The Navy vs. the Night Monsters - 1966

We were hoping for more with the second film of our double-header. After being somewhat disappointed with The Beginning of the End, I was ready for some Antarctic killer trees!

Something gets loose on a cargo plane. It's headed from Antarctica to the States and stops over on Cow Island (it's really Gow Island, but Cow is more fun). A civilian weatherman is ready to leave, but when the plane crashes, his dream of leaving with a woman who doesn't love him is threatened. The only person left from the entire crew is the pilot, but he's in some sort of vegetative state.

There were a few Antarctic trees on the plane, and to try and keep them alive, they're planted near some hot springs. Little do the people realize, the warmth has awakened the trees, and now they're hungry for blood! They excrete black acid and walk on their roots. 

The movie tries to say the dog was killed by a tree, but I know the truth: he was working with the trees the whole time. Every time he tried to tell people about the trees, he ended up luring them to their deaths.

The end of this was great. I loved the napalm, even though they kept showing it over and over. They reused footage, but it didn't bother me much, because I was enjoying the army of tiny trees waddling their way to the base.

I really did like this one. It bothered me they kept calling one guy Charlie Brown, but later I saw that was actually his name. Whoops. The romance in this is so weird. People are dying and getting attacked, but sure, let's talk about our future. Stupid Nora. I do like how Spaulding just shows up at one point with some Molotov Cocktails. I never understood the purpose of the pilot, since he just ended up sacrificing himself in the end. Anyway, I gravitate to the nonsensical ones that leave me with questions. And that definitely happened here. Good Movie!

I love this poster!

Beginning of the End - 1957

I was in the mood for some monster mayhem while I split my focus with my cross-stitching, so we picked the movie with giant locust grasshoppers. One of the things I learned from this movie was that a locust is a short-horned grasshopper. Not every grasshopper can turn into a locust, though. They have to be special and have a lust for destruction. The things you learn! 

Our movie starts with a smooching couple getting attacked by something. The police come upon the carnage and say it was an accident. Not five minutes later, they're calling it a homicide. Nearby, the town of Ludlow, not too far from Chicago, has disappeared. Actually, it looks like tornado footage, but whatever. An annoying reporter puts her nose in the story, and with the help of Peter Graves, they discover that the large vegetables and fruits he's been growing created huge locusts. These locusts are hungry for blood, and they're eventually headed for a postcard of Chicago. Then, they "climb" on the buildings making an irritating noise.

This movie was weird. I hated the noise the locusts made, and when they were trying to rile up the captured one, I thought I would lose my mind. Peter Graves and the woman just had no time to try and help anyone. I swear they watching at least two people get eaten, and they just went about their merry way.

This is one of those movies I'm glad I saw once, but I don't think I'll be watching it again. They reused bits of footage here and there, and it was so close to the first time that you couldn't help noticing. I was really bummed when they killed Frank. Was it his fault he died? Sort of. I mean, he could've tried to run, but he just stood there. Anyway, if you're bored, this is some good background noise.

Super Riders vs. Frankenstein's Monsters - 1975

We wanted to watch something at lunchtime, and we noticed this had some familiar imagery. One of our favorite shows last year was Kamen Rider. This is a Taiwanese knock-off. I can't find a lot of information on it, but it sounds like this was an unofficial "adaptation" that used footage and outfits from Kamen Rider V3. Don't quote me on that, though. It also has approximately four different names, but I used the one that was listed on Tubi.

In this movie, Dr. Frankenstein (who we never saw) is in charge of a weird cult that is prophesying the death of the Super Riders. There are three of them at this point, but something that really stood out to me was #3. He would say he was #3, but then he would only hold up two fingers (see poster). The monsters were amazing, and the Ees were back! Mom and I had a great time predicting what would happen based on our Kamen Rider knowledge. Oh, and they had a rock that covered people in soap suds.

I think one of my favorite parts was when there was a whole crapton of monsters lined up and they all introduced themselves. The first couple were Red Monster and Pink Monster, but then we had fun things like Dino Monster and Blood Monster. If we're talking the whole movie, the dubbing was my absolute favorite thing. I don't even know how to describe what I was hearing. It's like it's spoken by AI before that was possible. Either that, or they waited till the voice actors were exhausted so they would sound as bored/tired as possible.

We had so much fun with this movie. If you like Kamen Rider, you should really give this a watch. I'm definitely watching it again, and it more than deserves a Good Movie! rating.

Phantom From 10,000 Leagues - 1955

Since we lost our monster movie list, we've been choosing blind lately. This one sounded interesting. I mean, we love the Creature that lived in the Black Lagoon, so how bad could this be? 

The answer is: pretty bad.

Ok, the plot is insane to begin with. There's a beam of radioactivity shooting out of a crack in the ocean floor. The nutty professor has apparently used the radiation to create a mutated turtle that guards the crack. Anyone who goes close to that area is hugged to death by the creature. Apparently, they're horribly burned as well, but they looked normal to me. We have two people trying to get to the truth. Mr. Grant is a government man, and he eventually enlists the help of Dr. Ted. The doctor created his own creature and wears suits on the beach.

The beach itself is a wasteland. No one is ever hanging out there, but there always seems to be a boat waiting for someone to take it out. Also, the strange couple that appeared out of nowhere found scuba gear waiting for them! The creature never moves from the radiation area, so I figured they could just put out a buoy and stay away from the area.

I never understood why so many people went onto the beach in such stupid outfits. What woman is hiking along the beach in heels on purpose? That was the professor's daughter, and she was odd. She had some weird outfits and was strangely attached to her father.

George was creepy with the way he "hid" in bushes all the time. Ethel was kind of a poo. At first, I thought the professor was being paranoid, but nope. People were actually spying on him. Ethel blamed the professor for the death of someone, so she was trying to find the dirt on him. She's also dumber than a box of rocks. "Here, let me eavesdrop outside the door, and no one will see the huge shadow I'm throwing on the wall!" Really? George was trying to make money off the professor's research (?).

I did have fun with this one, but we really needed more of the creature. I'm still not sure how the radiation only burned the stupid rowboat, but it blew the huge destroyer out of the water. The other weird thing was, you couldn't tell what time of day it was. Sometimes it was supposed to be the middle of the night, but it's definitely daytime. At one point, I didn't understand how Ted didn't know who shot the spear at him, because you could clearly see George lurking in the bushes. Ted was also close to the car when it drove away.

I think this one earns a Good Movie! review. There's a lot of fun moments of nonsense in there. If that's your thing, check this movie out!

P.S. No way was this thing was 10,000 leagues under the sea. It wasn't a phantom either...

Invasion of the Neptune Men - 1961

We decided to watch a random movie around lunchtime. This one sounded awesome.

Metal-men from Neptune are invading the Earth. Japan has a "superhero" by the name of Iron Sharp. The man has a nifty scarf and a flying car! He evens gets his own theme song, which is long and tiring.

This movie is a strange one. And I mean that on a number of levels. I'm not sure why the Neptune guys were so slow. It seemed like a light jog would have you far away in no time. I'm not sure why the leader had a record on his head. He was also the only one whose buttons lit up. I'm not sure why the summary for the movie called the hero "Super Chief" and the movie itself called him "Iron Sharp." The kids even sang the words Iron Sharp. There is also a moment during the destruction sequence that caught me completely off guard. I'm not spoiling that one, but if you watch it, you'll know what I'm referring to.

There were also some cons. Did they show the kids running for way too long? Yes. Did the kids sing forever on multiple occasions? Yes. Were there times when I wondered if we'd ever see Iron Sharp again? Definitely. 

I think this one is worth watching at least once. There are some real gems in there that you don't want to miss. The miniature work is great, especially with the space ships (not the repetitive little ones). As with any of these cheesy movies, make sure to watch it with an appreciative friend! Good Movie!

The Curse of Nostradamus - 1961

This is a Mexican movie that was released in the States in 1962. We read the summary and were immediately on board.

An old professor is approached by a 400-year-old vampire who claims to be the son of Nostradamus. He says that he will kill 13 people if the professor doesn't revive the Cult of Nostradamus. The professor is skeptical of the man's power, even though he was able to break into the professor's house. The vampire makes predictions and then proceeds to make them come true. How many deaths will the professor allow to be on his hands before he takes action?

This movie was wild. I think the guy with the camera and the one in charge of the sound effects were the same person. And that's not a compliment. At the very beginning, it sounded like someone was using a car horn. Later, the vampire had his own strange music to let the audience know he's around. He liked swooshing his cape and turning into a bat.

The quality of this film was crazy. It looked like it was from the 1930s. The subject of scenes were rarely centered, but they were a lot of close-ups for no reason. I think my favorite character was the hunchback. I'm not sure what his name was, but hearing his voice for the first time had me laughing out loud. The ending of this was one of the most abrupt we've ever seen, and we've seen a lot of them. It wasn't even super clear what happened. Anthony had a magic gun with unlimited bullets, which was good since he shot one off every couple seconds until the vampire was standing in front of him. Then he didn't shoot. I had fun with this one, but it's hard on the eyes. I'm giving it a Good Movie! review, but just know you're going to witness a ton of nonsense.

Gridman the Hyper Agent - 1993-1994

This was a TV series that ran in Japan in the early 90's. It's about a superhero and three foul-mouthed teenagers who fight against Kahn Digifer, who lives in the Computer World. He's aided by Takeshi, another teen and one of the most pathetic characters ever put on screen. Over the course of 39 episodes, these children fight against each other in some very strange scenes.

I don't even know where to start with this one. For the first couple episodes, Naoto does a trust fall when he goes into the computer. This quickly ended, and soon after, we didn't see him fly through the air to merge with Gridman. That came back in a couple episodes, but it just wasn't the same without the trust fall.

Takeshi is pathetic for a number of reasons. The main one is that he gets upset for the stupidest reasons. Not every time. Just most of the time. Let's take the most memorable. Takeshi has a crush on Yuka, the somewhat bossy girl in the group. He gets mad because she "didn't take his letter." But he didn't talk to her or even get the letter out of his pocket! 

I don't know if it was the person doing the captioning or if everyone in this show decided to curse all the time. It was just a bit jarring, especially when the smaller children did it.

We all loved this show, and we're sad it's over. They took most of the fight footage and turned it into a really terrible American version called Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad. The one episode we watched made zero sense, and we were upset about the reused footage. 

My favorite character was Ippei. He was misunderstood and given way too much crap. Some of the episodes were more unkind to him than others (I'm looking at you episode 16!), and I just liked the way he handled things.

I would definitely watch this show again. I don't know what it is about these old superhero shows, but I love them. Gridman has given us a lot of laughs, and I believe he deserves a place in our Cinematic Universe. Great Show!

P.S. Gridman shares a few things with Ultraman. We're currently watching the 1966 series.

From Hell It Came - 1957

After reading the summary for this movie, we immediately pressed play. I mean, who can pass up a chance to see a tree terrorize an island?

So, the plot of this movie is really strange. A prince is getting killed by being staked to the ground and listen to people accuse him of killing his father. He denies the accusation and curses them all. After stabbing a voodoo doll and sledgehammering a dagger into the prince's chest, they stand him up in a wooden box and bury him.

Elsewhere on the island, there are scientists and a woman who runs the trading post. She has a questionable accent and a nasty habit of getting herself into trouble. When the woman doctor arrives on the island, Bill tries to convince her to marry him and leave the island. She goes hiking in her heels, and they come across the prince's grave. The woman convinces Bill to dig it up, and they take it back to the lab. Somehow, Dr. Woman has determined that the stump-man has a human heartbeat, and she wants to use her formula on it to try and keep it alive. Instead, the tree-man (since they dug him up, he's taller now) wakes up and runs amok all over the place.

The monster for this movie was hilarious. He was really slow, but no one escaped him! The way they kill him at the end was amazing, and I think that scene inspired the Stormtroopers in Star Wars. Those three guys shot a gillion bullets. Bill was so annoying, I wanted to slap him. His superpower was being pessimistic about everything and condescending to Dr. Woman. She was annoying as well. Who hikes around the jungle in heels?!

I'm not sure this one can be classified as amazing. If you've got some time and need some background noise, this might be a good choice. Overall, I was entertained, but I don't think I'd watch it again. I'm still giving it a Good Movie! review, but it's not an instant classic.

Monster From a Prehistoric Planet (Gappa: The Triphibian Monster) - 1967

We were reading summaries, and this one caught our eye. It was a quick pick for movie night. The movie is listed on the internet as Gappa: The Triphibian Monster, but it was on Tubi as Monster From a Prehistoric Planet. Apparently, the movie was released in Japan as Giant Beast Gappa, so I have no idea where the Triphibian title came from.

A group of scientists and reporters head to an island in the South Pacific to gather exotic plants, animals and native dancers. Instead, they find a lost civilization (that amazingly speaks their language) and an egg. While they're in the cave, the egg hatches, gross stuff comes out, and they end up capturing a lizard.

The financial backer for the trip was a man (basically John Hammond from Jurassic Park) who publishes Playmate Magazine, and he wants to build Playmate Land. This one isn't full of scantily clad women, though. The expedition brings back the little guy, but his parents have awoken, and they want revenge!

First off, I'm going to say that I had fun with this movie. I wanted to clear that up since I'm going to be pointing out some things that were pretty bad.

The big thing that was irritating was how dark the movie was. I've seen movies that were dark, but I think this one was the worst. There were times when I had no clue what was happening. Next up is the music. Wow, it was terrible. The worst had to be when they were in the bar (?) with the singing women. We were glad the monsters took that place out. Last up is the length of the destruction scenes. I'm always up for a good miniature destruction, but these went on forever. At one point, there were so many planes getting shot down, I was actually losing interest.

The end was great. Reuniting the family was so weird to watch, and then listening to the woman talk about how she wants to quit her job so she can cook and wash diapers was pretty cringey. I am left with questions. Like why did they call it Monster From a Prehistoric Planet when it's clearly from Earth? Also, why did the monsters have chicken beaks? And why was that one kid green!? (That was a lighting thing, but he still looked green.) I'm giving this one a Good Movie! review. The voice actors added to the mirth, and there's just too many amazing things going on.

The Brain from Planet Arous - 1957

It took a couple of minutes to choose our candidate for movie night, but I was interested in the "rival brains" mentioned in the synopsis.

Steve and Dan head to Mystery Mount(ain) to check out random, intermittent radiation alerts. They're attacked by a giant brain from the planet Arous, and Dan is killed. Steve's body is taken over by Gor, our evil brain.

Val also comes from his planet to capture Gor. He needs a body to inhabit, and Sally (Steve's finace) doesn't want her father to volunteer. To his credit, the man agreed to everything. He was the most agreeable man I've ever seen. He took everything in stride, and nothing phased him. Since Sally is whining about her dad helping, Val inhabits George's body. George is a white shepherd and a good boy. FYI, George is not harmed during the film.

This movie was funny. I saw they used contact lenses with metal foil to create the creepy effect on Steve's eyes. That doesn't sound pleasant at all. I laughed so hard when I saw the brains. They were cute, and the eyes on them conveyed a "meh" attitude. The ending was insane and confusing. Did Val just leave after Gor was defeated? I think watching the "fight" scene was the best part. Gor is just floating around while Steve chops at his fissure of Rolando. Crazy.

Out of the three of us, I think I enjoyed it the most. I loved how confusing and silly it was. I'm giving it a Good Movie! review. 

RIP Dan...

Yongary, Monster from the Deep - 1967

Random pick for movie night. It was the first recommendation on Tubi, and we went with it. South Korea and Japan teamed up to bring this epic to the screen. I also had the privilege to watch this movie with my kids. It was a blast!

I'm not even sure how to describe what I saw. People went into space to investigate something they could see from an airplane. The Godzilla-like creature drinks gas and oil and dances. A kid runs through the sewer and hits the monster with an "itch" beam. Helicopters are loaded with two fire extinguishers of "answer" but when it comes out of the helicopter, there seems to be an endless supply!

I loved this movie. It was hilarious, and at one point, I was almost cry-laughing. The weird ridiculousness of this was so epic. I still don't understand why they had to go to space. This is a great one to watch with friends who enjoy old monster movies. The miniature work was amazing, and one of the best parts of the movie.

I highly recommend this one. It is super nonsensical, and that's the charm of it. Easily get the Good Movie! review.

Erased - 2016

I was recommended this show by my younger daughter. She knows I love a good anime, and she had more than a few to recommend.

The protagonist of our story has a rare ability to go back in time to stop a tragedy. In his case, Satoru relives the moment before disaster and looks for what's wrong. It's a lot of pressure, and it's mind-boggling how he figures anything out before it happens. I'd miss all the signs for sure.

One day, his mother comes to visit, and that's when things go south. Eventually, he has a major "revival" that sends him back to his childhood. When he was young, three children were abducted and killed. Satoru always felt guilty, and now he has the chance to remedy the mistakes he knows he'll make.

Ok, so I'm not great at explaining things, but that's because I'm trying not to give too much away. I had to binge the last three episodes, because I wanted to know what happened. From the small amount of research I did, it seems the end of the anime deviated from the manga quite a bit. Since I haven't read it (yet), that didn't affect my enjoyment.

And I did enjoy this one. It reminded me of Death Note and Monster, because I felt a sense of suspense of how things would end up. Also, the resolution of story during/after the credits was like Death Note. I will admit the show isn't perfect. I liked it a lot, though, and it made me want to read the manga. It was 12 episodes in which I was never bored, and I'd happily watch it again. Good Show!

Golden Ninja (The Golden Bat) - 1966

I saw the picture for this one on Tubi, and I was in! Then I read the summary, and I couldn't wait to watch it!

A kid is watching the planet Icarus approaching Earth at a fast pace. The locals don't believe anything is wrong, so the kid is abducted by a secret UN group that investigates unusual happenings. They have a plan to blow up the planet, but they need a special mineral to make the lens for their laser. Their first recon group dies on an island that is somehow part of Atlantis. An enemy appears and pushes them back into a cave where they find Golden Ninja (Bat). He needs some water to revive, and then he's ready to laugh maniacally and whap people with Silver Baton.

I loved this movie. For some reason, I had a blast. I loved the noise Silver Baton made, I loved the weird bat, and I loved all the miniatures used for the sets. I also loved Nazo, the villain. He looked like he was wearing a Snuggie with piggy ears. He never moved, but his little platform spun around. I appreciated his boxing ring microphone that would drop from the ceiling when he wanted to make an announcement.

The movie is actually called The Golden Bat, which makes more sense than Golden Ninja in this case. Apparently, this is a real superhero that was created before Superman! In the 1920s, Japan made this cackling skull mummy, and there's tons of content for him! Manga, anime, movies...I'm going down the rabbit hole with this one. I love Golden Bat.

Watch it with friends that love a good superhero/cheesy movie. I think you'll be impressed. If you aren't, I just don't know what to tell you. This is one of my favorites, and I keep going around the house making "wapsssht!" noises. Good Movie!