Movie Review - Behemoth: The Sea Monster

Behemoth:  The Sea Monster

AKA:  The Giant Behemoth

1959 

The Cast

Now, let me tell you I could be a little biased here with my scoring. For this film lit the light of remembrance and melancholy within me.   As it took me back to my childhood.  There was a time when the good old BBC would play these movies on a Saturday afternoon:  On BBC2 while BBC1 had Grandstand.  I remember watching these Sci-Fi monster flicks with my Nan on cold and wet winter days, usually in front of a warm gas fire.  Those were good days.  So, I thank the makers of the film for giving me this memory.

What you have is a pretty bog-standard tale of nuclear radiation mutation... as was par for the course in the fifties.  Here though, not only does it mutate a creature to an enormous size, but apparently resurrects a long-dead dinosaur.  This then goes on the rampage through London.  Though what makes this a little better than the average film in this genre is the extra details.  We don't start in London but in a little fishing village in Cornwall where strange things have been occurring; a man being burned with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns, shoals of dead fish washing up on the beach, and strange lights under the surface of the sea.  This pulls the viewer in with the mystery.  There's also the brilliant usage of the radiation because if you get too close to the creature then you burn.  When we arrive at the rampage, the director uses parts of London not fully rebuilt after the war to create an atmosphere that works well.  Also, the large amount of extra's running from the monster is just right - not one or two people, but a hole streets worth of men and women.

The director is very good at his work.  He sets the pace of this film perfectly.  There's a small crescendo at the beginning when Marine Biologist Steve Karnes' is warning the government about the possible side effects of radiation on the oceans and their populace.  Then drops to a steadier pace with the mysterious happenings.  Building up slowly to the rampage at the climax.  Spot on perfect.

The special effects, for their time, are not quite as good as others.  However, they are passable.  It's nice the puppeteer changed out to a fully automated Behemoth for the later scenes as the fixed mouth version that attacked the ferry looked a little silly.  I have to admit I really loved the part where the Behemoth walks through the dockyards.  The part where he wrecks one crane by tearing it apart with his teeth and the other by simply walking through it is one of the better stop animation sequences I've seen.  I liked the fact the director filmed it from the position of the pavement, which had the effect of giving size to the creature.

This was a very enjoyable flick, to say the least.  The story and the filming were solid as too was the acting.  Everybody put their skills into making this a very watchable movie.  Not remembering the movie fully, I thought that the two main characters in the fishing village section Jean (Madison) and John (Turner) would be in the whole show, their acting is that good.  However, when we leave the village we never see them again.

If you've never caught a '50's sci-fi monster flick then this one would be a nice place to start.  And if you are a fan of the genre, then find a copy and watch this once more, it's worth it.

I give this a behemoth 7 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Kong Lives

King Kong Lives

1986

The Cast

It took a long time to make a sequel to the remake of King Kong from 1979... and I can see why... lack of a decent story.  And it's the story and ropy special effects that hurt this film.

So the movie opens with the ending of the 1979 remake; Kong's fall from the tower.  However, he doesn't die.  As the years pass the doctors realise his heart is failing and his blood is poisoned.  They could fit an artificial heart but without a transfusion, Kong will die.  Enter Hank Mitchell (Kerwin), who whilst exploring the African continent comes across a second giant gorilla... phew, just in time to save the plotline...  Even better for the plot, the ape is female.  Against the lead doctor's advice, Amy Franklin (Hamilton), the college assigned to study Kong ship the female across, instead of just taking her blood.  Of course, when you put two giant apes together, of different genders, things are bound to get amorous and frisky.  As with humans, love and lust can drive apes to do desperate deeds.  However, instead of running amuck, the apes settle down to domestic bliss... which totally upsets Lt Col Nevitt as he has some really expensive weapons to play with... and Goddamnit, he's gonna play with them and so sets out to destroy the happy couple.

Okay, so I'm making light of the story plot, but hey, that, in a nutshell, is the story.  For a creature feature, there's way too many scenes of Mr & Mrs K sitting around picking racoons off of each other.  Also, the fact that it's two men in Gorilla costumes is so evident it's laughable, especially today.  This section of the film doesn't wear well after an age.  However, it's the other effects that add strength to the action sequences of the film.  The fight scenes between apes and army are well done and are paced so well as to actually be exciting.

The other thing that carries the film is the acting.  Though the leads, Brian Kerwin and Linda Hamilton are very good in their roles, it was John Ashton as Nevitt that made this film for me.

I'd not really recommend this film to anybody.  To be truthful, the original movie is still superb and better than this, let alone the Peter Jackson Remake and the latest action flick Kong: Skull Island, both of which are superior in every way.  Though if you like your monster movies with a heavy dose of cheesiness then maybe you can give this a go... it does have it's good points.

I give this two-for-one Kong a slightly boring 5.25 out of 10.

The Trailers

Movie Review - Stung

Stung

2015

Rat Pack Film Produktion / XYZ films : Entertainment One / IFC Films / IFC Midnite

4.75

Giant wasps attacking a garden party; it's a simple premise with a simple story, so what could go wrong...

Everything...

But first, let's address the good issues about the movie.  The wasps are well thought-out and generated and they are also one of the better creations of the writer Adam Aresty who has them able to multiply by injecting something into their victims.  This has the effect of creating ultra large wasps from their hosts.  A tad unbelievable but this is a monster movie horror film.  I even liked the fact that Aresty didn't even try to explain the event with scientific twaddle.

The other good thing about the film is actor Daniele Rizzo who plays the musical entertainment, Larry.  He gets so into his character that he appears to be the only one their intent on earning his wage.  Even veteran Lance Henriksen comes across as being lost and confused for most of the movie.

Now for the bad parts of the movie...

This is listed as a comedy though there's less humour, even dark, here than there are in none comedy flicks,  Only one joke managed to flicker a smile on my face.

The acting; for most of the film the actors, with the exception of Rizzo, look bored and this hinders their performance and portrayal of the characters, which come across as two-dimensional.  This would be a bad thing in just one actor but in ninety percent it had me feeling the same way.

The direction;  Though Benni Diez does try to build some dark and ominous atmosphere, he fails at adding excitement, which is needed when the wasps' attack.  He's also not so good at filming comedy scenes; the beginning of the film is so badly filmed it comes across as monotonous rather than humourous and I wanted to turn off then and there.  But being a monster movie fan I had to wait for the monsters to turn up at least, didn't I(?)

What this film requires is a shot of life and energy.  If it's on telly when there appears to be nothing worth watching (like reality TV) then you could give it a try.

Movie Review - Mongolian Death Worm

Mongolian Death Worm

2010

Andrew Stevens Entertainment / Black Chrome Productions / Cinetel Films / RHI Entertainment / Sweet Tater :  SyFy / Eagle Films

6.5 / 10

Being a Tremors fan, of course, I was going to watch this movie and I'm glad I did as it turned out to be better than some of the Tremors sequels.  However, don't get me wrong this isn't a fantastic film, though I did find it entertaining.

The story isn't that original and the climax is as predictable as it can be, the writers, Neil Elman, Kevin Leeson, and Steven R Monroe (who also directs) doesn't give the audience anything new or any surprises along the way.  It's pretty average standard fayre for SyFy movies.

Monroe however, does a slightly better job of directing and goes for the rollercoaster effect which works well.  When the action starts he builds up the pace and the slows it down accordingly at other times.  The trouble is he's not too good at building up tension, anticipation, and excitement;  any of these would have made for a better film.

It's Sean Patrick Flanery as the wise-guy treasure hunter Daniel, and George Cheung, as the self-confident police officer, Timur, that make this film an enjoyable watch.  Their characters get the best lines and when they meet up you can tell theirs a chemistry between the pair as they work well off one another. The rest of the cast are also good and do a credible job with their characters and add strength to the story and film.

The CGI special effects for 2010 were pretty good, remember this is a TV movie so doesn't have the production of bigger budget movies.  One of the better aspects of the Death Worm were its teeth.  You definitely do not want a love bite from one of these.  

If you like Tremors or monster movies then you may like this, it's at least worth watching when it come on again, though I'd say I wouldn't spend money on buying it.

Movie Review - Lake Placid

Lake Placid

(1999)

Fox 2000 Pictures / Phoenix Pictures / Rocking Chair Productions : Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

8 / 10

Now, this is a monster movie for the twenty-first century.  A good romp through the bizarreness of science fiction.  In the fifties, it was the fear of radiation; now, it's mother nature.

There's no explanation of the killer croc being where it is, though all the experts say it shouldn't be there.  Be we don't need to know why it's in the lake, all we are worried about is the gory fun that will ensue because it is.

The strange thing about the film is that it's not really about the two lead roles.  I think this is down to the writers developing better roles in the Hecter Cyr played flamboyantly by Oliver Platt and Sheriff Hank Keough spiritedly portrayed by Brenden Gleeson and the repartee they have between them.  Then when Betty White come on the scene as Mrs Delores Bickerman, the croc's mother, she steals the show.  Which is a shame for Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda as they look adrift next to the minor roles.

The director, Steve Minor does an expert job of building up the pace and keeping the excitement and humour rolling along at an increasing pace.

For the most part, the special effects are superb some of the hardest things to do are to create fur on animals and get their movements correct the digital artists did really good work here, and it was 1999.  Stan Winston and his studios looked after the hard effects and the puppet crocodile, which is amazing in its lifelike quality.

If you're looking for good fun that you don't need to think about just enjoy then I'd recommend this movie to you.  There are laughs, there's action, there are man-eating crocodiles... what more could you ask for... Oh Yeah, there's Betty White... nuff said!

Movie Review - Mimic

Mimic

(1997)

Dimension Films / Miramax : Buena Vista International

7.5 / 10

Man's greatest enemy turns out to be the cockroach that carries a deadly virus which is devastating the American population.  Enter Entomologist Dr Susan Tyler who has genetically modified a group of insects to become the cockroach's  greatest enemy.

Years later when the pandemic has been averted, something else is starting to kill off the human race.  We are not top of the food chain.  Though the designed insects were sterile and were engineered to only live six months, nature found a way, as it always does, to set a new balance.

This is a very clever Sci-Fi monster movie that adds thrills and scares into the genetically altered mix.  There are plenty of animals in the world that disguises themselves so they can hide when being hunted... or when hunting.  So why not disguise themselves as humans?  The writers, Donald A Wollheim who wrote the original short story, Matthew Robins and Guillermo del Toro, do a great job of using this fact and making this feel realistic.

The realism is also in thanks to Rob Bottin who designed the creature and the character shop and other special effects maestros who brought them to life.  Though released in 1997 the effects are just as strong today twenty years on.  I believe this is the case due to them not relying on CGI.

Del Toro does a brilliant job of bringing the story to the screen and adding his own style and artistry.  He also brings the best out of his cast to make the characters believable, though, with the likes of Mira Sorvino, Giancarlo Giannini, Charles S Dutton, Josh Brolin, and F Murray Abraham, it couldn't have been too difficult.  For this type of film, this is a stellar cast.

Though it's not the best film Guillermo del Toro has created, it isn't his worst.  If you have yet to see this movie then I would say give it a try, especially if you like monster movies, science fiction, or horror.