Showing posts with label Cloverfield. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cloverfield. Show all posts

5 Most Awesome Giant Monster Movies From 'Big Ass Spider!' Director Mike Mendez!


From Bloody Disgusting

Epic Pictures will be releasing Big Ass Spider!, the movie that features a giant arachnid terrorizing Los Angeles, on digital download, DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow, January 7.

In Mike Mendez’s (Real Killers, The Gravedancers) creature comedy, “The unlikely heroic duo of a blue-collar exterminator (Greg Grunberg) and Latino security guard (Lombardo Boyar) must save the day when a giant spider escapes from a military lab and rampages the city of Los Angeles.”

To celebrate the release, Bloody Disgusting caught up with Mendez who shared his picks for “5 Most Awesome Giant Monster Movies”!

1. Them

“Giant ants are pretty cool and you get the military versus giant ants. The effects were very innovative for the time. It’s one of the classics. Plus it was the beginning of the atomic age monsters. Also a great cast like James Arness & Fess Parker.”

Ken's Opinion - Major kudos for listing "Them!(1954)" as the number one pick ... but any list without Godzilla (Gojira, 1954) is a thumbs down!

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The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #71 - #80

80. BIOLLANTE

Biollante (ビオランテ, Biorante?) is a daikaiju (strange beast or monster) from the Godzilla film series. She made her first appearance in the 1989 feature Godzilla vs. Biollante. She was never put into any other Godzilla movies.

After Godzilla's return in 1984, the city of Tokyo, Japan had suffered a great deal of destruction. During the aftermath and cleanup, forensic workers collected small remains of skin from Godzilla, which were later transported to a government lab facility in the arid wasteland of Saradia. A scientist by the name of Dr. Genshiro Shiragami intended to use the genetic material of the Godzilla cells in the skin to genetically enhance various species of plants to create crops resistant to harsh weather and unfavorable conditions of Saradia. Unfortunately, numerous other nations did not approve of this move in agricultural wealth-as Saradia relied on exports for its produce-and an act of terrorism was put into plan to bomb the laboratory working with the cells. Amongst the scientists who lost their lives was Erika Shiragami, Dr. Shiragami's daughter. Her loss was terrible to him, and he proceeded to collect DNA from his daughter and splice it with that of a rosebush in hopes of preserving his daughter's spiritual entity. Five years later, in 1989, an earthquake destroyed the roses' shelter, thereby killing several. Dr. Shiragami panicked, and carried out a risky and unauthorized plan to splice the Godzilla DNA with a lone rose, in hopes that the rose would remain alive and hopefully invincible. However, the seemingly successful fusion of the cells resulted in the slow but eventual growth and mutation of the rose, which eventually became capable of thinking and moving, and eventually proceeded to smash its way through the laboratory wall, making its way to Lake Ashino, where it rooted itself and took up residence.

At first, Biollante was a giant rose with teeth inside her bud and long vines (merely a heavily-mutated and exceptionally large "thinking" rose). In her second form, the Godzilla genes took over and Biollante's body became an abomination of biological science. Biollante's second form had a head like a mosasaur's and a maw with knife-like teeth, even on the interior lining of her mouth. In addition, six large tusks (three on each side of his mouth) protruded from the fulcrum-region of her mouth. Large numbers of vines and tendrils were a primary feature of Biollante. Some vines ended in sharp, spear-like ends, while others sported small, sharp-toothed mouths. In Biollante's first form, a large, fleshy sac was surrounded by her overlaying vines. In his second form, what appeared to be meaty flesh was seen underneath the tangled mess of vines and plant-tissue. The fleshy surface was pink and had many wrinkles and lines, resembling a brain-like surface.

79. THE METALUNAN

This Island Earth is a 1955 American science fiction film directed by Joseph M. Newman. It is based on the novel of the same name by Raymond F. Jones. The film stars Jeff Morrow as the alien Exeter, Faith Domergue as Dr. Ruth Adams, and Rex Reason as Dr. Cal Meacham. The film was one of the first major science fiction films to be made in Technicolor.

Dr. Cal Meacham, a noted scientist, receives an unusual substitute for electronic condensers that he ordered. He receives instruction and parts to build a complex communication device called an interocitor. Although neither Meacham nor his assistant Joe Wilson have heard of an interocitor, they immediately begin constructing it. When finished, a mysterious man named Exeter appears on the interocitor's screen and tells Meacham he has passed the test. His ability to build the interocitor demonstrates that he is gifted enough to be part of Exeter's special research project.

Intrigued, Meacham is picked up the next day at the airport by an unmanned, computer-controlled Douglas DC-3 aircraft with no windows. Landing in a remote area of Georgia, he finds an international group of top-flight scientists already present – including an old flame, Dr. Ruth Adams. Cal is almost immediately suspicious of the odd-looking group of men leading the project.

Cal and Ruth try to flee with a third scientist, Steve Carlson, but their car is attacked and Carlson is killed. When they take off in a small plane, Cal and Ruth watch as the facility and all its inhabitants are incinerated, and their plane is drawn by a mysterious beam into a flying saucer. They learn that Exeter and his band are from the planet Metaluna, having come to Earth seeking uranium deposits as well as scientists to help defend their planet in a war against the evil Zagons. Exeter informs the Earthlings that he is taking them back to his world.

After a mind-bending journey, they arrive to find the planet under full bombardment and falling quickly to the enemy. Metalunan society is breaking down and there is little hope. Their leader, The Monitor, reveals that the Metalunans intend to relocate to Earth and insists that Meacham and Adams be subjected to a Thought Transference Chamber in order to subjugate their free will so they cannot object. Exeter believes this to be immoral and misguided since it constrains their ability to help the Metalunans. Exeter decides to help Cal and Ruth escape, thus revolting against his own kind, before they enter the brain-reprogramming facility.

Exeter is badly injured by a Mutant while the three escape from Metaluna prior to the final destruction of the planet. The Mutant also boards the craft, but dies as a result of pressure differences on the journey back to Earth.

As they enter Earth's atmosphere, Exeter sends Cal and Ruth on their way in their small plane, but he himself is dying and the ship is nearly depleted of energy. With no other options, Exeter uses the craft's remaining power to fly it out to sea and crash.

78. THE VISITORS

V (or V: The Original Miniseries) is a two-part science fiction television miniseries, written and directed by Kenneth Johnson. First shown in 1983, it initiated the science fiction franchise concerning aliens known as "The Visitors" trying to gain control of Earth.

A race of aliens arrive on Earth in a fleet of 50 huge, saucer-shaped motherships, which hover over major key cities across the world. They reveal themselves on the roof of the United Nations building in New York City, appearing human but requiring special glasses to protect their eyes and having a distinctive resonance to their voices. Referred to as the Visitors, they reach out in friendship, ostensibly seeking the help of humans to obtain chemicals and minerals needed to aid their ailing world. In return, the Visitors promise to share their advanced technology with humanity. The governments of Earth accept the arrangement, and the Visitors, commanded by their leader John and his deputy Diana, begin to gain considerable influence with human authorities.

Strange events begin to occur and scientists become objects of increasing media hostility. They experience government restrictions on their activities and movements. Others, particularly those keen on examining the Visitors more closely, begin to disappear or are discredited. Noted scientists confess to subversive activities; some of them exhibit other unusual behaviors, such as suddenly demonstrating an opposite hand preference to the one they were known to have.

Television journalist cameraman Michael Donovan covertly boards one of the Visitors' motherships and discovers that beneath their human-like facade (they wear a thin, synthetic skin and human-like contact lenses in public), the aliens are actually carnivorous reptilian humanoids preferring to eat live food such as rodents and birds. Donovan records some of his findings on videotape and escapes from the mothership with the evidence, but just as the exposé is about to air on television, the broadcast is interrupted by the Visitors who have taken control of the media. Their announcement makes Donovan a fugitive, pursued by both the police and the Visitors.

Scientists around the world continue to be persecuted, both to discredit them (as the part of the human population most likely to discover the Visitors' secrets) and to distract the rest of the population with a scapegoat to whom they could attribute their fears. Key human individuals are subjected to Diana's special mind control process called "conversion", which turned them into the Visitors' pawns, leaving only subtle behavioral clues to this manipulation. Others become subjects of Diana's horrifying biological experiments.

77. GWANGI

The Valley of Gwangi is a 1969 American western-fantasy film directed by Jim O'Connolly and written by William Bast. The film is also known as Gwangi, The Lost Valley, The Valley Time Forgot, and The Valley Where Time Stood Still. It was filmed in Technicolor. The film is known for its creature effects provided by Ray Harryhausen.

Sometime near the turn of the century, a beautiful cowgirl named T.J. Brekenridge (Gila Golan) hosts a rodeo that is struggling. Her former fiancé Tuck Kirby (James Franciscus), a heroic former stuntman working for Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, wants to buy out T.J.

T.J. has an ace she hopes will boost attendance at her show - a tiny horse. Tuck meets a British paleontologist named Horace Bromley (Laurence Naismith), who was working in a nearby Mexican desert. Bromley shows Tuck fossilized horse tracks, which Tuck notices to be similar to T.J.'s horse's feet. So Tuck sneaks Bromley in for a peek. Bromley declares the horse to be an Eohippus.

The tiny horse came from an area known as the Forbidden Valley. A gypsy claims that it has a curse, and demands that it be returned. Later a group of thieves (presumably under orders from the Gypsy) collaborate with Bromley to steal the horse and release it to the valley. Bromley collaborates in the hopes of following the horse to its home.

Tuck nearly walks in on the theft, notices the horse missing, and sets off after it and Bromley. When T.J. and her crew discover that the horse is missing they believe Tuck has stolen it. T.J. then forms and leads a group of cowboys after Tuck and Bromley on a mission to retrieve the horse.

Making their way into the valley, Tuck, T.J, and the rest of the group meet up and soon discover why the valley is said to be cursed as a Pteranodon swoops down and snatches a boy who had accompanied the group into the valley. After killing the Pteranodon, they spy an Ornithomimus, a small dinosaur which they chase after in the hopes of capturing it. Just as the ornithomimus is about to escape, it is killed by Gwangi, a vicious Allosaurus which pursues, almost finding and eating Bromely, however, a Styracosaurus appears and frightens Gwangi away.

Later, Gwangi pursues them to their base camp, where it is able toget the best of them, until they begin to rope it down, however, the styracosaurus reappears and battles Gwangi. Gwangi emerges victorious, but decides to attack the men again.

Gwangi manages to catch and kill one of the cowboys, and then knocks itself out while trying to exit the valley in pursuit of the rest of the group. Securing the creature, they take it back to town where it is to be put on display in T.J.'s show. However on opening night one of the Gypsies sneaks in and begins to unlock Gwangi's cage in an effort to free it. Instead the unfortunate man is killed and Gwangi breaks free, killing Bromley and a circus elephant (actually modelled after a prehistoric mammoth) in the process.

Eventually Gwangi, Tuck, T.J and Lope (the Mexican boy), end up in a cathedral which catches on fire during battle. After some close calls Tuck and T.J. manage to escape and lock the door behind them, trapping Gwangi in the burning building which then crumbles around it. Screaming in agony, Gwangi dies in the fire and the town makes Tuck the town hero. However, the town's population is also saddened by the thought of a magnificent creature like Gwangi dying such a horrible death and by the loss of life due to the dinosaur's rampage.

76. THE HOST

The Host (괴물, Gwoemul - "Monster") is a 2006 South Korean monster film, which also contains elements of comedy and drama films. The film was directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the screenplay, along with Baek Chul-hyun.

The film opens with an American military pathologist commanding a reluctant Korean assistant to violate protocol by dumping over 200 bottles of formaldehyde down the drain, which leads to the Han River. A few years later, two men are standing and fishing in the Han River when one discovers a mutant amphibian (which is never shown). Four years later, a man commits suicide by jumping off a bridge into Han River, but not before noticing that there's "something dark, underwater."

In the present day, Park Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) is a seemingly slow-witted man who runs a snack-bar with his father, Hee-bong (Byeon Hee-bong). Hyun-seo (Ko Ah-seong) is a schoolgirl and Gang-du's daughter. Gang-du's sister, Nam-joo (Bae Doona), is a national medalist archer who has an unfortunate tendency to hesitate, and his brother Nam-il (Park Hae-il) is an alcoholic former activist who has not done much since graduating from university.

Gang-du is delivering a meal to some patrons, and sees a crowd gathering along Han River. He joins them as they stand near the side of the river and point at something under the Wonhyo Bridge. A few moments later, the creature appears on shore behind them, and begins to attack and devour people. As Gang-du runs away, he sees Hyun-seo emerge from the snack bar and grabs her hand without stopping. He then stumbles and unwittingly grabs a different girl. A short distance away, he looks back and sees the creature pull Hyun-seo into the river. Gang-du then sees the monster dragging her on the opposite bank before disappearing into the water.

As the family mourns the young girl in a shelter set up for victims of the attack, government representatives in yellow bio-hazard suits arrive and demand to know who has had direct contact with the creature. Gang-du admits that he has, and the family is forced to the hospital, where Gang-du is quarantined. The Korean government announces that the creature is not only a direct danger, but also the host of a deadly, unknown virus. Gang-du receives a phone call from Hyun-seo, who is not dead, but trapped in a sewer. She is cut off as her cellphone battery runs out. Gang-du tries to explain to others, but his explanation sounds insane to the people at the hospital. Hee-bong believes his son, and uses up his life savings so that they can escape from the hospital and rescue Hyun-seo. They are then able to obtain a truck, two non-yellow hazmat suits, weapons, and a map of the sewer system around the Han River.

The family search the sewers to no avail and return to their snack stand at the banks of the Han river to rest for the night. They wake to find the creature watching them. Hee-bong fires on the creature, causing it to attack them and overturn the snack stand. As the creature tries to get at them inside, Hee-bong fires a shot that causes the creature to flee. Hee-bong, Gang-du & Nam-il give chase, firing wildly. Hee-bong is eventually killed by the creature, and Gang-du is captured by soldiers; Nam-il and Nam-joo escape but are separated.

75. DESTROYAH

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (ゴジラVSデストロイア, Gojira tai Desutoroia?), alternatively titled Godzilla vs. Destroyer, is a 1995 film directed by Takao Okawara and written by Kazuki Omori. It was released in Japan on December 9, 1995. It is the 22nd installment in the Godzilla series of films and the seventh & last of the Heisei series.

In 1996, after the death of SpaceGodzilla, Birth Island is found destroyed. Godzilla's adopted son, Little Godzilla, is presumed dead at first but later reveals himself as a larger and more powerful sub-adult due to the excess radiation and is re-named Godzilla Junior. Godzilla, covered in glowing lava-like rashes, enters Hong Kong and destroys most of the city. G-Force representatives hire college student Kenichi Yamane, the grandson of Dr. Kyohei Yamane, to come work at the center in an attempt to unravel the mystery of Godzilla's condition.

Yamane suspects that Godzilla has absorbed too much atomic energy and is having a nuclear heart attack. His death would result in triggering an atmospheric chain reaction which will take Japan, and the entire Earth with him. G-Force deploys a flying combat vehicle outfitted with anti-nuclear cold weapons to forestall this; the Super X III. Strange life forms appear where the original Godzilla died, and a host of deadly creatures called Destoroyah begin wreaking havoc. Soil samples reveal that Destoroyah is connected to the Oxygen Destroyer used against the first Godzilla in 1954, which mutated Precambrian era life forms. After several deadly skirmishes with the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Destoroyah evolve beyond the J.S.D.F.'s containment abilities and psychic Miki Saegusa must use her failing powers to lure Junior to the area in an attempt to combat Destoroyah in Tokyo. Godzilla, who is searching for his son, follows Junior, but complications arise. Due to his encounter with the Super X III, Godzilla will meltdown once his body reaches 1,200 degrees Celsius and the Earth will be destroyed.

During Junior's first battle, he is wounded. Godzilla and Junior meet in Narita, but Destoroyah returns in his final form. Destoroyah knocks down Godzilla and kidnaps Junior, dropping him from an extreme altitude that brings the child monster close to death. Godzilla, enraged, attacks Destoroyah and a battle ensues that destroys Tokyo. Born from the only weapon to ever kill a Godzilla, Destoroyah shows an advantage, but Godzilla's radioactivity has increased his own power. Destoroyah's body decomposes into many smaller Destoroyah which attempt to swarm Godzilla from all sides, but Godzilla uses his nuclear pulse to incinerate the miniature Destoroyahs.

Alone at last Godzilla tries to revive Junior but, he fails. Overcome by grief, Godzilla's heart continues to fail. Suddenly, Destoroyah returns for one last attack. Godzilla's demise begins, resulting in his power increasing once again significantly. In a fury of rage, Godzilla begins reigniting Destoroyah with his powerful atomic rays, severely burning and injuring the beast. Destoroyah then attempts to escape, but the military shoots and blows off his wings. Destoroyah falls out of the air but Godzilla doesn't move. When Destoroyah hits the ground, because of the extreme change in temeperatures from the ice rays and Godzilla superheating the ground, Destoroyah explodes. As Godzilla reaches meltdown, and begins to die, the Super X III freezes him with ice beams to stop him from the destroying the planet and are successful. Godzilla's final moments of life are long, and strenuous as he is overcome with immense pain, with his flesh and body slowly melting away. The King of the Monsters gives one last faint roar before he becomes nothing more than a pile of melted flesh and ashes. But in his final moments, he transfers his last supply of energy over to the fallen Junior.

The victory is a costly one however, for the radiation has made Tokyo an uninhabitable city. Suddenly, radiation levels begin to drop, and from within the thinning smoke, is a revived and full grown Godzilla Junior, the new King of the Monsters.

74. GIANT OCTOPUS

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) is an American science fiction film produced by Sam Katzman and Charles Schneer for Columbia Pictures, from a script by George Worthing Yates designed to showcase the special model-animated effects of Ray Harryhausen. It was directed by Robert Gordon and stars Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, and Donald Curtis. Much of the filming was done at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, including scenes aboard a submarine, and several naval personnel were given supporting roles.

A nuclear submarine on patrol maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean captained by Commander Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey), comes into contact with something the sonar determines is massive. The boat is disabled but manages to free itself and dock at Pearl Harbor. There it is discovered animal tissue of great proportions has jammed in its propellers. A man-and-woman team of marine biologists, Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue) and John Carter (Donald Curtis), is called in, and they identify the tissue as part of a gigantic octopus. The military authorities scoff at this explanation, but are finally persuaded to investigate upon receiving reports of missing bathers, and ships pulled under the water by some living thing. Over the following two weeks, as John and Lesley continue their investigation, Pete shows a personal interest in Lesley, who is only eager to return to her own research. The scientists conclude the octopus is from the Mindanao Deep and has been forced out of its natural habitat due to hydrogen bomb testing in the area. The testing has rendered the octopus radioactive, and this radioactivity drives off its natural food supply.[3]

John and Lesley speculate that unexplained disappearances of a Japanese fishing fleet and a Siberian seal boat may have been due to the octopus. Pete and the Navy representatives express doubt over this hypothesis, however, and demand further proof. Later, as Pete assists John and Lesley with departure arrangements, a report comes in of an attack on a French shipping boat, from which several men escaped in a raft. John and Lesley are once again pressed into service for the government. The French survivors are questioned by psychiatrists, but when the first sailor's description of an attack by a creature with giant tentacles is met with skepticism, the other sailors refuse to testify. Lesley is able to convince the first sailor to repeat his story for the government officials, who now have the evidence they need to back up the scientists' premise. The government then halts all sea traffic in the North Pacific without revealing the reason to other countries. John flies out to sea to trace a missing ship, while Pete and Lesley follow up a report of three missing people on the coast of Oregon.

The local sheriff, Bill Nash (Harry Lauter), takes them to the site of the attack along the beach, where they find a giant suction imprint in the sand and request that John join them. While waiting, Pete and Lesley fish all day to no avail, and are convinced that the giant creature may be in the vicinity. After John arrives and the imprint is definitively identified as octopus, Pete demands Lesley leave the project, which now threatens to become dangerous, but she steadfastly refuses.

When Bill is attacked along the beach by the creature in front of the scientists, they hastily arrange for the entire Pacific coast waters to be mined before departing for San Francisco and the Navy's central headquarters. An electrified safety net is strung underwater across the entrance to San Francisco Bay to protect the Golden Gate Bridge, which is also wired. John takes a helicopter along the shore and baits the sea with dead sharks in an effort to lure the octopus back inland. Lesley demonstrates to reporters a special jet-propelled atomic torpedo, with which they hope to shoot the creature and then drive it to sea before detonating the device. Later that day, the giant octopus demolishes the net across the Bay and heads toward San Francisco.

The Navy orders the Golden Gate Bridge abandoned, but when John learns that the electric circuit on the bridge remains on, races out to shut it off. The bridge is attacked by the creature, but Pete rescues John before one section collapses. The residents of the city panic and begin a mass exodus down the peninsula, as the Navy struggles to evacuate the Embarcadero and the Ferry Building, which is then battered by the octopus. When several more people are attacked, the Defense Department authorizes Pete to launch his submarine and the atomic warhead. John joins Pete while Lesley remains at the base. Flame throwers push the octopus back into the sea, but when Pete shoots the creature, it grabs the submarine. Using an aqualung, Pete swims out to the octopus and places explosive charges on it before being knocked out by the creature's flailing arms. John then swims out, shoots the octopus in the eye, forcing it to release the ship, and pulls Pete to safety. Back at the base, as the creature turns toward open sea, the torpedo is detonated, destroying the giant octopus. Later, while celebrating, Lesley agrees to continue seeing Pete after she and John finish their next research project.

73. THE POD PEOPLE

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1956 horror science fiction film based on the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (originally serialized in Colliers Magazine in 1954). It stars Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, King Donovan, and Carolyn Jones. The screenplay was adapted from Finney's novel by Daniel Mainwaring, along with an uncredited Richard Collins, and was directed by Don Siegel. The film is the first and most critically acclaimed of the novel's four film adaptations to date.

Set in the fictional town of Santa Mira, California, Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy), a local doctor, finds a rash of patients accusing their loved ones of being impostors. Another patient is a former sweetheart of his; recent divorcée Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter), who tells him that her cousin, Wilma, has this same strange fear about Uncle Ira.

Assured at first by the town psychiatrist, Dr. Dan Kaufman (Larry Gates), that the cases are nothing but "epidemic mass hysteria," Bennell soon discovers, with the help of his friend Jack Belicec (King Donovan), that the townspeople are in fact being replaced by perfect physical duplicates, simulations grown from plantlike pods. The Pod People are indistinguishable from normal people, except for their utter lack of emotion. The Pod People work together to secretly spread more pods — which grew from "seeds drifting through space for years" — in order to replace the entire human race.

The film climaxes with Bennell and Driscoll attempting to escape the pod people, intending to warn the rest of humanity. They hide; Driscoll falls asleep and is subverted. With the Pod People close behind, a seemingly crazed Bennell runs onto the highway frantically screaming about the alien force which has overrun Santa Mira to the passing motorists and (in a moment that is considered a breaking of the Fourth Wall) looks into the camera and yells, "They're here already! You're next! You're next!"

Finally, Bennell is picked up by the police and questioned in a clinic. The policemen in charge do not believe his account — until they receive news of an accident in which a truck carrying strange giant beanpods is opened. The police are quick to alert the authorities; the message has been received, but the actual end of the story is left open.

72. THE GUNSLINGER

Westworld is a 1973 science fiction / thriller film written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton and produced by Paul Lazarus III. It stars Yul Brynner as a lifelike robot in a futuristic Western-themed amusement park, and Richard Benjamin and James Brolin as customers who are attacked by the park's robots when they malfunction.

The story is set sometime in the near future, in Delos, a high-tech, highly realistic fictional adult amusement park featuring androids that are almost indistinguishable from human beings. For a price of $1,000 per day, guests may indulge in any fantasy, including killing or having sex with the androids. The androids are programmed to act in character for each of the park's three themed zones: WesternWorld (the American Old West), MedievalWorld (medieval Europe), and RomanWorld (pre-Christian Rome). One of the main attractions in WesternWorld is the Gunslinger (Brynner), a robot programmed to start duels. Thanks to its programming, humans can always outdraw the Gunslinger and kill it. The guns issued to the guests also have temperature sensors that prevent them from shooting each other or anything else living but allow them to 'kill' the room-temperature androids.

After an introductory advertisement for the park, the film begins as Peter Martin (Benjamin), a first-timer, and his friend John Blane (Brolin), who has visited previously, visit WesternWorld. Gradually, the technicians running Delos begin to notice problems spreading like an infection among the androids (see computer virus). First the robots in MedievalWorld begin suffering an inexplicable number of systemic failures; then a robot rattlesnake bites Blane; against her programming, an android refuses a guest's request for sex. The failures increase until the robotic Black Knight kills a guest in a sword-fight in MedievalWorld. The resort's supervisors, in increasing desperation, try to regain control by shutting down power to the entire park, but this traps them in the control rooms, unable to turn the power back on while the robots run amok on stored power.

Martin and Blane, who passed out drunk after a bar fight in the WesternWorld bordello, wake up unaware of the breakdown. When the Gunslinger challenges the two men to a showdown, Blane treats the confrontation as a typical amusement until the robot shoots and kills him. Martin runs for his life as the robot implacably follows him.

Martin flees to the other areas of the park, but finds only a panicky fleeing technician, dead guests and damaged robots. He climbs down through a manhole to the underground control area, where the resort's technicians have suffocated since the ventilation shut down. As the Gunslinger stalks Martin through the corridors, he throws acid into its face and sets fire to it with a torch. He also finds a woman chained up in the dungeon, but she turns out to be an android. Finally, the burned hulk of the Gunslinger attacks him one last time before succumbing to its damage. The film ends as Martin, apparently the sole human survivor, sits down on the dungeon steps in a state of near-exhaustion and shock, thinking of the irony of Delos's advertising, "Have we got a vacation for you!"

71. CLOVERFIELD

Cloverfield is a 2008 American monster movie directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams and written by Drew Goddard.

The film is presented so as to look as if it were a video file recovered from a digital camcorder by the United States Department of Defense. The film begins with a disclaimer stating that the following footage about to be viewed is of a case designated "Cloverfield" and was found in the area that was "formerly known as Central Park".

Robert "Rob" Hawkins wakes up on the morning of April 27 having slept with a previously platonic friend, Elizabeth "Beth" McIntyre. They plan to leave for Coney Island that day. The footage cuts to the next month, when Rob's brother Jason and his girlfriend Lily prepare a farewell party for Rob who will be vice president of smoothie beverage "Slusho!" in Japan. At the party, their friend Hudson "Hud" Platt uses the camera to film testimonials for Rob, accidentally taping over Rob and Beth's Coney Island trip. While recording, Hud flirts unsuccessfully with Marlena, another party guest. After Beth leaves the party following an argument with Rob, an apparent earthquake strikes, and the city suffers a brief power outage.

The local news reports that an oil tanker has capsized near Liberty Island. After going upstairs to investigate the disaster, a devastating explosion that wipes out much of Lower Manhattan causes the party-goers to evacuate the building and witness the head of the Statue of Liberty crashing nearby in the street with several stunning scratch and bite marks. Hud records what appears to be a giant hand of a creature several blocks away. Many take shelter in a convenience store as the Woolworth Building collapses. Rob, Jason, Lily, Hud and Marlena attempt to escape Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge. A gigantic tail destroys the center span of the bridge, killing Jason and hundreds of others. The survivors are forced to flee back to Manhattan.

Rob listens to Beth's message saying she is simply trapped in her apartment and unable to move. The news shows the United States Army's 42nd Infantry Division attacking the monster and smaller, vicious creatures that are falling off its body (named HSP or "Human Scale Parasites" in the Blu-ray special investigation mode). Several HSPs are seen attacking soldiers and civilians on the ground. As hundreds attempt to flee, Rob, Hud, Lily, and Marlena venture out to rescue Beth.

They are soon caught in a crossfire between the monster and the military and escape into a subway station. They decide to go through the subway tunnels to reach Beth's apartment, but are attacked by several of the parasites where one of them mortally wounds Marlena. The group escapes into the Bloomingdale's department store where they are met by a squad of soldiers. They have set up a field hospital and command center in the store. As Rob tries to garner assistance for Beth, Marlena's eyes start bleeding and she is taken away in a curtain by men wearing hazmat suits where she inflates, then explodes. One of the military leaders allows the others to leave but warns them to report to a military evacuation site before 6:00 am, which is when the last helicopter evacuates Manhattan and the Military will enact its "Hammerdown" protocol. This would involve the bombing of the city in an effort to destroy the monster.

(All Monster Info From Wikipedia)

See Also: The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #81 - #90 / The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #91 - #100

Just In Case You Were Still Wondering? CLOVERFIELD 2 Still On Hold

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Sky.com

This should come to no surprise to anyone who reads Monster Island News, but the sequel to J.J. Abrams 2008 monster film, "Cloverfield" is still expected to be made, but not anytime soon.

Such has been the story for, well, two years now.

For some reason, the entertainment media just won't stop hounding Abrams and director Matt Reeves about the proposed film, and every time they do, it makes the wire service.

So to recap, once again, the film makers still want to do it, they have some ideas how to do it, but the whole creative team is busy on other films, namely "Super 8" and "Star Trek 2" for Abrams and the vampire film "Let The Right One In" for Reeves.

Once those are out of the way, then, maybe, "Cloverfield 2" will go forward?

Then again, that Abrams and Reeves are the sneaky ones. Maybe they are already working on it, or will be working on it soon?

Only thing is, if that is happening, or is about to happen, they bloody well aren't about to go yapping to the press about it.

So, when it comes to a "Cloverfield" sequel, I would just sit back and wait until some strange videos or trailers with some giant monster start popping up, then you will now something is happening.

Oh, and that is a fan made "Cloverfield 2" poster, so don't start any rumors now.

See Also: Cloverfield 2 - Yes, Probably, But Not For Some Time / Cloverfield And Star Trek 2 Updates......Does Abrams Read MIN? / New 'Cloverfield 2' Viral Or More Crapola? / A New Fan Made Video Posing As 'Cloverfield 2' Clip...Or Vice Versa? / According To Abrams A Cloverfield Sequel Is In The Early Stages Of Production / The Top Ten Hottest Monsters Of 2008 / A Cloverfield Sequel Stalled By Writers Block? / The Cloverfield Action Figure...Will It Ever Get Released? / More Cloverfield Monster Clues / Cloverfield 2 In Production Or More Viral Marketing? / Will There Be A Cloverfield 2? Reeves Says...Well..Maybe? / Cloverfield - The Marketing Monster Has Reared Its Head Yet Again! /Cloverfield Sets A January Box Office Record / Cloverfield 2, A Done Deal? / Kishin's Fate, Tagruato's Corruption, And A Monster Rises In "Cloverfield: Kishin" / American News Coverage Of The Cloverfield Monsters First Attack / The Cloverfield Monster Finally Revealed? /Can Cloverfield Promote Healing In A Post 911 America? / Cloverfield - Exclusive Sneak Preview / Cloverfield Gets A PG-13 Rating/Photo On Ebay / The First Look At The Cloverfield Monster / New Cloverfield Trailer

Cloverfield 2 - Yes, Probably, But Not For Some Time

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: MTV / JoBlo / Avery Guerra

J.J. Abrams monster movie, "Cloverfield" may not have been a huge success at the box office, but it sure did set off a gigantic buzz before it's release in 2008.

You would think that since the film didn't produce "Avatar-like" money that many people may have forgotten about it, and any plans for a sequel.

Not true, in fact the proposed sequel is very much on peoples minds and it has become a real, 'hot-button' for members of the press as of late.

It seems that director Matt Reeves, can't go anywhere these days, possibly even to the bathroom, without someone jabbing a microphone into his grill, wanting to know about "Cloverfield 2".

Case in point, this past weekend interviewers from both MTV and JoBo both got a chance to speak with Reeves, and both cut straight to the point wanting to know when, and if, Abrams would be working on more mutant monster mayhem?

This is what the director told Mike Sampson of Joblo.com

"There's always an ebb and flow to the development of something. [JJ Abrams] is doing this or that now and I'm making [LET ME IN] now and I just started editing. He is starting to make a very personal project that's coming out and he just did a pilot. But there are things we've been talking about. Things that are developing. It comes and goes. The way in which I'd be involved hasn't hit a solid form yet. It's up in the air but also percolating. There are all kinds of approaches that have come up, some of which are very different. It's gonna be cool."

Then Reeves echoed the same thoughts to Josh Wigler of MTV:

"I can tell you nothing, [but] there are these spikes in activity," he said when asked about a second "Cloverfield" movie. "There are things that we keep talking about and things spike up. It very well may happen."

Reeves also went on to mention that there is already a creative team in place for the "Cloverfield" sequel consisting of himself, Abrams, producer Bryan Burk and screenwriter Drew Goddard, though getting them together in one place, at the same time, will be difficult for some time.

Reeves has other projects in the works, and Abrams is presently focused on a 'pet' project of his own, and more than likely, the second "Star Trek" film, so "Cloverfield 2" is not high on either of their lists at this time.

Earlier this year, Abrams himself confirmed that he had been 'kicking around' ideas for the film, stating, "We're working on something right now with that and again, you know, it's early stages."

So, to break it all down, it seems that everyone involved would like to make a second, "Cloverfield" movie, but whether it will ever happen depends on if it can be squeezed in around other projects or not.

My money is on this happening, eventually, just because people won't leave the film makers alone until it does.

Oh, wait, before I sign off on this one. There are, of course, some people out there, who believe, due to Abrams secretive nature, that "Cloverfield 2" is already well into production. This belief has been spurned on by a rash of viral videos that have surfaced over the last year, that are very similar to what began popping up prior to the media frenzy for the first "Cloverfield" movie.

I have seen many of these, and I honestly think that they are fan made films, but to be honest....who knows? It wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility to believe that Abrams would try to duplicate many of the same type of mysterious promotional ideas for a new film of this type.

We'll just have to see where this all leads.......

See Also: Cloverfield And Star Trek 2 Updates......Does Abrams Read MIN? / New 'Cloverfield 2' Viral Or More Crapola? / A New Fan Made Video Posing As 'Cloverfield 2' Clip...Or Vice Versa? / According To Abrams A Cloverfield Sequel Is In The Early Stages Of Production / The Top Ten Hottest Monsters Of 2008 / A Cloverfield Sequel Stalled By Writers Block? / The Cloverfield Action Figure...Will It Ever Get Released? / More Cloverfield Monster Clues / Cloverfield 2 In Production Or More Viral Marketing? / Will There Be A Cloverfield 2? Reeves Says...Well..Maybe? / Cloverfield - The Marketing Monster Has Reared Its Head Yet Again! /Cloverfield Sets A January Box Office Record / Cloverfield 2, A Done Deal? / Kishin's Fate, Tagruato's Corruption, And A Monster Rises In "Cloverfield: Kishin" / American News Coverage Of The Cloverfield Monsters First Attack / The Cloverfield Monster Finally Revealed? /Can Cloverfield Promote Healing In A Post 911 America? / Cloverfield - Exclusive Sneak Preview / Cloverfield Gets A PG-13 Rating/Photo On Ebay / The First Look At The Cloverfield Monster / New Cloverfield Trailer

New 'Cloverfield 2' Viral Or More Crapola?


Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Dread Central / Avery Guerra

A few weeks back I posted a small article about a video that has surfaced on Youtube that was loosely being associated with "Cloverfield 2", to this day I honestly feel that the clip was the work of a fan, but I wrote about it anyway.

Today, I have yet another Youtube find for you, that is again getting attention as a bit of possible "Cloverfield 2" viral video.

The video shows a young woman on the roof top of her apartment building explaining how excited she is to have moved from a small town to New York. The images in the video scramble from time to time, just like the footage used in "Cloverfield" to mimic a 'used' video tape, to show scenes of the city at night and some soldiers on a street corner. In a surprise ending, the video again becomes scrambled before showing the young woman either dead or knocked out in a scene that looks very much like the ending of J.J. Abrams giant monster movie.

I would honestly buy these videos as "Cloverfield 2" viral publicity work much more if they didn't copy the original film so much. If you may recall, the first clip actually contained monster footage that came straight from "Cloverfield" and this video copies that film's ending.

Does this rule out any possibility of this being another J.J. Abrams publicity stunt created to generate interest in another monster movie? No, but the facts at hand certainly do form a cloud over the whole business, and lead to doubts to that being the case.

I do want to point out a similarity in both videos. Each clip ends with some stamped Japanese text followed by some English 'catch phrases.' The first video had the words "RU THERE?" at the end, and this clip is labeled, "0041.avi".

Are these clues? or are they just random junk? Who knows?

The similarities may point to the clips being produced by the same person, or persons, and then again it could just mean that the second clip is just 'inspired' by the first.

Only two things are for certain, either there is some film maker out there who wants to get a lot of publicity for his amateur movie skills, or there is another huge viral publicity campaign that is about to be unleashed upon us by J.J. Abrams and his monster movie team.

See Also: A New Fan Made Video Posing As 'Cloverfield 2' Clip...Or Vice Versa? / According To Abrams A Cloverfield Sequel Is In The Early Stages Of Production / The Top Ten Hottest Monsters Of 2008 / A Cloverfield Sequel Stalled By Writers Block? / The Cloverfield Action Figure...Will It Ever Get Released? / More Cloverfield Monster Clues / Cloverfield 2 In Production Or More Viral Marketing? / Will There Be A Cloverfield 2? Reeves Says...Well..Maybe? / Cloverfield - The Marketing Monster Has Reared Its Head Yet Again! /Cloverfield Sets A January Box Office Record / Cloverfield 2, A Done Deal? / Kishin's Fate, Tagruato's Corruption, And A Monster Rises In "Cloverfield: Kishin" / American News Coverage Of The Cloverfield Monsters First Attack / The Cloverfield Monster Finally Revealed? /Can Cloverfield Promote Healing In A Post 911 America? / Cloverfield - Exclusive Sneak Preview / Cloverfield Gets A PG-13 Rating/Photo On Ebay / The First Look At The Cloverfield Monster / New Cloverfield Trailer

A New Fan Made Video Posing As 'Cloverfield 2' Clip...Or Vice Versa?



Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Dread Central / Avery Guerra

Here's another story that's hard to figure out because there just isn't any info about it.

The good folks over at Dread Central have posted a video clip (See above) that they discovered over on Youtube, that they believe may be a new viral clip for "Cloverfield 2". Fact is however, they don't know what it is. It may be an early look at the "Cloverfield" sequel, or a fan made video. There just isn't any info about the clip to know for sure.

The clip shows what looks like an outside shopping center, with a Triceratops fountain, mixed in with what looks like family video of a baby. Just like in J.J. Abrams film, the serenity is interrupted by an attack by a giant monster.

It is the appearance of the monster that casts the most doubt to this being an Abrams produced clip, because it looks like came straight out of "Cloverfield".

One also has to consider that Abrams has often eluded to the sequel being a retelling of the monster's attack from a different perspective. The original monster attack on New York happened at night. This clip was made during the day.

Of course, if they were to go with a new monster attack on a different city, then the events in the clip would make sense.

What other clues do we have? Well, at the end of the clip we clearly see a street sign that says "Cloverfield." Can't get much from that.....though I doubt Abrams would put that in a clip. At the end we also see Japanese lettering and the English words 'RU THERE'. Can't get much outta that either. Abrams had Japanese connections to the original film in it's viral marketing.

So does his have anything to do with "Cloverfield 2"? ......um......I dunno.

See Also: According To Abrams A Cloverfield Sequel Is In The Early Stages Of Production / The Top Ten Hottest Monsters Of 2008 / A Cloverfield Sequel Stalled By Writers Block? / The Cloverfield Action Figure...Will It Ever Get Released? / More Cloverfield Monster Clues / Cloverfield 2 In Production Or More Viral Marketing? / Will There Be A Cloverfield 2? Reeves Says...Well..Maybe? / Cloverfield - The Marketing Monster Has Reared Its Head Yet Again! /Cloverfield Sets A January Box Office Record / Cloverfield 2, A Done Deal? / Kishin's Fate, Tagruato's Corruption, And A Monster Rises In "Cloverfield: Kishin" / American News Coverage Of The Cloverfield Monsters First Attack / The Cloverfield Monster Finally Revealed? /Can Cloverfield Promote Healing In A Post 911 America? / Cloverfield - Exclusive Sneak Preview / Cloverfield Gets A PG-13 Rating/Photo On Ebay / The First Look At The Cloverfield Monster / New Cloverfield Trailer /

According To Abrams A Cloverfield Sequel Is In The Early Stages Of Production


Written By: Ken Hulsey

Sources: Shock Till You Drop / Avery Guerra

This past weekend director J.J. Abrams hosted a "Star Trek" movie panel at Wondercon in San Francisco. During the Q&A someone asked him if there was ever going to be a sequel to his moderately successful monster film "Cloverfield?" Much to every ones surprise, Abrams stated that the film was already in the early stages of development.

"We're actually working on an idea right now," Abrams told the astonished crowd. "The key obviously at doing any kind of sequel, certainly this film included, is that it better not be a business decision. If you're going to do something, it should be because you're really inspired to do it. It doesn't really have to mean anything, doesn't mean it will work, but it means we did it because we cared, not because we thought we could get the bucks. We have an idea that we thought was pretty cool that we're playing with, which means there will be something that's connected to Cloverfield, but I hope it happens sooner than later because the idea is pretty sweet."

This news may come to a surprise for many fans who have been following this proposed sequel. As recently as November of last year, Abrams and company had been knocking themselves out trying to come up with ideas for another "Cloverfield" film, and drawing a complete blank.

Apparently someone must have come up with that 'fresh' idea that Abrams was searching for.

Oh, and before everyone gets too excited, it is highly unlikely that Abrams monster will be sparing off against Godzilla in this upcoming movie. The image above was some 'wishful thinking' on the part of comic book artist Todd Tennant.

See Also: The Top Ten Hottest Monsters Of 2008 / A Cloverfield Sequel Stalled By Writers Block? / The Cloverfield Action Figure...Will It Ever Get Released? / More Cloverfield Monster Clues / Cloverfield 2 In Production Or More Viral Marketing? / Will There Be A Cloverfield 2? Reeves Says...Well..Maybe? / Cloverfield - The Marketing Monster Has Reared Its Head Yet Again! /Cloverfield Sets A January Box Office Record / Cloverfield 2, A Done Deal? / Kishin's Fate, Tagruato's Corruption, And A Monster Rises In "Cloverfield: Kishin" / American News Coverage Of The Cloverfield Monsters First Attack / The Cloverfield Monster Finally Revealed? /Can Cloverfield Promote Healing In A Post 911 America? / Cloverfield - Exclusive Sneak Preview / Cloverfield Gets A PG-13 Rating/Photo On Ebay / The First Look At The Cloverfield Monster / New Cloverfield Trailer /

The Cloverfield Action Figure...Will It Ever Get Released?


Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Horror-movies.ca / Avery Guerra

It shouldn't come as any surprise that a toy of the "Cloverfield" monster would be surrounded by some sort of mystery. After all movie fans were jerked around for months with endless miss-information about the film, so a bit of miss-direction about the toy seems to be more of the same.

According to Action-Figure.com, the action figure was supposed to be available later this month. The site then posted an announcement that the figure had been discontinued, before it had even been released. The site then updated again saying that it would be released on December 15th. Somebody seems to be confused.

I ask you, is there really a market for this thing? I mean the movie was cool and all, but I thought the monster design was a bit strange. I really don't see myself going out and getting a "Cloverfield" figure to go on the shelf with Godzilla and his pals. Plus if memory serves the thing was scheduled to cost upwards of $30. I think I'll pass on that one.

I honestly believe that the one thing that detracted from "Cloverfield" was the monster itself. It just didn't have the charisma of Godzilla, Gamera, Gorgo or any of Tsuburaya's creations.

Kishin's Fate, Tagruato's Corruption, And A Monster Rises In "Cloverfield: Kishin"

More of the "Cloverfield" back story will be revealed in a Japanese manga drawn by Yoshiki Togawa. The online comic book is being produced as joint effort between J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot Productions, and the major Japanese publisher Kadokawa, who may be best known by American fans for publishing the comic book version of "Cowboy Beebop."

The first installment of the four part manga, entitled "Cloverfield: Kishin," went live on January 11th, however, the next chapter of the story won't be online until sometime in February. Although the first part of the story, doesn't reveal the monster, (his eyes can be seen underwater in the last panel), it does weave a connection between a young boy named Kinshin, The Tagruato Corporation, and the monster. One can only speculate that it is these events that lead to the destruction of the Chuai Station Oil Rig off the Coast of Connecticut, and the monster's eventual rampage in New York City.

Although, "Cloverfield: Kishin" is written entirely in Japanese, an English translation by Audrey Shiomi and Justin Clemons, was recently published by Comic Book Resources.

The comic opens with the phrase "What was the reason I was born?" The story begins with young Kinshin Aiba being beaten badly by a couple of bullies in a public restroom. Both attackers are very paranoid about the youth and don't want to be touched by him, fearing that they will become sick. A young girl tries to come to his rescue, but she is ignored by the bullies.

The story then moves to a Tagruato ship which seems to be towing something large behind it. One of the crew members is bragging to a shipmate about his pregnant wife, showing him her photo on his cell phone. The young man expresses his eagerness to finish the voyage so that he can return home to her.

When we return to Kinshin, he has been locked in some sort of closet. He pulls a out a picture of his mother, who we learn from a flashback, is now deceased. The mother was considered by many to be strange and different. She didn't seem to care how others felt about her, as long as Kinshin still believed in her. The memory causes the youth to begin to act out in anger. He begins to wish that he too, had perished along with his mother.

As Kinshin's emotional torment continues, something begins to rise from the deep. It seems that the Tagruato ship is towing a very large creature behind it under a tarp, and that creature has now come to life. Is it possible that there is some sort of connection between the monster and the tormented youth Kinshin Aiba?

The original manga can be found on Kadokawa web site - CLICK HERE

I think that it is important to point out that Kadokawa Pictures (Formally Daiei Motion Pictures) is the studio that produced the Gamera film series, along with Daimajin trilogy. Interesting that Abrams would choose Kadowkowa to produce this manga. Also interesting is the fact that Gamera was often portrayed as the protector of children, and in some films even had a psychic link to young individuals. Is the cloverfield monster Gamera? (My wife seems to think so.) Probably not, but it is another example of how Abrams was strongly influenced by Japanese kaiju films.

See Also: American News Coverage Of The Cloverfield Monsters First Attack / The Cloverfield Monster Finally Revealed? /Can Cloverfield Promote Healing In A Post 911 America? / Cloverfield - Exclusive Sneak Preview / Cloverfield Gets A PG-13 Rating/Photo On Ebay / The First Look At The Cloverfield Monster / New Cloverfield Trailer /

The Cloverfield Monster Finally Revealed?

Is this the Cloverfield monster? Well opinions on that are quite divided. Before writing this article I did some snooping around the net, and found about a million posts about this picture. Each person who chimed in had a very different, yet very strong opinion, on what exactly we are looking at. I have read through most of the babble and come up with the most likely, "facts" about the photo.

1. This is indeed the Cloverfield monster. Many sites are reporting this as fact, although there has been no official announcement either confirming or denying the photos authenticity. If this is the monster, then it is a case of "Godzilla 98" all over again. Many fans will remember when Zilla's secret new look was revealed before the movie premiered by over zealous toy store owners who put the action figures of the monster out before they were supposed to. I give this one about a 10% chance of being true.

2. This is a prototype for the monster design that was rejected. Many sites are reporting that it is an early design concept that got the boot. Also along with these posts are news that the design may make it into a video game that will be produced at a later date. Again there are no confirmations on any of that info. Maybe, I give this one a 15% chance.

3. This is a toy from the Cloverfield line of action figures, but its not the monster from the film. Okay, why would they make action figures for monsters not in the film? Sounds kinda weird, so its gotta be true. 90% chance.....okay 5%.

4. This photo has nothing to do with Cloverfield, and it is another of a long line of fakes that have surfaced since last July. Probably, even though the image does kinda look like what we see in the trailer, it probably isn't the real deal. Then again, the monster in the clip looks like it has a tail, so if it is, then the tail musta fallen off before this pick was taken. 75% chance here. I would say higher, but who the hell knows? Right!

Cloverfield Contest

Win a chance to party with the cast and film makers of Cloverfield. Click on the image below to enter the contest. Winners will party it up in New York City on January 17th!


Is a back story starting to take shape?

Through Paramount's viral marketing campaign, a few facts about the movies back story have come to light. First, many fans have pondered how the fictitious company called "Slusho" will figure into the film. Well, it was revealed this past week that "Slusho" is the company that the film's main character, Rob, works for. It seems that the party seen in the trailer is a going away party for him, because he is being transferred to the companies office in Japan.

Secondly, it would seem that the monster had been doing a little dirty work before he got to the Big Apple. Three fictitious foreign news reports have been posted showing the destruction of an oil rig in the Atlantic ocean. The monster's roar can clearly be heard, and after the rig sinks, pieces of debris are thrown out of the ocean. The Cloverfield monster sure likes to throw stuff. I know one thing from being a parent, our mysterious monster friend is going through the "terrible twos". Here is an example of one of the reports:



Thank God, there are only ten more days til this one comes out!

P.S. - Keep yours ears open for special "Free" sneak preview screeings of Cloverfield in your area on January 15th!

See also: Can Cloverfield Promote Healing In A Post 911 America? / Cloverfield - Exclusive Sneak Preview / Cloverfield Gets A PG-13 Rating/Photo On Ebay / The First Look At The Cloverfield Monster / New Cloverfield Trailer /

Can Cloverfield Promote Healing In A Post 911 America?

Is it possible that J.J. Abrams giant monster film, "Cloverfield", may be exactly what the American public needs to see after experiencing the horrors of 9/11? Could watching a giant monster smash buildings in New York City be good therapy? Anyone who has seen the latest trailers for the film can't help but make comparisons to the type of destruction they witnessed on that infamous September morning. Yet, millions of Americans are waiting in eager anticipation for the film to be released next month. Does all this seem crazy? Well, it might if the exact same thing didn't happen fifty-three years ago.

In 1954, Ishiro Honda unleashed the largest, and most destructive movie monster ever conceived of, Godzilla, into Japanese theaters. A mere nine years after the first two atomic bombs destroyed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, movie goers were treated to the same kind of fiery destruction, this time, being dealt out by a fictitious creature instead of American war planes. The movie was a huge success. In fact if it wasn't for Akira Kurosawa's cinematic masterpiece, "The Seven Samurai", the film would have walked away with Japan's equivalent of the Oscar for "best picture".

The idea for Godzilla (aka Gojira) was spawned after producer Tomoyuki Tanaka was forced to cancel a planned Japan-Indonesia co-production called Eiko kage-ni (Behind the Glory). The story was inspired by a real-life nuclear accident in which a Japanese fishing boat ventured too close to an American nuclear test and was contaminated. After producer Tanaka saw the American monster film "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (1953), he got the idea to center the film around a dinosaur-like monster which would wreck havoc on Japan.

Likewise, "Cloverfield" was inspired the events of 9/11 and .......well......Godzilla. On a trip to Japan, Abrams visited a toy shop with his son and marveled at Godzilla figures on the stores shelves. At this years Comic Con, Abrams explained it this way, “I want a monster movie, I've wanted one for so long. I was in Japan with my son and all he wanted to do is go to toy stores. And we saw all these Godzilla toys, and I thought, we need our own monster, and not King Kong, King Kong's adorable. I wanted something that was just insane and intense. "

Bryan Burk, a producer of Cloverfield, has also elaborated that 911 was on the mind of those working on the film,"This film started out as just that: a monster movie. Yet as production continued, it became more and more clear that Cloverfield was "a 9/11 movie that's not actually a 9/11 movie."

Whether a 9/11 movie or Godzilla clone, "Cloverfield" has become one of the most anticipated films of 2008. One can only speculate the effect the film will have on the American public, especially in New York. Maybe seeing a giant monster causing the destruction this time will help people cope with what they saw six years ago, just like it did in Japan in 1954. As for Abrams and his film crew, they can only hope that there mysterious monster film will strike the same chord with audiences that Godzilla has.

Is it good therapy? Is it harmless escapism? Will it be good cinema? Only time will tell.

See Also: Cloverfield - Exclusive Sneak Preview / Cloverfield Gets A PG-13 Rating/Photo On Ebay / The First Look At The Cloverfield Monster / New Cloverfield Trailer / Godzilla - King of the Monsters