Valley of the Dragons (1961)

A Jules Verne adaptation which leaves no stock footage left unused.

Hector (Cesare Denova) and Michael (Sean McClory) are about to fight a duel when a comet transports them to the Moon! There they find a prehistoric land of large lizards with bits of plastic stuck to them and unconvincing cave men... and of course cave women in fur bikinis. 

So, this isn't a very high budget film. It is padded out massively with stock footage from other films. The dinosaur scenes are not very convincing and rather cruel, getting real crocodiles to kill lizards on camera! It is all fairly cheesy and, of course, complete nonsense. 

Demon of Paradise (1987)

A cheap and rather cheesy monster movie, maybe a couple of decades too late.

Fisherman off the coast of Hawaii illegally use dynamite to assist them, this of course awakens an ancient sea monster who now is running amok and killing people, especially young women in bikinis of course. 

Sheriff Keefer (William Steis) and Annie (Kathryn Witt) team up to stop the monster, though local resort owner Angela (Laura Banks) thinks it is an excellent tourist draw!

A low budget horror, the monster is the usual man in a rubber suit (though doesn't look too bad). The story is a bit slow moving and meanders too much. The film would probably work better if it was made a couple of decades earlier and had a surf rock and roll soundtrack!

Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977)

Japanese monster mayhem, but the 70s cool is the real winner.

A young woman falls down a hole and ends up discovering dinosaur eggs. A geologist with an interest in palaeontology discovers that a plesiosaur is terrorising his old home town, soon there are pterodactyls as well! And the humans are their prey...

Somewhat different for a kaiju film, with a bit more graphic violence than the usual cartoon like mass destruction of model buildings. 

It isn't a very good film though with a confusing, slow moving but rather generic storyline. The best parts about the film are it's late 1970s cool feel (at times) and a Japanese funk soundtrack.

The Revenge of Doctor X (1967)

A bizarre monster movie where a carnivorous mobile plant creature wreaks havoc.

Dr Bragan (James Craig), the angriest NASA scientist ever, goes to Japan to calm down. However, his assistant Noriko (Atsuko Rome) takes him to a weird looking building next to an active volcano where the caretaker plays dark gothic organ and creeps around so i'm not sure how well this helps his mental health. 

Bragan is any case is busy with his new project, cross breeding a Venus fly trap with another strange plant he found in the US after talking to a man with mud all over his face. Bragan creates a new kind of monster with a taste for human blood, obviously it soon it all going wrong...

This is not a good film, it is very shoddily made, very strange and makes little sense (well Ed Wood Jr was one of the writers so what can you expect?) The monster looks ridiculous of course and the film overall is all kinds of cheese.

Gamera vs. Giron (1969)

The rocket firing giant turtle who protects children is back!

Ako (Nobuhiro Kajima) and Tomoko (Miyuki Akiyama) chance upon a landed flying saucer and naturally, being small boys, go on board. The saucer takes off and goes into space. Aliens kidnap the boys to find out what is in their brains, and if they don't find anything interesting they'll eat their brains instead. 

Gamera heads into space to rescue the boys and has to fight the monster Giron who has a gigantic knife sticking out of his nose...

So, this is quite an odd film and definitely aimed at children. The plot is nonsense and it includes the usual destruction of model buildings by people in monster suits. Giron with his big knife is an interesting foe for Gamera for sure and pretty menacing too.

The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957)

The long and unwieldily title is only the start of this film's weirdness.

With their men having sailed away to not return, a group of Viking women (including Abby Dalton and Susan Cabot) decide to head off in a ship and look for them. They encounter a sea serpent in a far off sea and end up shipwrecked and the prisoners of a strange race... who have enslaved their missing men folk! 

Despite the rather unpromising premise, this isn't that bad a film despite the obviously minute budget. It is a bit cheesy, campy and unlikely but is plenty of fun. 

Everyone looks like they walked off a California beach of course, not the ancient Scandinavian hinterland. The serpent is a bit of a let down though.

Track of the Moon Beast (1976)

Yet another film where someone is turned into a mutant monster by contact with something strange, it is a wonder there were any humans left by 1980!

During a meteorite storm, a fragment of meteor hits geologist Paul (Chase Cordell). This has the unfortunate side-effect of turning him into a murderous reptilian space monster who goes on killing sprees at night much to his girlfriend Kathy's (Leigh Drake) disappointment. Native American Professor Salina (Gregorio Sala) has heard that such a creature has appeared once before. Kathy though just wants to save Paul...

This isn't a good film but then again it doesn't really need to be. This is a film for people who want to see monsters menacing scantily clad women. Even so though, this is rather poor stuff, Paul and Kathy's acting skills are rather non-existent. The cheese factor adds a bit (but just a bit) of fun.

The Blood Waters of Dr Z (1971)

Heavy drug use must have been involved in this somewhere.

Dr Leopold (Marshall Grauer) is that beloved scientist of movie land, a mad one. Leopold is also some kind of Nazi and his way of bringing about the Fourth Reich is apparently to change himself into a bizarre killer sea monster. He transforms himself into a mutated catfish, he also wants to kidnap a young woman (Sanna Ringhaven) so he can breed a new master race of monsters. Why of course!

Leopold transforms himself into a rather plodding beast so mankind probably shouldn't lose too much sleep over him. His plans seem to be foiled by biologist Rex (Gerald Cruse) though the monster (Wade Popwell in the suit) manages to escape so who knows?

This is a pretty awful film, it is very cheaply made and makes little sense. It does have a real strange feel about it though and can be quite psychedelic at times, at least you will wonder if someone has spiked your drink.

Earth vs the Spider (1958)

Yet another film where a giant mutated bug battles the Earth's ultimate warriors: 1950s US teenagers!

A giant mutant spider begins to wreak havoc in a small US town. This is after it is "killed" by bug spray and then apparently bought back to life by rock & roll! Finally, the spider has to be defeated in it's lair by teenage couple Mike (Eugene Persson) and Carol (June Kenney) and their science geek teacher (Ed Kemmer) using the power of the national grid.

This is yet another creature feature film though has some interesting plot points to help elevate it above the usual dross level of these films. It still isn't great though but at least can be fairly interesting at times.

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

Rubber suited monster nonsense.

When two fishermen go missing, their bodies later discovered horribly dismembered, the small town is shocked. However, the lighthouse keeper Sturges (John Harmon) seems to be more interested in buying meat scraps from the storeowner Kochek (Frank Arvidson). Indeed, he gets very animated when he can't get the meat, you get the impression he is not getting it for his dog...

Meanwhile, Sturges' daughter Lucille (Jeanne Carmen) is dating Fred (Don Sullivan), her father is pretty insistent in that she doesn't stay out after dark...

This is all rather pedestrian and unoriginal, some suspense is built up but when you do finally see the monster you will probably doubt if it was worth the wait! This is not a terrible film, just nothing much that you won't have seen before, even the monster recycled rubber parts from the monsters in earlier films!

Gamera vs Viras (1968)

Every Japanese child's favourite rocket propelled giant turtle battles a bizarre space monster, as usual.

Aliens plan to conquer the Earth, however the mighty Gamera spoils their plans by destroying their ship. The aliens (in another ship of course) instead use two annoying cub scouts in a submarine to trap Gamera and put him under their control. 

Gamera then destroys Tokyo, which has probably only just been rebuilt after the last time Gamera destroyed it. Finally, Gamera is released from the alien spell but then has to battle Viras the giant space squid...

This is the usual Japanese monster fare but includes little you have not seen before (sometimes literally as this is padded out with footage from earlier films). Its OK but there are better monster films out there.

Attack of the Super Monsters (1982)

These arn't just any old monsters, these are super monsters!

Evil Lord Tyrannos leads the Dinosaurs back to the surface of the Earth, having been living deep underground in secret all these years. He unleashes his monsters and waves of terrestrial mammals mutated by his evil powers on Earth to destroy mankind. He starts with a wave of red dogs. The only thing that can save humanity is, of course, four teenagers! Two of which have the Gemini power which means they merge using cyber power to become a super flying machine with drills.

You might have guessed by now that this is Japanese. The monsters are played by guys in rubber suits, destroyed cardboard buildings. The rest of the footage is anime and it can be a bit jarring at times switching between the two.

This film is made up of four episodes of a TV series (Dinosaur War Izenborg), each episode following the same formula so we get quite a bit of repetition. It is great fun though doesn't make a lot of sense, Tyrannos sounds terrific, though he it does seem like he needs something for his sore throat.

The Mole People (1956)

Although not executed that well this film has a brilliant premise. 

A team of archaeologists in Mesopotamia (we can guess, the film just describes it as "Asia" which doesn't really narrow things down much) discover some ancient writings near the top of a mountain. Dr Bentley (John Agar) and his buddies are trapped under a glacier after an earthquake and discover a lost Sumerian civilisation which has existed underground for the last five thousand years!

The Sumerians exist on mushrooms and enslave savage reptilian like creatures. They also have a harsh and deadly regime where surplus population are sacrificed to Ishtar. Bentley poses as a herald of Ishtar and has a crush on slave girl Adad (Cynthia Patrick). Meanwhile, the high priest (Alan Napier) is suspicious of Bentley and plans to get rid of him...

Although a fairly basic film in many ways i loved the idea of this film, being a historian myself (even if their "Sumerian" script is actually Egyptian hieroglyphs at times not cuneiform!) Lost worlds are always fun, more than the real world indeed.

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

The 1950s were a hazardous time, you couldn't move for some kind of radiation mutated monster. This time its the crabs...

A team of scientists arrive on a remote island to study the effect of nuclear weapon tests on local fauna. However, a scientist who was already supposed to be there has gone missing. Mysterious noises are heard of night and people start to die. The voices of some of those who have died, including the original scientist are heard at night...

To the horror of Dale (Richard Garland) and Martha (Pamela Duncan) the voices are from gigantic killer crabs! The radiation mutated crabs have eaten humans and absorbed their memories, and can even speak like them. The crabs are also impervious to anything fired at them...

Monster movies from this period are usually not the best of films but this one isn't that bad. It has some genuine suspense and builds the terror well. The monster crabs do not appear until well in the film, they arn't really worth the wait but you'll see a lot worse.

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955)

Standard 1950s monster fare, not that good but it could have been worse!

A strange radioactive glow in the water is followed by an attack by a bizarre looking creature. Dr Stevens (Kent Taylor) arrives to investigate and finds that local scientist Professor King (Michael Whalen) is acting suspicious. Stevens also romances the Professor's daughter Lois (Cathy Downs) of course! 

So, this is pretty much all you expect from the genre. The monster doesn't look too bad and isn't over shown but the rubber suit was obviously a bit clumsy for the actor wearing it. In one scene where it attacks a diver the monster looks more like a nervous teenager doing some awkward fumbling than a mutant killer beast! The story is a bit slow but ticks all the usual genre boxes. 

Perfectly acceptable time waster.

Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)

A rather awful and cheap monster movie that doesn't have much of a cheese factor to save it.

People start disappear in the swamps near a one horse town. The arrogant sheriff (Gene Roth) of course blames alligators or the more dangerous human species. However, a scientist (Tyler McVey) thinks that some kind of blood sucking creature is to blame. Meanwhile, cuckold Dave (Bruno VeSota) and his horny wife (Yvette Vickers) have had a falling out. He follows her to the swamp where she meets her fancy man. Dave chases them through the swamps until they become the latest victims of the monsters. Warden Steve (Ken Clark) goes in search of the monsters...

This isn't a good film by any means, it's rather slow and awkward. The monsters, though they do not appear that often, truthfully arn't the worst in monster movies of the era but the story is rather basic and the acting ranges between miserable and terrible. 

Q: The Winged Serpent (1982)

A rather odd and also rather graphic film about an Aztec monster on a killing spree in New York.

Someone... or something... is killing people at random in NY. Detectives Shepherd (David Carradine) and Powell (Richard Roundtree) are on the case of some horrific murder cases of people being skinned alive. Are these linked to the other murders, which some eyewitnesses say are being done by a horrific looking flying creature? Shepherd begins to think so, investigating Aztec human sacrifices and the summoning of a winged serpent god (Quetzalcoatl natch), though the rest of the police are somewhat sceptical...

Low-rent cowardly crook Jimmy (Michael Moriarty) is less sceptical, especially after while on the run from the police he climbs to the top of the Chrysler building (a perfect Art Deco setting in this macabre film) and finds the creature's nest, including the remains of victims and a giant egg...

The film takes a while to come together, the early scenes with Jimmy seem completely out of place but eventually it all makes sense in a sometimes irreverent and satirical early 1980s style. The film reminds me a bit of Buckaroo Banzai at times, and as that is one of my very favourite films then that is, of course, a good thing. Not that this film is anywhere near as good as Buckaroo, it does drag at times but overall is a perfectly decent monster horror film with pretty good special effects for the day.

Squirm (1976)

Part of the 1970s wave of animal attack films, but in this case even more weird than usual, but also rather more compelling too.

A storm has bought down the electric lines in rural Georgia, the electricity flows into the Earth and brings millions of meat eating worms to the surface! City boy Mick (Don Scardino) is in town to see his local girlfriend Geri (Patricia Pearcy). Being a smart ass from Noo Yoick and therefore not a hick he knows that something strange is up already (of course) though the strangely smug Sheriff (Peter MacLean) won't hear anything about it...

Things really start to deteriorate when the somewhat odd Roger (RA Dow) has worms fly up into his face and literal masses of worms appear everywhere, eating people left right and centre. Mick has to try and save Geri and her family and fight a strangely zombified Roger...

Truthfully this film is a total mess, but a glorious one all the same. It makes little sense and at times the red necks are as scary and dangerous as the worms. The film is full of cheese, strange characters, gore and stereotypes. It is actually pretty great... somehow.

Giant from the Unknown (1958)

A 1950s monster movie with a difference, well a little bit of difference anyway.

Something monstrous is killing animals in the Californian woods, local scientist Wayne (Ed Kemmer) has discovered a living example of an extinct lizard which was kept alive in a rock for millennia so something odd is going on. Dr Cleveland (Morris Ankrum) and his daughter Janet (Sally Fraser) have meanwhile arrived to look for evidence of a Conquistador giant. With the help of Wayne they find Conquistador remains but the giant himself is not quite as dead as might be expected...

A standard and perfectly reasonable monster film, though the monster is not from outer space but Renaissance Spain (someone should have told the poster maker that). However, the film has a rather gaping plot hole. We see Vargas the giant (Buddy Baer) seemingly coming back to life but if that is so then what was killing and mutilating the farm animals mentioned earlier in the film? Vargus has the typical motivations of a Spanish officer bought back to life after centuries in suspended animation: kill everyone or find something to have sex with!

Empire of the Ants (1977)

A film about radioactive giant ants, probably as good as it could have been which isn't saying much.

Marilyn (Joan Collins) is arranging a tour of a Florida island, which she wants to sell plots of land to naive customers. Don't show the drum of nuclear waste which has been dumped on the beach. Some ants get enveloped in leaking nasty stuff.

Marilyn and her motley crew of 1970s disaster/monster film stereotypes are soon menaced by human sized ants. Their boat is attacked and destroyed leaving them marooned on the island. A battle for survival begins as they try and flee the giant ants, many falling and being torn to pieces in some rather graphic scenes...

It is ridiculous of course, the giant ants don't look too bad as puppets in close-ups (though scenes with magnified real ants not so good) but the horror and gore hit the spot. The film lacks some menace though for some reason and the plot is the usual nonsense with people behaving very strangely and annoying. For a giant insect monster film however, it isn't bad, though that isn't exactly a high bar.