Tag Archives: Stop-motion

The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

December 27, 2022 Ken Miller 3 Comments

Directed by Jim O’Connolly, produced by Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen, written by William Bast and starring James Franciscus, Richard Carlson, Laurence Naismith, Gila Golan, Curtis Arden and Freda Jackson.

'Cowboys battle monsters in the lost world of Forbidden Valley': how can any self-respecting monster movie fan resist that tag line?! — ‘Cowboys battle monsters in the lost world of Forbidden Valley’: how can any self-respecting monster movie fan resist that tag line?!

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI is a dino-tastic story set in Mexico at the turn of the 20th century. It follows the adventures of rodeo circus owner T.J. Breckenridge (a dubbed Gila Golan), her former beau Tuck Kirby (Franciscus), a British paleontologist (Naismith), a Mexican boy called Lope (Arden) and various cowboy members of the circus, as they find themselves in peril in the Forbidden Valley, a rocky zone that is full of prehistoric creatures! Woot!

Gwangi won't be caged for long! — Gwangi won’t be caged for long!

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI is a vibrant monster-fantasy-western that features stop-motion effects courtesy of the great Ray Harryhausen, a rousing score by Jerome Moross and likeable performances from the likes of James Franciscus and Richard Carlson.

Plot-wise, the movie is a lost world adventure with a western twist, which then transitions into a King Kong-style finale, where the titular dinosaur Gwangi is brought back to civilisation to be displayed at Breckenridge’s circus but, as always happens in these tales, the beast escapes and runs amok in the local Mexican town.

Gwangi on the rampage, reaches the big cathedral... — Gwangi on the rampage! The dinosaur reaches the big cathedral…

...and there's a cat-and-mouse encounter inside the building, as Tuck takes on the giant predator... — …and there’s a cat-and-mouse encounter inside the building, as Tuck takes on the giant predator…

...and eventually Gwangi is burnt to death, as the cathedral catches fire and starts to collapse — …and eventually Gwangi is burnt to death, as the cathedral catches fire and starts to collapse

'The strangest round up of all as cowboys battle monsters!' — ‘The strangest round up of all as cowboys battle monsters!’

Harryhausen’s effects are definitely the movie’s main selling point, and for this production we get to see an Eohippus, a Pteranodon, an Ornithomimus, a huge Allosaurus (Gwangi) and a Styracosaurus roaming across the screen. A stop-motion model of an elephant is also used when the pachyderm fights Gwangi during the finale.

The real stand-out moment is the roping sequence, when the cowboy heroes attempt to capture Gwangi using lassos. This is a wonderful action scene, showcasing Harryhausen’s top-notch stop-motion skills.

Another mouthwatering effects set piece is Gwangi’s fight with the Styracosaurus. Lots of roaring and biting! I love stop-motion dino battles!

Some earlier scenes with El Diablo the Eohippus, a tiny prehistoric horse, are also memorable, with Harryhausen putting just as much effort into these quieter, sweeter moments as he does with the more bombastic dinosaur encounters later on.

He's a sweet lil' thing, ain't he? — He’s a cute lil’ thing, ain’t he?

The Eohippus says 'hi' to its much bigger descendant — The Eohippus says ‘hi’ to its much bigger descendant

I’m not a fan of the solid-latex model of Gwangi that’s used for the scenes where the dinosaur knocks itself out while trying to push its way through the narrow gap to escape Forbidden Valley. I think Harryhausen himself was never pleased with these shots, as this inflexible model definitely has no ‘life’ to it: it looks especially stiff in the shots of Gwangi lying unconscious on the ground. Harryhausen had done similar scenes in his previous dinosaur adventure, ONE MILLION YEARS B.C., for instance, where Ray presented us with a marvellous shot of a dying Ceratosaurus lying on the ground, with its belly inflating and deflating as it desperately tries to keep breathing. So it’s such a shame a similar effect couldn’t have been used in GWANGI, though I’m sure Harryhausen was under a lot of budget and time constraints (but the Styracosaurus model in GWANGI was equipped with an inflatable air ‘bladder’ to simulate breathing).

Gwangi’s skin colour changes a few times over the course of the movie because, as there was so much animation to do, Harryhausen didn’t have enough time to do proper colour testing, so Gwangi ranges from grey to blue to purple-ish. I actually don’t think these colour changes are distracting and I’m sure I never spotted them when I viewed the movie as a kid.

I would've liked more atmospheric matte paintings like this one — I would’ve liked more atmospheric matte paintings like this one

The full-scale Pteranodon model and Gwangi head, used for close-ups, are not as effective as their stop-motion counterparts, but I’ll stop quibbling now and reiterate that THE VALLEY OF GWANGI is a colourful, entertaining fantasy flick, replete with monsters, gypsy curses, a belligerent circus elephant and even a dangerous-bull-in-a-bullring scene!

Trying to break the Pteranodon's neck! — Trying to break the Pteranodon’s neck!

Shot in Spain, which stands in for Mexico, the movie utilises the odd rock formations of La Ciudad Encantada, a distinctive geological site near the city of Cuenca (which is also featured in 1982’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN), to create the prehistoric vistas of the Forbidden Valley.

This shot features some of La Ciudad Encantada's mushroom-shaped rock formations — This shot features some of La Ciudad Encantada’s mushroom-shaped rock formations

Jerome Moross, the composer who worked on such films and TV series as THE BIG COUNTRY, GUNSMOKE, WAGON TRAIN and HAVE GUN – WILL TRAVEL, provides a soundtrack that really injects a thrilling, full-blooded western vibe into GWANGI. It’s a great score, with a main theme dripping with urgency (that I happen to be listening to right now as I write this!)

Here's some free advice, cowboy-dudes: don't use a blanket to ward off a vicious Allosaurus! — Here’s some free advice, cowboy-dudes: don’t use a blanket to ward off a vicious Allosaurus!

I was never quite sure why the cowboy decided to spear the herbivore, rather than the more dangerous predator... — I was never quite sure why the cowboy decided to spear the herbivore, rather than the more dangerous predator…

The scene where Gwangi lunges into view and snaps-up the fast-running Ornithomimus in its jaws was later recreated in JURASSIC PARK, this time featuring a Tyrannosaurus Rex plunging into shot to gobble up a fast-running Gallimimus.

Anyway, this is a Ray Harryhausen movie about cowboys venturing into a lost world of dinosaurs, so of course I will always love this movie!

THE WILLIS O’BRIEN CONNECTION
This film was actually a project that Willis O’Brien tried to develop, many decades earlier. It was titled THE VALLEY OF THE MISTS and it had been in preproduction at RKO for a while but, like a lot of O’Brien’s projects, it unfortunately fell through.

Here are some storyboards drawn by Willis O’Brien…

Willis O'Brien storyboard — Willis O’Brien storyboard

Here’s a hand-filled report (by O’Brien) on a printed RKO Radio Pictures form detailing visual effects requirements for an action sequence titled ‘Edge of Cliff’, which would’ve been featured in his iteration of the Gwangi movie…

Even though Willis O’Brien’s Gwangi movie was never made, some of his old production materials came into Ray Harryhausen’s possession and he proposed making his own version of the film to his producer/business partner Charles Schneer, who agreed that it should be their next project. And so THE VALLEY OF GWANGI finally went into production. Hooray! Though, as some people have pointed out, it’s a shame that O’Brien, who put a lot of effort into conceptualising the original Gwangi concept, didn’t receive a credit in the 1969 movie.

RAY HARRYHAUSEN CONCEPT ART
Here are some really gorgeous examples of Ray’s well-rendered concept art for his movie…

In Ray's concept drawing for the pteranodon attack he drew it with accurate-looking pterosaur wings. In the movie his stop-motion model had Ray's stylised bat-like wings. — In Ray’s concept drawing for the pteranodon attack he drew the flying reptile with accurate-looking pterosaur wings. In the movie his stop-motion model was equipped with stylised bat-like wings.

Rays's hand-drawn scale concept for the Pteranodon features Ray's signature bat-like wing design — Rays’s hand-drawn scale concept drawing for the Pteranodon features Ray’s signature bat-like wing design

Rays concept drawing for Gwangi, with cowboys and a horse shown for scale — Ray’s concept drawing for Gwangi, with cowboys and a horse shown for scale

Interestingly, long before Ray Harryhausen made his Gwangi movie, he actually painted this scene, way back in the 1930s. The painting’s title is: ‘Allosaurus attacking a cowboy’. So, I guess Ray was destined to make THE VALLEY OF GWANGI one day…

POSTERS FOR THE MOVIE
Uber-talented artist Frank McCarthy, responsible for vivid, astounding poster illustrations for DUEL AT DIABLO, THE DIRTY DOZEN, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, KRAKATOA EAST OF JAVA, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, WHERE EAGLES DARE and many more, produced the striking artwork that adorns almost all of the poster versions for THE VALLEY OF GWANGI.

Here’s McCarthy’s illustration without the poster blurb. It’s a glorious piece of promotional art that exaggerates the scale of Gwangi. The mounted cowboys, dwarfed by the size of the mega-Gwangi, ride their steeds away from the dinosaur and gallop past supersized skulls, adding a lot of dynamism to the composition. A couple of scared, attractive women and the burning cathedral (from the end of the movie) add extra flavour to the artwork.

McCarthy produced several preliminary design sketches that explored possible compositions for the Gwangi poster…

This Frank McCarthy preliminary artwork explores showing Gwangi from a reverse angle — This Frank McCarthy preliminary artwork explores the idea of showing Gwangi from a reverse angle

This rough prelim sketch depicts a very upright-looking Gwangi

This is the Frank McCarthy preliminary artwork design that was chosen for the poster. 'This is it' is even written on the design! — This is the Frank McCarthy preliminary artwork design that was chosen for the poster. ‘This is it’ is even written on the design!

Let’s check out a whole bunch of Gwangi posters now…

Italian poster. This puts a scantily-clad female at the front of the action. Those Italians!

Italian poster. This one actually doesn't use Frank McCarthy's dinosaur illustration: it features a spike-backed carnosaur (cribbed from a comic book) — Italian poster. This one actually doesn’t use Frank McCarthy’s dinosaur illustration: it features a spike-backed carnosaur instead (which was cribbed from a comic book)

A much more recent Mondo poster for the movie, designed by Mike Saputo

Poster for a screening of the movie by the Bristol Bad Film Club (I'm sure the club didn't think this movie was actually bad!) — Poster for a screening of the movie by the Bristol Bad Film Club (I’m sure the club didn’t think this movie was actually bad!)

LOBBY CARDS
Here are just some of the bobby cards for the film…

Lobby card. Laurence Naismith is just about to get squashed!

Lobby card. Two big prehistoric beasts have a face-off!

Lobby card. Gwangi gobbles up an Ornithomimus!

ART INSPIRED BY THE VALLEY OF GWANGI
Here are some cool artworks by illustrators who were inspired by the movie…

Gwangi-inspired cover art for the 1983 May issue of 'Fantasy Book' magazine, by Alan Gutierrez — Gwangi-inspired cover art for the 1983 May issue of ‘Fantasy Book’ magazine, by Alan Gutierrez

Here are some Gwangi-tastic illustrations by the very prolific and very talented artist Jamie Chase…

William Stout…

Illustrator & designer Ross Persichetti produced some illustrations, featured on ArtStation, that were inspired by THE VALLEY OF GWANGI. Ross’ faux Gwangi sequel was called ‘Return to the Valley of Gwangi’

Another faux 'Return to the Valley of Gwangi' concept illustration by Ross Persichetti — Another faux ‘Return to the Valley of Gwangi’ concept illustration by Ross Persichetti

PRESSBOOK
Pages from the Gwangi pressbook…

'This is not 50,000,000 years ago... this is today!' — ‘This is not 50,000,000 years ago… this is today!’

Page depicting various posters and accessories

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES
Here’s a bunch of different Gwangi-related items…

A page from 'The Monster Times' magazine — A page from ‘The Monster Times’ magazine

A shot of Ray Harryhausen with his clever set-up for the Gwangi vs elephant fight scene

Finally, here’s one more look at Gwangi in action…

I love how Gwangi stops to scratch his nose! Such a great touch from Ray, that adds more 'life' to the animated star of the movie — I love how Gwangi stops to scratch his nose! Such a great touch from Ray, that adds more ‘life’ to the animated star of the movie. It is, of course, also a nice nod from Ray to Willis O’Brien’s dinosaur from KING KONG, which had an itchy snout too.

Monster from Green Hell (1957)

October 7, 2022 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Giant wasp with a lot of hairs up its nostrils! — This giant wasp has got a lot of hairs up its nostrils!

This science fiction creature feature was directed by Kenneth G. (THE SPLIT) Crane, written by Louis (I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE) Vittes and Endre Bohem, and stars Jim (THE DAY TIME ENDED) Davis, Robert (I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF) Griffin, Joel Fluellen, Barbara Turner and Eduardo Ciannelli.

The story centres on scientists, armed with grenades, trekking across Africa to find the wasps from a failed rocket experiment… that have turned into mutated giants!

The flick features lots of footslogging scenes. There’s so much walking! These sequences feature the main characters wearing Victorian-era clothing… so that the filmmakers can match the shots with bigger-scale stock footage scenes taken from 1939’s STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE!

Jim (DALLAS) Davis wears old fashioned explorer gear so that stock footage from STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE can be used in this movie!

And after all that bloody trudging across Africa… the scientists are actually unable to kill the wasps with their grenades during the finale! Yes, the protagonists fail in their mission! But then… an erupting volcano fortunately intervenes and this wipes the critters out. How very convenient!

The plot for MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL is, as you may have guessed from my comments above, not too hot… but I kinda like the beasties!

These creatures are a bit toy-like, but a certain amount of effort was put into them: stop-motion puppets (built by Wah Chang and animated by Gene Warren), plus a full-scale prop head and pincer, are used to bring the bugs to life on-screen. Actually, the full-scale bug head, with swivelling compound eyes, is quite impressive. So it’s a pity the movie didn’t utilise it more.

The full-size monster wasp head model was pretty cool!

One scene features a stop-motion snake... — One scene features a stop-motion snake…

...and the snake gets skewered by one of the wasps! — …and the snake gets skewered by one of the wasps!

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL was released on December 12th, 1957 in a double bill with HALF HUMAN.

Check out some posters for the movie…

This Argentinean poster seems to be suggesting the movie actually features some kind of merman!

A newspaper ad…

'Free with each admission - a poster size blow-up of the monster!' — ‘Free with each admission – a poster size blow-up of the monster!’

Here’s the pressbook for the MONSTER FROM GREEN and HALF HUMAN double bill…

Above: some of the pages from the pressbook

And here’s the movie theatre herald (ad flyer) for the double bill of MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL and HALF HUMAN…

'Nightmare thrills beyond belief!' — ‘Nightmare thrills beyond belief!’

'Meet the monsters face-to-face!' — ‘Meet the monsters face-to-face!’

One last look at the wicked wasps…

Attack of the Super Monsters (1982)

September 29, 2022 Ken Miller 2 Comments

This film is odd, okay? You've been warned! — This film is really odd, okay? You’ve been warned!

Directors: Toru Sotoyama and Tom Wyner. Writers: Masaki Tsuji, Ifumi Uchiyama and Tom Wyner. Voice cast: Tom Wyner, Dan Woren, Robin Levenson, Cam Clarke, Mike Reynolds and Joe Perry.

This distinctively-posed dinosaur illustration was used for the ATTACK OF THE SUPER MONSTERS VHS cover…

...when Godzilla posed in a similar fashion in GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019) — …and Godzilla posed in a very similar way in GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019) many years later

This film, released on VHS in the USA, is actually an edit of episodes from Japanese TV series DINOSAUR WAR IZENBORG, which was produced by Tsuburaya Productions, airing from 1977 to 1978 on TV Tokyo.

American voice actor Tom Wyner is the unhinged genius who decided to splice four of the 20-minute episodes together and dub them into English. He deserves a medal!

This is the story of dinosaurs returning to the Earth’s surface to attack mankind. These monster dinos are super-large, telepathic, can talk and breath fire! They can also turn normal Earth animals, such as dogs and rats, into monsters.

This talking Tyrannosaurus Rex can aim eye-beams at dogs... — This talking Tyrannosaurus Rex can aim eye-beams at dogs…

...and turn them into red, slavering killers! — …and turn them into red, slavering killers!

ATTACK OF THE SUPER MONSTERS is a super-weird production: a mix of live action, anime and some stop-motion!

Two harpoons are fired into this dinosaur's mouth... and he just eats them! — Two harpoons are fired into this dinosaur’s mouth… and he just eats them!

The red-eyed brute breaths-out radioactive dust

The human characters are portrayed via cartoon animation, whilst the monsters are a mixture of suitmation, some stop-motion (for the underground ‘normal’ dinosaurs) and props. The Earth animals that go mad are either anime (the dogs, rats) or props (rubber bats on wires.)

There’s a lot of scale model work used too, for the buildings, vehicles and landscapes.

These cave-dwelling stop-motion dinosaurs are rather crudely animated

The world is defended by Gemini Force, which is led by the semi-android brother and sister duo of Jim and Gem Starbuck… who can ‘combine’ in a ‘Gemini transfer’ that joins their ‘life essences’ together so that they can beat the monsters.

"Gem.. Gem... Gemini!" — “Gem.. Gem… Gemini!”

One of the super monsters is a glowing-eyed stegosaurus that can vibrate its back-plates to turn cartoon rats into killers! Gemini Force uses its drill-nosed flying Gemini Ship to slice off some of the dinosaur’s back-plates… and then our heroes bore their vehicle straight through the stegosaurus’ belly! The dino then blows up, of course.

This stegosaurus can talk and control hordes of cartoon rats!

A super-styracosaurus can emit yellow beams from its mouth! — A super-styracosaurus can emit a yellow beam from its mouth…

...and it can also breath fire! — …and it can also breath fire!

The styracosaurus teams-up another super monster, who has had one of its arms sawn off by Gemini Force!

Another dino-kaiju that attacks the surface world is a huge pteranodon that commands a flock of killer bats! This beaked beast pecks at a skyscraper at one point.

Gemini Force injures the pteranodon... and it explodes! — Gemini Force injures the pteranodon… and it explodes!

The main villain, Lord Tyrannus, is actually portrayed by the reused T-Rex suit from the gloriously cheesy film THE LAST DINOSAUR (1977)!

Man-in-suit Lord Tyrannus rules over his stop-motion dinosaur underlings!

Oh, the madness of it all!

Don’t try to logically make sense of it all, or your brain may well explode just like the dinosaurs do in this film. Just go with the flow and enjoy…

Mad God (2021)

July 17, 2022 Ken Miller 3 Comments

Grotesque creatures and imagery abound! — Grotesque monsters and imagery abound!

A helmeted, goggles-wearing humanoid is lowered, in a diving bell-like metal capsule, down into a nightmarish underworld, where he witnesses unexplainable events, sees strange creatures and travels through a series of harsh, terrible landscapes. He becomes the victim of a gory surgical procedure, where countless items and viscera are removed from his body, including a maggot-thing that cries like a baby… but this isn’t the end of the tale and the weird, cruel, grotesque narrative continues…

The capsule is lowered into the depths, passing many striking images, such as this giant skull

The goggled dude needs a light to see where he's going — The goggled dude needs a light to see where he’s going

MAD GOD was written, produced, and directed by Phil Tippett and it is his malformed labour of love, which he began creating over thirty years ago, then shelved for twenty years, then recommenced work on, using Kickstarter donations and volunteers to help him complete this outlandish product of his fecund imagination.

The film relies less on conventional plotting, using instead a kind of dream logic (or, rather, a nightmare logic) to propel the story forward.

A deformed, lumpen stop-motion monster — A deformed, misshapen stop-motion monster

MAD GOD is a mix of stop-motion, miniatures, puppets, pixilation, props and live action, with an abundance of bleak, ruined vistas for the characters to roam through. Tippett doesn’t try to hide the fact that many of the landscapes are tabletop miniatures, he just steams straight ahead with the tale, drawing you into his fantastic, ghastly, intricate world.

Two battling stop-motion monsters! I like this scene a lot!

A close-up of one of these creatures, which has metal mesh covering its face

These two monsters are electrocuted — The two monsters are electrocuted

Director Alex (REPO MAN) Cox plays ‘The Last Man’ and several other actors play a surgeon or nurse, etc, but the bulk of the characters are portrayed via stop-motion, puppets and models, and the majority of the locations are, as mentioned, detailed, cluttered miniatures.

The production is infernally surreal, with the various beings, such as the many fibrous, mummy-like humanoids, regularly killed in a multitude of offhand, cruel ways. Blood and other bodily fluids, plus ground-up flesh, are often extracted from characters and fed into tubes and receptacles. Torture is common here, suggesting this world is some form of layered, torment-filled hell.

Many of the denizens of this hellish place are faceless, fibrous humanoids

One of the humanoids gets scorched to death by a fire pit

Many characters and creatures are victims, such as this stop-motion monkey

For me, it’s as if a violent, twisted, dystopian Métal Hurlant sci-fi-horror comic strip was written by Italian poet-writer Dante and turned into a film, with the influences of Terry Gilliam, Jan Svankmajer, Ray Harryhausen, René Laloux and David Lynch’s ERASERHEAD added to the mix.

A briefly-seen Jan Svankmajer-esque doll

Death and decay are the order of the day

Though the film’s settings are mainly dark and forbidding, there is a brief sequence set in a brightly-coloured habitat, but even here death is always on hand, as we see a cute mushroom-person, who is happily eating maggots, devoured by an arachnid beast.

A pair of fungus folks enjoy a meal of maggots... — A pair of fungus folks enjoy a meal of maggots…

...but a multi-legged monster is allowed to enter this colourful world... — …but a multi-legged monster is allowed to enter this colourful world…

...and it eats one of the mushroom people! — …and it eats one of the mushroom people!

If there’s an overall point to this tale, then it’s not too clear – and if you require a straightforward narrative, then this film isn’t for you – but if you dive into this viewing experience to enjoy the disturbing cinematic ride, you’ll be rewarded with loads of lovingly-crafted, unsettling, eye-catching sequences that are chock-full of twisted wonder, gore and impressionistic madness, leading up to a cosmic finale, accompanied by an effective soundtrack by Dan Wool.

Deformity is common in the world of Mad God

Some concept art for the movie…

Envisaging the scene where a floating monolith splats into some humanoids

The world of the movie begins with concepts such as this

Okay, one more look at that skirmish between the two mesh-faced monsters…

Dinosaurus! (1960)

April 10, 2022 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Engineers using explosives to enlarge a harbour on a Caribbean island discover the bodies of two dinosaurs, which have been frozen in a kind of suspended animation in mud beneath the sea floor.

The dinosaurs, a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Brontosaurus, get winched onto the island and are left lying on the beach. In the middle of a storm that night the big beasties are struck by lightning… and come back to life! Yay!

The frozen Tyrannosaurus Rex is dragged ashore

The inanimate bodies of the Brontosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus lie on the beach

The prehistoric reptiles start roaming about the island and, to add to the fun, a caveman (Gregg Martell), who was also originally frozen at the bottom of the sea, reawakens too!

Mike Hacker (Fred Engelberg), the island’s mean-spirited deputy mayor, plans to financially exploit the caveman, but the Neanderthal gets away, becoming friends with an orphan boy called Julio (Alan Roberts). The caveman also takes a liking to Betty Piper (Kristina Hanson), who is the girlfriend of head engineer Bart Thompson (Ward Ramsey).

Mike Hacker is the movie's baddie — Mike Hacker is the movie’s baddie

The caveman takes Betty to a cave, where he makes her cook for him

As the movie progresses, we get to see Hacker and a couple of his goons chase Julio and the caveman around the island, the Tyrannosaurus attack a busload of locals, Julio and the caveman ride on the back of the Brontosaurus, and Bart battle the Tyrannosaurus with a mechanical digger!

When prehistoric reptile meets a 20th century machine!

DINOSAURUS! was produced by Jack H. Harris, so you know the film is going to be low budget but a lot of fun, like some of his other productions, such as THE BLOB (1958), 4D MAN (1959), EQUINOX (1970), SCHLOCK (1973) and DARK STAR (1974).

The Tyrannosaurus crushes a vehicle full of islanders: pretty ruthless for a children's film! — The Tyrannosaurus crushes a vehicle full of islanders: pretty ruthless for a children’s film!

Marcel (KING KONG) Delgado built the dinosaur puppets and the stop-motion was done by Tom Holland, Phil Kellison, David Pal, Ralph Rodine and Don Sahlin.
Tim Baar, Wah Chang and Gene Warren handled the special photographic effects.

Unfortunately, the table-top stop-motion lacks the finesse of Harryhausen or Danforth (supposedly the schedule was pretty rushed), so this tightly-budgeted movie is never going to be considered a top tier stop-motion dino movie like THE VALLEY OF GWANGI or WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH. However, on its own terms, DINOSAURUS! is a pretty watchable, event-filled fantasy that passes the time nicely.

Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr, the movie boasts a bunch of fun scenes with the caveman, colourful cinemascope photography and it ends with a question mark, just like Yeaworth’s THE BLOB.

Okay, let’s talk a bit more about the movie’s special effects…

I actually think the large mechanical dinosaur models used in DINOSAURUS! look better on-screen than the stop-motion puppets. The cable-controlled T-Rex model, for instance, which is used in many scenes, certainly works better than the stop-motion version, with nice detail showing on its glistening skin.

The large mechanical Tyrannosaurus model…

...and here's the cable-controlled dino in action — …and here’s the cable-controlled dino in action

The Tyrannosaurus doesn't like fire! — The Tyrannosaurus doesn’t like fire!

(Fun fact: whilst shooting the stop-motion scenes for this movie, the FX crew found time to use the Brontosaurus model and the miniature jungle set to film a shot for THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode ‘The Odyssey of Flight 33’.)

In Dinosaurus! the Tyrannosaurus (stop-motion puppet) approaches an old fort, where the islanders are hiding out — In the Dinosaurus! finale, the Tyrannosaurus (stop-motion puppet) approaches an old fort, where the islanders are hiding out

Here’s a shot of the two cable-controlled dino models…

One of the great things about DINOSAURUS! is that it spawned loads of stonkingly wonderful posters.

Feast your eyes…

Thai poster: this features images of the Pteranodon and Archelon from One Million Years BC!

Right, now THIS is what I call a great double feature!

Some lobby cards…

A bunch of studio release photos…

The cover for the Dell comic book adaptation of the movie…

Super 8 home movie box art…

'Primeval monsters rock the earth in savage death duel!' — ‘Primeval monsters rock the earth in savage death duel!’

Here’s an American VHS cover that used the Dell comic artwork…

‘Before DNA – real dinosaurs terrorize the earth’

And, finally, let’s look at the original artwork (without the typography) that was used as the VHS box art for Mountain Video’s release of DINOSAURUS!
Yes… this UK company thought they’d put Harryhausen’s Gwangi on the front cover!
And don’t ask me what that green face is supposed to be on the back cover…

Gouache on art board, painted by Philip Richards. (That caveman illustration is obviously based on one of the figures featured in Frank Frazetta’s ‘Neanderthal’ painting!)

The Crater Lake Monster (1977)

February 11, 2022 Ken Miller Leave a comment

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 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…

…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.

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)

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.

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!

Posters for Jack the Giant Killer (1962)

December 21, 2021 Ken Miller 4 Comments

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

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.

The 'dragon men' march towards Jack — The ‘dragon men’ march towards Jack

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!

Possessed lady of the court with snake eyes!

This witch-thing can blow powerful gusts of wind from its huge mouth!

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)…

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!

Italian poster. The monsters shown here are very prehistoric-looking!

Some lobby cards…

Italian 'fotobusta' lobby card — Italian ‘fotobusta’ lobby card

DVD and Blu-ray covers…

Newspaper ads…

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

Pendragon summons his cohorts... — Pendragon summons his cohorts…

The sea monster is quite different-looking in this comic adaptation

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

Posters for Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

December 19, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS was directed by Don Chaffey, produced by Charles H. Schneer, and featured a great cast, including Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall MacGinnis (my favourite Zeus!), Patrick Troughton, Douglas Wilmer, Michael Gwynn and Nigel Green (a really good Hercules!)

This is one of Ray Harryhausen’s very, very best movies! Boasting a well-paced plot, a wonderful Bernard Herrmann score and memorable stop-motion creatures, including Talos and the Harpies. The many-headed Hydra that guards the fleece is a very well-designed creation and is probably my favourite stop-motion movie beast.

The Hydra is a gorgeous-looking critter!

The sword fight between Jason and a couple of his Argonauts versus seven grimacing skeletons is a truly exciting and memorable moment in fantasy cinema. For me, this is the best stop-motion sequence of all time!

It's all about to kick off... — It’s all about to kick off…

Amazing stuff. Fantasy adventure movies don’t get better than this!

Here’s a selection of just some of the posters produced for the movie…

UK double bill quad poster for re-release of Jason and the Argonauts/Mysterious Island. I saw this double bill at the cinema! Woot! — UK quad poster for re-release of Jason and the Argonauts/Mysterious Island. I saw this double bill at the cinema! Woot!

A couple of limited-edition posters…

By Killian Eng — Poster by Killian Eng (he added too many skeletons!)

Some lobby cards…

I hope he used deodorant... — I hope he used deodorant…

Some fotobustas (Italian version of lobby cards)…

Some VHS, DVD and Blu-ray covers…

Some Super 8mm box art…

Derann box art for Super 8mm colour/sound reel

Some acrylic paintings by Jamie Chase…

Finally, some Ray Harryhausen concept art for the movie…

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

November 20, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Sinbad visits the kingdom of Charak and soon realises that all is not well. He eventually discovers that Prince Kassim, brother of Princess Farah (who Sinbad wishes to marry), has been turned into a baboon by his evil, magic-wielding stepmother Zenobia! In order to turn Kassim back into a human so that he can be crowned Caliph, Sinbad must seek out the alchemist Melanthius, which then leads to a quest to a far-off country beyond the north polar wastelands.

Prince Kassim has become a baboon, but he can still play chess!

Zenobia has got the eye(s) of the tiger!

Directed by Sam Wanamaker, SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER stars Patrick (THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT) Wayne, Jane (FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY) Seymour, Taryn Power and Patrick (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS) Troughton. With stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen, this was the third Sinbad movie released by Columbia Pictures.

Stop-motion ghouls: yikes! — Zomboid ghouls: yikes!

This colourful fantasy romp features, amongst other things, a fight with three bug-eyed zomboid ghouls, an attack by a (fairly) big bee, a witch (Margaret Whiting) who ends up with the foot of a seagull and a voyage to the lost land of Hyperborea. It’s a shame, then, that TIGER is nowhere near as good as either THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD, which boasted better cinematography, direction, acting, score, script and creatures, or THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, which had a livelier sense of adventure, a wonderful Bernard Herrmann score and more striking stop-motion beasties.

SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER has rather a lot of iffy moments, unfortunately: ‘ice’ that looks like it’s been made out of plastic bags, the unblinking, lifeless glass eyes of the sabre-toothed tiger and poor blue screen work seen during the Petra scenes.

However…

…there’s still a lot of stuff I do like: all the baboon and Trog stop-motion scenes are good, the film has an attractive (though wooden) cast, the attack of the giant walrus is enjoyable and Patrick Troughton, as the alchemist Melanthius, acts everyone else off the screen.

Trog and Kassim the baboon become buddies

A lovely fantasy landscape. I wish there had been more shots of this kind in the film

It would've been better if the Minoton had been given more to do in the film — It would’ve been better if the Minoton had been given more to do in the film

The mechanical Minoton, animated via Zenobia’s sorcery, looks pretty cool, but has a rather throwaway demise when it just falls under a block of stone: I would have liked to see it fight either Sinbad or Trog.

Complaints aside, the film is charming and watchable – and I still have very fond memories of seeing this movie twice in the cinema, once in a double bill with the Nicholas Hammond SPIDER-MAN (which was released theatrically in the UK).

Here are some more posters…

US advance style 1 sheet – illustration is by Birney Lettick

Foldout movie promo…

Promo foldout - back cover (illustration is by Victor Gadino) — Promo back cover (illustration is by Victor Gadino)

Lobby cards…

Lobby card - Patrick Wayne, Patrick Troughton, Taryn Power and Jane Seymour — Lobby card – Patrick Wayne, Patrick Troughton, Taryn Power and Jane Seymour

Lobby card - Patrick & Taryn — Lobby card – Patrick & Taryn

Super 8 movie box art…

VHS, DVD and Blu-ray covers…

Pages from the movie pressbook…

A comic book adaptation of SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER was produced in the UK by General Publishing. This single issue also included a couple of movie features.

Ian Gibson, a regular artist for UK sci-fi comic 2000 AD, provided the nice-looking, detailed illustrations…

Written by Benny Aldrich, drawn by Ian Gibson

Some of Ian Gibson's original artwork. I like the very intricate line work! — Some of Ian Gibson’s original art. I like the very intricate line work!

Reaching the gate... — Reaching the gate…

Books and magazines…

The novelisation of the movie, written by John Ryder Hall

Here’s a hand pulled screen print art piece by a veteran of the UK graffiti scene, inspired by the film…

Finally, here’s a publicity shot…

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

November 14, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Kali: one of Ray Harryhausen's greatest creations! — Kali: one of Ray Harryhausen’s greatest creations!

Sinbad (John Phillip Law), his crew, a Vizier (Douglas Wilmer) and a slave girl called Margiana (Caroline Munro) undertake a voyage to find the legendary Fountain of Destiny in Lemuria, but a master of black arts, Koura (Tom Baker), is also set on acquiring the Fountain’s gifts to conquer the land of Marabia.

Directed by Gordon (SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN) Hessler, this movie was the second of three Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films released by Columbia Pictures (the other two were THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER) and it’s my personal favourite.

Margiana is offered up to the God of the Single Eye... a centaur! — Margiana is offered up to the God of the Single Eye… a centaur!

For me THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD has the best ‘feel’ of the three Harryhausen Sinbad productions: the lighting is great, the sets are marvellous, it has the best dialogue and the general atmosphere is a satisfying mix of seriousness, fantasy, adventure and humour.

Sinbad fights for his life in a fine-looking Lemurian temple set — Sinbad fights for his life in a moody Lemurian temple set

The score by composer Miklós Rózsa is wonderful, especially during the exciting sword fight between Sinbad’s crew and a statue of Kali. Rózsa had provided the music for THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940), a favourite film of Ray’s. THE THIEF OF BAGDAD had also featured green-skinned men and this Sinbad adventure has similar green tribesmen.

The main selling point of any Ray Harryhausen production is the chance to enjoy Ray’s stop-motion effects and THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD has a fine selection of animated adversaries, including the aforementioned many-armed Kali. Along with the Kali fight scene, the initial sequence that introduces Kali is also very well-done: the fact that Ray, through his stop-motion skills, imbues the six-armed statue with ‘life’ and then proceeds to show her dancing too is just amazing.

Other stop-motion creations include a wooden ship’s figurehead and winged homunculi. The scene in which Koura creates the second small homunculus from a jar of leaves and chemicals is effectively done, with the tiny creature acting as if it has just been born.

'Birth' of the homunculus — ‘Birth’ of the homunculus

Koura uses his dark magic to animate the figurehead on Sinbad's ship — Koura uses his dark magic to animate the figurehead on Sinbad’s ship

There is also an impressive cyclopean centaur, which kidnaps Margiana, then does battle with a griffin!

Some folks moan that the griffin just kind of strolls into the story to have a fight with the centaur and then gets killed. But this winged creature is performing a role set out in a prophecy told to Sinbad by the Oracle of All Knowledge (played by an uncredited Robert Shaw in striking makeup) and so, for me, the sudden appearance works fine because the griffin is functioning as part of the prophecy (which states “Destiny is a place where both good and evil wait” – the griffin obviously personifies the good) and when we see it get wounded by Koura so that the centaur can gain the upper hand in the battle, the griffin is again playing its part in the prophecy (“for it is the deeds of weak and mortal men that may tip the scales one way or the other.”)

The horned Oracle of All Knowledge is consulted

Lobby card shows Sinbad taking on the centaur

Tom Baker, as Koura, ageing every time he uses his magic, is the best villain in the Sinbad trilogy of films, I think. John Phillip Law is a fine Sinbad (the best!) and the lovely Caroline Munro adds glamour as slave girl Margiana, dripping sex appeal in all her scenes. Douglas (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS) Wilmer, as the badly burned Vizier, is hidden by a mask for most of the running time, but his voice is a great contribution to the film.

Tom Baker as Koura, surrounded by green tribesmen

The Vizier reveals his scarred face to act as a distraction, so that Sinbad can escape the green men. — Douglas Wilmer as the Vizier reveals his scarred face to act as a distraction, so that the protagonists can escape the green men.

Sinbad offers the Vizier a crown of untold riches

Ultimately, I think this Sinbad film stands out because its story uses the overarching theme of Destiny very well, in a script written by Brian Clemens that includes lots of chat peppered with praise to Allah, humour and colourful aphorisms: “My heart is filled with courage! But I have very cowardly legs.”

“Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel!”