Cruel Jaws, also known as Jaws 5: Cruel Jaws and The Beast is a 1995 Italian mockbuster originally title Fauci crudeli, based on the 1975 blockbuster Jaws and its sequels. It was directed by infamous schlock filmmaker Bruno Mattei (Rats: Night of Terror, Zombies: The Beginning). The film stars David Luther, George Barnes, Jr., Scott Silveria, Kirsten Urso, Richard Dew and Sky Palma.

It’s hard to know where to start with such a shameless and inane film. Cruel Jaws is far, far beyond your average rip-off. The story is essentially Jaws with smatterings of Jaws 2 and Jaws 3-D thrown in. Scenes from the Spielberg classic are recreated verbatim, and dialogue is directly lifted.

Explaining the plot of Cruel Jaws is almost pointless if you’ve seen Jaws. But the twists on the original tale are rather hysterical, such as the inclusion of Dag, essentially the film’s Quint. Dag Snerensen (Richard Dew) bears a striking resemblance to Hulk Hogan. His name “Dag” also mustered a lot of confusion as I thought characters were referring to him as “Dad”. Anyway, Dag owns a shoddy version of Sea World (their attractions consist of two dolphins and a seal). He’s in trouble because he owes his bullying landlord, Samuel Lewis (George Barnes Jr.), “fifteen years rent”. This is a problem because Dag has a young daughter whose legs don’t work and who apparently has no reason to live other than swimming with dolphins.

But all this is completely irrelevant. While this pathetic little soap opera is playing out, a giant tiger shark is chowing down on the locals! (The tiger shark, by the way, is not actually a tiger shark. Practically all the stock footage thrown on the screen features great white sharks.) Luckily, Billy (Gregg Hood), the film’s lame reincarnation of Richard Dreyfuss’s Hooper, happens to be back in town ready to help Sheriff Francis (David Luther) in his hunt for the shark. For a marine biologist, Billy really hates sharks referring to them as “sort of locomotive with a mouth full of butcher’s knives”.

Sheriff Francis and Billy try to get the beach shut down, but, with an attitude strangely reminiscent of the another shark-plagued town’s mayor, Mayor Godfrey (Kevin Dean) and aforementioned rich bully Sam scoff at the shark claims. It’s tourist season! There’s a big windsurfing event coming up! How could they possibly close the beaches?! It’s all very familiar and only moments featuring Dag, the Hogan lookalike, remind us we’re not watching Jaws… for example, this touching scene where Dag puts his daughter to sleep with an impressive use of hypnotism…

t’s hard to pick the worst actor from the cast. They’re all so phenomenally bad. The villainous George Barnes Jr. stumbles through his lines with wide-eyed determination. Richard Dew may look like Hulk Hogan, but he’s a much worse actor, and Hulk Hogan is a terrible actor. Gregg Hood and David Luther are atrocious heroes. Hood as Billy is particularly awful coming across like a socially inept lunatic. There’s a surreal moment where Dag rambles at Billy for ages about whales while Hood fiddles with a radar looking ready to explode.

Not that the actors have much to work with. The script, which unbelievably took three people to write is a fabulous mess. The dialogue swings from ludicrous shark diatribes to incomprehensible insults. (At one point, Billy screams “You fat FUCK!” in the villain’s face.) Subplots and characters are tossed around with little regard for logic. In a jaw-droppingly stupid party scene full of head-scratching lines (a girl says “I wanna dance!” while dancing), two (apparently) hot babes hook up with a couple of jocky antagonists. This would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that only a few scenes earlier they were chanting “dickbrain, dickbrain, dickbrain” in their dumbfounded faces.

Bruno Mattei doesn’t stop at merely lifting story elements from Jaws. Cruel Jaws has the audacity to steal footage from Jaws, its sequels and even other Italian shark efforts like Enzo G. Castellari’s awesome Great White (1981) and Joe D’Amato’s Deep Blood (1990). He even “borrows” the theme song from Star Wars, remixing it slightly and playing it over a few scenes and the end credits! The hack didn’t even bother building his own fake shark, which in my books is a crime against shark films.

In shark attacks scenes, the film cuts madly between so many different rubber sharks that it’s almost seizure inducing. Footage from Great White and Deep Blood is awkwardly wedged into scenes with no regard for continuity. The stock footage of sharks is completely random, darting between different sizes and even different species. Mattei doesn’t even bother to throw any blood into the water for the few pathetic shark attack scenes he actually bothered to film.

I struggle to say Cruel Jaws is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen because I had such a ferociously good time with it. It’s the hardest I’ve laughed during a movie, comedy genre included, for some time. While it may be the laziest and shittiest work of his career, and it’s certainly the most shameless, Bruno Mattei (R.I.P.) made trash movie magic with Cruel Jaws. Stupid magic, but magic nonetheless.

Dave Jackson, Mondo Exploito (click link for Dave’s full review)

Cruel Jaws has a handful of Euro DVD releases. I’m not really sure how “legit” any of them are, but they are available via Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 

Wikipedia | IMDb

Related: 2-Headed Shark Attack | Cruel Jaws | Ghost Shark | Great White | Jaws | Jaws 2 | Jersey Shore Shark Attack | Jurassic Shark | Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus | Piranha Sharks | Psycho Shark | Sand Sharks | Shark Attack 3: Megalodon | The Shark is Still Working | Shark Week | Sharknado | Sharktopus | Snow Shark | Super Shark | Swamp Shark | Zombie Shark

Buy Horrors of the Deep: Piranha + The Last Jaws + Tentacles DVD Collection from Amazon.co.uk

King Kong vs. Godzilla (キングコング対ゴジラ Kingu Kongu Tai Gojira) is a 1962 Japanese science fiction Kaiju film produced by Toho Studios. Directed by Ishirō Honda with visual effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, the film starred Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, and Mie Hama. It was the third installment in the Japanese series of films featuring the monster Godzilla. It was also the first of two Japanese made films featuring the King Kong character (or rather, its Toho Studios counterpart) and also the first time both King Kong and Godzilla appeared on film in color and widescreen. Produced as part of Toho’s 30th anniversary celebration, this film remains the most commercially successful of all the Godzilla films to date. The US version sported a different edit and Universal Studios library music including cues by Henry Mancini from Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Plot:

Mr. Tako, head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, is frustrated by the ratings the television shows his company is sponsoring. When a doctor tells Tako about a giant monster he discovered on the small Faro Island, Tako believes that it would be a brilliant idea to gain publicity. Meanwhile, American submarine Seahawk gets caught in an iceberg. Unfortunately, this is the same iceberg that Godzilla was trapped in by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces back in 1955, and the submarine is destroyed. Godzilla breaks out and heads towards a nearby Arctic military base, attacking it. He continues moving inland, razing the base to the ground. Godzilla’s appearance is all over the press, making Tako furious.

On Faro Island, a giant octopus attacks the native village. The mysterious Faro monster is then revealed to be King Kong and he defeats the octopus. King Kong then drinks red berry juice, becomes intoxicated, and falls asleep. Tako’s men place Kong on a large raft and begin to transport him back to Japan. However, a JSDF ship orders them to return Kong to Faro Island. Godzilla had just come ashore in Japan and destroyed a train, and the JSDF doesn’t want another monster entering Japan. Unfortunately, during all this, Kong wakes up from his drunken state and breaks free from the raft. Reaching the mainland, Kong meets up with Godzilla…

Buy King Kong vs. Godzilla on Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Reviews:

“There are two major fights in the film, the short scuffle near the middle and the big climax. The short one is basically a tease for the climax and establishes the hate the two monsters have for each other. Tsuburaya gives some great personality into these battles. These aren’t just two mindless animals fighting, they have reactions and make plans. (Who didn’t laugh when King Kong walks way from the short scuffle while scratching his head like he’s not sure what he’s up against?) The climax is easily one of the most exciting of the Godzilla franchise.” Daniel Alvarez, Unleash the Fanboy

“This marked the first step into a more comical approach to Godzilla. Many on the production crew were displeased with how lighthearted the film was, believing that Godzilla was more appealing when he was something to be feared. However, Toho wanted to broaden the audience and felt targeting children with the more comical scenes was the way to go.” Monster Movie Kid

“Solid fun. The dubbed dialogue hits all kinds of fantastic comedic moments, such as a character’s tendency to ache and complain about his ‘corns’ or the behavior and stuttering of Mr. Tako, the guy who takes over custody of Kong (bet he wishes he didn’t do that now, eh?). Normally I’d be a bit peeved at the infusion of comedy in a monster movies – I tend to like my monster flicks taken seriously – but considering that the humor and satire is part of the script’s DNA, well, I don’t quite mind it at all. And that adds substantially to the overall funness of this flick.” Andrew Simon, The Ramblings of a Minnesota Geek

o

Buy Godzilla Yuki Sakai Works Godzilla Concept Structure by Ban Dai from Amazon.co.uk

Wikipedia | IMDb | Wikizilla | We are most grateful to Cathode Ray Mission for some of these images

Click to buy this poster from Amazon.co.uk

Godzilla: Final Wars (ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ Gojira: Fainaru Wōzu) is a 2004 Japanese science fiction Kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus), written by Wataru Mimura and Isao Kiriyama and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. It is the 28th installment in the Godzilla film series, and the sixth in terms of the series’ Millennium era. The film stars Masahiro Matsuoka, Don Frye, Rei Kikukawa, Kane Kosugi, Maki Mizuno and Kazuki Kitamura.

As a 50th anniversary film, a number of actors from previous Godzilla films appeared as main characters or in cameo roles. In addition, various Kaiju (monsters) made reappearances, as most were last seen more than 30 years earlier. Godzilla: Final Wars premiered on November 29, 2004 in Los Angeles, California and was released on December 4, 2004 in Japan. Before the world premiere, Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Director Ryuhei Kitamura has compared Godzilla: Final Wars to that of a musician’s “Best of” album, stating “We picked lots and lots of the best elements from the past and combined it in a new way. It’s what I love about Godzilla and what I don’t love about recent Godzilla movies”.

The music in Godzilla: Final Wars was composed by Keith Emerson (Inferno; Murder Rock; The Church) Daisuke Yano and Nobuhiko Morino, while the band Sum 41 contributed the song “We’re All To Blame” to the soundtrack (and received high billing in the film’s opening credits sequence). Some critics expressed concern with the music of Final Wars, arguing that Emerson’s score would be better suited for a campy made-for-television movie or video games, while others pointed out that it made a refreshing change from the music of previous Godzilla films.

Plot teaser:

In 2004, endless warfare and environmental pollution has resulted in dangerous kaiju and the Earth Defense Force (EDF) is created to protect the planet. The organization is equipped with the best technology, weapons and soldiers, as well as mutants with special abilities. Godzilla is the EDF’s only unstoppable opponent. The EDF’s best combat vehicle, the Gotengo, corners Godzilla at the South Pole and buries him under the Antarctic ice, freezing him alive.

Forty years later, the EDF discovers a mummified space monster. The mutant soldier Shinichi Ozaki and the United Nations biologist Dr. Miyuki Otonashi are sent to research it. Shortly thereafter, the two encounter the Shobijin, fairies of the guardian monster Mothra, who reveal that the monster is Gigan, an alien cyborg sent to destroy Earth 12,000 years earlier. They also warn that a battle between good and evil will happen soon and that Ozaki, because of his mutant capabilities, must choose between the two.

Suddenly, kaiju appear in major cities. The EDF attempts to drive them away. The monsters include Anguirus in Shanghai, Rodan in New York City, King Caesar in Okinawa, Kamacuras in Paris, Kumonga in Arizona, Zilla in Sydney and Ebirah near Tokyo. Despite defeating Ebirah, the EDF is unsuccessful in destroying the monsters. After destroying most of the cities, the monsters vanish and an enormous alien mothership appears over Tokyo. The aliens, known as Xiliens, say that they are friendly and have eliminated the monsters…

Reviews:

” … brief missteps are not enough to undermine the film, which is a pulse-pulverizing bit of special effects and martial arts mayhem that truly is good enough to deserve a stateside release. Certainly, the film is over-the-top and utterly fantastic.” Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique

“The Matrix influence extends to slow-motion bullets, 360-degree freeze-pans, and Ozaki’s understanding of his divine purpose — but, really, all this tosh accomplishes is to pad Godzilla: Final Wars for a good 35 minutes longer than is necessary. Godzilla himself doesn’t even show up for the first hour and a half, since he’s kept on ice under the South Pole specifically for occasions like this. After a while the shoot-outs, fistfights, and bellowing latex bleed into one unending blur, and you find yourself actively pining for the earth to be destroyed so the end credits can come up.” Ty Burr, Boston Globe

“.. a blithely campy, altogether good-natured love letter to the classic Godzilla films of the 1960s and 1970s directed by… Japan’s adolescent action stylist.” Sean Axmaker, Static

Buy Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. + Godzilla: Final Wars on Sony Blu-ray from Amazon.com

Buy Godzilla: Final Wars poster above from Amazon.co.uk

Wikipedia | IMDb | Godzilla on Horrorpedia

Supercroc - also known as Jurassic Croc – is a 2007 American made-for-TV film produced by The Asylum and directed by Scott Harper (AVH: Alien vs. Hunter) from a screenplay by Steve Bevilacqua (When a Killer Calls; Hillside Cannibals) based on a story by David Michael Latt (Scarecrow Slayer; Halloween Night). It stars Cynthia Rose Hall, Matthew Blashaw, Kim Little, David Novak, Kristen Quintrall, Marat Glazer, Noel Thurman, Steven Glinn, Allen Duncan, Michael Tower.

Plot teaser:

A military unit is sent to stop a giant crocodile before it reaches Los Angeles…

” … it doesn’t get poorer quality than this – the croc looks like a bad painting, the ‘muzzle flash’ of the weapons makes it look like they’re playing LaserQuest, even with the constantly blurry footage (which may or may not have been deliberate) the helicopters look like they’ve been stolen from the Muppets and the fact that for the majority of the movie you have to struggle to hear the dialogue over the “background” music all add to the direness of this offering.” Nerds Raging

“Supercroc a giant monster movie without any of the giant monster in it. It’s a film that instead of putting padding around a giant monster, it throws in some giant monster around a lot of padding. In fact this film is the most padded film ever and could easily sustain being squashed underneath a giant 50ft crocodile and survive intact.” Popcorn Pictures

“There are many issues with Supercroc. In fact, finding a notable positive amongst the detritus is no easy task. I did laugh at the crocodile but I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to. I’ve been more frightened of a runny nose than this crocodile made up of utterly dreadful effects. The acting is weak, the story uninspiring and boy is this croc easy to take down! Another major issue was the sound. I had the volume cranked up to the max but still struggled to sometimes make out what the hell people were saying.” Donnambr, Paperblog

“This movie is just amazingly-bad for all of the reasons that you think.  On top of that, it’s not all that good for the ironic reasons that Asylum films can be.  Sure, the effects are bad, but you don’t get to see enough of them.  None of the really ridiculous stuff from future Asylum films- i.e. the Shark attacking the plane or the ‘Fend off Piranha with the Bicycle Kick’ – really show up. The film is chock full of set-ups for them…but has no pay-off. They really just seem to be messing with us.” Mondo Bizarro!

IMDb

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., released in Japan as Godzilla × Mothra × Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS (ゴジラ×モスラ×メカゴジラ 東京SOS Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira Tōkyō Esu Ō Esu), is a 2003 science fiction kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka. It was the twenty-seventh film to be released in the Japanese Godzilla series. It stars Noboru Kaneko, Miho Yoshioka, Mitsuki Koga,

Plot teaser:

Mechagodzilla is undergoing repair modifications after its battle with Godzilla. Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi accepts Lead Scientist Yoshito Chujo’s choice to replace the Absolute Zero Cannon with a powerful Tri-Maser.

The Shobijin (Mothra’s twin fairies) warn the Japanese government that Godzilla continues returning to Japan because they used the original Godzilla’s bones in Kiryu’s design. If they return the bones to the bottom of the sea, Mothra would gladly take Kiryu’s place in defending Japan, but if they do not, Mothra will declare war on humanity. Soon enough, Kamoebas, a giant mata mata turtle, is found washed ashore on a Japanese beach…

Reviews:

” … almost completely disregards story and structure, characterization and emotion in favor of mindless mayhem with only the most basic story-advancing plot elements to allow for some “logical” progression towards the end battle. The movie is very much a Western-inspired one, in that regard, favoring big action and speed rather than depth and meaning. Of course, some viewers might find that a positive, and that’s a justifiable position to take given that Godzilla is a series with its roots in the fantastical.” Martin Liebman, Blu-ray.com

“The music found in Tokyo S.O.S. is one of the better scores for a Godzilla film, composed once again by Oshima. Like Oshima’s previous work, there is some repetition here in the music; however, like Akira Ifukube, Oshima can get away with this as her music works so well even as a stand alone experience … Tokyo S.O.S., at heart, is simply one lengthy kaiju brawl between the three title monsters, who are entangled in a battle that lasts most of the film, something which hasn’t been seen since 1972′s Godzilla vs. Gigan.” Anthony Romero, Tokyo Kingdom

Bereft of characterization, GMMG contains far too many characters for so little time devoted to them. Still, Tezuka imbues a fanciful aura hearkening back to the magical works of Toho’s monster master, Ishiro Honda. GMMG often feels like 90 minutes cut from the previous movie, but is still a lot of fluffy fun replete with spectacular effects work.” Cool Ass Cinema

“Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. features plenty of monster combat, for a change minimizing character inner struggle (it’s still there, unfortunately). Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, and Mothra—as well as two new Mothra larvae—get lots of screen time, as Japan is once again obliterated. Fans of atomic breath, light canons, and organic scales and cocoon webbing are in for a treat. The plot is pretty straightforward, but the American dubbing misses many of the nuances of the Japanese version.” Octavio Ramos, Examiner.com

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Attacked …by a creature from Hell!’

Day the World Ended aka The Day the World Ended (1955) was produced and directed by Roger Corman. Rick (Richard Denning) is a heroic scientist who, among others, must face off against a mutant monster (Paul Blaisdell) after an atomic war destroys human civilisation. It was remade in 1967 with the title In the Year 2889 by Larry Buchanan with the dialogue repeated almost entirely verbatim. The film is referred to in a 2001 horror film of almost the same title, The Day the World Ended.

Plot teaser:

Following an all-out atomic war, which has apparently destroyed most (if not all) human civilization, the Earth  is left contaminated with radioactive fallout. The apparent single exception is a box canyon, surrounding by lead-bearing cliffs, in which former Navy Commander Jim Maddison, lives with his daughter, Louise, in a home stocked with supplies against just such a holocaust. Into this natural bomb shelter come stumbling several survivors, who just by chance were inside the canyon when the war occurred. After initially refusing to admit the others, Jim relents when his daughter pleads with him and appeals to his humanity. Among the survivors are a geologist, Rick (Richard Denning), who just by coincidence happens to specialize in uranium mining, and a small-time hood, Tony (Mike Connors - billed in the film as “Touch” Connors),with his “moll” Ruby, on their way to San Francisco…

Reviews:

” … I was also impressed by Corman’s insight that post-apocalyptic life in the 1950’s would surely be informed in roughly equal measure by 20th-century science and the sort of theologically vague Protestantism that was an ever-present undercurrent in American life in those days. I just wish some of the neat ideas on display here had been explored in greater depth.explored in greater depth.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“Day the World Ended is made on a painfully low budget. The photography and lighting is crude and Corman’s camera set-ups are virtually static. The film almost takes place like a stage play in a single setting – in the opening scene, the characters even make their entrance on cue one after the other like actors in a drawing room drama. It is a cheap and shoddy film. It is however conducted with an undeniable vigour and a conviction in itself. Paul Birch gives a fine hard-edged performance as the captain, and one does not doubt for a moment that everybody involved believed the pronouncements about the future that the film makes.” Moria

“On the small scale as well as the large, we find hints in Day The World Ended that Corman was just beginning to come into his own as a director, such as some thoughtful – and what we can now recognise as typical – character bits; while in the symbolic use made of the comedy / tragedy masks that hang upon the Maddisons’ lounge-room wall, we also see the earliest stirrings of his taste for actual art, which would later manifest itself in quite unexpected ways, although always in severe philosophical conflict with his overriding desire to save a buck.” And You Call Yourself a Scientist!

Buy How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime by Roger Corman from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

• Richard Denning as Rick
• Lori Nelson as Louise Maddison
• Adele Jergens as Ruby
• Mike Connors as Tony Lamont (as Touch Connors)
• Paul Birch as Jim Maddison
• Raymond Hatton as Pete
• Paul Dubov as Radek
• Jonathan Haze as the Contaminated Man
• Paul Blaisdell as the Mutant
• Roger Corman as Nelson, Louise’s Fiancee in Framed Photograph (uncredited)
• Chet Huntley as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Wikipedia | IMDb

The People That Time Forgot is a 1977 British fantasy/adventure monster film based on the novel The People That Time Forgot and Out of Time’s Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was produced by Amicus Productions and directed by Kevin Connor (Motel Hell). Like Connor’s other two Burroughs-derived films, The Land That Time Forgot and At the Earth’s Core, the film was distributed in the United States by American International Pictures (AIP). It stars Patrick Wayne and Doug McClure (Humanoids from the Deep, The House Where Evil Dwells).

Plot teaser:

Major Ben McBride (Wayne) organises a mission to the Antarctic wastes to search for his friend Bowen Tyler (McClure) who has been missing for several years. A British naval survey ship takes McBride’s party: the paleontologist Norfolk (Thorley Walters), gunner Hogan (Shane Rimmer, Warlords of Atlantis) and photographer Lady Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Cunningham (Sarah Douglas) fly to Caprona in an amphibious aircraft, but are attacked by a pterodactyl and forced down.

They find themselves in a world populated by primitive warriors and terrifying prehistoric creatures, all of whom they must evade in order to get back safely to their ship. They meet a cave-girl, Ajor (Dana Gillespie), who leads them to the land of a race of samurai-like warriors called the Nargas…

Reviews:

As with the other AIP-Burroughs flicks, the budget just wasn’t there for state of the art effects or production design. The monsters are all unconvincing puppets with the exception of the pterodactyl, which comes off rather well despite barely ever flapping its wings. (It’s very adept at riding those Capronan air currents, apparently.) Model work is spotty, too; shots involving miniatures of the airplane range from very good to laughable. But location filming in the Canary Islands helps a great deal, providing a suitably primeval looking world for the characters to explore. (Thus People isn’t hamstrung by cheesy interior sets like At the Earth’s Core.) And the cast is game, not just going through the motions.” Brian Lindsey, Eccentric Cinema

” … sports a fine cast and well drawn characters that help enliven the action. There are less monsters on display here which should be a given considering the title. One of the creatures is borrowed from At the Earth’s Core (1976). Most of them are trotted out during the conclusion as the heroes are being “chased” by the volcano.” Cool Ass Cinema

“The effects are still more endearing than actually special but that’s a big part of the charm and a reason why these movies still have their fans. The script by Patrick Tilley is exactly what it should be and the direction from Kevin Connor keeps everything moving along nicely in between moments that put the main characters in peril or take time to show one of the many stop-motion creatures. This is no SFX extravaganza, but I sat there with a big smile on my face while watching a bunch of people try to use a dinosaur to tow an aircraft along the ground…” Kevin Matthews, FlickFeast

” … duplicates the damning structural flaw that so damaged its predecessor— putting the exciting part of the movie first, and ending with the dull part. It still comes out very slightly ahead of The Land that Time Forgot, in that the changeover from excitement to boredom happens significantly later in the film, but it still isn’t anywhere near as good as its best moments suggest it could have been.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

Wikipedia | IMDb | We are grateful to Cool Ass Cinema for some images (click on review link for lots more!)

‘Terror strikes… from beneath the sea!’

Monster from the Ocean Floor (original title: It Stalked the Ocean Floor) is a 1954 low budget science fiction horror film about a sea monster that terrorizes a cove in Mexico. The film was directed by Wyott Ordung (screenwriter on Target Earth; First Man into Space and director of Walk the Dark Street). It starred Anne Kimbell and Stuart Wade. Wade also starred in other low-budget films during the decade including Tarantula (1955), and Teenage Monster (1958). Producer Roger Corman also appeared in a cameo in the film; it was the first film that he solo-produced.

“The monster was actually a puppet shot behind a cloudy fish tank. I certainly had no money for process shots, where the action is rear-projected onto a screen and the actors play to it onstage.” Roger Corman, How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime

Plot teaser:

Julie Blair (Kimbell) is an American vacationing at a sea-side village in Mexico. She hears stories about a man-eating creature dwelling in the cove. She meets Dr. Baldwin (Dick Pinner), a marine biologist, and they fall for one another. The mysterious death of a diver interests Julie in investigating, but Baldwin is very skeptical. She sees a giant amoeba rising from the ocean…

Reviews:

“Monster from the Ocean Floor isn’t just low budget, it’s minuscule budget, yet the use of so much location footage adds a real edge of verisimilitude. At just over an hour it’s watchable and generally entertaining, despite its unforgivable depiction of Mexicans as hysterical drunkands. The monster is a cheap yet oddly amusing creation and his demise – stabbed in the eye with a mini sub – is brilliantly bad. Pseudo-scientific dialogue also adds an air of authenticity that is missing from some of the bigger budgeted 50s monster movies. Low rent and a portend of Corman’s aquatic horrors to come… ” Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

“Roger Corman was absolutely right. A sufficiently careful producer could make a modestly entertaining and effective movie on Monster from the Ocean Floor’s pocket-change budget, and Corman in fact did so here. It’s true that the 64-minute running time helps a lot, and that another half-hour this heavily freighted with placid scuba-diving footage would have been straight-up lethal. It’s true again that Jonathan Haze and Wyott Ordung make Speedy Gonzalez look like a paragon of ethnic sensitivity with their impersonations of Mexican watermen, and that it is impossible to square the appearance of the utterly adorable monster puppet…” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“This, then, is Monster from the Ocean Floor, a film with, I would contend, a few virtues – just a few – even aside from the purely historical: a nice lead performance; good use of its locations, and attractively moody photography (so it ought to be: this film was shot by Floyd Crosby – only two years after High Noon!); some interesting character touches; the first appearance of a future Corman stock player, Jonathan Haze (who hides behind an aggressively “Mexican” moustache)….” And You Call Yourself a Scientist!

“Wyott Ordung’s direction is dull and prosaic. Not much happens and even less that is exciting. There are some particularly bad performances from the actors playing the Mexicans, who are all caricatured like movie cliches of American Indians, speaking without any articles. The production has been mounted with the characteristic penny-pinching economy that Roger Corman became famous for. To this extent, we only ever see a single shot of the monster – a glowing, single-eyed octopus emerging out of the ocean (and even then only ever in long distance).” Moria

Buy How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime by Roger Corman from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Choice dialogue: “Happy monstering!”

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image thanks to Héritage Montréal

Godzilla is a 1998 American science fiction monster film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich (Ghost Chase). It was a reimagining of the popular Japanese film monster of the same name. The screenplay was written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The plot of the film revolves around a giant reptilian monster, mutated by nuclear tests in the French Polynesia, who migrates to New York City to nest its young. The cast features Matthew Broderick, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn and Jean Reno.

Godzilla earned $379,014,294 in gross revenue before ancillary sales (VHS, DVD, TV, cable and Blu-ray). Despite its initial commercial success upon release, the film was met with a negative reception from critics and fans of the Japanese Godzilla series alike. The negative reception highlighted by critics included the film’s thin plot, acting, and directing while fans of the Japanese Godzilla movies targeted the film’s drastic reinvention of the titular character, which included its radical redesign and departure from the source material.

Plot teaser:

Following a nuclear incident in French Polynesia, a lizard’s nest is irradiated by the fallout of subsequent radiation. Decades later, a Japanese fishing vessel is suddenly attacked by an enormous sea creature in the South Pacific ocean and only one seaman survives. Traumatized, he is questioned by a mysterious Frenchman in a hospital regarding what he saw, to which he replies, “Gojira”. Dr. Niko “Nick” Tatopoulos (Broderick), an NRC scientist, is in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, but is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of an official from the U.S. State Department. He is sent to Tahiti and Jamaica, escorted by the military, to observe the wreckage of the recovered Japanese fishing trawler with massive claw marks on it. The Frenchman is also present, observing the scene, and introduces himself as Philippe Roché (Reno), an insurance agent. Aboard a military aircraft, Dr. Tatopoulos identifies skin samples he discovered in the shipwreck as belonging to an unknown species. He dismisses the military’s theory that the creature is a living dinosaur, instead deducing that it is a mutant created by nuclear testing. The large reptilian creature, dubbed as “Godzilla” by the media, travels to New York City leaving a path of destruction in its wake…

Reviews:

All the supposedly heroic characters wear baseball caps backwards. So the MORON alert flashes even before they spout trite dialogue. That said, the mildly amusing French secret agent element and the finale with the baby Godzillas ripped off from Jurassic Park are relatively engaging. The film was unfortunately a wasted opportunity with a Godzilla that is presented as just a giant radioactive lizard – without any kind of character – plus vacuous human characters that just annoy rather than engage the audience.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

“It’s even emphasized by the monster’s revamped design, which bears no resemblance to any Godzilla we know. The thick legs are gone, the back spines are gone, the cruel, humanoid eyes are gone. What it is, in short, is a plain old allosaurus (or whatever paleontologists are calling it these days). Godzilla’s profile was always absolutely unique and unmistakable, but this thing here? I saw pictures of that in dinosaur books when I was a kid. I mean, Christ, he doesn’t even breathe radioactive fire! What the hell’s THAT all about?”

Wikipedia | IMDb

Plot keywords: nuclear explosion Panama Ukraine Chernobyl earthworms worms footprint military redhead ship ocean helicopters rain Jamaica cap backwards plane fishing trawlers lizards radiation french Polynsia New York Coffee Komodo dragon diner television fish fishermen jetty truck mayor yellow cab Iron building manholes crowbar sewer Chrysler Building looting French secret service Scooby-Doo chewing gum Elvis Presley reporter subway Central Park submarine torpedo Madison Square Garden Lincoln Tunnel Jimmy Page Barney

‘Untamed Uncaged Unleashed in space’

The Adventures of Taura: Prison Ship Star Slammer (to use onscreen title) is a 1986 science fiction/women-in-prison/monster film more commonly known as simply Star Slammer. It was co-produced – with Jack H. Harris (The Blob, Equinox) –  and directed by Fred Olen Ray (The Alien Dead, Scalps, The Tomb, Evil Toons) from a screenplay by Michael D. Sonye. The film stars Sandy Brooke, Susan Stokey, Ross Hagen, Marya Gant, Aldo Ray, Dawn Wildsmith, Richard Hench, Michael Sonye, Lindy Skyles, Bobbie Bresee and horror icon John Carradine.

The film incorporates recycled footage from John Carpenter’s Dark Star (1974), Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) and re-uses the many-toothed monster from The Deadly Spawn (1982). Other minor horror elements include a skull that smokes, a hand being hacked off, torture with leeches (one of which the warden eats!) and implied torture with a red hot poker.

“And I wanted to make this movie called Star Slammer, so I rented Roger’s studio for a couple of days using some of his old Space Raiders sets. I shot a bunch of girls in sweatpants and stuff running around with Aldo Ray. I also negotiated with Roger to use some stock footage from Battle Beyond the Stars of spaceships and stuff. They wanted $4,000 a minute. We also grabbed some Galaxy of Terror.” Fred Olen Ray, Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses – Roger Corman: King of the B Movie

Plot:

Far into the future. A war rages on a distant, desolate planet. Taura, an Amazon-like woman, finds herself mounting a battle against the forces of evil when she tangles with Bantor, a sadistic government official. Soon she is sentenced to hard labour aboard the prison ship Star Slammer and must prove herself to her young female cellmates before earning their respect and leading them in a daring prison break. With every turn, Taura faces new danger as she must outwit the sex-starved warden, out-tough the tyrannical trustee, and battle jagger rats, astro zombies and alien monsters.

Reviews:

” … another of Fred Olen Ray’s cheap and cheesy science-fiction bimbo films. Olen Ray readily sources various other B science-fiction movies of the past (as he usually does in his films) – there is a planet named Arous after the legendary Z movie The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) and the film even comes divided into chapter titles just like a serial. All the elements of the film come with a tongue-in-cheek silliness – the warden wears V-neck leather bondage costumes and an eyepatch while wielding a whip…” Moria

“Women in prison films were not know for being quality productions, and Star Slammeris probably one of the worst examples of the genre. This film has little to no redeeming qualities in the sci-fi department as it is terribly dated looking even for low-grade 1980’s trash, and the exploitation elements of the film offers little more than one actress losing her top but only for a few seconds, some cleavage and butt shots…” Couch Potato Movie Reviews

“But be warned, it’s probably not as exploitative as you’d expect. Yes, there’s some weird girl on girl hazing and a pointless “change in front of the group” scene, but you’re also treated to a score that rips off from Star Wars extensively as well as some Jawa clones that make the goblins in Troll 2 look like Tom Savini put them together. It really is not a great movie, but then you get treated to a fight scene between two women space prisoners and a children’s show host who looks like Venom’s ugly step child.” United Monkee

IMDb | We are grateful to Wrong Side of the Art! for the main poster image.

‘Screaming young girls sucked into a labyrinth of horror by a blood-starved ghoul from hell.’

Beast from Haunted Cave is a 1958 (released January 1, 1959) horror/gangster/heist film directed by Monte Hellman (Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!) and starring Michael Forest, Frank Wolff (Cold Eyes of Fear; Death Walks on High-Heels) Richard Sinatra, and Sheila Carroll. Filmed in South Dakota at the same time as Ski Troop Attack, it tells the story of bank robbers fleeing in the snow who run afoul of a giant spider-like monster that feeds on humans.

Screenwriter Charles B. Griffith (Little Shop of Horrors) rewrote an earlier screenplay for the film Naked Paradise using the working title Creature from the Cave . A third version of this storyline appeared as the comedy film Creature from the Haunted Sea. It was produced by Roger Corman’s brother, Gene (Attack of the Giant Leeches), and released on a double-bill with The Wasp Woman.

Plot teaser:

A group of criminals, led by the ruthless Alexander Ward (Frank Wolff), hatch a plan to steal gold bars from a vault in Deadwood, South Dakota. Ward sends one of his henchmen, Marty (Richard Sinatra), to set an explosive in a nearby gold mine, the detonation of which will act as a diversion for their heist. Although Marty, accompanied by a local barmaid (Linné Ahlstrand), succeeds in setting the explosive, he encounters a beast (Chris Robinson) in the mine. The beast kills the barmaid, but Marty escapes with his life.

The next morning, the explosive goes off as planned and Marty and his gang succeed in stealing gold bars from the vault. They set off to a remote cabin, led by a local guide named Gil Jackson (Michael Forest), where they hope to be picked up by a plane. Gil is initially unaware of their plans, but he becomes suspicious when he hears reports of the robbery on the radio and discovers that they’re carrying handguns. They reach the cabin without incident, but once there, a violent snowstorm delays the plane’s arrival. Marty’s “secretary,” Gypsy (Sheila Noonan), is taken by the young Gil and tells him that Marty plans to kill him once the plane arrives. Gil and Gypsy take off back to town together.

Marty, who still carries unpleasant memories of his encounter with the beast, has all the while been concerned about being followed. He encounters the beast again during the trip to the cabin, but his companions think he’s losing his mind…

Reviews:

“First-time director Monte Hellman … does an admirable job with the leftovers he’s got to work with, infusing this heist flick/monster movie combo with a touch of French New Wave cinema – dotted with hip ski resort babes, jazzy interludes, moody crooks donning indoor sunglasses and a surprising amount of cinematic wherewithal – a characteristic usually missing from Corman’s budget-tight shooting schedules.” Willard’s Wormholes

“The film spends more time as a low-end crime thriller than a horror item. The monster is not all that scary, and is all too clearly a manipulated marionette made of rags and hair. But the majority of its appearances are well-staged (skipping a few sickly shots of the thing superimposed over the snow) and it retains a certain mystery. Its habit of stashing its victims for later feeding through a sickening tube, is a disgusting detail that would crop up in the later Alien films. The staging of the action is different and interesting, and while not necessarily good, the film is a creditable effort.” Glenn Erickson, DVD Talk

For the Mexican poster, the Beast developed blood shot eyes!

“The beast effects are the typical guy-in-a-costume variety. But that doesn’t matter, because Beast From Haunted Cave uses the beast as an almost minor plot point, despite the film’s title. The scenes inside the monster’s lair, the ëhaunted cave’, remain downright creepy. Pale, half-dead bodies hang cocoon-like on the walls, and Hellman’s use of shadows, whether intentional or not, remain effective and disturbing today.” Rich Rosell, Digitally Obsessed!

Buy Synapse DVD with theatrical and extended TV version from Amazon.com

Wikipedia | IMDb

Poseidon Rex is a 2013 American sci-fi horror film directed by Mark L. Lester (Class of 1984; Firestarter). It stars Brian Krause, Anne McDaniels and Steven Helmkamp.

Plot teaser:

A small, secluded island off the coast of Belize suddenly finds itself terrorized by a deadly predator from the planet’s distant past when deep sea divers accidentally awaken an ancient evil…

Buy Poseidon Rex on DVD from Amazon.co.uk

“The often inane screenplay, by frequent Lester collaborator Rafael Jordan (Dragons of Camelot, Pterodactyl), vaguely recognizable cast struggling to make the script seem intelligible and strictly functional cinematography betray the movie’s most earnest intentions, however. Lacking sufficient self-parody to entertain as a campy monster-movie spoof or the budget to thrill as action-adventure or sci-fi, much like the creature it depicts, Poseidon Rex represents a throwback that even its own distributor can’t really get behind.” Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter

“I have seen numerous films in this current, decade-long wave of cheap monster movies – from Sharknado to Spring Break Shark Attack to Megalodon – andPoseidon Rex, by measuring against its peers, stands a mite taller. It’s not a hidden gem by any means, but it has a slickness and a professionalism that is certainly lacking from the relatively snarky Sharknado or the even-cheaper mockbusters produced by The Asylum. One can always tell if the makers of a B-movie are sincere about making an entertaining film, or if they’re just being cynical. The makers of Poseidon Rex clearly meant it.” Witney Seibold, Nerdist

“The action sequences are nonsensical and cheesy, as expected, but Poseidon Rex fails to get even remotely creative with its kills, which greatly damages the final product and the primary reason most people will watch the movie. Most would be willing to endure unbearable dialogue and a groan inducing love story for a few spectacularly silly dinosaur kills, but we are deprived of such.” Cliff Wheatley, IGN

IMDb

WH

Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottonhell is a 2014 American comedy horror film written and directed by Zack and Spencer Snygg. It stars Peter Sullivan, Marisol Custodio, John Fedele, Jon Arthur, Bill Joachim, Darian Caine, AJ Khan, Kerri Taylor, Jackie Stevens, Autumn Bodell, and Violetta Storms.

Part of the financing came from a successful Kickstarter funding campaign.

Plot teaser:

Deep in the woods stalks a giant killer mutant Easter Bunny. Unsatisfied with nibbling on grass, he craves, chews lives on human flesh. Rock climbers, hitchhikers, and nudists alike all end up in his jaws as he devours everyone in his way. One by one the townsfolk are consumed by the evil hare, but he still remains a mystery to most of the habitants.

Knowing that a flesh eating giant rabbit might affect tourism a bit and the upcoming Easter Day corporate sponsored parade, the corrupt mayor quietly covers up the deaths hoping to rake in as much cash as he can for the Easter Day celebrations. The mayor tells the townsfolk that there is nothing to fear from the horrific decapitations and intestine removals. The deaths are all accidental demises due to hazardous farm tool equipment…

nm

Tremors 5 is a 2016 American monster horror movie directed by Don Michael Paul (Half Past Dead; Lake Placid: The Final Chapter; Jarhead 2: Field of Fire) from a screenplay by John Whelpley (Tremors 3: Back to Perfection) and produced by Ogden Gavanski (The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Fire; Warm Bodies). This Universal 1440 Entertainment production is currently being filmed in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Michael Gross returns as weapons enthusiast and expert subterranean creature hunter Burt Gummer with Jamie Kennedy (Scream series) as his new right hand man, tech-savvy Travis.

Glenn Ross, General Manager and Executive Vice President, Universal 1440 Entertainment, commented: “The Tremors franchise has built a reputation for high intensity fun and suspense and this instalment takes it to a whole new level”.

Press release:

The theatrical release of the original Tremors in 1990 combined suspense-filled action, sci-fi imagination and witty humor in the tale of a tiny Nevada town terrorized by giant man-eating worms known as Graboids.  The Graboids eventually morphed into even more deadly creatures known as Ass Blasters. In this all-new adventure that travels halfway around the world to South Africa, the Graboids and the Ass Blasters are not only bigger and badder but Tremors 5 introduces an additional unexpected surprise that raises the stakes in the battle for survival…

Toho’s Godzilla: Final Wars

The worldwide success of Gareth Edwards’ 2014 version of Godzilla (box office takings of $524,976,069) has led Toho to announce a new Japanese entry in their own franchise. At a press conference yesterday, Mr. Ueda [Taiji, Project Leader for Toho] said:

“With the success of the Hollywood version of Godzilla, we decided on a new [domestic] production. The screenplay is currently in development and we plan to start shooting next summer. We cannot announce cast or staff selections at this time. And we’re still deliberating whether to bring Godzilla to life via CGI or man-in-suit. This resurrection will be the centerpiece for ’16, and this is the force of our words.”

WH

The Dark is a 1979 US science fiction horror film directed by John “Bud” Cardos from a screenplay by Stanford Whitmore (The Eyes of Charles Sand; Night Gallery) for Film Ventures International. Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; Death Trap) was the original the director but was fired by the producers. Roger Kellaway’s score apes Jerry Goldsmith’s musical motifs for The Omen.

The film stars William Devane (Hollow Man; Leprechaun’s Revenge), Cathy Lee Crosby, Richard Jaeckel (The Green Slime; Blood Song), Keenan Wynn (Piranha; Laserblast; The Clonus Horror), Warren J. Kemmerling, Biff Elliot (Blood Bath; The Navy vs. the Night Monsters), Jacquelyn Hyde (House of Terror; Superstition), Casey Kasem (Shaggy’s voice in Scooby-Doo), Vivian Blaine (Parasite), John Bloom (Dracula vs. Frankenstein; The Have Eyes Part II), Bill Derringer, Jay Lawrence (Kingdom of the Spiders), Russ Marin (Chiller; Deadly Friend), Vernon Washington. Diminutive veteran actor Angelo Rossitto has an uncredited role as a newspaper vendor.

Plot teaser:

In Santa Monica, an alien “mangler” stalks and kills human prey during the night, beheading them in the process…

Buy The Dark + The Being + Creatures from the Abyss from Amazon.com

Reviews:

“Amidst the chaos, there are actually some well done scenes in this movie. The stalking bits are moody and creepy and each one shows the monster getting stronger. Whether hurling his victims through fences, crashing through walls, moving vehicles like they were cardboard, or firing off ocular blasts of laser beams, the beast is big, but never looks like he came from the stars. If anything, it resembles a less hairy werewolf.” Cool Ass Cinema

“This is without a doubt the dumbest, most inept, most maddeningly unsatisfactory thriller of the last five years. It’s really bad: so bad, indeed, that it provides some sort of measuring tool against which to measure other bad thrillers.” Roger Ebert

“When it’s in motion The Dark is lovably bonkers in a similar vein to The Manitou or The Visitor but when it’s stagnant, it’s dishwater dull. It actually looks pretty amazing in all of its Panavision glory on DVD but there’s no escaping the frustrating, unfocused, half-hearted pace.” Kindertrauma

“Much of this film reaches Ed Wood levels of inanity. The opening crawl is hilarious (only Uwe Boll’s Alone in the Dark betters it in terms of absurdity). It talks about species of animals on earth that can kill with electric shocks and poisons (and this is related to a laser-eyed alien in trucker clothes, how?). It talks about millions of planets in the universe capable of supporting life (do the writers know something we don’t?).” Bill Gordon, Horror Fan Zine

“since the movie’s special effects are mediocre — and since the acting is so lifeless it feels like the performers were handed their lines just before they walked on camera –the film’s only redeeming value is atmospheric widescreen cinematography that lives up to the title. Using a mixture of deep shadows and epic lens flares straight out of the John Carpenter playbook, John Arthur Morrill’s tasty images almost make The Dark worth watching. Almost.” Peter Hanson, Every 70s Movie

Buy The Dark on DVD from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

IMDb | Image credits: Cool Ass Cinema

‘The mammoth monster that terrified the Earth! Too awesome to describe! Too terrifying to escape! Too powerful to stop!’

Monster from Green Hell is a 1957 science fiction horror film directed by Kenneth G. Crane (The Revenge of Dr. X) from a screenplay by Endre Bohem and Louis Vittes. It was produced by Al Zimbalist (Robot Monster; King Dinosaur; Cat Women of the Moon). The film’s strident score was provided by Albert Glasser (The Amazing Colossal Man; Earth vs. The Spider; Tormented).

Plot teaser:

In preparation for sending a manned rocket into space, American scientists Dr. Quent Brady and Dan Morgan are put in charge of a program that sends various animals and insects into orbit to test their survival rates. After one of their rockets carrying wasps malfunctions and goes off course, a computer calculates that the rocket is likely to land somewhere off the coast of Africa.

Some time later, in Africa, Dr. Lorentz and his daughter Lorna perform an autopsy on a native and determine that he died of paralysis of the nerve centers caused by an injection of a massive amount of venom. Arobi, Lorentz’ African assistant, then informs him that a monster is believed to be terrorising people and animals in an area known as Green Hell.

Several months later, Brady reads a newspaper account of turmoil in Central Africa caused by gigantic monsters and surmises that the wasps in the missing rocket were exposed to huge amounts of cosmic radiation because an earlier, minimal overexposure had resulted in the birth of a spider crab twice the size of its mother. Brady and Morgan request a leave of absence from Washington and head for Africa to investigate…

Reviews:

‘You might think it impossible to make a mostly boring film about giant, radioactive wasps, especially when the giant, radioactive wasps look like the ones in Monster from Green Hell. These are some of the most comprehensively failed atomic bugs in the business, making even Roger Corman’s notorious Crab Monsters look good by comparison. The stop-motion models used for those scenes in which we get to see a wasp’s entire body are reasonably detailed and fairly well animated, but the fact is that they look nothing on Earth like wasps.’ 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

‘Crane’s monstrous film incorporates ingenious trick photography, model work and stop-motion animation, as well as extensive footage culled from the 1939 Spencer Tracy picture Stanley and Livingstone. The result is not so much a movie as a patchwork.’ Time Out

‘The script calls for a socko conclusion with a hive of wasps on the rampage. Money and time must have plain run out, for we see only a couple of angles with more than one insect. Instead of a real sequence, editor/director Crane can only come up with a meaningless, freeform dissolve montage. Every effect shot we’ve seen before is double-exposed with lava flows and boiling magma, and intercut with some of the dullest ‘observers’ I’ve ever seen. Bad movie, + bad effects, = dissatisfaction.’ Glenn Erickson, DVD Talk

‘Dialogue is so dull and stupid that you have almost no choice but to laugh. “Instinctively I knew something was going to happen,” the hero solemnly tells us; “the only trouble was, I didn’t know what.” … Adolescent kids in the 50s must have felt pretty disappointed, heading to theatres to see giant insects but forced to watch people tramping through African brush lands looking for water.’ David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Buy Claws & Saucers book from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘A terrifying creation of the nuclear age!’

Island Claws – aka Giant Claws – is a 1980 American horror film shot in Florida and directed by Herman Cardenas and starring Robert Lansing (4D Man; Empire of the Ants; The Nest), Steve Hanks, Barry Nelson (The Shining) and Nita Talbot. Special effects were by Glen Robinson (King Kong, 1976)

Plot teaser:

A biological experiment in Florida goes awry. The result: eight-foot long land crabs which roar loudly and kill everything in sight…

Island Claws is set to be released soon on Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing

Reviews:

“The movie’s not scary or exciting or very good at all, but it has a seedy Floridian atmosphere that I kind of liked, and it did work hard at creating characters and a story, which I respect even if it didn’t work very well and ate up a lot of potential crabtime! And the movie’s theme music is a jaunty piece of lounge-jazz that you’ll really enjoy!” Ha Ha its Burl!

Clip from Island Claws:

“Like a lot of ‘50s B-movies, Island Claws is neither scary nor strongly scripted. The only reason worth watching is for the campiness of the film; otherwise, these crabs won’t really tickle your fancy.” Horror News

“Thrills are minimal until the monster crab attacks. The story (by Jack Cowden and underwater stuntman Ricou Browning) is predictable”. John Stanley, Creature Features

Buy Creature Features from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

IMDb

WH

Lake Placid vs. Anaconda is a 2015 made-for-television action-horror-thriller film directed by A.B. Stone from a screenplay by Berkeley Anderson (Robocroc; Monster Ark; S.S. Doomtrooper). The film is a crossover between the Lake Placid – and Anaconda – film series.

The film stars Robert Englund, Yancy Butler (previous two Lake Placid films; Shark Week; Hansel & Gretel Get Baked), Corin Nemec (Sand Sharks; Rise of the Dinosaurs; Haunted: 333), Nigel Barber (Roboshark; Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!), Laura Dale (Roboshark), Ali Eagle (Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend?), Isaac Haig (Dead People TV series).

This UFO Films production is set for release on Syfy on April 25, 2015, at 9.00 pm.

Plot teaser:

A giant alligator battles with a giant anaconda snake. The town sheriff must find a way to destroy the two monsters before they kill the whole town.

Wikipedia | IMDb

Queen Crab is a 2014 horror monster movie produced by Mark Polonia and written and directed by Brett Piper (They Bite!, The Screaming Dead, Drainiac!). It stars Michelle Simone Miller, Kathryn Metz, Rich Lounello, A.J. DeLucia, Steve Diasparra, Danielle Donahue, Ken Van Sant.

The movie was shot using stop motion animation rather than CGI. Wild Eye Releasing is releasing Queen Crab on DVD in the US in September 2015.

Plot teaser:

A meteor crashes into a quiet lake in the remote countryside, awakening a centuries-old beast. She emerges from the deep and tears through a nearby town and its inhabitants. The humans must fight for their lives and stop this Queen Crab before she can hatch an army of babies that will overrun the entire world…

Clip:

Trailer:

IMDb | Related: Attack of the Crab Monsters | Guy N. Smith | Island Claws | Night of the Seagulls