Warmed Over Monster Leftovers

Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson began filming the special effects for 'The Black Scorpion' (1957) in a large remodeled dressing room at the Tepeac Studios in Mexico City with the aide of Ralph Hammeras, who was at the same studio filming the visual effects for 'The Giant Claw.' When the money started to run out they finished the picture in Peterson's garage in Encino, California.

To help cut the costs O'Brien dipped into his collection of critters from the 1933 classic 'King Kong.' The trapdoor spider that attacks Juanito in the scorpions' underground home is one of the original models left over from the famous deleted spider sequence, as was the giant worm with the "octopus-like arms" seen in the film.

The money problems actually got so bad that the special effects team couldn't even add the stop motion scorpions to the scenes. When the giant scorpions appear as totally black silhouettes, it is because only the black backing for those composites (to prevent "bleed-through") had been accomplished.

Two Brand New Posters For Harry Chaskin's 'Bygone Behemoth' - Premiere Info

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Harry Chaskin / Avery Guerra

Many of you may remember my article last month about a great little animated short, called "Bygone Behemoth", which chronicled the day-to-day events in the life of a retired stop-motion movie monster.

Well, today I have two great posters for the films debut at SXSW in Austin, Texas, this weekend, plus information on when it will be screening at the event.

The posters were created by writer/director, Harry Chaskin, exclusively for the event, and he thought that the readers here at MIN may enjoy seeing them before they go on display in Austin.

Wanna know more about "Behemoth"? Check out these glaring words of praise about the film from "Killer Klowns From Outer Space" director, Stephen Chiodo, "A well crafted and poignant tribute to the Golden Age of Monster Movies that inspired everything we see today. A heartfelt homage to all us dinosaurs in Hollywood."

That's pretty cool.

Here is the official synopsis from the SXSW website:

'Bygone Behemoth' presents a day-in-the-life of an unemployed B-Movie monster, a lingering personified special-effect of the 1950's. No longer gracing the silver screen, his memories are now banished to late-night syndication on a 'Chiller Theater' type program featuring 93-year-old WPIX horror icon John Zacherley, a live-action reflection of the Behemoth...

And here are the screening times for "Bygone Behemoth" at the event:


Sunday, March 14 01:30 PM at Alamo Lamar 1

Tuesday, March 16 11:00 AM at Alamo Lamar 1

Wednesday, March 17 01:30 PM at Alamo Lamar 1

More info about SXSW can be found - HERE


See Also: Bygone Behemoth Explores What Happens When Monsters Retire

Bygone Behemoth Explores What Happens When Monsters Retire

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Avery Guerra / Undead Backbrain

One day it will happen to all of us, we will be forced to retire. Everyone has to deal with the fact that they will one day outlive there usefulness to society and be pushed aside by the younger generation.

This time in life can be exceptionally hard for celebrities. What is there to live for when nobody wants your autograph anymore and you can waltz into Walmart without a security escort and not be mobbed.....or even noticed?

Just imagine how hard this must be for a movie monster? Oh, back in the day people used to go running when you would come into town and the army and air force would always be there to greet you.

Now you can't even find a decent place to park and teenagers scare you.

Writer/director Harry Chaskin has decided to tackle the topic of movie monster retirement in his short feature, "Bygone Behemoth", the story of "It", a stop-motion monster who is having a hard time trying to exist in the modern CGI effects world.

Chaskin envisions his film as an homage to the great film makers of the golden age of monster films, "Bygone Behemoth is a stop-motion animated film chronicling a day in the life of an unemployed B-movie monster, a lingering personified special-effect of the 1950s. In an age overrun with CG, I conceived of Behemoth as a tribute to great traditional special-effects artists like Ray Harryhausen and Willis O’Brien. It also features a special appearance by WPIX horror icon, John Zacherle.”

With the aide of composer Daniel Walter and designer Seth Armstrong, Chaskin has captured some of the magic of an era that is near and dear to all of monster movie fans.

Look for "Bygone Behemoth" to premiere next month at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

A Special Effects Video Bonanza - Galactic Raiders - Dinocroc vs Supergator

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Larry Arpin / Jim Wynorski / Avery Guerra

Everyone knows that the backbone of any fantasy or science fiction film is it's special effects. Now, George Lucas can go on and on about how any movie effect is boring without a good story to set it up, but as we know from his "Star Wars" prequel series, good effects can make up for a week story, or even fill in where there is no story at all.

When it comes to movie effects, and in particular monster movie effects, there are three ways to go. The very time consuming art of of stop-motion animation, the sometimes effective and some times not, art of putting a man in a monster suite, like the Japanese "Godzilla" and "Gamera" films use, or the quicker and cheaper computer generated type of effects that are permeating the movie industry.

Well I have good examples of two of those types of effects for you here today.

First, I want to show you a great video by film maker Larry Arpin on how he is doing the effects for his independent film "Galactic Raiders". For the film, Arpin is doing it the old-fashioned way, using stop-motion monsters.

As I said before, this process is very time-consuming. That is probably why "Galactic Raiders" has been in production for over a year and a half.

I do give Larry a lot of props for following in the footsteps of Ray Harryhausen in producing these effects. I honestly wish more people would go back to this.

Now we move to the complete opposite end of the effects spectrum with a clip from Jim Wynorski's "Dinocroc vs. Supergator". As you can probably guess, this film features modern computer generated effects.

Many people are fans of what technology has done to improve the quality of movie effects, and no one can argue that the medium has put the tools for creating impressive effects into the hands of film makers who can now make the kinds of films that were impossible to produce just a decade ago.

Which is better? Well that depends on who you talk to. I personally believe that each has their place in modern film making. Sometimes combinations of all the above methods work out best. The Japanese, for example, have used stop-motion, suite actors and CGI effects in their recent monster movies, with mixed results. Hollywood, on the other hand, likes to throw as much computer generated effects at you as they can.

In the end, I think that film makers will always be discovering new and inventive ways to produce film effects using whatever is available to them, and who can say what the future will hold. Whether you do it 'old-school' like Arpin, or with the power of the computer, like Wynorski, movie effects continue to spark the imagination and inspire future film makers to produce their own fascinating films.

See Also: The Monster Mash - 08/17/09 - A Look At Smaller Monster Movie Productions / Behind The Scenes Photos From Galactic Raiders / Galactic Raiders - Making Larry Arpin's Dream Come True

Jim Wynorski Releases Images Of The Late David Carradine From 'Dinocroc vs. Supergator' / Dinocroc vs. Supergator - Let's Get Ready To Rumble! / Has Jim Wynorski Created The Fattest Movie Monster Of All Time? / Cleavagefield Special Effects Photos / B Movie Celebration Scores World Premiere Of Cleavagefield / The First Trailer For Cleavagefield / The First Image From Cleavagefield / A Brand New Promo Photo From Cleavagefield / Cleavagefield - Giant Monsters And Giant Breasts All In One Movie! / Another Bizarre Hollywood Death: David Carradine