A double bill of shit films Log Out | Topics | Search
Moderators | Edit Profile

RAMSEY CAMPBELL » Discussion » A double bill of shit films « Previous Next »

Author Message
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 12:13 pm:   

With the usual standard of bank holiday television, I turned to my DVD collection. After finishing Alan Bleasedale’s rather brilliant GBH, I decided it was time for something lowbrow. Good thing my DVD collection supports this ambition admirably.

I started with King Kong versus Gozilla. I almost wish I hadn’t. Was this the cheapest film Toho ever made? Godzilla looked cheaper than usual and the Kong suit was so bad you could see the join where the head fitted on. The English segments had clearly been edited in by another studio and the English voice acting for the Japanese segments seemed to be bored with the lines they were reading (with good reason as the script seemed worse than usual). The English segments in the “newsroom” popped in an inappropriate times in the middle of action sequences so as to destroy any attempt at good film making.

Is it true that in the Japanese edit it’s Godzilla that resurfaces and swims off into the distance?

The reason I own this film BTW is that I found a 4 disk box-set in Fopp that contained the ‘33 KK in B+W and a colourised version with a documentary, Godzilla vs Kong and King Kong Returns – all for the extortionate price of £3 (well worth it just for the original).

After watching that I thought the standards needed to rise a little so I got out my Critters box set (all 4 films for a whole fiver) and watched number 3. It was infinitely better than the GVKK but not as good as Critters 2 that I watched a couple of weeks back for the first time.

Critters 2 had everything you want from trash moviemaking, a sheriff in an easter bunny costume crashing through the church window in the middle of the sermon while one rat type creature is eating his dangly bits as another chows down on his stomach, a giant ball of monsters rolling through the town, instantly skeletonising everyone it rolls over, gratuitous female nudity and puerile running jokes.

Critters 3 had – well – a young Leo di Caprio. That’s about it. All the nice characters survived while all the nasty people got eaten and the critters behaved more like Gremlins than ever. Still it was a masterpiece compared with Godzilla.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 12:28 pm:   

Oh, and King Kong and Godzilla clearly watch pro-wrestling. I spotted several moves in the final battle that I’ve seen in pro wrestling shows, including a spot on full shoulder throw that I use in my Ju Jitsu.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert)
Username: John_l_probert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.253.174.81
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 12:50 pm:   

King Kong vs Godzilla was a favourite of mine when I was 7, even thought Central TV had the irritating habit of letting the film carry on running during the ad breaks so when you came back it was obvious you'd missed a chunk.

I've also heard that Godzilla swims away in one version but I've never seen it.

Those Toho movies really held my interest when I was a kid but sadly as I've got olde my attention span must have decreased - I tried to watch Invasion of Astro Monster a few years ago and fell asleep.

I saw Critters 3 on BBC many years ago - wasn't it written by David J Schow? All I can remember is Leonardo de Caprio being in it but I suspect it was rubbish.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 01:00 pm:   

It was indeed written by David Schow (No J for that credit). It really wasn't up to much.

I've got Critters 4 to watch this weekend. They were filmed back to back apparently. I saw it a few years back but I can't remember much about it which doesn't say much. basically they do an Aliens and it's in space 50 years in the future. I'd even forgotten Brad Dourif is in it till I saw the trailer on one of the other dvds in the set.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 92.9.142.11
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 03:29 pm:   

I have fond memories of KING KONG V GODZILLA, despite concurring with this detailed criticism.

In those long-ago days when Christmas was a special time to watch TV, mainly because it was notable for the screening of all kinds of fantasy films that you never normally saw, I remember starting my festive holidays one Friday evening in the excited knowledge that the amazing-sounding KONG KONG v GODZILLA was on telly that night.

As a young child, I was so exhilarated by the mere thought of this movie that I found it a completely satisfying experience. But yes, I do agree that in reality it is quite atrociously made.

I usually extended the same leniency to JACK THE GIANT KILLER, which was almost always screened on Boxing Day mornings, despite, even at that tender age, being well aware that the monsters in it were very sub-Harryhausen.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 03:39 pm:   

I'm with you regarding JACK THE GIANT KILLER, Paul - loved that one when I was a kid, and, yes, it did seem to be on every Boxing Day morning!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 03:54 pm:   

I suppose my biggest criticism of the whole concept of KK vs G is that KK is a 50foot tall ape and Godzilla is a 350 foot tall fire breathing dinosaur... it's no contest.

Which reminds me - the scale of the model making kept slipping in KKvsG. One shot Godzilla would be the usual mountainous presence, the next minute a normal electric pylon would be half his height. One shot there was a big height difference between the two monsters, the next shot they were the same size.

There was also a ludicrous piece of dialogue where one of the Japanese laughed at the thought that there might be a monster on Pharaoh Island, saying that there was no such thing as monsters... this is in a Godzilla film where they call the big G by name the second he pops out of the iceberg.

Can you tell I was disappointed by this one?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 04:20 pm:   

I remember chancing upon 'King Kong vs Godzilla' one evening when I was a very young boy and being completely blown away by it! I raved about it in school the next day as the coolest thing I had ever seen! I seem to remember Kong winning the battle and swimming away back to his island at the end but that may be childhood fantasy broadening my memory. Haven't seen it since but I do love those Toho movies.

One of my greatest cinema experiences of recent years was taking my then girlfriend to a rare "arthouse" screening of Ishiro Honda's 'The Mysterians' (1957) - that's the one with the flying saucers and the giant mechanical chicken thing that bores up from underground. I swear half the audience almost choked to death laughing and I couldn't get a word out of her the whole rest of the night - sublime filmmaking!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 05:35 pm:   

I'm going to try for a triple bill next weekend of Saw V, Session 9 and something I found just called Evil.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 05:59 pm:   

Didn't Kong wrestle a giant snake or octopus or something at one point? And wasn't there a bit with Godzilla floating through the air holding onto balloons - or did I hallucinate that? It must be near 40 years since I saw that film.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 92.9.142.11
Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 06:13 pm:   

It's a giant octopus, Steve, and even today I wonder how they managed to film that sequence - because if memory serves, I thought the octopus was so realistic that it must have been real, which, given that an actor in a monkey suit was wrestling with it, meant that it must have been very big indeed.

Of course, it's also about 40 years since I saw it, so I could be talking total crap.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.5.3.243
Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 - 02:08 am:   

Now for a double-shit of bill films, I'd recommend Garfield and Howard the Duck.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 - 09:37 am:   

The octopus on the ground looked real. When KK grabbed it, it turned into a bad plastic model...

And yes they do float KK on balloons across Japan so he could fight the big G
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 - 12:00 pm:   

Where do we get these warped memories? I distinctly recall an image of Godzilla floating under a big bunch of coloured balloons, and did he not drop on Kong's head? I definitely remember the big ape winning, though, but whether by a knockout or on points escapes me... I really want to see this now lol.

Probably a bad idea - like revisiting Benny Hill!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 - 01:55 pm:   

In Godzilla vs The Smog Monster we find out that the big G can fly by looking down and using his flames as rocket propulsion.

It looks even worse than it sounds.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 - 03:35 pm:   

Does anyone else have the same childhood memory as me of seeing 'Jaws' in the cinema when it was first released (I must have been 10 or 11) and remembering the severed limbs as being cleanly sliced with a round white circle in the middle denoting the bone - like something you'd pick up from the butcher's. When it was first shown on TV some years later I remember being shocked at how much more lifelike the ragged-edged limbs really looked!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 92.9.142.11
Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 - 04:33 pm:   

Does anyone remember the truly ludicrous Godzilla movie, when, after despatching yet another giant monster from outer space, he danced a triumphant hornpipe - to the cheers of the Japanese population, whose houses fell down even more from the colossal vibrations?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 - 05:00 pm:   

I remember that one, Paul. It was hilarious. I must admit, even as a kid I thought the Godzilla films were utter shite. They're actually pretty boring between the bouts of giant-reptile-based insanity.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 - 05:04 pm:   

The 90's remakes with decent special effects could actually be quite good in places.

The even killed Big G off properly in the last one.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2010 - 05:10 pm:   

They killed him off, and then some, in the very first one - a really decent movie, also watched on the big screen in recent years. How he ever came back from being skeletonised has always puzzled me...

I still say the Toho movies are great fun with a load of beers in and the right crowd, every decade or so!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.139.29.40
Posted on Thursday, September 02, 2010 - 09:56 pm:   

>>Does anyone else have the same childhood memory as me of seeing 'Jaws' in the cinema when it was first released (I must have been 10 or 11) and remembering the severed limbs as being cleanly sliced with a round white circle in the middle denoting the bone - like something you'd pick up from the butcher's. When it was first shown on TV some years later I remember being shocked at how much more lifelike the ragged-edged limbs really looked!<<

Same phenomenon happened to me Stevie! I think as young kids we were primed by mates who had already seen the movie about what to expect. The severed arm on the beach, the head, the leg floating off into the depths, etc. Our young minds created the scenes and ingrained them into our fevered little warped fan boy imaginations well before we finally got to see the movie ourselves. So that when the scene finally arrived on screen it flashed by in a mix of expectation and imagination. Dats wot i fink.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.139.29.40
Posted on Thursday, September 02, 2010 - 10:04 pm:   

Talking of double bills of shit films. Did anyone else see 'Carquake' with 'The Giant Spider Invasion' in the cinema back in '77 or '78 ? Maybe I imagined this odd pairing.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Thursday, September 02, 2010 - 10:37 pm:   

Sean, I saw that double bill, I think.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, September 03, 2010 - 11:11 am:   

Sean, I think you've hit the nail on the head! 'Jaws' was my very first experience of explicit gore and, by god, I loved every bloody second of it... still the greatest cinema experience of my life, and always will be!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.139.29.40
Posted on Saturday, September 04, 2010 - 01:00 am:   

Yep! We did see it Z. Here it is...
http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/posters/db/poster.asp?pid=18637

These lobby posters were great. They fired my imagination as a kid but bore little or no resemblance to the finished product. That 'Giant Spider' on the poster looks nothing like a fur covered VW Beetle with giant pipe cleaners stuck on!

Add Your Message Here
Post:
Bold text Italics Underline Create a hyperlink Insert a clipart image

Username: Posting Information:
This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here.
Password:
Options: Enable HTML code in message
Automatically activate URLs in message
Action:

Topics | Last Day | Last Week | Tree View | Search | Help/Instructions | Program Credits Administration