Tag Archives: Jim Danforth

The Crater Lake Monster (1977)

Plesiosaur chases cop car!
Plesiosaur chases cop car!

Directed by William R. Stromberg, THE CRATER LAKE MONSTER’s original story and screenplay was co-written by William R. Stromberg and Richard Cardella, and the film stars Richard Cardella, Glen Roberts, Mark Siegel and Sonny Shepard.

The monster on the poster doesn't resemble the monster in the movie
The monster on the poster doesn’t resemble the monster in the movie
The full-scale plesiosaur head used in the movie
The full-scale plesiosaur head used in the movie

The plot concerns a huge plesiosaur that starts attacking folks near Crater Lake in Northern California. So just how did a plesiosaur end up lurking around a modern day lake in the USA?

Ah, I’m glad you asked, please read on…

Run away!
Run away!
The grounded boat burns
The grounded boat burns

…Well, a meteorite just so happens to hit Crater Lake (that’s a coincidence!) and the hot rock comes to rest next to a plesiosaur egg.

The meteorite sinks to the bottom of the lake... right next to the plesiosaur egg!
The meteorite sinks to the bottom of the lake… right next to the plesiosaur egg!

But, I hear you ask now: how come an ancient, extinct reptile’s egg is lying at the bottom of this lake, which wouldn’t have been there when the creatures existed on Earth? Ah, well… at the start of the movie we see Native American cave paintings that show a plesiosaur. So, I guess we have to assume there had been plesiosaurs (who survived the Cretaceous mass extinction event) living in that area up until the arrival of man. The plesiosaurs were killed off by the humans, but an egg was preserved in the cold mud at the bottom of the lake (the cold mud is talked about in the movie) – and the heat from the meteorite hatched the egg.

Cave painting
Cave painting
Plesiosaur close-up!
Plesiosaur close-up!

After we see the meteorite land next to the egg we almost immediately get a scene with a full-grown plesiosaur lumbering on the shoreline. It turns out it’s now 6 months later, but you only find this out during a bit of dialogue later in the film and, even if we’re talking a 6 month gap, could a baby plesiosaur really grow that big in that time?!

I guess it’s really not worth quibbling over such points in a film that fills much of its running time with the endless, tiresome antics of a couple of dumb locals. At one point these characters get scared by a log!
There’s also an extended sequence focusing on a murderous liquor store robber, which comes across as yet more (violent) filler, although it does end with the dude getting eaten by the monster. Another scene features a female character talking about the wonderful stars she’s seeing… even though it’s obviously still daytime! (Actually, the film suffered from financing problems, which meant that no post production work was done on the movie – and the day for night scenes ended up being… just day).

So much time is wasted following these dumb guys around (played by Glen Roberts and Mark Siegel)
So much time is wasted following these dumb guys around (played by Glen Roberts and Mark Siegel)
The reason I'm showing you these buffoons again is because you must accept the fact you will be seeing them a LOT if you watch this flick...
The reason I’m showing you these buffoons again is because you must accept the fact you will be seeing them a LOT if you watch this flick…

The stop-motion plesiosaur is cool though.

Roaring plesiosaur!
Roaring plesiosaur!
The Crater Lake critter bites into a hay bale
The Crater Lake critter bites into a hay bale

I like the look of this long-necked, finned critter…

…but, boy, it really needed more screen time.

It seems a lot of the blame for the lack of on-screen monster moments can be attributed to Crown International Pictures, which was brought in mid-production to help with financing… and then everything fell apart. Effects sequences were dropped and even some of the completed animation got somehow lost.
This was a real wasted opportunity because a lot of top creative people were linked with the film’s stop-motion and the building of miniatures: David Allen, Randall William Cook, Jim Danforth, Jon Berg, Steve Neill and Phil Tippett.

It makes you wonder what this film would’ve been like if it had received more financing. What a shame.

Machine versus monster!
Machine versus monster…
Another shot from this showdown
…and another shot from this showdown
I love stop-motion monsters, so here's another pic of the plesiosaur!
I love stop-motion monsters, so here’s another pic of the plesiosaur!
Nom, nom, nom...
Nom, nom, nom…
The plesiosaur succumbs to its wounds
The plesiosaur succumbs to its wounds
poster
Chewed up then thrown away!
Chewed up then thrown away!
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Posters for Jack the Giant Killer (1962)

Detail from Italian poster
Detail from Italian poster

This heroic adventure yarn, about a young farmer who protects a princess from a sorcerer’s monsters in Middle Ages Cornwall, was directed by Nathan Juran, stars Kerwin Mathews, Torin Thatcher, Judi Meredith and Walter Burke, with colourful stop-motion effects provided by Jim Danforth (and others).

 A cool shot looking down at the giant called Cormoran!
A cool view looking down at the giant called Cormoran!
I love the moody, low lighting in this shot
I love the moody, low lighting in this shot

The film was producer Edward Small’s attempt to emulate the success of Ray Harryhausen’s THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, so he used the same director and employed the actors who had played the hero and villain in the Sinbad movie (Mathews and Thatcher).

Torin Thatcher (Boo! Hiss!) and Kerwin Mathews (hooray!)
Torin Thatcher is sorcerer Pendragon (Boo! Hiss!) and Kerwin Mathews is Jack (Hooray!)

Many stop-motion fans see this movie simply as a poor man’s version of THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, but I really like this fantasy tale!

JACK THE GIANT KILLER’s stop-motion models are cruder in design compared to those seen in Ray Harryhausen films, that’s not in doubt, and the film has more of a pantomime feel to it compared to Ray’s Sinbad films, but I think the movie is nonetheless an enjoyable, memorable adventure.

The creatures include the horned giant Cormoran, a two-headed giant, a tentacled sea monster and a heraldic-looking dragon. There are also ‘dragon men’ (guys in suits) who disappear when struck with a special whip, plus various witches & demons (actors in costumes) and a leprechaun played by Don Beddoe.

Two-headed giant vs sea creature!
Two-headed giant vs sea creature!
The tentacled thingy wins!
The tentacled thingy wins!
The 'dragon men' march towards Jack
The ‘dragon men’ march towards Jack
Villain Pendragon lives up to his name and transforms into a dragon!
Villain Pendragon lives up to his name and transforms into a dragon!

For a kids film it’s quite creepy in places: the ‘doll’ gift that suddenly grows into a giant, scenes of women becoming possessed and the glowing witches/demons that attack the ship are all kinda scary. There’s one witch with empty eye sockets, carrying flowers, that’s especially eerie!

This is pretty scary for kids!
This is pretty scary for kids!
Possessed lady of the court with snake eyes!
Possessed lady of the court with snake eyes!
This witch-thing can blow powerful gusts of wind from its huge mouth!
This witch-thing can blow powerful gusts of wind from its huge mouth!
Eek!
Eek!
The heroine turns bad! Oh no!
The heroine turns bad! Oh no!

Edward Small had the movie re-edited and re-released as a musical too, but the less said about that version the better!

Here is a whole bunch of posters created for the movie (the Italians, as usual, produced some humdingers)…

US poster
US poster
UK quad poster
UK quad poster
Italian poster. Okay, that scaly, big creature doesn't appear in the movie, but this is an amazing painting by Renato Casaro!
Italian poster. Okay, that scaly, big creature doesn’t appear in the movie, but this is an amazing painting by Renato Casaro!
French poster. This painting is pretty ace too!
French poster. This painting is pretty ace too!
Italian poster
Italian poster
US three sheet poster
US three sheet poster
German poster
German poster
Italian insert poster
Italian insert poster
Poster from Argentina
Poster from Argentina
Thai poster
Thai poster
Ghanaian hand-painted poster
Ghanaian hand-painted poster
Italian poster. The monsters shown here are very prehistoric-looking!
Italian poster. The monsters shown here are very prehistoric-looking!
Belgian poster
Belgian poster

Some lobby cards…

Mexican lobby card
Mexican lobby card
Italian 'fotobusta' lobby card
Italian ‘fotobusta’ lobby card

DVD and Blu-ray covers…

Region-free DVD sleeve
UK DVD cover
UK DVD cover
US DVD cover
US DVD cover
German Blu-ray cover
UK Blu-ray cover
UK Blu-ray cover

Newspaper ads…

New York newspaper ad
New York newspaper ad
New York newspaper ad
New York newspaper ad
New York newspaper ad
New York newspaper ad

Some pages from the Dell Movie Classic comic book adaptation. Art by Ed Ashe…

Comic book cover
Cover
Pendragon summons his cohorts...
Pendragon summons his cohorts…
The sea monster is quite different-looking in this comic adaptation
The sea monster is quite different-looking in this comic adaptation
Pendragon transforms!
Pendragon transforms!
Jack is triumphant!
Jack is triumphant!

Finally, here’s a behind the scenes shot of Jim Danforth animating the sea creature model…

Jim Danforth at work
Jim at work