News

Abertoir Horror Festival is back for its 19th year, returning to Aberystwyth Arts Centre from 14th to 17th November for in-person screenings, followed by a virtual event on 23rd and 24th November. The festival, with a theme dedicated to the terrifying world of killer animals and nature’s revenge, has seen such high demand this year that it has expanded to a larger auditorium to accommodate more horror fans.

“We’ve been truly blown away by the support for this year’s event,” said Festival Director Gaz Bailey. “We’re grateful to have been able to move to a bigger auditorium so we can accommodate even more audience members this year.” The expanded venue promises a grander experience with a massive screen, amplifying the festival’s signature thrills.

Abertoir’s line-up this year offers a mix of fresh premieres and horror classics. Welsh audiences will get the first look at Dead Talents Society,...

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has unveiled a killer lineup of programming for fall 2024, including in-person appearances from Rita Moreno, Sophia Loren, Werner Herzog and more, as well as exciting new screening events and a special free admission day on September 29 for the museum’s third anniversary.

Herzog will present a new 4K restoration of the documentary “Burden of Dreams,” about the making of his masterpiece “Fitzcarraldo,” on September 7. Moreno will appear in conversation October 17, followed by a screening of a 70mm print of Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ “West Side Story.” Loren will appear November 7 and 8 as part of the screening series Sophia Loren: La Diva di Napoli (running November 7 to 30), which celebrates her 90th birthday.

Also, on September 14, the Museum will present “American Fiction”: A Conversation with Cord Jefferson and Dr. Patricia Hill Collins, followed by a screening of the Oscar-winning movie. For Halloween, there will be Monster Mash,...

The 1970s was not just a prime decade for science fiction movies but an era in which those movies carried even more urgent messages about the many problems facing humanity on Earth. Sure, the sci-fi outings of the 1950s and early ‘60s carried warnings about nuclear destruction and radiation too, while the latter half of the ‘60s began delving into sociological examinations of race, youth culture, and radical politics. But the ‘70s introduced a whole new set of crises into the genre, in tandem with the growing awareness of such issues in the real world.

Climate change, unchecked population growth, lack of food, heavy pollution—all of those were prevalent in the science fiction cinema of the ‘70s, along with monsters, nuclear holocausts and other holdovers. But the messages seemed to hit harder, at least in the moment, because they were ripped in many cases right from the headlines. Decades later,...

Fans have long been demanding a sequel to Nicolas Cage’s Face/Off, and while there was indeed a plan for it, somehow it never gets off the ground. Director Adam Wingard, who famously helmed two Godzilla films, even admitted he met with the actor.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire / Legendary Pictures

Even after all the campaign efforts to get a follow-up to the 1997 action thriller movie, Wingard focused on making a sequel to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, but fans cannot blame him. Cage also loved the franchise that they ended up talking about it rather than Face/Off.

Adam Wingard Spoke With Nicolas Cage About Godzilla Movies

In an interview with Uproxx, filmmaker Adam Wingard revealed he discussed the plans for a sequel to Nicolas Cage’s Face/Off, but during their conversation, they could not help but insert some Godzilla topics.

I specifically had a meeting with Nic Cage about...

(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

"This isn't art. It isn't even great trash. It's a con game, and we bear the claw marks." That's what critic Rita Kempley wrote for the Washington Post in a particularly scathing review of Roland Emmerich's 1998 movie, "Godzilla." It was the first attempt by Hollywood to bring the classic monster to life in America, and it was a spectacular failure. That's what Warner Bros., Legendary, and director Gareth Edwards were working against while crafting 2014's "Godzilla." Skepticism was built in. They had to prove that a film within this franchise made outside of Japan could work. 

They did that and then some.

"Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be...

With Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire officially stomping its way into theaters tomorrow, some fans will be eager to revisit the many movies which make up the long-running series. If you’re wondering which Godzilla movies you should check out, Godzilla x Kong director Adam Wingard has revealed his personal top five movies in the franchise.

While speaking on the Inside Total Film podcast, Wingard said that the Shōwa era of the Godzilla franchise is his favourite, encompassing the movies which were released from 1954-1975. “I like the psychedelic, colorful vibe,” Wingard said. “Godzilla vs. Hedorah is my favorite of that series, because it’s the most experimental. It’s like the Easy Rider of Godzilla movies.” However, Wingard doesn’t just restrain himself to the Shōwa era, as he also loves 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. “In a way, it’s kind of the closest anything has ever been to the Shōwa films,...

Much like any other long-running franchise, "Godzilla" is filled with a great many would-be projects that never managed to see the light of day. Perhaps no scrapped project featuring the King of the Monsters is more consequential than what is most commonly known as "Godzilla 3-D." The film, which was in development in the early 2000s, was going to be a short filmed for IMAX made with American audiences in mind. It never came to be, but development of the project indirectly led to the creation of the MonsterVerse franchise, which kicked off with 2014's "Godzilla" and is still going strong today.

So, how do we go from theatrically-released short film to blockbuster-sized, American-produced theatrical feature? It's an odd, messy journey, and one that is a little heartbreaking in some ways for both fans and one of the franchise's most unique directors. Namely, Yoshimitsu Banno, who helmed 1971's "Godzilla vs. Hedorah,...

Family, friends, and fans mourn the loss of a man notable for his entertaining performances and bright personality that put smiles on peoples' faces. On December 16th, 2023, beloved actor and stunt performer Kenpachiro Satsuma passed away at the age of 76 following a battle with interstitial pneumonia. Multiple news outlets have reported on his passing. Nikkan Sports says the following on the website Yahoo! Japan: “Kenpachiro Satsuma, the second generation suit actor in the “Godzilla” movie series, died of interstitial pneumonia on March 16 at the age of 76″ Satsuma's family confirmed the news to be true on social media. His passing has been met with an outpour of tributes, including from individuals who knew Satsuma personally, people who worked with him, and those who admired his work.

Kenpachiro Satsuma, born Yasuaki Maeda, was a major player in the tokusatsu performance art known as suitmation, in which a fictional character is brought to...

Director Takashi Yamazaki sets his destroyer of worlds against a postwar Japan still recovering from the effects of the A-bomb with the little people left to work out how to save themselves

There are bazillions of Godzilla films out there, both from Japan and the US and this latest contribution to the franchise is one of the very best. It’s up there with the original 1954 film, the clever reboot from a few years ago Shin Godzilla, and my personal favourite, Godzilla vs the Smog Monster, Aka Godzilla vs Hedorah (1972), which rocks because it has extras in white gogo boots, head-trip sequences and, in the English dubbed version, a kicker of a theme song called Save the Earth.

However, like the other two aforementioned great Godzilla films, this one works because it puts the trauma of history at the very centre of the story, ultimately crafting a story about human...

U.S. audiences tend to accept Toho's earlier Godzilla movies as being high camp, usually thanks to Gen-x's half-remembered airings of late-'60s kaiju flicks broadcast on Uhf TV channels back in the 1980s. While there are some absurd and terrible Godzilla films from the Showa era (1954-1975), and many of them contained surreal, kitschy plot elements like invading aliens, one might also find several movies -- "Gojira," "Destroy All Monsters" -- that focus on Japanese national pride, the role of destructive weapons in the world, and a barely-simmering resentment lingering after a massive attack on the country. If modern superhero movies sprung from the U.S. subconscious as a fantastical revenge/preventative measure against 9/11, so too did Godzilla spring fully formed from the trauma left behind by the U.S.' atomic bomb attacks.

In the original "Gojira," that is literal. The titular creature, a stories-high amphibious animal,...

With bankruptcy looming over, Daiei decided to release one more Gamera movie to cash in on the giant turtle’s popularity. The budget was to be the same as the “Gamera vs. Jiger” but the plot, a return to the more child-friendly alien installments like “Gamera vs. Viras” or “Gamera vs. Guiron.” This couldn’t save Daiei Film and the company went bankrupt soon after the July release of the flick, forcing another to distribute the recently released movie. As a result, “Gamera vs. Zigra” turned out being the last Gamera film in a very long time if we don’t count the disastrous “Gamera: Super Monsters” from 1980.

A shark-shaped spaceship kidnaps a buggy from the surface of the Moon. On Earth, the same sentient ship kidnaps two marine biologists and their children, Kenichi (Yasushi Sakagami) and Helen (Gloria Zoellner) who are on an expedition to research about ocean pollution.

You can tell that the Halloween season is getting closer, between various retailers already donning their shelves with tons of decorations, the days are getting shorter, and Turner Classic Movies has debuted their October schedule online, which features an abundance of genre awesomeness that will be hitting airwaves this fall. Without a doubt, TCM is one of the best resources for classic film, so for those of you looking to broaden your horizons this Halloween, definitely check out their calendar and set those DVRs.

Also, TCM has designated Godzilla as their “Monster of the Month” for October, so look for a bunch of classic films featuring the “King of the Monsters” and other beloved Kaiju throughout October as well.

**All Listings are in Est.**

Friday, September 27th

3:15pm – The Mummy’s Shroud

6:30pm – The Mummy (1959)

Saturday, September 28th

2:00am – Belladonna of Sadness

3:30am – House (1977)

Sunday, September...

Japanese director Yoshimitsu Banno, who made his debut with Godzilla vs. Hedorah in 1971, died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage at his home in Kawasaki on Sunday. He was 86.

Released in the U.S. in 1972 as Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, the film was the 11th in the Godzilla series and featured an anti-pollution message, following the anti-nuclear messages of the earlier films.

Banno, who joined Toho in 1955, also acted as an executive producer on Legendary Pictures' 2014 take on the iconic Japanese monster franchise.

While at Toho, he acted as an assistant director on four Akira Kurosawa films, including...

**Massive spoilers for every Godzilla movie, with the exception of the 2014 reboot, and Mothra follow**

August 6th and 9th, 1945 forever changed the course of history. When the first nuclear bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, World War II ended, but a new fear was born that dominated the thoughts of all men, women, and children for decades to come. The Cold War, atomic bomb testing, a cartoon turtle telling children to “duck and cover”, and this new technology that had the actual potential to literally end the world changed the perception of what was scary. Art reflects life, so cinema began to capitalize on these fears. Gone were the days of creepy castles, cobwebs, bats, vampires, werewolves, and the other iconic images that ruled genre cinema in film’s earliest decades. Science fiction was larger than ever and giant ants, giant octopi, terror from beyond the stars, and...

Above: UK poster for Eno (Alphons Sinniger, UK, 1973). Designer: Blue Egg.

The most popular poster I’ve posted on my Movie Poster of the Day Tumblr in the past quarter—with over 1,000 likes and reblogs—has been this rarity that popped up at Posteritati this Spring. A British Double Crown (10" shorter than a one sheet) for a 24 minute documentary about the experimental music genius Brian Eno, made in 1973 at the start of his post-Roxy solo career, the poster’s popularity is no doubt due as much to the reverence Eno is held in as to its graphic design. But it is still a terrific poster, making simple yet brilliant use of two color printing and showcasing a multitude of Enos in all his glam rock glory. The text in the corner credits Blue Egg Printing and Design Ltd. and if anyone knows anything more about that company I’d love to hear about it.

There are monsters out there. Scary, big ones. And they’ll haunt our dreams and crawl on our bodies for eternity. Nothing will ever make us comfortable knowing they exist, even in fiction. Then, there are some that are just Goddamn ridiculous. Here are ten of such monsters.

The Fiend Without a Face (1958)

Though ultimately, they’re just crawling brains and spinal columns, the most interesting aspect of the fiends is their invisibility for the majority of the runtime as they slowly gain their terrifying form.

The Creeping Terror (1964)

A giant, moving rug. Due to the extremely low-budget, this largely-narrated alien invasion tale amounts to little more than a big, badly dilapidated wool rug laying on top of its victims.

Prophecy (1979)

John Frankenheimer’s nature-gone-wrong turns into more of a nature-film-gone-wrong and features a bizarre, giant fetus-like bear terrorizing a mountainside.

Murders in Rue Morgue (1932)

Robert Florey’s Universal picture...

Bobcat Goldthwait continues to throw off our expectations. He's made a horror movie - a "found footage" one at that - called Willow Creek, opening in select theaters and hitting VOD this Friday. The legend of Bigfoot, moreover, the famous Patterson-Gimlin film, is his inspiration this time as he tells the stories of a couple who venture into the wild of Northern California to make their own documentary about the cryptozoological superstar. Along the way, they interview the locals and visit the site of the Patterson-Gimlin film until they run into, well, trouble.

The post Shock Interview: Bobcat Goldthwait on Willow Creek, Found Footage & Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

For a creature who's been asleep for hundreds of millions of years, Godzilla is surprisingly adept at changing with the times.

Across 60 years and 30 movies, from his first appearance in 1954's "Godzilla" to the second American reboot "Godzilla" opening this week, the Lizard King has reflected the anxieties of his times, from World War II to the War on Terror, from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima to the atomic reactor disaster of Fukushima., and from Japan to the rest of the world.

Even in that first film, the linkage of the radioactive-breath monster with the atomic anxieties of the only nation ever attacked by nuclear weapons was explicit. "First Nagasaki, now this!" cries a woman in anticipation of Godzilla's imminent arrival. Less then a decade after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan's surrender in World War II, and just months after U.S. hydrogen bomb testing...

For a creature who's been asleep for hundreds of millions of years, Godzilla is surprisingly adept at changing with the times.

Across 60 years and 30 movies, from his first appearance in 1954's "Godzilla" to the second American reboot "Godzilla" opening this week, the Lizard King has reflected the anxieties of his times, from World War II to the War on Terror, from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima to the atomic reactor disaster of Fukushima., and from Japan to the rest of the world.

Even in that first film, the linkage of the radioactive-breath monster with the atomic anxieties of the only nation ever attacked by nuclear weapons was explicit. "First Nagasaki, now this!" cries a woman in anticipation of Godzilla's imminent arrival. Less then a decade after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan's surrender in World War II, and just months after U.S. hydrogen bomb testing...

I can't imagine sitting in a theater in 1954 in Japan and watching "Gojira" play for the first time. Ten years earlier, your country faces a nuclear nightmare, and for the first time in human history, the atom was used to wipe a city full of people off the planet in an instant. War reached its most horrifying manifestation, and it completely changed the world. But for Japan, it was not an abstract. It was a redefining moment, part of their identity from that moment, an actual scar they were going to have to live with. Looking at "Gojira" now, it feels like an attempt to come to terms with the hopelessness of that event in a way that people could watch together, a fantasy catharsis that the country needed. The stark black-and-white images of a giant monster smashing and burning Tokyo must have felt terrifying. Godzilla is barely a character in that first film.

Ace in the Hole (Criterion Collection) I've only seen Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole once before and it's as relevant now as it was when it was made as Kirk Douglas plays a reporter who ends up in Albuquerque and finds himself at the center of the story of a lifetime and he milks it for every headline he can. It's essentially a perfect example of today's Internet journalism.

Blazing Saddles: 40th Anniversary Edition One of the best comedies you're ever going to see and Warner Home Video is giving it the 40th Anniversary treatment and unless I'm mistaken the only new feature is a new interview with Mel Brooks looking back on the film and its effect on cinema.

Veronica Mars: The Movie The Veronica Mars movie will finally be available for everyone it was made for, those that don't go to the theater to see movies,...

As many Godzilla flicks that are being released to Blu-ray tomorrow, you’d think that a new Godzilla movie was coming to theaters soon, or something. Make no mistake, I’m not complaining. A day where I receive a dozen or more Godzilla movies on Blu-ray free for review, is a good day indeed. It is a tad bit overwhelming, though, as I also have 50 or so other Blu-rays to get through, and that’s not even mentioning the Gamera volumes recently released to Blu-ray. I do love me some Godzilla, though, so it’s not like I’m shoveling feces somewhere to earn my keep. First up is Kraken Releasing, who are bringing Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster, Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster, and Godzilla On Monster Island to Blu-ray on May the 6th. There are literally no extras on the discs beyond remastered theatrical trailers, so the bulk...

There are high expectations for the Godzilla reboot. Skeptics fear that this could become another farce like the 1998 version. Hell, even the original Toho series eventually degenerated into self-parody. There's hope for the new film as well, generated by the footage we've seen so far, and we feel that if Gareth Edwards and WB can steer clear of these ten horrible ideas from Godzilla's past, the film will be just fine.

Godzilla Running Away: One of the worst aspects of the lamentable 1998 version of Godzilla was that our reptilian star acted more like a scared animal than a destructive, savage force of nature. Zilla (as the American Godzilla is often called to differentiate him from the iconic Japanese Godzilla) spends most of the film running away from the military, rather than taking a stand. What kind of a kaiju retreats from soldiers? Not the Godzilla we know and love.

With Legendary Picture’s upcoming feature Godzilla releasing wide on May 16, 2014, here’s the first part of our extensive coverage from the set: a lengthy interview with director Gareth Edwards.

Beware - this coverage is as full of spoilers as ‘the Big G’ is radioactive (oops, there’s your first one there), so if you’d rather remain in the dark, not unlike San Francisco after Godzilla rolls over it (oh, there’s number two!), stop right here. Otherwise, suit up and Halo drop with us into gargantuan mayhem.

Part reboot and part direct sequel to director Ishiro Honda’s 1954 original of the same name, the 2014 Edwards-helmed Godzilla features actors Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Juliette Binoche (The English Patient), David Strathairn (The Bourne Legacy), Elizabeth Olsen and Ken Watanabe, in a script by Max Borenstein, Dave Callaham and Frank Darabont, which pits the world’s most...

We told you already that Section23 Films' new sub-label Kraken Releasing (a sister label to Switchblade Pictures) is getting ready to release three vintage Godzilla flicks for the first time ever on U.S. Blu-ray. Now we have a look at the artwork for you!

First up is the 1971 psychedelic anti-pollution daikaiju epic Godzilla vs. Hedorah, better known to American audiences by its Westernized title Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster.

From its opening “Save the Earth” theme song to the Wtf finale where Godzilla flies by rocketing himself through the air in the fetal position via his atomic breath, Godzilla’s ecological smackdown with a shape-shifting sludge monster dubbed Hedorah remains one of the most memorable outings in the annals of Godzilladom. But don’t tell that to Toho; the head of the company was hospitalized during the time of filming, and when he saw the finished product, he was...

The headline says it all. Expect more and more classic Godzilla titles to find their way to Blu-ray in the coming months as the May release of the big budget American reboot approaches.

Even King Kong is getting some hi-def lovin’ thanks to the King of the Monsters' resurgence.

King Kong vs. Godzilla may not ever get critical respect, but it has more than earned its status as one of the all-time great b-movies. The forerunner to the Alien vs. Predator, Freddy vs. Jason, Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys, and Batman vs. Superman of today, the King of the Monsters and the 8th Wonder of the World squared off for the one and only time in this 1963 Toho monsterpiece.

Synopsis:

When an underhanded pharmaceutical company goes to a remote tropical island to steal King Kong for advertising purposes, they get more than they bargained for when the gigantic ape attacks...

*Updated with release dates and new details* A brand new Godzilla movie is on the way and that means that we’ll also see a resurgence of the classic movies. It has been announced that Kraken Releasing is getting involved by releasing Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster and Godzilla vs. Gigan to Blu-ray this year:

“1967 may have been the Summer of Love, but 2014 will be the Summer of Godzilla®, and Kraken Releasing is spreading the kaiju (giant monster) goodness with the first U.S. Blu-ray release of three classic films featuring the world’s most famous giant reptile. Also available on DVD, and including both the English dubbed and original Japanese versions with English subtitles, these are three of the big G’s wildest adventures ever and showcase why, sixty years after his atomic birth at Japan’s Toho Studios, Godzilla® is still one of the biggest names in the entertainment industry!

This isn’t at all surprising. With a new Godzilla coming this May, we can probably expect to see quite a few of the King of the Monsters’ classic conflicts finally get the Blu-ray treatment.

You may not be familiar with new distribution company Kraken Releasing right now, but if you’re a Godzilla fan, you will be come this summer.

Section23 Films' new sub-label Kraken Releasing (a sister label to Switchblade Pictures) touts itself as a new international video distribution label specializing in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror genre entertainment for mainstream audiences. “Summer of Godzilla” is what they’re calling their plans to release three vintage Godzilla flicks for the first-time ever on U.S. Blu-ray.

First up, and the one I am most personally excited for, is the 1971 psychedelic anti-pollution daikaiju epic Godzilla vs. Hedorah, better known to American audiences by its Westernized title Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster.

One of our absolute favorite Godzilla flicks around these parts is no doubt the 1970 monster epic Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster, in which Big G took on pollution's nastiest weapon.

While everyone is still focused on the upcoming film from Legendary Pictures, a tidbit of news has come our way that is too tasty to ignore. Website Godzilla Fans Universe recently spoke with the executive producer of Godzilla 2014, Yoshimitsu Banno (who also co-wrote and directed the aforementioned 1970s flick), and the man dropped a pretty crazy bombshell.

"I am planning the sequel of Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster now," says Banno. "A new character named Midora will appear as a green saving monster in the sequel. Midora will help battle Hedorah. The new Hedorah comes out from the toxic sludge contaminated by the radioactive waste from an accident at a nuclear power plant. I wish to realize this film with...

Okay, let's start this off by saying, Nuke The Fridge, isn't known for scoops, but every so often they post a juicy nugget, such as the Man Of Steel leaked set photos. So, take this as merely a rumor. "Many reports have claimed that the plot for Legendary’s Godzilla film will revolve around the damage humans have caused to the earth’s environment. That being said if this peace of Rumor turns out to be true it would make perfect sense. We call it a “rumor” until it’s confirmed. We just received a scoop that the main monster that Godzilla will battle in the reboot is Hedorah (ヘドラ, Hedora) also known as The Smog Monster." - Nuke The Fridge Who is Hedorah? The Smog Monster, first appeared in the 1971 film, Godzilla vs. Hedorah. It starts off the film as a microscopic alien lifeform that feeds off of Earth's pollution.

More eye candy is coming out of the New York Comic Con as another one-sheet for Guillermo del Toro's giant-sized monster mash, Pacific Rim, is here. Check it out and remember to do your part to save the Earth. Just like that song from Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster.

Look for Pacific Rim in theatres July 12th of 2013. Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Rinko Kikuchi, Max Martini, Rob Kazinsky, Clifton Collins, Jr., and Diego Klattenhoff star.

Travis Beacham's script is set in 2025, the 12th year of a war against alien creatures who reside in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The story finds a group of humans banding together to create and pilot massive robots to fight the giant creatures threatening to destroy Earth.

Synopsis

From acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ epic sci-fi action adventure Pacific Rim.

When legions of monstrous creatures,...

Godzilla is being reinvented for a new generation. The reboot is due in the summer of 2014. This is a look at the long history of the Godzilla franchise, providing new viewers with everything they need to know about the King of Monsters.

Godzilla always returns. You can't keep a good monster down. A new Godzilla film is being produced by Legendary Pictures and is scheduled for release in 2014, which will be the 60th anniversary of Gojira, the first screen appearance of the perennially popular atomic mutation. (The image below is the only piece of the new teaser trailer which has been leaked to the internet, but it's not very clear.) For those who are unfamiliar with the six decade history of the most popular monster of the Japanese film industry, here's everything you need to know about the king of the monsters.

 

Godzilla--originally called "Gojira"--was inspired by (some...

The new J.J. Abrams film Super 8 opens this week, and it stars Kyle Chandler as a small town sheriff who has to cope with mysterious happenings and inexplicable events that could foretell an alien invasion, or worse ... the end of the world.

That got us thinking about other apocalyptic heroes throughout the years, and how their glowing hotness was used as a beacon to help guide us through to safety.

Or was the last thing we saw before the world ended.

Either way, we're glad these guys were on our side, and present this tribute to the Hunks of the Apocalypse!

Note - You may be wondering why two of the most popular end-of-the-world films, Armageddon and War of the Worlds are not included.

Well, Armageddon sucks. And after watching that scene where Ben Affleck rolls animal crackers on Liv Tyler's naked stomach while "I Don't Want To...

This writer has been to the beloved New Beverly Cinema countless times over the last several years, but not for something nearly as cool as what I experienced last Wednesday night. Last week, the four masterminds behind the upcoming horror anthology Chillerama- Adam Green, Joe Lynch, Adam Rifkin and Tim Sullivan- all converged with their relative casts in tow to the revival theater to shoot the final scenes of the film.

Green explained the reasoning behind wanting to shoot at the New Beverly, a place I know that he and the other directors have spent countless nights at throughout the years. “The New Beverly is such a special, special place to all Los Angeles' cinefiles and most of the working genre directors have spent a lot of time there over the years. From the old grindhouse double features to the random midnight horror selections to my own ‘Evening...

The Film:

Shout! Factory has graced fans of Daiei’s Gamera with some amazing releases from the Showa era series (and you can read Jon’s reviews here, here, here, and here) over the past year. However, like all good things, they must end, and so must this. The studio finishes out their resurrection of Gamera with the final two entries Gamera vs. Zigra and Gamera: The Super Monster. Gamera vs. Zigra: Like the previous entries in the Showa series, Gamera vs. Zigra continues the cheesy, kid friendly nature the series is famous or infamous (depending on who you ask) for. Another trait the series has been known for were the rip-off aspects of Toho’s Godzilla, and this film is no exception. Gamera vs. Zigra was released in 1971 along with Yoshimitsu Banno’s Godzilla vs. Hedorah, both of which use environmental pollution as the theme. However, in Zigra...

Vintage kaiju one-sheets have been found in Polish/Czech and Monster Brains have beautiful scans of them. Many are from the Showa Godzilla/Gojira series. Give them a peek here, as we sampled a few (Godzilla; Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster; and Terror of the MechaGodzilla), but browse their site for a ton more.

And for you Gamera fans, here’s the Polish Gamera, The Super Monster (1980) one-sheet:

As a collector myself, they melt my monster heart.

There are few things we find more irresistible than the Japanese giant monster movies of yesteryear. A staple of many of our childhoods, these wonderfully campy flicks live on today through DVD and Blu-ray and are bound to charm generations to come into loving huge city stompers.

One of our favorite blogs, Monster Brains, has put up one of the single most impressive galleries of Polish/Czech giant monster movie posters we have ever seen.

There are a couple of samples below for you to dig on, but do yourselves a favor -- hit up that link and dig on all of the beauty, glory, and fun of this masterful one-sheet gallery in its entirety. Bless your giant-sized hearts, Monster Brains. This is a true gift for fans!

Godzilla

Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster

The Terror of Mecha-Godzilla

King Kong Escapes

The X From Outer Space

Gappa

War of the...

With maverick filmmakers Werner Herzog and David Lynch collaborating on My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, James ponders what could come from this creative pairing in the future…

Ladies, gentleman and man-eating bears, lend me your ears. (When I'm finished with them I'll leave them in a field on the outskirts of town. I suggest you get there quick before some nosey young man with an urge to play detective finds them, starts snooping and drags disturbing stuff out into the open.)

I have a film pitch for you and it goes straight on the list of 'Films You Never Thought You'd See or Thought You'd Ever Want To See'. It's a mash-up of concepts in the style of old composite monster flicks (Frankenstein Meets The Wolf-Man, Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster, etc.) featuring stunning Alaskan country scenery, terrifying hairdos, jarring ambient sound effects and astounding wildlife. It's...

San Francisco’s Viz Cinema — the first theater in the Us to focus solely on screening Japanese films and Anime — will be hosting the five-day Kaiju Shakedown: Godzillathon, preceeded by the third event in their series of Japanese cult film festivals, TokyoScope Talk: War of the Giant Monsters. This presentation will feature Patrick Macias, Editor-in-Chief of the Japanese pop culture Otaku USA, August Ragone, Japanese film historian supreme, and Japanese critic Tomohiro Machiyama. Part of the presentation will be a raffle giveaway, with top prize being a copy of Shout! Factory’s new DVD edition of 1965’s Gamera: The Giant Monster, the film that introduced the fire-breathing chelonian to the world! (Mr. Ragone provides a commentary on this edition.)

Beginning on May 8, Viz will show 35mm, English subtitled prints of four of the later pictures from the classic Showa Era of Godzilla films: 1971’s Godzilla vs. Hedorah (aka Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster...