Ultimately, Night of the Blood Beast earns points for trying something a little different during the 1950s sci-fi boom, but its execution falls flat. Night of the Blood Beast is a 1958 science-fiction oddity directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and produced by the ever-prolific Roger Corman. Written by Martin VarnoContinue Reading
Despite the controversy around its creator, the film itself holds up as a sharp and entertaining example of road-based terror. Jeepers Creepers is a movie I’ve nominated for my Halloween Fifteen lineup several times but always ended up pushing aside. Honestly, I think that was partly because I didn’t reallyContinue Reading
Throw logic out the window and just sit back and enjoy the cartoonish, computer-generated mayhem. When Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse rumbled into movie theaters in 2014 with Godzilla, it did so with an advertising campaign that emphasized the movie’s gravitas. Director Gareth Edwards conservatively doled out peeks at the titular creatureContinue Reading
It’s not just a great Godzilla movie; it’s a great movie. Period. Celebrating his 70th anniversary in 2024, Japan’s biggest movie star, Godzilla, comes roaring back in what may be his most brutal screen outing yet. Godzilla Minus One again reinvents the atomic-powered lizard. This time around, he rises fromContinue Reading
Powered by the genius of stop-motion effects artist extraordinaire, Ray Harryhausen, the creature moves like a living, breathing animal. If you’ve ever wanted to know from where the idea for Godzilla originally spawned, look no further than 1953’s The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. It inspired not just Godzilla but virtuallyContinue Reading
With its strings clearly visible, nostrils flaring, and ping-pong ball eyes bulging out of their sockets, the bird (who is never named) inevitably trumps any attempt to make the film frightening. Atomic age monster movies are some of my favorite creature features. Logic and science are mashed together with fantasticContinue Reading
Despite my better judgment, I enjoyed Toxic Shark for what it is: a C-grade Syfy movie that started as a title and somehow became a movie. Other than Jaws, there are very few really good shark movies to pick from. A few movie studios, like The Asylum, have embraced theContinue Reading