Alien 3000 aka Unseen Evil 2 aka cheap monster movie.

If the title didn't give it away, the poster looks like an Alien knockoff and I love those. Honestly though, I admire anyone who tries to make a monster movie for no money because it is really difficult and I just have a soft spot for these films. They probably had a little sliver of a budget but not much I imagine. Actually I'd love to know the real budget and watch BTS on this (sorry I'm going to say that about every movie) because they probably had a lot more than I did but still. I just enjoy watching these. It's so tough to make a film and especially when you have no resources. I love IMDb's trivia for this movie: "Director Jeff Leroy said one day Lorenzo Lamas hid behind a rock when his ex-wife Playboy model Shauna Sand made a surprise appearance on location and demanded his salary." What was his salary I wonder? And this gem: "The director said on one occasion shortly after its release, he invited some friends over to watch the finished product. They fell asleep minutes into the film and so he snuck over to the DVD player and tossed Alien 3000 in the garbage." Holy shit I just realized this director made Werewolf in a Womens Prison, which I absolutely love (I own 2 DVDs of it... a US and a German one). That is awesome. Well, damn now I really want to buy the DVD. Yes, I'm insane but hey it has an exclusive creature interview. I love that shit. Bring on the suit actors. I wish it had a 10 hour making of. Alright, I'll stop ranting like a madman. Thank you Tubi. And thank you Jeff Leroy.

Battle Heater (1989) is absolutely amazing.

If you haven't seen Cyclops (1987), stop what you're doing and watch it. Especially for practical FX fans, it's jaw-dropping. Just get to the finale and you'll see what I mean... it all builds to that and boy does it pay off. Battle Heater is by the same director so you know you're in for something great. This time around it's a crazy comedy with a kotatsu (table with a blanket on top and a heater underneath) that starts eating people. It's brilliant and I can't believe it took me this long to see it. I think somebody actually gave the director a budget for this and that person deserves all the accolades in the world for such a great decision. Good call, sir. Good call. Sadly, many Japanese films are made very cheaply especially these days but you can tell Battle Heater had some money and damn did they put it to good use. This film is exhilarating and so much fun to behold. If you like Japanese cinema at all, you should give it a chance. I'm not really into comedies but I loved this and it's far more than just a comedy anyway.

How did I never see Guzoo: The Thing Forsaken By God - Part 1 (1986)?

I'm just shocked I never heard of this before. True, it's only 40 min long but damn it's pretty cool. I love practical FX tentacle monsters, and this certainly delivers as it attacks a bunch of cute Japanese girls. Apparently, there is no part 2, which is a bummer. This should have been a series with like 40 movies haha. Alright maybe I'm overselling it a bit but it seems so amazing when you discover something like this and I found a bunch of other short FX Japanese horror films too such as Conton (1987), Cyclops/The Unborn (1987), Gakidama: The Demon Within (1988), etc. These are the kind of cool practical FX movies I want to make. Ok maybe more like John Carpenter's The Thing but who am I kidding I'm never going to have his budget, which is why I'm impressed by what these guys did because it was probably done for pennies. Sure, it has flaws and you can see their limitations but still I think it's fantastic what they pulled off with so little. That's the magic of indie filmmaking. And look at that VHS box. That's awesome. As soon as I saw that, I knew I had to see this.

I did some digging and the internet informed me V Zone Video was behind this production. Part 2 was canceled since they went out of business. V Zone was a popular Japanese horror magazine in the 80s but its final issue was in 1987. Such a shame.

It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) is great to watch.

I love seeing monster movies like this. Them and Day of the Triffids are two of my favorites besides the original Universal Monsters of course (Frankenstein and Creature from the Black Lagoon can't be beat). Yes, the FX don't quite hold up in this but I think there's something charming about a guy in a suit vs. today's CG nonsense although sometimes CGI can be amazing as well (the limited CGI in the first Jurassic Park and the extraordinary work in Starship Troopers). Then again I didn't like the practical FX in Gargoyles so I'm contradictory but I expected a little more from Stan Winston and that was the '70s vs. the '50s here. I shouldn't be so harsh to Gargoyles either since it was a TV movie and full monster suits are never easy. Really I just love monster movies. Even the bad ones are great to me, and I would love to watch every monster movie ever made even though that might be impossible. I like the characters in this film and the way the story develops. At first, no one believes our hero, the only survivor from the first encounter, but once they see the monster for themselves, they know he is telling the truth. It's a common storyline especially in vampire flicks but I like how our guy isn't bitter at that. He understands why they wouldn't believe him. I'm so glad we even got a toy of this monster. One thing is certain: if you want a great monster movie, you need a ruthless unstoppable monster. Alien, Terminator, Jaws all have this in common. The harder it is to kill the beast, the more suspenseful your film will be. Same thing goes for how lethal the creature is. Monster movies really have clear stakes, which I think makes them very effective. Rarely are they boring, and I just love monsters.

Inseminoid (1981) is a sleazy hilarious Alien ripoff.

I love Alien so much I can't help watching all the terrible Z-grade knockoffs, and honestly, I enjoy these too because they show you why Alien is so good. You can see how Alien took the same kind of material but elevated it through high-class cinematography, breathtaking sets, the involvement of a real artist designing the monster in the form of H.R. Giger, excellent writing, the best cast you could hope for, etc. A lot of that does come down to the budget since millions of dollars allows you to get better actors, experienced craftsmen, more time for shooting, etc. so I still appreciate these down and dirty clones but the true flaw of these imitations is not being original. But like I said, I still love to watch them, and they usually have some well-done moments at least or they'll make you laugh. Inseminoid is pretty bad but it gets pretty crazy and fun around 32 min in. If you click here, you can watch it for free on Tubi right now (in the US at least). I really love the posters for it below.

New Trailer for The Superdeep aka Kola Superdeep aka Freakin Awesome Russian Monster Movie

This is definitely my most anticipated new film. It looks like it has amazing practical FX right up there with John Carpenter's The Thing (don't you dare mention the prequel). That's going off the first leaked teaser that spread like wildfire but was removed since it apparently wasn't official. Damn, it was badass though. This new trailer is ok (sorry it's all in Russian but I'm desperate for any new footage). Check it out below. Update: changed to English trailer.



But the truly amazing first teaser can be found here (thank you Wicked Thrilling Freaks for keeping it online!). I recommend you watch that to see why everyone is so excited. According to the latest from Variety, XYZ Films and Pulsar Content are teaming up for international distribution with a special sales reel being shown at the visual edition of Cannes. Wish we could see that. Hard to believe this was made for only $4 million (The Thing was made for $10 million 38 years ago in 1982). Anyway, some images from the first teaser are below.

Can't fuckin wait!

Rawhead Rex (1986) is... interesting.

Good, bad, ugly. I love all monster movies. Yes, Rawhead Rex definitely falls on the lower end of that spectrum but it's very easy to watch. I think a lot of that comes down to Clive Barker and the fact that there was so much more to the story that he wrote but plenty got lost on the way to the big screen. The biggest problem, of course, would be the monster itself specifically its face. It just doesn't look that good although its red eyes are great and it has its moments but the FX don't quite work. They do show the monster quite a bit and the story keeps chugging along, which saves it from boring mediocrity. You also get some surprising kills so I would give the director some credit. It's nowhere near Hellraiser but it's fun to watch, and it has some cool sequences. This could definitely benefit from a remake although films like this will never get one but now I'd like to see the director's earlier Clive Barker film Underworld (1985) aka Transmutations.