Monster truck - emphasis on the monster

I am not one to be impressed with vehicles jacked high into the air on oversized tires. To me a car or truck is a utilitarian thing meant to move people or things from one place to another. But I have to admit that someone has found a heretofore unknown sweet spot in my brain.

VOYAGE OF THE ROCK ALIENS - seriously?

There are a couple of Tumbler accounts I check in on to see strange things and very strange things but this may top them all. I don't know if I'm pissed or happy that I never knew of this film's existence until now. I know I must now see it but I suspect I would have been in a more receptive mood in my college years when things like this might have seemed somehow cool. Or not. Think about the fact that it stars Pia Zadora and the poster touts an appearance by Jermaine Jackson. I can feel the 1980s leering at me from the shadows and laughing. There is so much about that decade that sucked and I fear I've found another sad marker of that terrible truth.

Thank you Bikini Machine. I think.

There's a connection here......

...but I can NOT put my finger on it.

IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE lands in comic shops

One of my favorite low budget, not-very-good-but-I-love-it-anyway monster movies from the 1950s is IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958). More than just a major influence on ALIEN it is a fast, creepy scare ride that manages to get under my skin if I let it work its black & white late night charms on me. Cheesy? Hell yes! But like so many of the science fiction/horrors of that decade it pushes geeky buttons in the same way the pulp fiction of the time does. For me there's a certain grin inducing thrill to getting wrapped up in a SF tale that takes place in the far flung future of 1973 and I must not be the only one to feel a large amount of affection for this film either. Back in 1992 there was a black & white adaptation of the film from Millennium Comics that I have and enjoyed but I always considered that a bizarre (if cool) anomaly. I mean- there is no chance of a series of comic book adaptations of old monster movies from the 50s! Right?

Apparently I couldn't be more wrong! Walking through a comic book shop today what do I spot but this---


That is the first issue of brand new comic version of IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE. And this time its in color! And to make things even stranger/cooler this purports to be the first of an ongoing series called 'MGM Drive-In Theater' with unspecified future adaptations of other such movies on the way. Holy Crap! I didn't even think to wish for this! Amazing. If you'd like to get a look at the first few pages of issue #1 just follow this LINK. I've really enjoyed the first issue with its small changes of ethnicity for some characters and an upping of the romantic tension the film had to soft pedal to make it past the censors in 1958. Check it out to see if this is your kind of monster crazy too.

The Mark of the Spanish Werewolf - article in Fortean Times Online

I realized today that I completely forgot to tell everyone about this well done article about Paul Naschy in the Fortean Times. Posted back in March and written by Spanish journalist Maria J Pérez Cuervo its a good brief overview of Mr. Molina's life and career. Check it out!

LINK

Captain America and Thor production art

I know these have been posted just about everywhere in the past couple of days but I just had to share. I hope these two movies don't suck. Click to embiggen!

BMC - B-Movies Online

I'm thrilled to note that AMC's website has opened a page that allows the viewing of several classic B-movies for free. The movies are streamed in the usual inter-tubes manner and, from my sampling so far, seem to be from good looking prints. Several of the films have yet to be released on DVD so it might be the only way to see them without resorting to bootlegs of dubious quality. The offerings include CAT GIRL, Corman's THE UNDEAD, FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, DEVIL DOLL, VOODOO WOMAN and THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE. If you're looking to see some cool old horror movies for free this is as good a place as any other and word is that they plan to add more in the future.

LINK