20 Million Miles to Earth

As JJ Abrams struggles with his as yet unnamed movie to capture the excitement that first gripped the movie going public of the 50’s, I am of course reminded of the inventive genius from that era which produced classics such as Them, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and many more.

But one film in particular, 20 Million Miles to Earth, stands apart from them all. Why, you ask? Because of Ray Harryhausen’s signature stop motion monster walking across the silver screen.

Not content to feel that I was born in the wrong country, I think I was born in the wrong time as well. The 50’s was the age of the atom bomb, the red menace and women in high heels screaming and running from any number of things.

- sigh-

20 Million Miles to Earth is a text book monster film in that it follows the mystery of a visitor from beyond the stars and explodes  into a full on monster fest as the dreaded Ymir stalks the streets and picks a fight with an elephant (wouldn’t you?).

Trailer

The monster Ymir rules the movie. The Russell Crowe and Leo DeCaprio of his age, Ymir is both terrifying and spellbinding in its character, which given the fact that his dialog consists entirely of strange monster screams is down to Harryhausen’s skill as a stop motion animator.

If you are short on monster movies this Halloween season,  20 Million Miles to Earth should fill that void nicely.

Suggested viewing:

20 Million Miles To Earth (50th Anniversary Edition)
The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen – Legendary Science Fiction Series (It Came from Beneath the Sea / Earth vs. the Flying Saucers / 20 Million Miles to Earth / Mysterious Island / H.G. Wells’ First Men in the Moon)

BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE

Italian director Dario Argento is a filmmaker like no other. His films are always visually stunning using extremely vivid colors and the most anxiety-inducing soundtracks you’ll ever hear (the music by Goblin in Suspiria is sure to get you kicked out of your apartment should you watch it at home, full volume).

Personally, I am more familiar with Suspiria, Phenomena and Inferno which have supernatural influences in them that feel at home in children’s fairy tales. In fact, the documentary on the Suspiria Special Edition explained that all of the doorknobs in the ballet school were installed at shoulder level to make the actresses seem childlike. However his first film, Bird With the Crystal Plumage, owes more to Hitchcock than Hans Christian Andersen.

The film concerns an American tourist who witnesses a woman getting attacked by a black-gloved killer, all the while trapped between glass doors. Shocked and tortured by his experience, he is forced to remain in Rome by the police. The film produces trademark thriller moments of unease and alienation as the witness is tormented by images of the crime that his mind will not let go of. Of course, there is a twist ending that turns everything on its end… including our ‘hero.’

A thriller in the purest form, the artistic touches that would make Argento a master of what became called ‘giallo horror’ are easily seen. The cinematography and stunning soundtrack by Ennio Morricone (of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) produce an eerie unsettling experience that the viewer is not soon to forget.

Dario Argento on BBC

Originally released in a heavily edited version, Blue Underground have finally released the film in an unedited format, in fact an extra bit of violence was added… just to freak you out even more.

Just in time for Halloween.

On Amazon:
The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (2-Disc Special Edition)

Superman Doomsday/release day

I just picked up a copy of the Superman – Doomsday DVD, so a review is forthcoming, but I wanted to let anyone who is looking to actually walk into a store and buy a copy with cash money (as opposed to asking the magical pixies inside your computer to get the UPS guy to drop one off at your doorstep) that Best Buy is selling a unique version that comes bundled with a special miniature version of DC: New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke (which I have been writing about for ages now) which reprints the first two chapters of the story.

For those of you who own New Frontier, I suggest you go out and buy a copy of Superman – Doomsday from Best Buy and sacrifice the mini comic to your friends, thereby getting them jazzed about the upcoming DVD release which will be the biggest thing to happen to DC Comics fans since the 1990 Batman Animated Series.

Off to watch the film, more later…

Available in pixieland here:
Superman – Doomsday (DC Universe Animated Original Movie)