this isn’t a bad thing. Consider the curious case of Ichiro Ômomo: back in 1983, he created a short, 8mm student film, about Mighty Lady, a giant robot-like lady […]
Read more "All About Mighty Lady (1984)"It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this one, and I find, strangely enough, that I both like it more than I did before, and yet find it even further from the original story than I remembered — and not in a good way. Like most H.P. Lovecraft adaptations I’ve seen, it has very […]
Read more "Die, Monster, Die! [Monster of Terror] (1965)"The Tingler was William Castle’s finest moment. Most of you are probably familiar with the films he made in the late Fifties and early Sixties, where he coupled his flair for advertising with a series of gimmicks which supposedly added to the experience of watching the film in the theater. Of these gimmicks, the one […]
Read more "The Tingler (1959)"(aka, Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe’s War) What in the world did I just watch? I’d love to pretend that anything about this supposed Lawnmower Man sequel makes sense, but you know what? It doesn’t. Now it has been a long time since I saw the first film (I’m not a big fan, to put it […]
Read more "Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1995)"Honorable Mention I suppose a few words are in order about Minoru Kawasaki: He is, after all, one of those weird and thoroughly unexpected directors you only seem to find in Japan, who has made a career out of making strange Tokusatsu-inflected horror, fantasy and science fiction films. He made a name for himself with […]
Read more "Super Legend God Hikoza (2022)"(aka, The X-Files, X-Files: The Movie) I watched this one because Dave Cullen praised it. That isn’t the only favorable review of the film I’ve seen, not by a long shot. A lot of people liked this film, and most of them would agree with Dave’s assessment that it is a solid standalone thriller and […]
Read more "The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)"(Literal Translation: Wolf Hunting) According to IMDB’s Trivia page for this film, the director, Kim Hong Sun, claimed that they used two and a half tons of fake blood making this film. Having seen Project Wolf Hunting, I find it very hard to argue with that one. I mean, it has to be one of […]
Read more "Neugdaesanyang [Project Wolf Hunting] (2022)"I’ll admit it: I do like the occasional faux-Fifties Sci Fi parody — after all, I still enjoy the work of Christopher J. Mihm. But I’m beginning to get a bit frustrated with the whole subgenre. When you watch the original Fifties films, it is true that the dialogue isn’t exactly perfect. This has led […]
Read more "Don’t Let the Riverbeast Get You! (2012)"
rivets on the poster 