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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
 Posted - 08/21/2009 : 4:00:06 PM
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After kaiju movies took off in the 1950s with Japanese movies such as Gojira/Godzilla, imitators soon began to spring up all over the world. The UK gave as Konga and Gorgo. Korea unleashed Yongary, Monster From the Deep. China gave us Inframan and Goliathon, etc.
There are doubtlessly other examples from other countries, but to the best of my limited recollection I can't remember if the Spanish film industry ever got into the act. Do you remember as a kid seeing movies about guys in monster suits trampling toy models of downtown Madrid? Or did this fad bypass Spain completely? |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 08/22/2009 : 01:58:42 AM
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I can't remember anything remotely similar on its time. There was little or none pre-existing tradition of local horror / sci-fi movies at the time, and budget and censorship constraints had to be taken into account as well.
Once the censorship relaxed and Paul Naschy and others showed it was indeed possible to film such movies in Spain and turn a profit, things started to change. Still, I can only think of a Spanish monster movie, and that would be Amando D'Ossorio's The Sea Serpent. And that one is well into the 80s. Ken reviewed it a long time ago.
Oh, and Juan Piquer Simón's films certainly show an influence, but little else. They often show monsters-in-suits, and he made an awful version of Journey to the center of the Earth complete with dinosaurs. |
Edited by - Neville on 08/22/2009 05:03:25 AM |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 08/22/2009 : 12:01:53 PM
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This one, you mean?
[url]http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0082769/[/url]
I was thinking Monster Island when I first posted, except I've only heard about it, never actually seen it, so I'm not able to gauge. Sounds like this might be more in the Kevin Connor vein (i.e., At The Earth's Core, Land That Time Forgot) than a "traditional" kaiju movie.
Still, it's ironic that this film starred Paul Naschy, too.
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 08/22/2009 : 4:48:32 PM
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Mmm... no, I meant this other one:
http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0075389/
Although there *could be* some monsters in Mystery on Monster Island too. It's been ages since I last saw it and it's not a specially rewarding film, it's sort of a kiddie movie loosely based on Verne.
But as I said, here you won't get more than a few "monster in suit" moments. The sea serpent is the only Spanish film I can remember that could pass for a kaiju eiga. And it probably is more of a Jaws rip-off. |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2009 : 1:47:52 PM
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| Since Spain hasn't been cranking them out, does that mean kaiju films aren't popular over in your part of the world? Or do you guys still enjoy watching King Kong vs. Godzilla on the late late show as much as we Americans do? |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 08/24/2009 : 03:51:54 AM
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I really can't say, since most Godzilla films were released before I took an interest in movies. Based on my perception, I'd say kaiju aren't that popular here, they don't have the cult status early kung-fu films, giallos or euro-westerns have. I can think of several DVD labels releasing this kind of stuff here, but none who deal with kaiju. That should be telling.
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2009 : 1:01:32 PM
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Yeesh. I didn't realize it at the time of my last post, but director Juan Piquer Simón was also responsible for this classic mishmosh (classic if you're an MST3K fan, that is):
[url]http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0086026/[/url]
Who knew that one director could be so... talented? |
Edited by - zombiewhacker on 09/23/2009 1:02:01 PM |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2009 : 09:46:30 AM
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| Sounds specially painful. I've only seen three films by this director and his cult status, even among trash collectors, escapes me. Slugs, muerte viscosa was sort of funny, in a "Yeessh, disgusting" kind of way, though. |
Edited by - Neville on 09/24/2009 09:49:16 AM |
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