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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2015 9:42:40 GMT -5
Shaxper said "If you need a good laugh this month, you know where to go now." ... referring to his selection of Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) ... I saw this movie once about 3-5 years ago and I was laughing so hard because of craziness that this movie brings.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,872
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Post by shaxper on Aug 17, 2015 0:49:21 GMT -5
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) Can't believe I wasn't aware of this one until now, especially since it's probably Ray Harryhausen's finest work. I'd always assumed the giant monster concept (though inspired by King Kong) was a Japanese invention, beginning with Godzilla. I had no idea this film predated it and set the bar. The beast is brilliantly convincing, the action is well-paced, the acting strong, the news segments in which we watch the city's forces mobilize in response to all that's occurring felt disturbingly real, the idea that the creature carried prehistoric plagues with it to which we had no immunity was genius, and there were even small moments where I legitimately got slightly frightened as scenes began to resemble generic childhood nightmares. Cinema seldom does this to me. So I guess I now understand what this comic was referencing back in the day: 
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 17, 2015 7:40:08 GMT -5
Here's another Batman story "paying homage" to another undersea creature...  |
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Post by Jesse on Aug 17, 2015 9:18:52 GMT -5
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is actually based on Ray Bradbury short story "The Fog Horn" which is quite good. In his essay titled "The Turkey That Attacked New York" Bradbury describes how he personally was not too happy with the film.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2015 9:31:14 GMT -5
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is actually based on Ray Bradbury short story "The Fog Horn" which is quite good. In his essay titled "The Turkey That Attacked New York" Bradbury describes how he personally was not too happy with the film. I read that too (somewhere in the vast confines in the internet) and I couldn't understand why. I just loved the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and I agree with Shax's comments about Ray Harryhausen's work on this film. It's an amazing film back then and still is. Ray Bradbury's comments still bothers me today! |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 17, 2015 12:19:29 GMT -5
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)Can't believe I wasn't aware of this one until now, especially since it's probably Ray Harryhausen's finest work. I'd always assumed the giant monster concept (though inspired by King Kong) was a Japanese invention, beginning with Godzilla. I had no idea this film predated it and set the bar. The beast is brilliantly convincing, the action is well-paced, the acting strong, the news segments in which we watch the city's forces mobilize in response to all that's occurring felt disturbingly real, the idea that the creature carried prehistoric plagues with it to which we had no immunity was genius, and there were even small moments where I legitimately got slightly frightened as scenes began to resemble generic childhood nightmares. Cinema seldom does this to me. So I guess I now understand what this comic was referencing back in the day: Oh man, this one is an absolute classic! I can't believe you had never seen it. I might watch it today. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2015 15:32:07 GMT -5
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)Can't believe I wasn't aware of this one until now, especially since it's probably Ray Harryhausen's finest work. I'd always assumed the giant monster concept (though inspired by King Kong) was a Japanese invention, beginning with Godzilla. I had no idea this film predated it and set the bar. The beast is brilliantly convincing, the action is well-paced, the acting strong, the news segments in which we watch the city's forces mobilize in response to all that's occurring felt disturbingly real, the idea that the creature carried prehistoric plagues with it to which we had no immunity was genius, and there were even small moments where I legitimately got slightly frightened as scenes began to resemble generic childhood nightmares. Cinema seldom does this to me. So I guess I now understand what this comic was referencing back in the day: Oh man, this one is an absolute classic! I can't believe you had never seen it. I might watch it today. It's a beauty of a movie - I have seen this about a dozen times and never, ever gotten tired of it. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 17, 2015 15:44:07 GMT -5
Attack of the Crab Monsters 1957 Directed by Roger Corman  I'm a huge fan of Corman's Poe adaptations so its surprising that I had never seen this awesome B-Movie by him. I use awesome not in the sense that its a great film, it's pretty terrible, but it's fun none the less...more fun then it has a right to be given that it's a film about giant telapathic crabs. Yeah, they didn't just get huge from the atomic power but they became hyper intelligent as well. It's shlocky and the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense but Corman was a director who didn't fuck around, there wasn't a single wasted second here and while its never scary there are a few unnerving scenes with disembodied voices. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 17, 2015 16:34:02 GMT -5
Attack of the Crab Monsters 1957 Directed by Roger Corman I'm a huge fan of Corman's Poe adaptations so its surprising that I had never seen this awesome B-Movie by him. I use awesome not in the sense that its a great film, it's pretty terrible, but it's fun none the less...more fun then it has a right to be given that it's a film about giant telapathic crabs. Yeah, they didn't just get huge from the atomic power but they became hyper intelligent as well. It's shlocky and the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense but Corman was a director who didn't fuck around, there wasn't a single wasted second here and while its never scary there are a few unnerving scenes with disembodied voices. Legendary when I was a kid b/c somebody's hand is clipped off by a crab monster (sounds like a nickname for a partner you'd want to avoid) and you see it lying on the ground pulsating and bloody. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 17, 2015 16:43:30 GMT -5
Attack of the Crab Monsters 1957 Directed by Roger Corman I'm a huge fan of Corman's Poe adaptations so its surprising that I had never seen this awesome B-Movie by him. I use awesome not in the sense that its a great film, it's pretty terrible, but it's fun none the less...more fun then it has a right to be given that it's a film about giant telapathic crabs. Yeah, they didn't just get huge from the atomic power but they became hyper intelligent as well. It's shlocky and the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense but Corman was a director who didn't fuck around, there wasn't a single wasted second here and while its never scary there are a few unnerving scenes with disembodied voices. Legendary when I was a kid b/c somebody's hand is clipped off by a crab monster (sounds like a nickname for a partner you'd want to avoid) and you see it lying on the ground pulsating and bloody. For a movie from the 50's it was surprisingly gory, I mean, it's tame by today's standards but other than this film I don't think I've ever come across an earlier movie that attempted to realistically portray amputations. And it did so right out of the gate, in the first five min. you get to see the result of a sailor who lost his head when he fell out of the boat. |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,872
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Post by shaxper on Aug 17, 2015 18:23:23 GMT -5
Legendary when I was a kid b/c somebody's hand is clipped off by a crab monster (sounds like a nickname for a partner you'd want to avoid) and you see it lying on the ground pulsating and bloody. For a movie from the 50's it was surprisingly gory, I mean, it's tame by today's standards but other than this film I don't think I've ever come across an earlier movie that attempted to realistically portray amputations. And it did so right out of the gate, in the first five min. you get to see the result of a sailor who lost his head when he fell out of the boat. Even just the fact that it showed blood. Hershey's chocolate syrup in Norman Bates' bathtub aside, you didn't get much blood in films until the Hammer Studios stuff at the end of the decade. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 17, 2015 18:33:45 GMT -5
For a movie from the 50's it was surprisingly gory, I mean, it's tame by today's standards but other than this film I don't think I've ever come across an earlier movie that attempted to realistically portray amputations. And it did so right out of the gate, in the first five min. you get to see the result of a sailor who lost his head when he fell out of the boat. Even just the fact that it showed blood. Hershey's chocolate syrup in Norman Bates' bathtub aside, you didn't get much blood in films until the Hammer Studios stuff at the end of the decade. That was the first that sprung to mind, but even Psycho was three years after Attack of the Crab Monsters. I'm really struggling to think of something more graphically violent on film, this film may be the grandfather of all summer slashers in that regard, which is fitting as Corman's 50's b-movies really gave birth to that exploitative kind of film. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 17, 2015 18:50:28 GMT -5
On an unrelated note my friend Mark just texted me a video of what he did to Raiders of the Lost Ark...he made it a black and white film and it was amazing!
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 17, 2015 20:24:07 GMT -5
Even just the fact that it showed blood. Hershey's chocolate syrup in Norman Bates' bathtub aside, you didn't get much blood in films until the Hammer Studios stuff at the end of the decade. That was the first that sprung to mind, but even Psycho was three years after Attack of the Crab Monsters. I'm really struggling to think of something more graphically violent on film, this film may be the grandfather of all summer slashers in that regard, which is fitting as Corman's 50's b-movies really gave birth to that exploitative kind of film. Another legendary movie when I was a kid was the excellent WW2 film Attack!, which was notorious for the scene in which a GI's arm is run over by a German tank. It became increasingly more gruesome as kids who saw it told kids who hadn't. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 17, 2015 21:10:34 GMT -5
That was the first that sprung to mind, but even Psycho was three years after Attack of the Crab Monsters. I'm really struggling to think of something more graphically violent on film, this film may be the grandfather of all summer slashers in that regard, which is fitting as Corman's 50's b-movies really gave birth to that exploitative kind of film. Another legendary movie when I was a kid was the excellent WW2 film Attack!, which was notorious for the scene in which a GI's arm is run over by a German tank. It became increasingly more gruesome as kids who saw it told kids who hadn't. I'm going to have to check that out. |
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