Absinthe is the aphrodisiac of the self. The green fairy who lives in the absinthe wants your soul. But you are safe with me.

This update is going to be a little different than the last few. This one is much more respectable. Not that all of the other monsters are not to be respected, just they are a little different, shall we say. All of the ones I have already introduced you to (or perhaps re introduced you to) are famous or infamous for either the movie being bad or the acting being bad or editing or whatever. Or maybe nothing is bad about them other than it was a monster from a very low budget film and that is the only reason they are considered “B” movies. The label “B Movie” does not necessarily mean bad. The following group should prove that fact. All of the following are also considered B movie monsters. First up is a Vincent Price classic-


Stylish slaughter, sardonically sinister is THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES. From the opening scene, where an enormous organ, its pipes resplendent in back lit red glass, rises from the floor - an organ playing a jaunty tune, a hooded figure at the keys, gleefully stroking the keys out of sync with the music - we feel we are in familiar territory. However, when that hooded figure descends some steps and winds a great crank, sending into motion a group of jazz-playing robots, and a young lady (clad in a gown likely designed by Busby Berserkly) enters, that the two may dance, we enter the realm of the familiar made weird. Dr. Phibes is gloriously played by Vincent Price. A reverent intent on destroying the people who may or may not have been responsible for his wife's death. He is completely evil, but guess who you'll be cheering for during the whole film. The fact that Vincent Price has fun with the “in” jokes particularly the ones about the painting and him picking out the right ingredients for his locust tempting ooze almost makes this a black comedy. One could make an argument for calling it just that. This was Price’s 100Th film believe it or not. The tag line is also ingenious: “Love means never having to say you're ugly!”. I don't know if The Abominable Doctor Phibes is my all time favorite Vincent Price movie, but if it's not, then it's damn close. I wouldn't be exaggerating in even the least little bit if I said that this film is a pure work of art. There's no other way to say it. I can't recommend this film enough, and if you're looking for a simply incredible movie to stay up late with, then this is the one. If you don't already own this film, do yourself a favor and get it. You won't be sorry.


The Creature from the Black Lagoon was made a year after The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953). The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was a big success that created a vogue for prehistoric/dinosaur and atomically enlarged monster movies, something that became one of the most predominant themes of 1950s science-fiction. The Creature from the Black Lagoon is clearly an attempt to tap that success. Although it is relatively rarity among these films in that it bypasses the idea of a giant-size monster and brings the monster down to human-size. The design of the Creature was supposedly modeled on the Oscar statuette, would you believe. It was originally shot in 3D and is sometimes shown in that format in revival screenings today. Seen flat the film is a rather ordinary monster movie, distinguished somewhat by Jack Arnold’s camerawork. However seen in its original 3D format that same monster movie is transformed into a work of extraordinary atmosphere with the 3D allowing some stunning depth photography. The lagoon becomes a world of mesmerizing albeit sinister atmosphere. The smooth mirrored waters that the camera glides over seem to hold dark and menacing secrets. Even the scenes in the creature’s grotto manage to transform a rather cardboard-looking set into an eerie netherworld. But the best sequences of all are those swimming beneath the waters. It has a genuinely real look, as though one is there – which of course the camera actually is. The underwater ballet between the creature and Julia Adams is the best scene in the film even when seen flat, but in 3D it is absolutely spellbinding. When the camera looks up from underwater at Julia Adams swimming, it seems as though she is floating in sunlight. The Creature from the Black Lagoon was an even bigger success than The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and spawned two sequels both of which are worthwhile. CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON was one of the last of the monsters to enter the Universal pantheon. The Creature costume is one of the best monster costumes to come out of the 50s. If you haven't seen CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, put it on your must-see list. If you have, why not introduce it to a new generation? Get a bunch of kids together, order a pizza and make popcorn, then show them what good monster movies used to be like.


A prehistoric monster that was reincarnated by the Pacific Nuclear Tests. He/She becomes extremely angry when the reality that the rest of the species is extinct, meaning no mating season. Finally stopped by the oxygen destroyer weapon. Yep, Godzilla. I don’t know exactly how many movies there are starring our Jurassic Grandparent but I have seen most of them. The first original (meaning the first one from 1955 without Raymond Burr) Gojira is far superior to the Americanized version “Godzilla King of the Monsters“. For some reason (face and name recognition read: star power, I guess ) the American distributors of the original Godzilla movie would not release it in the states without adding the scenes with Raymond Burr and changing some of the story through the translation of the dialogue. Having seen both versions, I don’t see the point except for them wanting someone we (as Americans) would relate to. It was the early ’50’s don’t forget. Aside from this film some of the better films in the series, in my opinion, are: GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA, GOZILLA: FINAL WARS, GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORA, AND GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO. Just about any Godzilla movie you can’t go wrong with. That is as long as it’s not the 2000 movie made here in the states. That one is so awful, in fact, that in Godzilla: Final Wars Godzilla must fight a monster very similar to the “Godzilla” from Godzilla 2000. In Final Wars that monster is not called Godzilla, it‘s called GINO. GINO stands for Godzilla In Name Only. The Godzilla used in Godzilla 2000 was CGI and not a very good one either. The only and hopefully last time it will be CGI. Every other Godzilla has been, of course, a man in a rubber suit. As it should be.


In 1951, moviegoers filled their popcorn bags for two influential films destined to define science fiction movies into the 21st century. In The Day The Earth Stood Still, a Christ-like man from space, on a mission to save us from our "petty squabbling" and "strange, unreasoning attitudes," is besieged by trigger-happy, paranoid militarists before appealing to the superior minds of Earth's scientists, then flies away having given us food for thought. Meanwhile, all namby-pamby First Contact niceties were torched to the ground in The Thing from Another World, where the worst way to deal with its flying saucer pilot is to let the eggheads trump our men in uniform in the name of some fatally wrongheaded "communication" and "understanding." This taut and entertaining thriller is to The Day the Earth Stood Still what Alien is to Star Trek, or the Rolling Stones to the Beatles. Although it hasn't aged quite as robustly as the nostalgia surrounding it, The Thing from Another World remains on many Top Ten favorites lists and still stands tall as one of the seminal influences in genre cinema. It's the prototype for most subsequent SF-horror hybrids, from It! The Terror from Beyond Space to Alien, Predator, and, naturally, John Carpenter's The Thing, which revisited the same source material — John W. Campbell, Jr.'s novella "Who Goes There?" — with memorably unnerving visual effects. Christian Nyby received the director credit, though it's an open secret that the man at the controls was the film's producer, Howard Hawks, whose Hollywood creds at the time included Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, Sergeant York (which a soldier in this movie makes a joke about), To Have and Have Not, and The Big Sleep. Nyby had been one of Hawks' editors and needed a directing credit for union reasons, so Hawks gave Nyby, who directed only one brief scene, the marquee spot. The film's strengths are pure Hawks; the snappy pace, strong scenes, rat-a-tat overlapping dialogue, and relaxed, natural performances from actors playing well-delineated professionals who must work together to get the job done. The script is peppered with crackling quot ables. "What if it can read our minds?" asks a soldier, to which another replies, "He'll be real mad when he gets to me." The sum total gives us a film that still displays greater panache than many of its contemporaries, sci-fi or otherwise. The only weak link is the appearance of the Thing itself, which might as well have doubled as a Hammer Films Frankenstein's Monster. Wisely, Hawks keeps it in the shadows or framed snarling in doorways. It fully reveals itself only at the climax, where the crackle-pop of the moment prevents its cheapskate looks from disintegrating the tension and atmosphere. "Starring James Arness as The Thing" now trumpets the unforgivable DVD box art. The man who in just four more years would become a household name as Gunsmoke's Marshal Matt Dillon was obviously unsuccessful in his attempts to distance himself from his second most well-remembered role.

Lon Chaney, Sr. gives a legendary performance in The Phantom Of The Opera as well as making an everlasting horrifying spectacle of himself. The make-up and elaborate sets are truly to be held in awe, even by today's standards. The basic contortions he forced upon his own face made for a disturbing and, at times frightening monster of a man. This is particularly true when mixed into the brilliant unveiling scene, which we have all seen a hundred times. This unveiling is as striking today as it was back then thanks to Chaney’s efforts. The rare use of two-strip Technicolor brings dazzling effect to the incomparable masquerade ball scene. Sit back and enjoy the silent and definitive film version of a classic monster fable that sound, technology and time have yet to top. I’m talking about the original 1925 version. Still the best version. I assume the age of the film and the fact it is a silent movie helps to make the film an easily ignored masterpiece of horror.