Tag Archives: monsters

Imaginator Magazine Issue 10!

August 28, 2025 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Issue 10 of Imaginator Magazine is available via Amazon and other fine retailers…

Amazon UK:
https://amzn.eu/d/5GWVIWs

Amazon US:
https://a.co/d/cHDB3xE

Amazon Netherlands:
https://amzn.eu/d/1ubWaYv

Amazon Belgium:
https://amzn.eu/d/itxJdaX

Amazon Ireland:
https://amzn.eu/d/3Gb6qHU

Amazon Italy:
https://amzn.eu/d/bCVy67e

Amazon Poland:
https://amzn.eu/d/bLkTUSO

Amazon Japan:
https://amzn.asia/d/3CD1jJw

Amazon Sweden:
https://amzn.eu/d/f76wJIb

Amazon Brazil:
https://a.co/d/5Hh9IbL

Amazon Singapore:
https://amzn.asia/d/bT2fv4B

Barnes & Noble (USA):
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/imaginator-magazine-issue-10-ken-miller/1148136359?ean=9781068444623

Walmart (USA):
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Imaginator-Magazine-Issue-10-Paperback/17686919074

Hugendubel (Germany):
https://www.hugendubel.de/de/taschenbuch/ken_miller-imaginator_magazine_issue_10-51670434-produkt-details.html

Saxo (Denmark):
https://www.saxo.com/dk/imaginator-magazine-issue-10_bog_9781068444623

Booktopia (Australia):
https://www.booktopia.com.au/imaginator-magazine-issue-10-ken-miller/book/9781068444623.html

Or, if you’re in the UK or USA, you can order below (at discounted price) direct from the publishers:
https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=Pqy6VZ7sWzwPmYp03DIgflewd9MAsyTD9PP2sw2evZy

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!

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.

Comic Covers for Dagar the Invincible

July 17, 2023 Ken Miller 4 Comments

This relatively short-lived sword and sorcery comic book about Tulgonian warrior Dagar was written by Donald F. Glut, who would go on to direct and write such films as THE EROTIC RITES OF COUNTESS DRACULA (2001), THE MUMMY’S KISS (2003) and COUNTESS DRACULA’S ORGY OF BLOOD (2004).

This Gold Key Comics series, which began publication in 1972, was drawn by Filipino artist Jesse Santos, who also co-created the comic TRAGG AND THE SKY GODS with Glut.

DAGAR THE INVINCIBLE’s main strength is the artwork. Jesse Santos produced some pulpy, colourful painted covers for the comic, as did other artists, and Santos alone supplied the interior illustrations, which boasted quite detailed ink lines and decent figure-work.

Here’s a whole bunch of covers to feast your eyes on…

Here's the original art, attributed to George Wilson, for issue #1 — Here’s the original art, attributed to George Wilson, for issue #1

Issue #4 - a giant scorpion! There are loads of other monsters in this issue — Issue #4 – a giant scorpion! There are loads of other monsters in this issue

Issue #9 - this features a battle between a giant sloth and a huge snake — Issue #9 – this features a battle between a giant sloth and a huge snake

The original acrylic on board illustration, by George Wilson, for the cover of issue #10

Issue #11 - in this story we are introduced to primordial blob-monster Dargomma! — Issue #11 – in this story we are introduced to primordial blob-monster Dargomma!

Issue #13 - this golem can turn into an attractive woman! — Issue #13 – this golem can turn into an attractive woman!

Issue #15 - a golden idol mutates into a bird demon! — Issue #15 – a golden idol mutates into a bird demon!

Here's Jesse Santos' original ghoul-tastic art for the cover of issue #16 — Here’s Jesse Santos’ original ghoul-tastic art for the cover of issue #16

Issue #17 – Dagar fights a monster slug known as the Devil of the Tide!

Here’s some of Jesse Santos’ interior artwork for DAGAR…

Our fur-clad hero battles the giant scorpion from issue #4

Dagar and his companion Graylin watch a serpent overpower a Megatherium in issue #9

Issue #15 - you need dancing girls in sword and sorcery stories, right? — Issue #15 – you need dancing girls in sword and sorcery stories, right?

An idol transforms into a condor monster in issue #15

Here comes the mutated slug in issue #17!

Issue #17: man versus monstrous mollusc!

Interestingly, top stop-motion animator Jim Danforth and Don F. Glut tried to get a movie version of Dagar made. Danforth produced this concept painting in an attempt to help promote the project, which unfortunately never went into production…

Okay, while we’re at it, let’s check out some of the lush and lurid covers Jesse Santos produced for the aliens-and-prehistory comic series TRAGG AND THE SKY GODS…

Issue #2 - stampede! — Issue #2 – stampede!

Issue #7 - green-haired alien zaps a Styracosaurus in the face! — Issue #7 – green-haired alien zaps a Styracosaurus in the face!

Issue #8 - how can Tragg beat an animated carnosaur skeleton?! — Issue #8 – how can Tragg beat an animated carnosaur skeleton?!

Donald F. Glut wrote all of the Tragg stories and Jesse Santos did all of the covers, but Santos only produced the interior art for the first few issues, before Dan Spiegle took over.
Anyway, here’s are a few examples of Santos’ interior illustrations for TRAGG AND THE SKY GODS…

In issue #2 a green-haired female alien intends to incinerate an Allosaurus' brain... but her ray gun is out of power! — In issue #2 a green-haired female alien intends to incinerate an Allosaurus’ brain… but her ray gun is out of power!

In issue #2 there's a stampede of beasts! — In issue #2 there’s a stampede of beasts!

Hey, let’s finish this feature with the glorious painting showing Dagar punching a giant gorilla right in the mouth…

Triclops (2016)

July 1, 2023 Ken Miller 6 Comments

Directed by Brett Piper, starring Matthew Crawley, Steve Diasparra, Richard Lounello, Ken Van Sant and Erin Waterhouse.

'Hideous mutant giant rules a lost world!' — ‘Hideous mutant giant rules a lost world!’

A low budget homage to 1950s creature features, this is the fun tale of a crater in the USA that is crammed with creatures and plants mutated by a glowing meteor in a cavern.

A nice shot of a stop-motion horn-nosed creature

The film features a large variety of bug-beasts, a horned reptile monster and the titular three-eyed giant (who seems to be inspired by the big mutant dude from Bert I. Gordon’s 1957 movie THE CYCLOPS). The Triclops is played by a guy in makeup but most of the other monsters, including a cool giant scorpion, are stop-motion.

Who's a pretty boy then? — Who’s a pretty boy then?

The animated critters are the creations of director-animator Brett Piper, who has almost singlehandedly been keeping the art of live action stop-motion filmmaking alive with such productions as A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL (1990), ARACHNIA (2003) and QUEEN CRAB (2015).

A horned creature! — The horned creature!

A bug-faced beast bursts from a dirt bank!

Brett produces his movies on tight budgets, so don’t go expecting a multimillion dollar epic with famous actors, but, if you’re a stop-motion monster fan, this is going to be a diverting, critter-tastic way to spend 80 minutes. And the film also features some lava, which, in my opinion, all lost world-type movies must have!

Finally, here’s an illustration by Jamie Chase, inspired by this movie…

The Seventh Curse (1986)

May 22, 2022 Ken Miller Leave a comment

This Hong Kong horror-adventure is directed by Lam Ngai Kai (aka Nam Lai Choi, aka Simon Nam) and stars Chow Yun-Fat, Maggie Cheung, Dick Wei and Sibelle Hu.

Chow likes to smoke a pipe in this movie

Oh no! It's 'Little Ghost'! — Oh no! It’s ‘Little Ghost’!

Things don't end well for a professor (Ken Boyle) — Things don’t end well for this professor (Ken Boyle)

Adventurer Yuan must return to North Thailand and confront the chief of the Worm Tribe in order to look for the cure to a spell which is slowly killing him. Tagging along with him is pushy reporter Tsai-Hung and, later, his mentor Mr. Wei (Chow Yun-Fat).

After a shoot ’em up/kung fu punch-up/police siege start, the film soon settles down to the proper tale it intends to tell. This means lots of cave sets, guttering torches, masses of mad tribesmen, fighting and slimy monsters.

The weird creature known as Little Ghost

Though it’s not a fighting-oriented film to the extent that, for instance, WE’RE GOING TO EAT YOU is, THE SEVENTH CURSE does boast very good choreography when a scrap starts.

The Seventh Curse has decent action moments

The wire work is really over the top: whenever someone is kicked, or shot, they fly about a quarter of a mile backwards! In one amazing scene Yuan blasts a guy with his gun at the same time as his partner Heh Lung shoots the same tribesman with an arrow in slow motion.

When Yuan finds out that he needs the stone eyeball from a Buddha statue to prevent the onset of the Seventh Curse that will kill him, it gives the filmmakers a fine excuse to have some neat stunts on top of an impressively large statue. Rope-swinging, saffron-robed assailants, booby traps and crumbling chunks of stone confront our heroes as they ascend the Buddha. The sequence becomes more outrageous once the stone eyeballs have been removed from the statue. Blood spurts from the Buddha’s sockets as the head falls off and rolls after Yuan à la RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK!

The two critters featured in this Far East weird-fest are Old Ancestor and Little Ghost.

Little Ghost is the product of a spell utilising the blood of a hundred children. It has a strange head (resembling the Mekon from the British Eagle comic strip), which is attached to a slimy tail. It also has a pair of little arms. This odd ‘ghost’ is captured with the aid of a pregnant cow’s placenta! This could only happen in a Hong Kong film, eh?

Old Ancestor dwells in his stone coffin in a cave and, when he originally appears, is in the form of a glowing-eyed, clacking-jawed skeleton covered in dry skin. Operated, I assume, as a full-scale marionette, Old Ancestor closely resembles the Japanese skeleton in 1986’s THE GHOST SNATCHERS (also directed by Lam Ngai Kai).

Old Ancestor is initially a reanimated skeleton monster!

Old Ancestor's eyes start to glow! — Old Ancestor’s eyes start to glow!

Once it drinks the blood of a victim, Old Ancestor does a bit of transforming, to become a huge beastie with an elongated head. Unlike the really nifty ‘split head’ monster in 1988’s PEACOCK KING (also directed by Lam Ngai Kai), which looked good in both long shots and close-ups, Old Ancestor only really impresses during the close-up shots of the head and hands distorting.

Old Ancestor's toothy maw! — Old Ancestor’s toothy maw!

As soon as we see the complete creature, with its webbed wings, the man-in-a-suit monstrosity is reminiscent of a cross between a Mahar from AT THE EARTH’S CORE (1976) and the rubbery Dagoth god-monster from the finale of CONAN THE DESTROYER (1984). In other words… Old Ancestor looks chintzy, but is fun to watch as it whirls about the cavern! The first person we see get killed by Old Ancestor does what probably many victims confronted by a monster would do: he voids his bladder!

You don't mess with Chow Yun-Fat when he gets hold of a rocket launcher, right? — You don’t mess with Chow Yun-Fat when he gets hold of a rocket launcher, right?

Finally, it is left to Chow Yun-Fat to deal with the toothy adversary… by blowing the critter away with a rocket launcher! Way to go Chow!

Chow Yun-Fat blasts the monster to smithereens with a rocket launcher. Well, of course he does! — Chow Yun-Fat blasts the monster to smithereens with a rocket launcher. Well, of course he does: he’s Chow Yun-Fat!

All in all, THE SEVENTH CURSE is a fine ripping yarn.
(Oh yeah, look out for the action scene where Yuan crashes his jeep through a Worm Tribe hut in slow motion: one unfortunate stuntman fails to get out of the way and is hit! I’m sure it was an accident and was not intended that way, but… ouch!)

Posters for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

October 10, 2021 Ken Miller 3 Comments

This was Ray Harryhausen’s first full colour fantasy movie, featuring Arabian Nights hero Sinbad leading an adventurous, incident-filled mission to the monster-filled island of Colossa!

Directed by Nathan Juran, produced by Charles H. Schneer, starring Kerwin Mathews, Torin Thatcher and Kathryn Grant, with a rousing score by Bernard Herrmann, the film became a sleeper hit and would go on to spawn two Sinbad sequels by Harryhausen, who filled each yarn with a memorable mix of stop-motion creatures.

Here are some of the many posters produced for THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD over the years…

Italian two-sheet: quite a forbidding composition! — Italian two-sheet poster: quite a forbidding composition!

Japanese poster: this one is so dynamic!

UK quad double bill poster: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad/Watch out, We're Mad! — UK quad double bill poster: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad/Watch out, We’re Mad!

German poster: interesting illustration style

Italian poster: this one's pretty cool! — Italian poster: this one’s pretty cool!

Ghanaian hand-painted poster: the artist gave the snake woman snake-headed hands!

UK quad double bill poster: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad/The 3 Worlds of Gulliver

Italian poster: featuring a scary cyclops!

7th Voyage of Sinbad print by Dutch designer Vincent Vermeij (aka Chungkong)

Some lobby cards…

Some extra bits and pieces…

VHS cover... with a metallic-looking cyclops! — VHS cover… with a metallic-looking cyclops!

Box art for super 8mm 200ft, B&W, silent reel (I have this!)

The Head Hunter (2018)

September 25, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

A hunter of monsters... — A hunter of monsters…

A warrior (Christopher Rygh) mounts the heads of the monsters he has killed on the wall of his meagre home.

To recover from his monster fights, the warrior uses jars of noxious liquid to heal his wounds after each of battle…

…but when a window shutter knocks over a jar and some of the restorative liquid seeps onto the head of the latest creature he has killed… the monster’s head becomes reanimated, and so the warrior must hunt it down.

The warrior mounts the heads of the creatures he kills on a wall... — The warrior mounts the heads of the creatures he kills on a wall…

THE HEAD HUNTER (aka VIKING VENGEANCE) was directed, co-written, produced and edited by Jordan (THANKSKILLING) Downey, who cleverly came up with a story that could be done on a low budget: basically there’s one character (plus a girl playing the daughter in some flashbacks) and a bunch of heads (we are never shown the monster fights themselves).

Some of the background secondary heads on the warrior’s wall are barely more realistic than latex halloween masks, but most of the creature heads are decently-made considering the budget.

Some sword and sorcery fans find this film too small scale. After all, the story does revolve around just one warrior fighting monsters in battles that remain off camera. But I enjoyed this tightly-budgeted movie and I think the warrior’s armour looks pretty damn cool.

At one point the project was named THE HEAD. Artist Christopher Shy, from Studio Ronin, created a couple of wonderful posters which used that particular title…

Another wonderful poster design from Christopher Shy

The bottom line is that I would certainly like to see Downey get the chance to direct a bigger-scale fantasy-horror flick.

Okay, one more look at one of the decapitated creature heads…

A nifely-lit beast bonce — A nicely-lit beast bonce

Finally, here’s a gorgeous alternative movie poster created by illustrator Vance Kelly. Wow! This really makes me hope the filmmakers one day get to make a larger-scale, more expansive film about the Head Hunter’s fantasy world…

Ape Vs Monster (2021)

August 21, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

A space capsule lands in the New Mexico desert and Dr. Linda Murphy (Arianna Scott) identifies it as a secret US-Soviet deep space probe that was launched years ago: it was a joint mission to try and make alien contact.

Now this capsule has landed back on Earth it is discovered that the chimp inside it is still alive after all these years… and now it is starting to grow in size! Alien green fluid that causes the ape to enlarge is then ingested by a local gila monster and it too begins to grow. Linda, along with her estranged father Noah and Russian astrophysicist Eva Kuleshov (Katie Sereika), find out that a spaceship from the Andromeda Galaxy is controlling the creatures and, presumably, wants to cause a collapse in the US government by sending the monsters to wreck havoc in Washington.

The movie endlessly cuts back to an aerial shot of the Langley Research Centre — The movie endlessly cuts back to aerial shots of the Langley Research Centre

Abraham, the giant-size chimpanzee, becomes free of all alien control and finally fights the lizard monster in Washington and, after it wins the fight, the authorities decide not to kill the ape, allowing it to live in a base outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

APE VS MONSTER is a mockbuster from The Asylum, obviously intended to cash-in on the release of GODZILLA VS KONG.

This scene ain't too bad, but it's far too brief — This scene ain’t too bad, but it’s far too brief

The special effects are not totally bad for a release from The Asylum, which isn’t saying much, that must be admitted! The lizard monster and the spaceship are acceptably rendered, though Abraham the huge chimp looks, for the most part, rather poor.

The lizard-monster looks kind of okay... — The lizard-monster looks kind of okay…

...and the briefly-seen alien vessel is okay too... — …and the briefly-seen alien vessel is acceptable-looking too…

...but the giant chimp always looks kinda ropey — …but the giant chimp always looks kinda ropey

For some reason Abraham just grows larger but still looks like a chimp, but the gila monster evolves into a kind of bipedal dino-monster when it enlarges, even though characters continue to refer to it just as a gila monster.

The biggest let-down with the movie is the fact that there’s very little interaction between the monsters, despite the title, with a very brief battle between the creatures occurring at the very end of the movie.

The lizard critter reaches Washington... — The lizard critter reaches Washington…

...and we finally get the monster battle the movie title promised — …and we finally get the monster battle the movie title promised

Eric Roberts looks pretty careworn as National Security Advisor Ethan Marcos and he has to deal with some pretty clunky dialogue, much of the movie’s running time is padded out with talky scenes, and disappointment cannot really be avoided, thanks to the fact there are not that many monster scenes interspersed throughout the movie.

So, pretty much what you’d expect from a film made by The Asylum. If you like these cheesy SyFy Channel-type mockbusters, this is definitely the movie for you.

The Retreat (2020)

June 15, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Mountain-lurking creature — Do creatures lurk in the Adirondack mountains?!

Gus (Grant Schumacher) goes on a hiking trip in the Adirondack mountains with Adam (Dylan Grunn), his more down to earth friend. Gus drinks some hallucinogenic tea, thinks he’s attacked by a monster, fights back, murders his friend, then finally succumbs to cannibalism… after which he is tormented by a horned Wendigo and other beings.

Or… is it all in his mind?

Bruce Wemple (who also made the Bigfoot movie MONSTROUS) wrote and directed this film, which you’re either going to like for the movie’s twisty, unreliable grip on what is real, or you’ll feel irritated by it because of the never-ending ‘it’s just in his imagination’ moments.

I liked the use of Wendigo paintings that feature throughout the story

People expecting a no-nonsense creature feature will be disappointed, no doubt, but I thought the ever-more entangled mix of dreams, different versions of what might have happened, flashbacks, etc, made this little movie worth watching.

If you look closely you can see the Wendigo and one of the minion-creatures lurking amongst the trees... — If you look closely you can see the Wendigo and one of the minion-creatures lurking amongst the trees…

The antlered Wendigo, when seen, tends to be immobile and just lurks about, mainly in shadows or back-lit, though the other type of bald, humanoid minion-creatures get to rush about in the snow menacingly and are rather more effective.

The Wendigo, during its fleeting appearances, is shot in a warped, hallucinatory way — The Wendigo is shot in a warped, hallucinatory way during its fleeting appearances

Crawling about the mountain forest... — Crawling about in the mountain forest…

The Wendigo — A behind the scenes shot of one of the bald-headed critters

A look at the elemental monsters seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home

June 3, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

This isn’t a review of SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME, which is a fun superhero movie full of FX, action, teen romance and humour: this is a quick look at the ‘Elementals’ that feature in the movie.

These massive beings, supposedly from an alternate reality Earth (you find out their true nature later in the story) are pretty cool to look at.

There’s a brief teaser moment showing an Earth Elemental that appears in front of Nick Fury in Mexico…

Nick Fury and Maria Hill take aim... — Nick Fury and Maria Hill take aim…

…and then the first one we get a really good look at is a Water Elemental that attacks Venice. This flowing, fluid creature forms a roughly human shape and causes havoc in and around the Venetian canals.

The next Elemental we encounter is a burning, molten creature, which rampages around Prague, putting Peter Parker’s friends in jeopardy again.

The final one is a massive fusion of all Elementals (part lightning storm cloud, part water, part lava, etc) that rises from the River Thames and starts wrecking Tower Bridge.

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME is an enjoyable flick, with these Elemental set-pieces adding spectacle and excitement to the story. They also remind me a little of the kind of creatures drawn by Jack Kirby for Marvel’s pre-superhero monster comics.

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.