This issue boasts loads of mouth-wateringly marvellous Godzilla-related contents, plus a massive celebration of the bloody & brilliant cult classic SHOGUN ASSASSIN. There are other goodies too, including reviews of a bunch of entertaining movies, including MONSTER SHARK and RIVER OF BLOOD.

Posters for River of Blood and Monster Shark

Forming part of this issue’s massive Godzilla movies zone is a series of 12 mini-articles, written by a selection of creative people (artists, actors, directors, publishers, and so on), who each choose their favourite Godzilla film to praise!

In this issue…

A TRIBUTE TO GODZILLA
51 pages are devoted to Godzilla – the King of the Monsters!

The Godzilla-tastic contents include:

JORG’S TOP FIVE GODZILLA MOVIES
Director Jörg Buttgereit, famed for his transgressive arthouse-horror movies NEKROMATIK (1988), DER TODESKING (1990), NEKROMATIK 2 (1991) and SCHRAMM (1993), shares with us his top 5 Godzilla movies!

RUSSELL FOX PRAISES… GODZILLA (1954)
Russell Fox, the comic book illustrator who has credits that include work for 2000AD and cover art for Dynamite Entertainment’s PURGATORI comics, explains why this Godzilla flick influences his style.

ALLAN BRYCE PRAISES… MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA
Allan Bryce, the convivial editor of the very popular magazines THE DARK SIDE and INFINITY, gushes about his fave Godzilla film.

WILLIAM MARTELL PRAISES… GODZILLA MINUS ONE
William Martell, who is the writer of films including NINJA BUSTERS, DROID GUNNER and HARD EVIDENCE (and the author of the incredibly helpful how-to book on writing for the movies: THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING), informs us why this Big G film ticks all the boxes!

KEN MILLER PRAISES… DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
The editor of IMAGINATOR magazine loves this film – and now he’s going to tell you why.

HANS KAUFMANN PRAISES… GODZILLA (2014)
Hans Kaufmann, the director, writer, editor and producer of the social-drama-meets-Taxi-Driver movie THE WORKING MAN (2019), fills us in on why he thinks this US Godzilla release is so good.

DAVID FITZGERALD PRAISES… SHIN GODZILLA
David Fitzgerald, the FX artist & actor who helped create the barbaric outfit worn by the god-monster in RAWHEAD REX (1986) and starred in the M.R. James parody horror film SQUEAK AND I’LL RUN TO YOU (2021), reveals that he likes the look of Shin Godzilla’s teeth!

RICKY BAKER PRAISES… GODZILLA MINUS ONE
Ricky Baker, editor of the kung-tastic magazine EASTERN HEROES and the co-author of THE NEW ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO HONG KONG MOVIES, highlights what makes this modern Godzilla classic rock!

DIALLO JACKSON PRAISES… KING KONG VS. GODZILLA
Diallo Jackson, the writer/creator whose work includes short stories, novels, and the comic book THE PARANORMALS, reveals why this film was appointment viewing for him.

RAIMUND HUBER PRAISES… GODZILLA MINUS ONE
Raimund Huber, the director of thrilling, kinetic actioners like BANGKOK ADRENALINE (2009) and KILL ‘EM ALL (2012), divulges why he thinks this Godzilla movie stands out.

JOE CASTRO PRAISES… GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER
Joe Castro, the special effects artist who has created numerous great-looking practical (often very splattery) FX gems for productions including BLOOD FEAST 2: ALL U CAN EAT (2002), BONEHILL ROAD (2017), THE BEAST COMES AT MIDNIGHT (2023) and TERROR TOONS (2002), reveals how this Showa era Godzilla film inspired him to join the movie business.

RUSSELL SHAW PRAISES… GODZILLA MINUS ONE
Russell Shaw, the actor who has starred in WITCH (2024), ADVENTURE BOYZ (2019), THE LOCKDOWN HAUNTINGS (2021), ESCAPE (2023) and many more films, describes why this is, for him, a truly impressive Godzilla movie.

Actor Russell Shaw praises Godzilla Minus One

MARK DUFFIELD PRAISES MONSTERS FROM AN UNKNOWN PLANET
Mark Duffield, who is the writer, director and cinematographer of the Thai-based supernatural movie GHOST OF MAE NAK (2005), and the writer, director, producer, editor, art director and cinematographer of the fine Victorian-set Gothic horror film DEMON (2012), fondly remembers seeing this Godzilla film in the cinema back in the 70s…

GODZILLA VS. MARVEL
Read about GODZILLA VS. AVENGERS, and find out why the one-shot comic GODZILLA VS. THOR is so very, very good!

GODZILLA – KING OF THE KAIJU
A 16-page appreciation of EVERY ONE of the city-trashing behemoth’s many, many movies!

Godzilla - King of the Kaiju title page - detail

THE MISSING MONSTER FROM GODZILLA VS. KONG
Hollywood Creature Designer Ken Barthelmey talks about a beast he designed for GODZILLA VS. KONG, which never made it into the movie…

GODZILLA POSTER GALLERY
Feast your eyes on a sumptuous selection of stunning Godzilla artworks.

ULTRA HD HAVOC!
Johnny Burnett raves about Godzilla movies released on 4K UHD and Blu-ray!

Detail from 'Ultra HD Havoc!' title page

A CELEBRATION OF SHOGUN ASSASSIN

40 pages are given over to honouring SHOGUN ASSASSIN and the LONE WOLF AND CUB films & comics! This includes an overview of the superb, gory samurai flick SHOGUN ASSASSIN, plus a quick lowdown on every LONE WOLF AND CUB movie and TV show, and there’s a dive into the world of the original manga too!

VOICE OF DAIGORŌ!
Gibran Evans, who gave Daigorō his voice in SHOGUN ASSASSIN, talks to us!

MASTER POSTER PAINTER!
An interview with Jim Evans, painter of the iconic SHOGUN ASSASSIN poster!

Plus – SHOGUN ASSASSIN and LONE WOLF AND CUB Blu-rays & DVDs are reviewed!

RADIOACTIVE REVIEWS

Movies reviewed include THE LAST SACRIFICE and MONSTER ISLAND. Guest reviews from horror novelist Ramsey Campbell and scriptwriter William Martell!

Shot of creature from Monster Island — Monster Island

LIGHT AND SHADOW
Plunge into the striking b&w world of artist Russell Fox’s fantastical comic book illustrations!

Some of these articles originally appeared in issue 2 of FILM FRENZY, a magazine Ken Miller edited and co-published through Eastern Heroes. Now that he’s running his own publication, Ken decided to share some of those contents, notably the SHOGUN ASSASSIN features, because, well, they’re great, especially the interviews with two key figures connected to the making of the movie: Jim Evans and Gibran Evans. Hopefully more readers will now get the chance to enjoy this material!

Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (1995)

August 26, 2025 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Promo art — Get ready for lots of low budget blood and gore!

Starring Shinichi Fukazawa, Masaaki Kai and Asako Nosaka. Written, directed and produced by Shinichi Fukazawa.

Naoto (Fukazawa) is asked by his ex- girlfriend, Mika (Nosaka), to take her to the haunted house that Naoto has inherited from his deceased dad. They are accompanied by a psychic (Kai), who is able to pick up on an ominous presence in the building. Later, the face of Naoto’s dead father (also played by Fukazawa) appears on a TV screen to warn his son that the psychic is possessed by the ghost of his murdered lover, who has the power to prevent them from leaving the house… and Naoto is informed that the only way to deal with the psychic is to hack him to bits!

Low budget gory things occur throughout the film

This very low budget film from Japan, also known as THE JAPANESE EVIL DEAD, looks really grainy (it was shot on Super 8) and manages to make Sam Raimi’s 1981 movie look like a big budget IMAX production in comparison! Shinichi Fukazawa filmed most of this flick in 1995, but it wasn’t released on DVD in Japan until 2012. It received an official international release in the UK by Terracotta Distribution in 2017, and since then Visual Vengeance has released the film on Blu-ray in America.

Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell artwork — Artwork for the Visual Vengeance release

There are lots of lo-fi FX to keep you watching BLOODY MUSCLE BODY BUILDER IN HELL, such as when the ghost drops a pendant into the psychic’s mouth, after which the pendant slithers from the victim’s mouth via jerky stop-motion effects, then bores through his eye, into his head! We also get to see a knife rammed through a head, skewering an eyeball on the blade’s tip. Some of the visual gore gags are fun, like when Naoto uses his chest expander as a kind of catapult to fire an iron bar through a zombie’s head. These effects are far from realistic, but I guess it’s the willingness of Fukazawa to try and put this stuff onscreen not matter what that counts.

As much as Fukazawa tries to emulate Sam Raimi’s first two EVIL DEAD movies (at one point the lead character even says “Groovy”), there’s a lack of real verve and bravura camera techniques compared to Raimi’s productions. The location lacks atmosphere too, with everything shot in close-up. But perhaps it’s churlish to be too critical about the film’s shortcomings, as there’s an I’m-doing-the-best-I-can determination to the proceedings, with Fukazawa trying to get as much up on screen as his budget (and his skills) will allow. Thus we get a severed head zipping about on a severed hand, more cheap and cheerful stop-motion footage, and a sequence where the dead girl uses body parts and blood to regrow herself à la a bargain basement version of what happens in HELLRAISER (1987).

A shot from Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell

The film ends with shots of a decomposing zombie body, again accomplished by stop-motion and amateur gore effects, that apes the finale of THE EVIL DEAD (1981), though it’s all done in a far less accomplished way, of course.

If you’re partial to do-it-yourself horror productions and you’re happy to ignore the many shortcomings, the non-existent budget, and a lack of professional technique, then this short, inexpertly-made, unpretentious homage to Sam Raimi’s classics just might be your cup of (tarnished) tea.

Meg 2: The Trench (2023)

August 25, 2025 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Jason Statham versus megalodons and other aquatic monsters! Yay!

Starring Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Shuya Sophia Cai, Cliff Curtis, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris-Mencheta and Skyler Samuels. Written by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber and Dean Georgaris. Directed by Ben Wheatley.
Apelles Entertainment/China Media Capital/Flagship Entertainment Group/Gravity Pictures

Jonas Taylor (Statham), when he’s not doing eco-warrior stuff like exposing illegal radioactive waste dumping, is a committed single parent dad, who tells his daughter Meiying (Cai) that she can’t go on the upcoming submersible exploration of the prehistoric world that exists at the bottom of the nearby deep sea trench. Meiying stows away on one of the two mini subs anyway, so Jonas must do his best to keep her alive after their submersibles are put out of action by explosions triggered by an illegal mining operation overseen by a villain called Montes (Peris-Mencheta).

Jonas, his brother-in-law Zhang (played in a no-nonsense manner by Wu Jing), Meiying and the other sub survivors must now leave their wrecked craft and trudge across the ocean floor to seek a means of escape within the mining operation’s undersea base. This portion of the film is really enjoyable, with the scriptwriters throwing a lot of obstacles in the way of the characters, forcing them to exit their smashed-up subs after it’s disclosed that their backup rescue sub has been sabotaged by unknown betrayers, leaving them with no option but to don reinforced diving suits and start walking through a bioluminescent zone in the hope that the brightness will hide their helmet beams from the enormous megalodons swimming above them. After encountering a toothy eel/lamprey and other denizens of the deep, they find themselves having to take a risky shortcut through a dark valley as their air runs perilously low.

It’s then a race against time to get inside the secret base before prehistoric sharks or some equally prehistoric, toothy amphibious beasties get them! Even inside this base the threats continue, as Jonas has to battle the vicious Montes, water starts pouring into the place, and a supposedly friendly workmate at HQ jettisons escape capsules before the protagonists can use them to get to the surface. At one point Jonas even swims outside the base without a suit! One of the characters explains how it is possible for Jonas to do this (he has to expel all the air from his nostrils, etc), but I think the main reason Jonas can survive the powerful pressures at the bottom of the trench is because of one very important factor: he’s played by hardman Jason frickin’ Statham!

At one point Statham kicks a giant shark in the face! Yes!

As the story unfolds, MEG 2: THE TRENCH presents us with giant prehistoric sharks and other critters escaping into the upper ocean after explosions cause a breach in the cold water barrier that usually seals off the undersea lost world. The movie also mixes in armed merc bad guys, a semi-trained captive megalodon, and underhand characters who’re willing to kill their colleagues to cover up the fact they’re running a rare minerals mining set-up in the trench.

Toothsome amphibious salamander-critters are encountered in the trench, and they later reach the surface

Many critics and viewers have mercilessly ripped into this movie, but I think it’s a really enjoyable, fun creature flick! Any movie that begins with a prologue set in the Cretaceous Period, showing a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex getting munched by a megalodon (okay, I know megalodons didn’t exist during the age of the dinosaurs, but so what?) is obviously letting viewers know that they need to sit back and enjoy the monster antics coming up!

The movie starts off in the Cretaceous Period, and why not?

Director Ben Wheatley, better known for off-kilter, sometimes quirky, sometimes psychedelic low budget horror pics like KILL LIST (2011), SIGHTSEERS (2012), A FIELD IN ENGLAND (2013), and IN THE EARTH (2021), here goes into full blockbuster mode, presenting us with a mega-enjoyable third act that sees the tourists at the holiday resort of Fun Island getting attacked by super-sized sharks, a huge octopus, and swarms of smaller amphibious predators! There’s a fun shot seen from the inside of a megalodon’s mouth as it chows down on hapless swimmers, and there’s a gag where a tentacle disrupts a waterside wedding!

Statham on a jet ski, chased by monster sharks!

As the likeable main characters deal with gun-toting killers as well as the berserk beasts, lots are exciting (sometimes verging on silly) incidents are thrown at the screen: Statham hurling homemade spear-bombs at the monsters as he pilots a jet ski! A megalodon-vs-kraken fight! Undulating tentacles assaulting a helicopter! And, best of all, Statham using a broken helicopter rotor blade to skewer a megalodon through its open maw! Sweet!

Jonas lifts up a broken rotor blade... — Jonas lifts up a broken rotor blade…

...and he rams it through a megalodon's head! Sweet! — …and he rams it through a megalodon’s head! Sweet!

Don’t listen to the naysayers: just get a beer (or two), switch off your brain, and enjoy the on-screen antics! Colossal prehistoric sharks, a killer kraken, Statham being Statham, hordes of salamander monsters, and generous doses of action: what’s not to like?!

Mutant Tiger (2022)

August 16, 2025 Ken Miller 1 Comment

This film boasts a pretty neat nighttime sword sword fight in the rain! — This film boasts a pretty kinetic nighttime sword sword fight in the rain!

Starring Xie Miao, Hong Jianing, Xiang Hao, Zhang Haosen and Wang Yukai. Written by Yang Bingjia and directed by Liu Wenpu.
Beijing Bona Film & Television Culture Co.

The Great Eunuch orders the large-scale hunting of tigers after being informed that the big cats can be used to create Tiger Golden Elixir, which will increase his ‘yang energy’ (this elixir is extracted from tigers after they’ve been scorched with an ancient form of flamethrower!) Liang City, situated near the southwest border, behind Thousand Mile Tiger Ridge, is used as the HQ (referred to as the Eastern Depot) for this tiger-hunting operation. But one of the captive tigers escapes, transmits ‘plague’ to the wild tiger population, and eventually the area is besieged by killer felines! Meanwhile, Zhang (Miao), new to the Imperial Guard, balks at being ordered to kill a rebel’s daughter, and he takes out the other guards instead, in a snazzily-shot sword skirmish during a nighttime downpour. He then heads for the Eastern Depot to look for his brother Liuping, a tiger hunter, and Zhang soon finds himself caught up in the tiger attacks.

Xie Miao is really quite good as the hero, Zhang

In due course Zhang discovers that the Eunuch’s warlock has infected the tigers with a rabies-like distemper to create the Tiger Golden Elixir. These tigers, just like dogs with rabies, fear water, which Zhang intends to use to his advantage, to help save a group of survivors trapped in an inn.

Smirk-faced tiger — Smirk-faced killer tiger!

The CGI tigers ain’t all that, but the action in general, choreographed by action director Qin Pengfei, is good, and viewers are not shortchanged with regard to the amount of onscreen monster mayhem. Xie Miao, as Zhang, carries the movie with a committed performance, exuding a distinctive Ti Lung vibe throughout. This dude is pretty good.

There’s a full-on tiger attack on the walled settlement of Liang City, with lots of folks falling victim to the scabrous beasts (every tiger in the world must be here, I reckon, based on the sheer number of striped felines shown in these scenes!) Though they’re far from the best CGI critters ever committed to film, an occasional close-up of a tiger does look pretty sweet, with these killer cats possessing a semi-smirking expression on their faces.

Cool French streaming poster — Cool poster

MUTANT TIGER, aka MUTANT TIGER CHRONICLES, is a decent period-set creatures-attack adventure romp that does kill off characters I was sure would survive, including three lacy robes-clad fighting femmes. In recent Chinese films you can never be certain if the hero will make it to the end, and here Zhang has a last stand confrontation on a rope bridge, which is a nicely handled sequence, showing him fighting off tigers and one of the imperial villains, who has swallowed the coveted Tiger Golden Elixir pill and has become a zombie-like, white-eyed, black-toothed, rabid dude who can command the cats! A mid-credits scene, however, does offer hope for Zhang’s chances of surviving the tiger invasion…

Imaginator #10 Coming Soon!

August 8, 2025 Ken Miller Leave a comment

IMAGINATOR ISSUE 10 boasts loads of new, mouth-watering, marvellous Godzilla-related contents! Plus – there are excellent features that originally appeared in issue 2 of Film Frenzy magazine – so, if you missed that publication, you can enjoy reading some of those awesome articles now in this new issue!

Imaginator #10’s look at the King of the Kaiju is a MASSIVE, MULTI-PAGE TRIBUTE…

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
An adoring look back at the incredibly colourful 1968 creature-fest: this film features SO MANY monsters! It’s Kaiju-fan heaven!

THE MISSING MONSTER FROM GODZILLA VS KONG
Hollywood creature designer Ken Barthelmey (Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs Kong, The Tomorrow War) shares the incredible monster designs he did for a truly cool-looking Hollow Earth creature that didn’t make it into GODZILLA VS KONG (2021)!

GODZILLA – KING OF THE KAIJU
A huge 16-page overview of ALL of Godzilla’s feature length films!

Godzilla - King of the Monsters UK poster

FAVOURITE ZILLA MOVIES
Directors, artists and writers talk about their favourite Big G movies! Find out which Godzilla flicks are liked by folks including: director Raimund Huber (Bangkok Adrenaline, Kill ‘Em All), director Mark Duffield (Demon, Ghost of Mae Nak), director Hans Kaufmann (The Working Man), publisher & writer Ricky Baker (Eastern Heroes, The New Essential Guide to Hong Kong Movies), editor Allan Bryce (The Dark Side), author and scriptwriter William Martell (Steel Sharks, Black Thunder), actor Russell Shaw (Witch, Bone Keeper), special FX artist Joe Castro (Terror Toons, Blood Feast 2), FX expert and actor David Fitzgerald (Squeak and I’ll Run to You), and comic book artist Russell Fox (Angela and the Dark, Vampirella vs Purgatori)!

GODZILLA POSTER GALLERY
Check out a bunch of sumptuous-looking Godzilla movie posters!

GODZILLA TOP FIVE!
Cult filmmaker Jörg Buttgereit (Nekromatik, Schramm, Nekromantik 2) is a Godzilla super-fan! He selects his top five favourite Big G movies and tells us why they’re so good!

GODZILLA VS AVENGERS
A review of the mighty Marvel crossover comic, which includes guest appearances from Jet Jaguar… and Marvel’s very own kaiju: Fin Fang Foom!

GODZILLA BLU-RAY REVIEWS
Johnny Burnett, the YouTube reviewer known as the Fanatical Dragon, checks out some Godzilla Blu-ray releases!

GODZILLA VS THOR
A look at the awesome Marvel comic that pits the King of the Kaiju against the God of Thunder! It’s a brilliant issue!

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

SHOGUN ASSASSIN – A CELEBRATION
This is a 40-page celebration of the gory, extremely enjoyable cult classic SHOGUN ASSASSIN!

The magazine’s many SHOGUN ASSASSIN features include:

VOICE OF THE WOLF CUB
An interview with Gibran Evans, who provided the voice of Daigorō!

MASTER OF POSTERS
A chat with poster artist superstar Jim Evans, who talks about creating the SHOGUN ASSASSIN poster!

CLASSIC MANGA
The lowdown on the totally brilliant LONE WOLF AND CUB comics!

SHOGUN ASSASSIN OVERVIEW
A look at what makes the film so bloody good!

LIGHTNING DISCS OF DEATH!
SHOGUN ASSASSIN and LONE WOLF AND CUB Blu-rays, DVDs and boxsets are reviewed and rated by Johnny Burnett!

Creature of the Mist (2020)

August 5, 2025 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Starring Luo Liqun, Cheng Qimeng, Li Bairong and Yang Ming. Directed by Lu Lei, written by Chen Chong and Lu Lei. Produced by Runze Guo and Hui Qian.

During the Tang Dynasty a mysterious fog envelopes the city of Chang’an… and within the mists looms a gigantic Lovecraftian monstrosity. And there are other, smaller beasts lurking inside the fog too! The Crown Prince (Qimeng) and his loyal protector, Xiao (Liqun), who are walking the city streets at the time, escape the spike-tipped tentacles that start lunging from the foggy skies by hiding out in the Chang’an Guesthouse, where others are also trapped, including a stern swordswoman, an old hunter, and a courtesan.

The massive main monster looms above the city of Chang'an — The massive main monster looms above the city of Chang’an

Some of the people within the guesthouse decide to sneak out to get weapons from a nearby blacksmith, and as they make their way along the deserted streets they can hear the grumbling, growling sounds of the mega-monster, noises that issue from all around them in the fog. But the group is assaulted by the mist monsters, the mission to the blacksmith is aborted, and the survivors are forced to continue to hunker down inside the guesthouse.

The spiked tentacle strikes! — A spiked tentacle strikes!

There a thicker tentacles that are equipped with mouthparts capable of swallowing victims whole — The giant fog monster possesses thicker tentacles that are equipped with mouthparts capable of swallowing victims whole

The plot includes a backstory concerning an ethnic group, referred to as Inhumans, who were blamed for an assassination attempt on the Emperor years ago, and are now seething with hate for the rulers. There are other characters who have varying views concerning the royal family too, both positive and negative, which the undercover Crown Prince finds fascinating.

The situation becomes very tense within the guesthouse

Monster-wise, as well as the gargantuan central beast that looms above the streets, the movie includes lumpy-skinned, long-tailed, leopard-sized reptile creatures that can eject organic spine-projectiles.

Above: two shots of one of the reptile critters — Above: two shots of the reptile critters

There are also small, bat-winged critters with heads that can completely peel back, enabling them to envelope the faces of victims. The courtesan suffers such a fate, and she kills herself afterwards, rather than live with a ruined face.

A winged mini-monster's face peels open in a squid-like manner... — A winged mini-monster’s face peels open in a squid-like manner…

The courtesan's face gets mangled by a flying bat-beastie! — …and the flying bat-beastie then mangles the face of a hapless courtesan!

Just like the Chinese monster flick MUTANT TIGER (2022), this production is a mainland Chinese period-set creature feature that offsets its nothing-special CGI with decent production values, a stoic, solid lead performance, and a simple but interesting horror-fantasy plot. There are some interesting touches here and there, such as the nicely-handled sequence showing the courtesan doing a dance performance, which prompts Xiao to recall walking through the city before the fog came, passing by characters who will end up trapped in the guesthouse with him. The film’s quite brief running time still allows some space for a few dramatic showdowns, including the moment a vengeance-seeking Inhuman gangster releases a powerful incense designed to attract the ferocious foggy fiends to them, resulting, he hopes, in the Prince getting killed. When a boatman, a guesthouse attendant, and the steely swordswoman all die as they protect the Crown Prince from the attacking creatures, this deeply moves the Prince, and he vows to live on so that he can right all the wrongs of his royal predecessors and hopefully bring peace to the nation.

One of the smaller mist monsters is killed

A detachment of golden-armoured royal warriors eventually arrive in the nick of time, dispensing stuff that, somehow, wards off the creatures. The humongous main monster, which has a bulky, blobby body held aloft by multiple tentacle-legs, retreats through the fog, away from the city. This movie, also known as CHANG’AN FOG MONSTER, is a contained monster-horror-fantasy yarn for the most part, set almost entirely inside the guesthouse, with the gigantic, spike-tentacled, mainly unseen boss beast treated both as a real threat and also as a kind of otherworldly symbol of the anger that has been inflamed by the perceived injustices perpetrated by those in power.

Descendant of the Sun (1983)

August 2, 2025 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Starring Yee Tung-Shing, Cherie Chung, Ku Kuan-Chung, Lung Tien-Hsiang and Ai Fei. Directed by Chu Yuan. Produced by Mona Fong for Shaw Brothers.

He's got superpowers! — He’s got superpowers!

Shue Sang is found as a baby in an ice cave and later discovers that he is actually Yuen Ying (Yee Tung-Shing), a being from the Da Lor fairyland, a place situated between the spiritual and physical worlds. Imbued with special powers, he falls in love with a princess (Cherie Chung) and battles an evil villain, also originating from Da Lor fairyland, who has reincarnated on Earth.

The hero grabs an enemy's blade — Don’t point that sword at Yuen Ying!

There are the usual spacious Shaw Brothers sets on view in this fu flick, but these don’t really make up for the shoddy direction and lacklustre action choreography. Some of the effects are pretty poor too, including store-bought dolls on wires used to represent transcendence!

This is a Shaw Brothers film, so there are many, many fights!

Even so, there’s stuff that keeps you watching, like the unexpected, ghoulish introduction of the Intelligent Kingdom, where young children on conveyer belts are checked over and, if it’s deemed their brains are too small, are nonchalantly tossed away into a furnace!

The bad guy leader of the Intelligent Kingdom decides this child is not intelligent enough... so a guard hurls the youngster into a flaming furnace! Yikes! — The bad guy leader of the Intelligent Kingdom decides this child is not intelligent enough… so a guard hurls the youngster into a flaming furnace! Yikes!

Plus there’s Yuen Ying’s bizarre selection of powers to look out for: he can fly, of course, he has the ability to turn into a giant pair of scissors, can duplicate himself, and he even transforms into a large axe to chop down the villain, who, during one fight, becomes a monster tree! Wild!

The villain splits into two versions of himself, then turns into this tree... — The villain splits into two versions of himself, then turns into this tree…

...and the villainous tree attacks the hero... — …and the villainous tree attacks the hero…

...so the hero turns into a large axe and chops the tree in two... and then the tree and the axe catch fire!? — …so the hero transforms into a large axe and chops the tree in two… and then the tree and the axe catch fire!?

There’s also the novelty of seeing a Chinese mythological riff on the Superman/Clark Kent/Lois Lane story, complete with a clumsy alter-ego for the hero and his own version of the Fortress of Solitude.

The heroine looks on — The princess looks on

There are loads of shots of people flying around in this movie, plus we see lots of power-beams being fired from the hands of characters!

If nothing else, DESCENDANT OF THE SUN really pulls out all the stops for an ending chock-full of cell-animated hand beams, flame-breathing, flying, stormy winds, and an attack by ghostly corpses that chew on the golden-garbed hero. This finale is not quite well enough done but, damn it, the result overflows with a crazed energy that manages to make it entertaining to watch anyway, especially when Yuen Ying makes all the zombie-ghosts explode!

Creature Feature Limited Edition Prints!

July 4, 2025 Ken Miller 1 Comment

Now is the time to get your talons on a pair of Limited Edition A5 prints – signed and numbered by Imaginator Magazine’s cover artist… Zilla Man!

One print boasts Zilla Man’s rendition of the iconic ALIEN, and the other print is Zilla Man’s illustration of the ‘Spacebug’-stage Brundlefly creature from THE FLY!

You can frame them, Blu Tack them to your bedroom wall, or use them as monstrous bookmarks – it’s up to you!

Links below to order copies in the UK, Europe and USA…

Creature Feature Limited Edition Prints – UK

Two limited edition A5 prints (one of the ALIEN and one of THE FLY) – signed & numbered by cover artist Zilla Man.

£11.99

Creature Feature Limited Edition Prints – EU

Two limited edition A5 prints (one of the ALIEN and one of THE FLY) – signed & numbered by cover artist Zilla Man.

€19.99

Creature Feature Limited Edition Prints – US

Two limited edition A5 prints (one of the ALIEN and one of THE FLY) – signed & numbered by cover artist Zilla Man.

$22.99

Imaginator #9 Looks at Eddie Romero’s Blood Island Movies!

June 28, 2025 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Imaginator magazine’s CREATURE FEATURE SPECIAL EDITION includes an article that dives into the feverishly sensationalistic and hugely entertaining world of the Filipino Blood Island movies! I love these flicks! The chlorophyll man rocks, right?!

Imaginator #9 includes loads more monster-tastic content, of course, including chats with top movie creature-creators Chris Walas, Steve Wang and John Dods: they speak about developing such cool critters as PREDATOR, THE FLY and THE DEADLY SPAWN!

You can check out more information regarding this issue HERE!

Hell Hole (2024)

June 27, 2025 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Starring Toby Poser, John Adams and Anders Hove. Written by John Adams, Lulu Adams and Toby Poser. Directed by John Adams and Toby Poser. Produced by Matt Manjourides and Justin A. Martell.

'A hole new kind of hell' — ‘A hole new kind of hell’

This flick begins with a large tentacle extending from a Napoleonic soldier’s arse! And why not, eh?! Jumping to the present, a Napoleonic soldier’s (still-living) body is pulled from a fleshy cocoon in the muddy soil near a fracking operation, and a killer parasite begins to infect one victim after another.

We learn that the parasite-mollusc always chooses male victims because their sperm is needed to fertilise the egg of this creature, and little nuggets of extra information regarding the mollusc-thingy are revealed, keeping the plot kinda interesting, but the narrative drive is continually stalled by the filmmakers’ decision to constantly halt proceedings for yet another scene of characters standing around, chatting.

Yikes! It's a tentacled monster! — Yikes! It’s a tentacled monster!

The creature’s host-hopping activities lack the variety and impact of THE THING (1982), but the effects turned out to be more impressive than I imagined; I’d assumed various tentacle shots were CGI, but they were achieved via stop-motion animation on green screen, then motion-tracked into live action plates. Wow! These tentacle shots are supplemented by quick cuts to a practical creature model. The critter itself, when it is seen clearly at the end, is a novel little squid-beast with an eye encircled by protruding teeth.

Small tentacles sometimes poke from a victim's mouth... — Small tentacles sometimes poke from a victim’s mouth…

...and we get to see a mini-tentacle slither from someone's eye... — …and we get to see a mini-tentacle slither from someone’s eye…

...and sometimes tentacles protrude from various facial exit-points at the same time! — …and sometimes tentacles protrude from various facial exit-points at the same time!

HELL HOLE, made by the Adams Family – father John Adams, mother Toby Poser, and daughter Lulu Adams – is definitely a watchable film that really could’ve been better with a less repetitive plot.

But, hey, the movie earns a thumbs-up because it does include folks exploding and, of course, it features arse-tentacles too!

Bodies do explode in this film... — Bodies do explode in this film…

Devoted to every kind of movie and TV monster, from King Kong to Godzilla, from the Blob to Alien. Plus monsters from other media too, including books and comics.