With Thanksgiving Day upon us I have decided to serve up a little cinematic turkey of my own. I would be willing to bet that no one reading this could find a better 'turkey' than Fred Sears 1957 dud entitled 'The Giant Claw.'
Over the decades 'Claw' has reached a unique place in cinematic lore thanks in most part to its laughable monster, a monster so ridiculous looking that it never once appeared in any of the films advertising, a monster so lame that even the movies cast never saw the design during filming, a monster so goofy looking that the audience broke out in laughter every time it appeared on screen.
In other words monster so cheesy that Ed Wood must have stayed awake at night wishing he had thought of it first.
Yes boys and girls the monster in this film is a puppet. I know that throughout the history of monster films puppets have been used very effectively as a cheap alternative to expensive and time consuming stop-motion models in such films as 'The Land That Time Forgot' and 'Godzilla.' This puppet however was not of that quality. This was actually a marionette that looked like it belonged in a 'Punch and Judy' show at a carnival.
Nuff said.....
The actual movie itself isn't too terrible. It is probably no worse than any of the other giant monster flicks that were churned out at the time including 'Black Scorpion', 'The Deadly Mantis' and 'The Monster That Challenged The World.' The only problem is there is no way to get around the monster. It is so distractingly bad that after you see the film you can't remember anything else about it.
Honestly, you watch the movie and see if I'm not right?
I used to see this film all the time when I was young on an afternoon movie program that aired in Albuquerque, New Mexico called 'Dialing for Dollars.' The film was usually aired during a week of programing that featured other campy monster films like Roger Corman's 'Attack of the Crab Monsters' and 'Green Slime.' Once and a while the film would be mixed in during a week of Japanese monster films even though it is an American film. I have fond memories of 'The Giant Claw' even though it is a real stinker. I suppose the film had something to do with nurturing my love of 'less than stellar' movies.
The Plot:
When electronics engineer Mitch MacAfee spots a UFO as "big as a battleship," from his plane, the Air Force scrambles planes to investigate. However, nothing shows up on radar, and one of the jets is lost during the action. MacAfee is regarded as a dangerous crackpot until other incidents and disappearances convince the authorities that the threat is real. Some believe it is a French-Canadian folk legend come to life, but it turns out to be an extraterrestrial giant bird composed of anti-matter whose disregard for human life and architecture threatens the world.
This One Is 100% Certified Cinematic Turkey!
Gen. Van Buskirk: Three men reported they saw something. Two of them are now dead.
Mitch MacAfee: That makes me Chief Cook and Bottle Washer in a one-man Bird Watcher's Society!
Legendary Pictures continues to bring in new blood to work on their highly anticipated "Godzilla 3D". Today the studio announced that they have hired Max Borenstein to write the script for the film which many speculate will be a remake of the original "Gojira" which stomped it's way into Japanese movie theaters way back in 1954. Borenstein like the film's director Gareth Edwards boasts a rather short resume. To date the young scribe has only penned two other screenplays including the upcoming supernatural thriller "The Seventh Son" (2013 release) for Warner Bros/Legendary and "Swordswallowers and Thin Men" way back in 2003 which he also directed.
Recently it had been reported that David Goyer who helped rejuvenate the Batman movie franchise with his screenplay for "The Dark Knight" was on board to do the same for Godzilla.
According to other sources associated with the production Toho is heavily monitoring many aspects of this new American Godzilla movie, presumably to ensure that the film doesn't turn out like the heavily bombasted "Godzilla 98". It has even been suggested that the studio insisted that Godzilla be played a man in a suit rather than a CG creation.
"Godzilla 3D" has been in the early development stages since March of 2010 and many aspects of the production have been kept close to the cuff by the studio.
I know that Bigfoot movies are a dime a dozen these days but that doesn't mean that they are all copycats or typical low-budget fodder. To be honest many of these films are quite good. One of these films that I have been talking about for the past couple of years is film maker Wes Sullivan's "Nightbeasts" which has really stood out in a sea of Sasquatch.
Apparently I'm not the only one who believes that "Nightbeasts" is one of the better Bigfoot movies out there, as well as one of the better horror movies. The film just took the Best of Genre Award in the Supernatural category at the Midnight Black Festival of Darkness beating out such films such films as Shawn Barfield and Brian Evans' "By Dawn" and Carol Sullivan's "Monster In The Closet" .
In conjunction with the festival "Nightbeasts" can been streamed in it's entirety for on $1.69. Just follow this link - NIGHTBEASTS
We have spent a lot of time talking about what makes a great movie poster lately so this post actually fits right in with that. One element I failed to mention in my prior articles was "color" and Nashville area film maker Cameron McCasland has opted to use it quite liberally in the posters for his upcoming horror "Lashman".
These babies are quite beautiful .... and let's face it .... the silhouette of a naked woman doesn't hurt. Just ask any Bond movie fan.
Here is the skinny on "Lashman" which was sent to us directly from McCasland:
The Lashman is a tale of Terror. Five friends set out for a weekend camping excursion to find that their camp fire tales have turned into their worst nightmares.
The Lashman features a bevy of fresh faces. including Stacey Dixon (Monster Cruise, Old Habits Die Hard) , Shawn C. Phillips (Assault of the Sasquatch, Haunted High, TV's Look) , Jeremy Jones (Decision, TV's Dreadful Hallowgreen Special) David Vaughan (Butterfly Chasers, 10 Commandments Of Chloe), and Kaylee Williams (Slices Of Life, Zombie Babies).
The movie was filmed on location in Western Kentucky and is written, produced, and directed by Cameron McCasland marking his debut as a feature film director, after a number of music video and television directing work.
Also joining the terror stricken ensemble are Lee Vervoort (Gun Town, Last Kind Words), Todd Bush (Country Strong, TV's Tough Trade) Terry Gragg (Nickel Children, Outlaw Country) Tim Emery (Gun Town), Bob King (Daultry Calhoun, Make Out With Violence) David Chattam (21 Grams, The Last Castle) and Larry Underwood (TV's Dr. Gangrene's Creature Feature)
Idris Elba (The Wire) has just become the latest casting addition to Guillermo del Toro's giant monster epic "Pacific Rim". Elba's character will be a giant mech pilot named Sensi, who according to the script, is (a) “black Briton whose face is the very picture of confident serenity.”
At this point Elba joins fellow actors Charlie Hunnam and Charlie Day (Does del Toro have a thing for Charlies ?) on the film which is starting to look like the ultimate upcoming movie project ...... well next to Legendary's "Godzilla" reboot that is.
However, not much is known about Pacific Rim yet, other than it’s about giant monsters and will allow del Toro to create a “new world” of beastly creatures. That’s only halfway accurate. This project will give the Hellboy filmmaker the opportunity to create two worlds.
The first is an alternate version of Earth in the near future, decades after a historic date in November 2012 when the first kaiju, a towering Godzilla-like beast, emerged from a hole in the Pacific Ocean and attacked the city of Osaka, Japan. The second is “The Anteverse,” another universe on the other side of that gaping portal, 5 miles below our ocean’s surface.
Since the first attack, the rim has been “spitting out” a variety of gigantic monsters at an increasing rate, which then stride out of the ocean and begin destroying sea-bordering cities, like Tokyo and Los Angeles. In order to combat these monstrous, otherworldly menaces, the military developed the “Jaeger” program, which trains teams of two pilots to jointly operate massive, building-sized mechanized suits of armor and high-tech weaponry.
Within the first act alone, we are given enough detailed background on the god-like Jaeger systems, its shared neural piloting system (called “pons”), and the relentless beasts. But Beacham is an absolute master at immediately establishing characters and their conflicts.
The central character is Raleigh Antrobus, 23, a skilled Jaeger pilot still wrestling emotionally with the loss of his co-pilot and biological brother, Yance, during a mission a year earlier. The ordeal has wreaked havoc on his mind spirit, leaving him with ghostly nightmares of the battle from the shared “pons” experience. After the initial setup, the damaged hero is recruited to re-join the task force in Tokyo, where pilots are in demand, and team with a fellow “leftover,” 22-year-old female Japanese pilot Mako Mori. Naturally, the language barrier (among other things) presents an issue for the out-of-sync duo, meaning an even steeper learning curve for the unprecedented pairing.
Meanwhile, Felicity “Flick” Kincaid, a journalist and Yance’s former fiancée, circles the globe (ours) to discover answers about this mysterious rift and the origins of its intensifying threat.
Without ruining any more surprises (past the first act), there are several different species of towering kaiju, each with their own unique characteristics, and the clashes between monster and machine are epic in scale. Beacham has even developed his own glossary and lingo for his characters, a blend of scientific and military jargon used to describe the elements of this fully fleshed out reality, much like the shorthand in Cameron’s Avatar or the developing mecha-warrior versus aliens movie All You Need is Kill.
Now if that doesn't get all of you giant monster maniacs all worked up then nothing will.
As it looks today "Pacific Rim" should hit theaters in 2013.
Production has commenced today in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Marvel Studios’ highly anticipated movie “Marvel’s The Avengers,” directed by Joss Whedon (“Serenity”) from a screenplay by Whedon. The film will continue principal photography in Cleveland, Ohio and New York City.Robert Downey Jr. (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”) returns as the iconic Tony Stark/Iron Man along with Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”) as Thor, Chris Evans (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) as Captain America, Jeremy Renner (“Thor,” “The Hurt Locker”) as Hawkeye, Mark Ruffalo (“The Kids Are Alright”) as Hulk, Scarlett Johansson (“Iron Man 2”) as Black Widow, Clark Gregg (“Iron Man,” “Thor”) as Agent Phil Coulson, and Samuel L. Jackson (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”) as Nick Fury. Set for release in the US on May 4, 2012, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is the first feature to be fully owned, marketed and distributed by Disney, which acquired Marvel in 2009.
Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers” is the Super Hero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.
Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1963, “Marvel’s The Avengers” brings together the mightiest Super Hero characters as they all assemble together on screen for the first time. The star studded cast of Super Heroes will be joined by Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother) as Agent Maria Hill of SHIELD, as well as Tom Hiddleston (“Wallander”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Angels & Demons,” “Mamma Mia!”) who will both reprise their respective roles as Loki and Professor Erik Selvig from the upcoming Marvel Studios’ feature “Thor.”
“Marvel’s The Avengers” is being produced by Marvel Studios' President, Kevin Feige, and executive produced by Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Patty Whitcher, and Jon Favreau. Marvel Studios’ Jeremy Latcham and Victoria Alonso will co-produce.
The creative production team also includes Oscar® nominated director of photography Seamus McGarvey (“Atonement”), production designer James Chinlund (“25th Hour”), Oscar winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), Oscar winning visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs (“Iron Man 2,” “The Matrix”), visual effects producer Susan Pickett (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”), stunt coordinator R.A. Rondell (“Superman Returns”), and four-time Oscar nominated special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (“Iron Man,” “War of the Worlds”). The editors include Oscar nominated Paul Rubell (“Collateral”) and Jeffrey Ford (“Crazy Heart”).
Marvel Studios most recently produced “Iron Man 2” which was released in theatres on May 7, 2010. The sequel to “Iron Man,” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow as well as Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke, took the number one spot its first weekend with a domestic box office gross of $128.1 million. To date the film has earned over $620 million in worldwide box office receipts.
In the summer of 2008, Marvel produced the summer blockbuster movies, “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk.” “Iron Man,” in which Robert Downey Jr. originally dons the Super Hero’s powerful armor alongside co-stars Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow, was released May 2, 2008 and was an immediate box office success. Garnering the number one position for two weeks in a row, the film brought in over $100 million its opening weekend and grossed over $571 million worldwide. On June 13, 2008, Marvel released “The Incredible Hulk” marking its second number one opener of that summer. The spectacular revival of the iconic green goliath grossed over $250 million in worldwide box office receipts.
Weta Digital has just released several concept images from "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (I liked 'Rise of the Apes' better) via the film's official Facebook page. Though the images are pretty cool I can't help thinking that the film lacks the basic charm of the original film series. Granted, the apes .... well look like 'real' apes, it was the human-like qualities of using actors in ape make-up that allowed audiences back in the 60s and 70s to identify with with them. I wonder how much modern audiences will embrace these apes?
For me ..... I'm just not feeling it right now.
Some of these new concept photos look really cool, apes attacking soldiers in downtown San Francisco, apes scaling the Golden Gate bridge and apes with spears on top of a building. The others kinda look rather comical, apes jumping on cars like they used to do at Lion Country Safari and apes scaring shoppers at the mall.
A mixed bag in my mind.
It, of course, is way too early to pass any kind of judgement on this one. Part of me wants to like it, the other wants to ignore it and watch Taylor, Cornelius and Zira on DVD.
When 20th Century Fox first announced way back in 2008 that they were planning to reboot the "Planet of the Apes" movie franchise using modern computer generated effects many in the fan community spoke out in objection. How would CGI Apes stand up against the legendary makeup effects created by John Chambers for the original films?
Well today we have our first glimpse of what the main character, Caesar, in "Rise of the Apes" will look like.
Fox revealed many images from their upcoming releases at the Las Vegas’ CinemaCon including the above image, albeit only the nose and eyes, of Andy Serkis as the genetically altered ape who will bring about the fall of mankind.
The apes in "Rise" are being digitally created by Weta Studios with hair effects by Columbia University’s EitanGrinspun, who created brand-new state of the art animation software for the Disney animated feature "Tangled".
The look of the character has some flair of Chambers work ..... but then again ..... not really.
I guess the jury will be out until we get a good look at the whole design.
Pity, I really loved the look actual actors in ape make-up.
Principal photography has begun on Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' epic action adventure sequel to "Clash of the Titans," being directed by Jonathan Liebesman ("Battle: Los Angeles"). Returning to star in the film are Sam Worthington ("Avatar") as Perseus, and Academy Award® nominees Ralph Fiennes ("The English Patient," the "Harry Potter" films) as Hades and Liam Neeson ("Schindler's List," "Unknown") as Zeus.
A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, Perseus—the demigod son of Zeus—is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius.
Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity's lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. The triumvirate had overthrown their powerful father long ago, leaving him to rot in the gloomy abyss of Tartarus, a dungeon that lies deep within the cavernous underworld.
Perseus cannot ignore his true calling when Hades, along with Zeus' godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramírez), switch loyalty and make a deal with Kronos to capture Zeus. The Titans' strength grows stronger as Zeus' remaining godly powers are siphoned, and hell is unleashed on earth.
Enlisting the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon's demigod son, Argenor (Toby Kebbell), and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), Perseus bravely embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.
Jonathan Liebesman directs the film from a screenplay by Dan Mazeau & David Leslie Johnson and Steven Knight, story Greg Berlanti & David Leslie Johnson & Dan Mazeau, based on the 2010 hit "Clash of the Titans" and the 1981 film of the same name, written by the late Beverley Cross.
The film is produced by Basil Iwanyk ("The Town"), who also produced the previous "Clash of the Titans," and Polly Cohen Johnsen ("Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore"). The executive producers are Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, William Fay, Callum McDougall, Kevin De La Noy and Louis Leterrier.
Joining Worthington, Fiennes and Neeson in the international cast are Danny Huston ("Robin Hood"), reprising his role as Poseidon, god of the sea; Edgar Ramírez ("The Bourne Ultimatum," TV miniseries "Carlos") as the traitorous god of war, Ares; Bill Nighy ("Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1") as Hephaestus, whose twisted, lame figure belies his Olympian origins; Toby Kebbell ("Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time") as Agenor, imprisoned thief and son of Poseidon who joins Perseus on his journey to Tartarus; and Rosamund Pike ("Barney's Version") as Andromeda, the princess whose life Perseus once saved, and who now, as a queen, follows Perseus into battle.
The behind-the-scenes team bringing this mythical epic to life includes director of photography Ben Davis ("The Rite," "Kick Ass"); production designer Charles Wood ("The Italian Job," "The A-Team"); Academy Award®-winning editor Martin Walsh ("Chicago," "V for Vendetta"); and costume designer Jany Temime (the "Harry Potter" films). "Clash of the Titans 2" also reunites several talents from the previous film, including Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Nick Davis ("The Dark Knight,"); Oscar®-nominated prosthetics supervisor Conor O'Sullivan ("The Dark Knight," "Saving Private Ryan"); and Academy Award®-winning special effects and animatronics supervisor Neil Corbould ("Gladiator"). Also on board are Oscar®-nominated makeup designer Paul Engelen ("Frankenstein," "Robin Hood") and hair designer Kevin Alexander ("Robin Hood," "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian").
"Clash of the Titans 2" will be filming in studios outside London and will later shoot on location in Surrey, South Wales and in the Spanish Canary Islands on the island of Tenerife. The film is currently scheduled for release in March 2012.
Do you believe with the existence of UFO? Indeed, the emerging of UFO becomes hot news today. Moreover, it also becomes a big homework for the researchers whether it is truly UFO or not. UFO or we usually called as “Unidentified Flying Object” believed as alien’s plane that can disappear fast. However, it becomes a hot news and big question to the researchers, further people around the world; some of people believe that there is UFO in this earth. In contrast, there some people do not believe with that Unidentified Flying Object. Now, you have heard about the hot news in China. Actually, in October 6, 2010, UFO reported emerges in Chinese airport. UFO over China is not new news anymore. The reason is that it has emerged in China for eight times since June 2010.
The early emerging on September 11, 2010, UFO also emerged in the airport at Baotou in Inner Mongolia. This emerging reported that has duration of appearance for about an hour. If you use your logic, you are able to see the real UFO because an hour is long enough to someone or somebody to see and analyze whether the UFO is real or not. In addition, the Chinese government add by claimed that the emerging of UFO over Chinese airport on September 11, 2010 as UFO’s military exercises, but those exercises have no incident.
STRANGE LIGHTS OVER THE SKIES OF TEXAS Similar to daylight sighting in Manhattan recently Sky Valley Chronicle
Visitors from outer space? A prank perhaps? A news photographer for a local El Paso, Texas TV station took this footage of some mysterious lights in the skies over east Texas in mid October.
The event caused a big buzz in the UFO community because the lights are eerily similar to the pattern of strange lights seen in broad daylight in Manhattan in New York City not long before this incident.
Below is the TV news report in Texas that first broadcast the story:
World leaders briefed on UFO battle near Earth Allnewsweb.com
World leaders have been briefed on a devastating UFO battle between Zetan 'Grey' And Sirian aliens on the fringes of the Zeta Reticuli around 39 light years away that has claimed the lives of over for hundred thousand alien beings. Most of the casualties were Zetan Aliens known colloquially on Earth as 'Greys'. A few hundred casualties were of the highly advanced Sirians whose consciousnesses are able to be placed in new bodies.
Frantic communications between the US President and alien groups such as Andromedans who are friendly to Earth, have assured our leaders that the incident poses no threat to Earth.
The conflict began when bandit Greys threatened Sirian power in the region which includes our solar system. Greys are seen by many as a potential threat to Earth and hostile to humanity. The 'Grey' bandit leader, Ru-Illiar was killed in the event which saw seven hundred mostly Zetan UFO craft destroyed in a dramatic space battle and a Zetan lunar colony in Zeta Reticuli obliterated.
California driver reports triangle UFO at 300 feet Examiner.com
I was driving from santa barbara to my home in santa maria i was at a friends house and left his house around 3:30 am nov 3 2010 taking the 101 highway heading north just past the highway that leads to san marcos pass and the michael jackson neverland ranch i hit a stretch of highway where it was pitch black and i was thinking i hope i dont hit a dear at that moment something in the sky to my right caught my eye hovering in the sky very low maybe a hundred yards up was a triangular craft making no sound i slowed and blinked to double check my vision and it was still there i kept my eyes on it as much as i could to be safe maybe after around two minutes it rotating clockwise very slowly then it climbed and made a gradule right turn and got smaller and smaller until it left my sight. when i was positive i was witnessing this i felt a chill from the tips of my fingers to my toes one last strange detail i made out was it looked liquidy i could see little ripples like wakes on water.kind of like it was transparent.
UFO Over New Jersey: Boomerang UFO Sighting Reported By Witnesses NYNewsPost
UFO Over New Jersey: Boomerang UFO Sighting Reported By Witnesses. The reports of UFO were aplenty in the month of October and they came rushing in from all quarters of the United States of America. And it was not just the US of A that had been in the vigilant eyes of some alien planets either; apparently, they had a close eye on China as well as far as the rest of the world were concerned.
But as the last month bid adieu to us, we were expecting that the reports of the sightings of the unidentified flying objects would dwindle away into the depths of oblivion with the passing of the month. However, now we see that it was not to be as new UFO stories climb the mountain of fame and attract our attention.
If previously it was the places like Richmond, Illinois or Louisiana that were reporting such stories only to be nullified at a later stage, they now have got back up and support in the form of New Jersey. Previously, most of the sightings that were made were linked to some flickering lights that formed together to take any or every geometric shape.
Archeology Team Digs for UFO Evidence in New Mexico Knowelty
Every UFO true believer has their own theory about the 1947 Roswell UFO incident. This month an archeology team from the University of New Mexico is using modern technology to find solid evidence to prove what really happened.
“We engaged in a highly credible standard archeological investigation of a piece of landscape that has been warranted to be the location of a flying-saucer event,” said Dick Chapman, director of UNM’s Office of Contract Archeology.
Sponsored by the Sci-Fi Channel, his team has so far spent $26,000 digging up a nine acre area of ground northwest of Roswell. Their bid to investigate the alleged Roswell UFO crash is being filmed by Sci-Fi for an upcoming documentary.
“The summed evidence from the hearsay-level knowledge really points to this [nine-acre sector] as being a recognized potential crash site (of) a UFO,” he added.
Strange Light Seen in Virginia Night Sky MyFox Detroit
A light that was lurking in the Virginia night sky has grabbed some attention. Some people who saw it think it was a UFO.
"The lights – it was so bring at nighttime," said Brian Fains. "I thought it was a UFO."
It was in the night sky just above Lee Highway when shoppers looked up and saw something weird in Centreville, Virginia on Wednesday night.
Fains quickly grabbed his phone, turned on the camera and recorded the erratic blue light in the night sky. He said it flew around for about ten minutes.
"It was just a distinct blue light, it never like flashed or blinked or (anything)," Fains said.
"It's weird," he added. "You normally see this type of stuff in movies, but just as long as we're here, I'm pretty sure there (are) other people or other things somewhere."
Zeroinside Films is proud to announce the first official teaser trailer for VIViD - directed by actor Brandon Slagle (Duplicity, Mega Shark Vs Crocosaurus) also being his "proper" directorial debut.
The film stars Rachel Grubb (Terror Overload), Keith Kraft (Beowulf), Devanny Pinn (Piranha 3D), Deneen Melody (Slices of Life), Katrina Cheri, Tara Cardinal (Legend of the Red Reaper), Bianca Barnett (Albino Farm), and Brandon Slagle. Slagle, whose films 15 Till Midnight and Song of the Shattered just premiered at the Sacramento Sci-Fi/Horror Convention to actual rave reviews, wrote the script from a story he conceived with Pinn and Kraft.
SYNOPSIS:
A group of individuals selected due to various neurosis are unwillingly brought into an experiment by a murderous sociopath who believes he has committed all atrocity he can on this plane of existence, and that the next step is to mentally step into the body of other people and live out their lives and fantasies - literally experiencing what it is like to be another person - both in life and at the brink and ultimately finality of death...
The film began shooting September 18 in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and will wrap in early November for a late Spring 2011 debut in Los Angeles.
Written By: Ken Hulsey Sources: Douglas Bankston / Avery Guerra
You may, or may not, remember back in June when I posted an article about film maker Douglas Bankstrom's perils at trying to produce a short film called "It Came From Beyond The Mountain!" an homage to the 'big-bug' films of the 1950s like "Them!", "The Deadly Mantis", "Black Scorpion", and most notably, the 1955 Jack Arnold classic, "Tarantula".
Tom make a long story short, Bankstrom's dreams of producing a full-length feature film fell way short and all the indie film maker could afford to produce was a mere four-and-a-half minute monster tribute.
Granted, what Bankstrom was able to cram into his mini-movie was quite good, pity he wasn't able to find enough green stuff to make the movie he wanted to. It could have been really something.
Well, as fate would have it, the film maker was able to get his hands on some more money, not a lot of money, but enough to extend "It Came From Beyond The Mountain!" to a staggering 10 minutes and 38 seconds.
Okay, it's not as long as one of Peter Jackson's 'month-long' movies, but it was the best that he could do ....... give the guy some slack.
Bankstrom refers to this new version of his film as the 'director's cut'.
A classic! Long thought to have been destroyed in the great vault fire of '59, a print was discovered during the police raid of a reclusive collector's home and can now be seen for the first time in 40 years! Teens are terrorized by a giant rampaging spider mutated in a 1950s atomic test gone awry, featuring a mad general, a freight train and a mind-numb... I mean bending... climax that will make your brain turn into some sort of quivering, gelatinous substance. This restored director's cut features footage found under a bed in room 927 in the Roosevelt Hotel.
Lots of old film footage is found like that.
So, without further ado, here is the new, and improved, director's cut of "It Came From Beyond The Mountain!"
Articles Collected By: Ken Hulsey Sources: Various
More St Albans UFO sightings Herts Advertiser
Phonecalls and emails flooded into the Herts Advertiser news desk after we revealed last week that a man in London Colney had seen some peculiar lights in the sky above St Albans at around 10.15pm on Sunday, August 29.
He saw more than 10 of the objects over a short space of time and did not believe they were Chinese lanterns – which can often explain such UFO sightings – as they were travelling very fast and in a straight line.
Rob Stichbury, who lives in the Roundwood Park area of Harpenden, saw something similar at around the same time that night. He said: “The bright object was travelling extremely fast coming from the St Albans/Redbourn area. It seemed to be following the path of the Nicky Line and took less than 15 seconds to cover the horizon.
“I only saw one and didn’t have time to get to the camera. Being a clear night it was instantly visible but certainly not a commercial plane as it was too large, bright and moving quite low and much faster than any other traffic. It disappeared in the direction of Luton Airport. Very strange indeed!”
Ken Collins, of Salisbury Avenue, also reports seeing something strange in the sky travelling faster than the speed of aircraft heading towards Clarence Park that night.
Liz Gurgur, who lives in the Marshalswick area, said she saw exactly the same thing as the London Colney man earlier this summer as she was driving home one night. She said: “I thought it was unusual as they were all in a straight line, spaced apart equally and high up. I was amazed, especially since I was once watching this programme which said there was going to be a lot more UFO sightings and I laughed at it.
Oklahoma triangle UFO returns as second witness watches Examiner.com
An Oklahoma man watched a triangle-shaped UFO on September 15, 2010, and was there with a witness when it returned 30 minutes later, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.
The object was described as having three red lights and two white lights.
"The white lights would flash as if it were at a slow pulse but had no particular rhythm to it. Every couple of minutes we would see multiple lights light up in a circular pattern that formed the shape of the craft and lit it up. Its motions were not big strides, but small pacing horizontally from left to right. We could most definitely tell that it was no plane. It was more stationary rather than constant movement like a plane would do. It was as if it were hovering and trying to hide itself."
No town name was mentioned in the public portion of the MUFON report. The couple was unable to capture either video or still images of the object
Texas father-son get up close look at triangle UFO Examiner.com
A Texas father and son got an up-close look at a triangle-shaped UFO on September 15, 2010, as they drove along Route 87/97 outside of Pandora after 8:30 p.m., according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.
The two were out looking for more witnesses to a UFO they sighted on September 14, 2010, in a case the UFO Examiner covered as, Wingless, burning object falls from cloud near La Vernia, Texas.
The son asked his father to pull over to the side of the road after observing a light in the distance “zigzagging” between three stars.
The object soon appeared to be between 1,000 and 2,000 feet off of the ground.
“As it moved closer to us, a few more cars and trucks pass us on the road but nobody stopped,” the reporting witness stated. “At first it was a solid light but as it flew closer I can see three separate lights in a tight triangle formation with a huge light at each corner.”
'UFO' sightings a mirage created by Air Force, 'UFO fanatics' have been duped? Tucson Citizen
In interesting interview posted by U.S. News & World Report, author Mark Pilkington asserts that UFOs were created by the Air Force to keep aircraft projects secret. This is not a new assertion by any means. It is just one that has resurfaced in a new book. It is an assertion that is called “a persuasive case” by the interviewer.
Plinkington is a British journalist and filmmaker who weighs in on his view of UFOs as a cover for Cold War military projects.
In a discussion regarding his book, Mirage Men: An Adventure into Paranoia, Espionage, Psychological Warfare and UFOs, Plinkington covers everything from the Washington Flap of 1952 to “UFO fanatics” being duped.
The article is an interesting read for skeptics, conspiracy theorists, and “UFO fanatics” alike. Enjoy!
Triangle UFO moves within 100 yards of Oregon witness Examiner.com
An Oregon witness was startled while riding a scooter just after 10 p.m. on September 13, 2010, when a triangle-shaped craft with rounded edges was spotted just 100 yards away, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.
The object had a light in front that the witness said appeared to be guiding it somehow.
"What made the light unique was that it was circular in shape and moving back and forth across the front of the craft," the witness stated. "It reminded me of the car 'Kit' from the television show 'Knight Rider' except for the fact the light was white and round. Now the most incredible part of this experience was that the light seemed to help determine the direction the craft would head. The light stopped pacing back and forth and was stuck on one end for about 20 seconds. The craft started heading in the direction the light was facing, and soon the craft stopped and tilted forward as if the lights were this crafts eyes."
As the craft moved closer, the witness offers a description.
"As it drew near (roughly 100 yards away), I could see the underneath of the craft. It seemed to have a triangular shape but rounded (basically there seemed to be no straight lines). The craft was also a silver color and absolutely had no visible means of propulsion. I didn't see any propellers or jet engines."
The witness then nearly lost control of the scooter while attempting to watch the object, and looked away for 30 to 45 seconds. When the witness looked back, the object was gone.
Hundreds of residents of Vladivostok have reported seeing a bizarre UFO hover over their city on the easternmost edge of Russia. The UFO event took place on the evening of September 14. Russian media has reported extensively on the event.
The triangular shaped UFO consisting of four golden colored lights was seen for a few hours and at least two witnesses managed to get photos of the object as it hovered overhead
UFO interferes with TV signal in Brazil, video Allnewsweb.com
Before we go into the details of this UFO event it should be noted that the video below is not the most convincing one we have seen. However the witness is adamant about its genuineness and the story surrounding it is interesting.
The witness who lives in the Amazon region of Brazil, a well known UFO hot spot in general, claims that a UFO has been bothering him for over a week and hovering above his house. The witness who managed to film the UFO (which looks to me like little more than a reflection of a light) claims that the UFO has been interfering with his TV reception.
UFO sighting on Sand Mountain? Sand Mountain Reporter
A Las Vegas-based organization is seeking witnesses to an unconfirmed sighting of an unidentified flying object reported above Sand Mountain on Monday evening.
Colm Kelleher, of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, said his organization received an anonymous e-mail reporting a “multiple witness sighting.”
“We are trying to locate eyewitnesses,” he said.
Kelleher said the unconfirmed report detailed “a multiple witness sighting of a large unidentified object about 5,000 feet over Sand Mountain on Monday evening.”
KGUN 9 employees in Tucson capture 'UFO' image Tucson Citizen
It was tiny, it was bright blue, it was way high up, and it spent part of Tuesday afternoon hovering over the skies of Tucson. What was it?
Who knows?
Around 1:00 PM two KGUN9 News employees noticed a tiny but brilliant blue dot high in the sky, nearly straight up over east Tucson. It was nearly stationary, and had the shape and brightness of a star -- but the sun was shining brightly. Couldn't be that.
KGUN9 photojournalist Jim Pfalzer set up a camera and tripod, and caught the object on video. Even at full zoom, the shape of the object was not apparent. But the object could be seen through the viewfinder to be drifting slowly toward the east.
As it drifted, its intensity changed slowly, suggesting a small irregularly shaped object tumbling or twirling.
By 1:50 PM, it was gone.
Was it a UFO? By definition, yes. It was an object. It was flying. And it certainly was unidentified. Probably a balloon of some sort, right?
Of course.
Sometime after the object appeared, KGUN9's Internet access went down for a few minutes -- long enough to delay the posting of this story until after the object had disappeared.
Reader photos: The Residents' Beach UFO Marco Island Sun Times
Marco artist Anthony Dallmann-Jones posted this blog about the UFO seen in the Gulf Tuesday night.
I am sure you have heard from people about “The strange lights” off the Marco Island Resident’s Beach last night.
We first noticed them at 8:35PM – They were there, in various formats until 9:15PM and were seen no more (by my wife and me). Neither of us drinks. ;-) We are also both professors of higher education so we are not totally unable to make intelligent judgments. Nuff on that.
We DO have pictures that my wife took…IF you are interested. MOSTLY, I am hoping you can just tell me what we saw. I was a science major and this one baffled me in terms of a logical understanding.
Description. I do believe these were near the horizon line, although they started off closer. I believe they were receding to the West. I have some very powerful binoculars and probably saw things most did not.
WHAT were they? They were “hot” in the sense that they were glowing orange-yellow balls. Some might say they were lights on a UFO, and I can see how some of the angles would give that notion.
Several residents reported seeing some strange yellow lights off Southwest Florida's coast Tuesday evening.
Wednesday, we've learned the Homestead Air Force Reserve Base out of Miami was performing flare training exercises in the Gulf of Mexico. According to USAF Senior Airman Katie Spencer, they were flying in a specific military-defined airspace. The exercises are required quarterly by the Air Force.
The U.S. Coast Guard says they were notified after-the-fact that the Air Force was conducting a "flare exercise" offshore. Spencer says they typically notify the Coast Guard of any exercises.
Rusty Parham, who witnessed the light show over Fort Myers Beach, says he believes there might be more to it than flare exercises.
"I don't understand why you'd be in that formation doing drills, and another thing I don't understand is why you'd be doing that off the coast, where everybody could see you in South Florida," he said. "Listen, I'm not nuts. I've lived here my whole life. I've never seen anything like this."
"When it came back in the circular motion, I was like, 'What could this be?'" Rusty's wife Jennifer Parham said.
Witnesses said the lights lasted for several minutes, until about 9:20 p.m.
Intrigue after couple capture UFO on film Forres Gazette
A FORRES couple have been sitting at their window looking into space and wondering, ever since they spotted an unidentified bright light in the skies above Forres.
And after speaking publicly about the UFO (unidentified flying object) mystery, they received an alarming phone call warning them off speaking about the incident.
Don and Pat MacArthur were at home at 2 Nelson Road, watching the TV on Friday, September 3, shortly after 8.45pm when they both spotted a strange light in the skies above the town.
"We both spotted a bright light at the living-room window above the trees on the other side of the road," said Don, who works for Moray Council's lands and park crew. "I thought it was a helicopter searchlight, and was waiting for the aircraft, but it wasn't that.
"My wife just ran to the window to see closer," he added. "I knew it wasn't a helicopter and I ran into the other room to get my cine camera."
The couple's living room window looks out over the houses on the opposite side of the road, and they both spotted the object above the chimney pots and tops of trees coming from the rough direction of Forres High Street.
"I don't know what it was, but I managed to capture a few seconds of it on camera," said Mr MacArthur. "I ran out the door in my socks and zoomed in full to try and get a better picture."
The images show a bright, pink, largish, diamond-like object in the sky and then just disappearing. Moments later, a black object appears in the corner of the screen, appearing to come from roughly the same direction, but much higher in the sky with a small trailing light at the top of the screen.
