The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13:#1- Gojira (1954)

Here we are, finally. It’s Halloween night, and after 31 posts in 31 days capped off with The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13, we've finally arrived at the end of the month and the countdown. While all the little kiddies are out trick and/or treating and ghouls, ghosts, and goblins come out to play, why not kick back for a while at The LBL with me and let’s get our giant monster obsession rockin’ one last time. Yesterday, I practically fell all over myself giving King Kong accolades for starting the popularity of the giant monster, but while the giant ape made some splash in 1933, it was during its 1952 release that it really caused major waves. One of those waves ended up lapping the shores of Japan, a country still reeling in the post-WWII era as they tried to find closure, purpose, and direction for their country. No other place in the world has known the true horrors and devastation of a directed, intentional nuclear blast save for Japan. So is it any wonder that the same year American filmmakers released their first nuclear powered monster movie with The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, that the Japanese did them one better and created a monster that was a walking nuclear incident with Gojira (and I don't mean Godzilla, King of the Monsters, but more on that later.) It is Halloween, and a discussion of Gojira could get pretty heavy, pretty quick, but I’m going to try to keep it on the lighter side. After all of these films in The B&B H13 about fear, of nature, of man, of nukes and science, Gojira is a film that certainly touches on a number of fears, but it is really a story of hope.

The Rupert Pupkin Speaks Halloween Top 13 Giant Monsters Special!

To get you all geared up for the finale of The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13 this evening, I thought I would drop on you the list from the Listmaster General, Rupert Pupkin a.k.a my pal Brian from Rupert Pupkin Speaks. When he's not landing cool interviews for The Gentleman's Guide to Midnite Cinema, hosting awesome list events on his site, and being an all around great dude, he also makes some the best lists of films that I have ever seen. His knowledge and scope of interests in film is unrivaled, and he always has some great and interesting picks. So check out Rupe's list and check back here in a few hours for the final entry on The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13!

The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13 #2: King Kong (1933)/King Kong (1976)

For the penultimate entry on The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13, I am including two films in the same slot. Not only because they share a single title, but also because they both share distinct, though differing, views of a classic tale. The two films, as I'm sure you have already noticed are the original King Kong from 1933 and the remake from 1976. What you won't find is any further mention of Peter Jackson’s indulgent, bloated remake from 2005 because it’s a lot of old bleh, and the less said about it the better. On the other hand, the original King Kong is a triumph of screen trickery, acting, filmmaking, and story, and the ’76 remake updates the formula, the drive, and the symbolism of the tale for a modern age. Both films are still entirely as relevant today as when they were made, and I'm sure these two occasions will not be the only times this classic tragedy will be brought to the cinema. So come with me as I roll the screen on two classic monster movies, and discuss the creature known as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13 :#3: Them! (1954)

The 1950s were an era of us against them, but the ‘Them’ of today’s selection for the Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13 is a foe for all seasons and eras. I’m talking about the bane of picnics, the scourge of lemonade stands, the menace of masticating mountain men, the common ant. Just like yesterday’s film featured a tiny worm grown to gargantuan proportions, today’s takes one of the smallest and most common (and most commonly stomped on) members of the insect family and turns the size tables on humankind  Naturally, it’s also our fault. When nature attacks in the nuclear age, you can always bet that the A-bomb is not too far behind. Strangely, it also has something else behind it that most major giant monster movies lack, studio support and a budget. Taking the mutant creature feature and giving it proper effects, a solid cast, an experienced director, and a script that makes sense and leads to exciting scenes, Hollywood crafted the crown jewel of American 1950s science fiction/horror features, the exclamatorily named classic, Them!

The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13: #4: Tremors (1990)

I remember very well when I first saw Tremors. I recall going to the theater my freshman year of high school not really knowing what to expect from a film that featured both Remo Williams and Alex P. Keaton’s dad, but the promise of Dune-esque giant sandworms was enough to get my butt in the seat. Tremors flopped upon that initial release, but in my heart, it was one of the movies of the year. Funny, exciting, and gory, it had everything that a teenage boy could want… except nudity, but you can't have it all. When Tremors came to VHS, it got a second life, and the franchise became popular enough to spawn several sequels which are surprisingly not that bad. Tremors was one of the first films to have a mainstream second life on home video that the box office would not have anticipated. With its wild creatures, a well rounded cast, and keen, sharp pacing, Tremors has always had a special place in my heart. So I invite you to come on into that special place, and join me as I dig into #4 on the B&B H13, 1990’s Tremors.

The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13: #5: Attack of the 50ft. Woman (1958)

For the second time on this list, I will be talking about an exclusively humanoid giant, but unlike the teens in Village of the Giants, this time it isn't played so much for laughs. In the eyes of a conservative nation, which America has steadily grown out of over the years, the rise of the Women’s Christian Temperance Organization in the 1870s-80s was nothing less than monstrous. While their purpose was to ban alcohol, something that few people would rally around now, one of their main reasons was to improve the home life of women who were abused, beaten, and neglected thanks to the rampant alcoholism which had spread like wildfire among the nation’s male population. To many, the members of that group, as well as the women’s suffragettes, were nothing less than monstrous. However, these two movements were the seed of what would grow to be the modern feminist movement, which came into its own nearly a hundred years later in the 1960’s. Despite winning the vote in the 1920s and powering the country through World War II, when the men came home, they still expected to find meek partners who bent to their husband’s will, but by the late 1950s the strain between the sexes was beginning to show even in idyllic middle America. So it comes as no surprise that a movie came along and exploited the fear of the powerful woman whose cause was just, if not her methods. Granted she was still dressed in an awfully titillating style, but Attack of the 50 Foot Woman offered up a giant woman in the place of a giant movement just waiting in the wings.

The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13: #6: The Host (2006)

After yesterday's trip to the land of the rising sun and Destroy All Monsters, I'm taking a slight detour across Asia to another land and another kind of monster, and the real scary thing, folks, is it might just be us. As I've mentioned before, more often than not, giant monsters are not just the source of menace because they will eat you whole and tear down your city, they're about a deep seated fear of an evil or menace beyond containment. Sometimes it's nukes or nature, but I think that today's flick is the only one in which the source of the menace lies between the lines of International politics. To really get into the peril of the film, then you have to know a bit about the history so I will warn you now that later on there might just be a boring preachy part later on. Until then, it's going to be all about a fishy menace that may or may not be spreading a deadly disease when I talk about the 2006 South Korean creature feature, The Host. 

The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13: #7: Destroy All Monsters (1968)

Snakes, bunnies, crocs, teenagers, rats and dinosaurs have made it to The Bigger & Badder Halloween Top 13 in the past six days, but I bet quite a few of you are wondering when I was going to pull out the big guns and talk about a kaiju film. Now, a few of you are wondering what a kaiju film is. Literally translated as “strange beast” for the Japanese, the term refers to any movie that features a monster, hopping vampire, mummy, zombie or other assorted monster, but the word has come to mean something more specific to American audiences. Stateside it is a descriptive used to talk about giant monster movies from Japan, and frequently it is thrown around when discussing Godzilla movies. That’s right, I'm finally including a feature with The King of the Monsters on this list, but he’s not the only one on board. I’m talking about Minilla, Mothra, Rodan, Gorosaurus, Anguirus, Kumonga, Manda, Baragon, Varan, and the big man himself. (Not Clarence Clemmons, but rather Godzilla) In other words the all star giant monster cast of the finale of the Godzilla franchise, Destroy All Monsters!

The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13: #8: Village of the Giants (1965)

So far on the B&B H13, we've had a huge snake, a dinosaur on the loose, a gaggle of deadly enlarged rabbits, and a colossal croc, but today I have one of the scariest things to ever reach enormous proportions, teenagers. Thankfully, today’s movie was made in the 1960s because they don't make an iPhone big enough to quell a tremendous teen of this day and age. Back then, all anyone wanted to do was make the scene and go-go dance with some oversized ducks, but not everyone could make that kind of happening get to happening. I'm getting ahead of myself though. Today is the first time (and possibly not the last) that I'll be talking about Bert I. Gordon, the master of the B grade giant creature feature having directed 10 such films in his forty five year career behind the camera. (Editor's Note: I know this doesn't make sense because Food of the Gods was yesterday, but, to make in clear, in layman's terms, I fucked up and reversed the order on these two films.) Of course, if your initials spelled out B.I.G (and you were not Notorious), you might have a certain affection for the overly large in life as well. The flick I'll be talking about today came out in 1965, right at the height of the “Beach Party” movie craze, and grafting elements of this style onto an extremely fast and loose adaptation of an H.G. Wells novel, Gordon created a film with great comedic moments, some near scandalous special effects, and maybe even a thing or two to say. I hope you’ll join me now as I take a trip to the nice, quiet town of Hainesville which is just about to become The Village of the Giants!