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Archive for the category “Know Your Monster”
Offensive Halloween Costumes
Every year some Halloween costumes come out that generate a howl. Here, Barbara4u2c lists what she considers the nine most offensive Halloween costumes for 2018. Yes, it’s wrong to dress like a gorilla and bring up hallowed memories of Harambe, just as you can’t justify wearing a sexy prison outfit.
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Does Demonic Possession Exist?
Demonic Possession in the world today. Is it real? Or just a mental illness? Can it be proven by science? Is it religious fraud pushed by biblical charlatans or does it exist today? One Ivy League psychiatrist says demons are real and that pure evil is sweeping over humanity. David Zublick and Ronnie McMullen unseal the horrible truth in this special report!
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Why Do Memes Go Viral?
Lots of funny and iconic memes arrive suddenly and overwhelmingly in our internet life, but what’s the science behind why those memes go viral?
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Discover the stories behind some of the most famous Internet memes!
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Big Foot Tribe Photographed
Entire Big Foot Sasquatch tribe clearly filmed for the first time. Yeti is NOT a myth anymore. So many sightings around the world that creatures got its own distinct names by locals, who have no doubt in their existence. Yet, there was no clear recorded evidence except numerous grainy cell phone and old camera videos. Until now.
After years of searching we finally found and filmed the entire lost tribe of Big Foot or Sasquatch, as these creatures were called by native Cree Indians in the Big River First Nation of Canadian province Saskatchewan. Watch and learn how Cree tribe lived in harmony and peace with Sasquatch for millennia until Pale Face colonized Canada and started the war of three nations, driving two of them to the brink of extinction.
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Zombie Drive-Thru
Unsuspecting fast-food restaurant, drive-thru employees are startled when their customer turns out to be a terrifying zombie. Enjoy this Halloween Night episode on this edition of Ed Bassmaster.
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Know Your Monster: 31
ZEDUS
Last but certainly not least in our Know Your Monster series is Zedus, arch-foe of Gamera. Zedus is a powerful monster, a sea beast who bears a strong resemblance to Godzilla but has a few different embellishing traits.
For instance, Zedus has a forked, serpent-like tongue that he often uses to impale his enemies. Frilly dorsal fins run the length of his body from his head to his tail. His extremely long tail is second only to his tongue in his arsenal of weapons. He can whip it around at a fast clip, knocking down buildings and bowling over opponents. Zedus’ other notable feature is his titanic size. He towers over 200 feet tall, making him one of the largest of the Kaiju.
Zedus made his screen debut in Gamera The Brave, the most recent Gamera film, released in 2006. He doesn’t actually battle the original Gamera but instead the big turtle’s offspring, Toto, who hatches from a mysterious egg and is raised by a young boy named Toru. Yes, the filmmakers return to familiar territory, giving us a Gamera who is a protector of kids and a force for good. But before dismissing the film as sugarcoated pablum, watch this scene of the bad-ass Zedus, munching on some villagers. Many Kaiju are fierce, but how many do you recall who are carnivorous?
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And for a double-dose of Zedus, here’s his showdown against Toto.
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Hope you’ve enjoyed our Know Your Monster series and learned a thing or two about the Kaiju, the Japanese movie monsters. The next time one of your friends try to stump you with a Godzilla trivia question, bring up Zedus or Biollante, and test who’s really the expert on the subject!
Know Your Monster: 30
YONGGARY
Yonggary is a South Korean movie monster, inspired by the Japanese Kaiju. He’s said to be a 200 million-year-old dinosaur, resurrected by aliens to help them conquer the Earth. Yonggary looks a lot like Godzilla, but has a protruding horn in place of his nose. In some incarnations, he even has a few horns. Yonggary also has a jewel called the “Damon” on his forehead. It’s through this jewel that the aliens control the beast. When the jewel gets destroyed, Yonggary breaks free from his alien masters, turning against them and fighting to protect the planet.
Besides looking like Godzilla, Yonggary exhibits many similar traits. He dines on gasoline and oil, shoots fireballs from his mouth and emits a laser beam from his horn. Reacting to criticism that Yonggary was a Godzilla clone, the Korean filmmakers modified the monster’s original appearance, giving him a few new distinguishing attributes. There’s also some trash talking against Godzilla in the Yonggary movies. As one policeman observes in the 1999 remake of Yonggary: Monster from the Deep: “Compared to this guy, Godzilla is a pussy.”
Yonggary translates as “Huge Dragon” in Korean. The monster has not built up much of a homegrown fan base, and the Yonggary movies haven’t been particularly successful at the box office. The first came out in 1967, and promptly disappeared. However, the 1999 remake was repackaged as Reptilian for release in the United States. It’s aired a few times on the Sci-Fi channel and also surfaced in a Midnite Movies DVD series marketed by MGM.
Here’s a short clip of the CGI-generated Yonggary in action.
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Tomorrow’s featured monster will be Zedus, wrapping up our month-long salute to the Kaiju.
Know Your Monster: 29
VIRAS
A gigantic squid-like creature from Outer Space, Viras battles Gamera in the 1968 film Destroy All Planets, also known as Gamera Vs. the Space Monster Viras. It’s the one and only screen appearance by Viras, barring fleeting glimpses of him seen in stock footage shown during other Gamera movies.
Viras is the leader of an alien race intent on conquering the Earth. He sees Gamera as the only threat to stop his plans, so he targets the flying turtle, preying upon Gamera’s one weakness — a kindness and affinity toward children. Viras kidnaps two Boy Scouts and holds them hostage on his spaceship. With Gamera coming to their rescue, Viras can employ his arsenal of tricks, including telepathy and mind control, to defeat the Earth monster. Otherwise, Viras has a limited arsenal of weapons. He doesn’t spit fire or hurl radioactive beams. He can only smother opponents with his tentacles or spear them with sharply pointed head.
We already presented the theatrical trailer for Gamera Vs. the Space Monster Viras in our Know Your Monster installment on Gamera. So, instead of repeating the trailer, here’s a well-done review of the movie — well-done, with one exception. The reviewer slips out of the gate and calls the monster “Varan” instead of “Viras.” Oh, well, nobody’s perfect. And he does catch and correct the mistake moving forward.
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Tomorrow’s featured monster: Yonggary
Know Your Monster: 28
VARAN
Varan is one of the most fascinating Kaiju, but also less well-known than other Japanese movie monsters. That’s because he’s appeared in only two films. The first — Varan the Unbelievable! from 1958 –received only a limited distribution in the United States. Otherwise, Varan has been seen only in a cameo role in the omnibus Destroy All Monsters.
If you can imagine a reptilian flying squirrel, then you have an idea of Varan’s appearance. He has skin flaps connecting his legs and arms, allowing him to glide and swoop down on his enemies. But his stony facial expression and scaly, blistered hide also make him look like an offshoot of Godzilla. One of his most powerful weapons is his tail, which he uses as a whiplash, powerful enough to knock down buildings.
In the same manner that Mothra was cast as the guardian protector for the natives of Infant Island, Varan is a mountain god worshiped by a remote tribe. But his ancestral stomping grounds lie in Siberia along the Kitami River. After the Japanese send out a scientific expedition to capture or destroy the beast, he returns the favor by attacking Tokyo.
Let’s watch a short clip of Varan in full destructive mode. He does have a nice roar!
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Tomorrow’s featured monster: Viras
