Drug runners. Good cops. Bad cops. Hot women. Even hotter, souped-up trucks. Shane Smith, the founder of Vice, travels South of the Border to introduce Mexico’s Narco cinema. To add a layer of realism to his reporting, Smith plays a walk-on role in a drug- and action-packed movie shot in Tijuana.
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Later today, we’ll be launching a new, month-long series — Know Your Monster — celebrating Japan’s fantastic movie monsters. Each day through March, we’ll present a clip introducing a new monster wreaking havoc and destruction, often upon Tokyo, but sometimes on a global scale. To kick off this series in style, today’s Trillion Dollar Movie revolves around the granddaddy of all Japanese movie monsters, Godzilla or Gojira. Our feature is Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, the 14th movie in the Godzilla franchise, released in Japan in 1974 and three years later in the United States. It’s one of the better Godzilla sequels, popular enough that it spun off its own sequel (The Terror of Mechagodzilla) and a couple of remakes.
Stateside, it was originally called Godzilla Vs. the Bionic Monster to capitalize on the popularity at that time of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. But when the producers of those TV shows objected, the Bionic Monster was rechristened Mechagodzilla. He’s a titanium robot fascimile of the real Godzilla, under the power of mysterious space aliens intent on conquering the Earth. Just where do they originate? Their commander spills the beans, declaring he’s from “the Third Planet of the Black Hole.” They look humanoid, but kill them and they turn into monkeys, a ruse no doubt inspired by Planet of the Apes.
In a bit of a plot twist for the series, Godzilla isn’t a holy terror but rather the Earth’s savior, called upon to whip Mecha’s butt. Godzilla has a bizarre ally, a giant Pekinese dog named King Seesar. There’s also a fetching lady archaeologist who wears short skirts and go-go boots on the job. Now, that a fashion maven! While the dialogue is silly and the dubbing hilariously weird, the action is fast-paced and often spectacular, especially the final grudge-match between Godzilla and his nemesis from outer space. Enjoy, and do return again next Friday for another Trillion $ Movie.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This one is no longer available free online so we bring you a good clip collection of Mechagodzilla.)
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Welcome to the Chapter Fifteen, the concluding chapter from Manhunt of Mystery Island, our current Saturday Matinee serial. Claire Forrest plane continues to rise, leaving Lance Reardon desperate to locate the power transmitter controlling its flight.
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Welcome to Chapter Fourteen from Manhunt of Mystery Island, our current Saturday Matinee serial. In this chapter, our hero Lance Reardon rescues Claire Forrest from a mountain cabin and they pool their forces in an attempt to capture Captain Mephisto. Enjoy and return next Saturday for the Fifteen, and concluding chapter in this serial: Fatal Transformation.
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Welcome to Chapter Thirteen from Manhunt of Mystery Island, our current Saturday Matinee serial. In this chapter, Lance Reardon battles desperately with Captain Mephisto’s men, who have lured him into a volcanic cave. Enjoy and return next Saturday for Chapter Fourteen: Power Dive to Doom.
Welcome to Chapter Twelve from Manhunt of Mystery Island, our current Saturday Matinee serial. In this chapter, our hero Lance Reardon catches up with the sinister Captain Mephisto at a beach shack. Enjoy and return next Saturday for Chapter Thirteen: Bridge to Eternity.
Welcome to Chapter Eleven from Manhunt of Mystery Island, our current Saturday Matinee serial. In this chapter, Lance Reardon is tipped off by a photoelectric signal that someone is attempting to steal his radium detector. Enjoy and return next Saturday for Chapter Twelve: Cauldron of Cremation.
Welcome to Chapter Ten from Manhunt of Mystery Island, our current Saturday Matinee serial. In this chapter, Lance Reardon and Claire Forrest are using a radium detector to try to find Claire’s father, Professor Forrest, when they get trapped in a flooded tunnel. Enjoy and return next Saturday for Chapter Eleven: Satan’s Shadow.
Today’s Trillion Dollar Movie, Vampire Circus, marked the end of an era. This 1972 release wouldn’t be the last picture from Hammer Films, but it was the last vampire movie from the British studios that gave us The Horror of Dracula, Dracula Prince of Darkness, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave and so many other vampire titles with a rabid cult following.
Vampire Circus differs from its predecessors in that no one as well-known as Christopher Lee stars. Hammer Films, being on its last legs, went with a no-name cast, and also made a more exploitative and disjointed film. But Vampire Circus isn’t without its attributes. The scenes of vampire seduction are among Hammer’s sexiest ever. And there are plenty of kinky twists, centering upon the arrival of a freakish circus in a Serbian town under quarantine and suffering from a devastating plague.
A generation ago, the town’s fathers destroyed a rock star-handsome vampire count named Mitterhaus. On his deathbed, before shriveling up in his crypt, he vows revenge. Now, payback has come in the form of the plague and the strange circus, run by a Gypsy woman (Adrienne Corri) whose minions include a malevolent midget, a dancing naked tiger girl and a panther that can shape-shift into a human. Plotwise, the story covers familiar ground, but the visuals are quite overheated and often erotic. One thing’s for sure: These vampires have longer and more glistening fangs than any I can recall seeing on the screen.
Lynne Frederick, playing the young rose of a heroine, subsequently caught the eye of comedian Peter Sellers, who married her. She ruined the promise of a budding movie career through a wicked drug habit that left her dead at age 39. The strongman of the circus is David Prowse. You probably don’t recognize him, but you assuredly have seen him act — as he appeared, under mask, as the villain Darth Vader in all of the Star Wars adventures.
Do enjoy Vampire Circus, and be sure to return again next Friday for another Trillion $ Movie.
Welcome to Chapter Nine from Manhunt of Mystery Island, our current Saturday Matinee serial. In this chapter, one of Captain Mephisto’s henchmen tries to bomb Lance Reardon and Claire Forrest as they bring a radium detector to Mystery Island. Enjoy and return next Saturday for Chapter Ten: The Sable Shroud.
