The Monster of Piedras Blanca (1959) – movie review

The Monster of Piedras Blanca (1959)

If you’re into 50’s horror, this film is noted as the gorier, nastier step-brother to Creature from the Black Lagoon. Similarities are expected because Jack Kevan who worked on The Creature costume also worked on this costume. Most notable in this film is pin-up model/actress Jeanne Carmen, who was also famous as a ‘trick shot’ expert golfer (beauty and talent, eh). This is your basic 50’s horror: a budding romance, a man with a secret and night time attacks by a hideous creature. Small details make this movie stand out, like the creature drooling when he sees Lucy and the severed head being picked at by crabs in a sea cave. There is one jarring scene where the police are investigating the death of a shop owner and are mulling over his headless corpse, thinking the monster is long gone. It’s not. I can say this scene must have been frightening for the 1950’s and it even gave me a jolt the first time I had watched it. The summary goes like this: Sturgis is the lighthouse keeper who goes to the butcher shop often to collect scraps. He complains that the butcher is not giving him enough and the butcher gets mad. Sturgis was secretly leaving the meat scraps for a legendary monster. Now that he is not leaving anything the monster begins to attack people. His daughter, Lucy Sturgis has a habit of skinny dipping at dusk. The Monster apparently enjoys this because when he captures Lucy, he doesn’t kill her, he kidnaps her. So Lucy’s love interest, Fred, arrives with a posse and battles with the monster on the Lighthouse exterior. If you’re a fan of 50’s horror and haven’t seen this you should. It’s one of those lesser known monster film gems that have gone under the radar for far too long.

Trivia tid-bits:

The hands of this monster are the same hands used in The Mole People.

The feet of the monster are the same one’s used for the Metalunan creatures in This Planet Earth (1955)

Piedras Blancas is a real place in California and exterior shots of the lighthouse were filmed there. The name means White Rocks.

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Aurora Monster Models and Prehistoric Scenes Kits

Aurora Monster Models and Prehistoric Scenes Kits – Part II

When I was a youngster, I loved to build monster model kits. I would see ads in the back of Famous Monsters of Filmland and I would send away for them via mail order or have my mom take me to local hobby shops to purchase them. The premier company in horror model-kits back then (1970’s) was Aurora. I started with the Universal Monsters model kit collections and soon moved on to the Prehistoric Scenes Kits. Eventually, the kits I owned went to the big toy graveyard where all kids things seem to find their end. For the longest time I thought those model kits were gone forever. But recently, I have found many of the wonderful kits I enjoyed as a kid, still available for purchase.

Aurora Prehistoric Scenes kit molds were first bought by Monogram who only kept seven of the Dinosaurs and the Wooly Mammoth. Sadly they destroyed the other kit molds to reuse the material. Then Revell bought Monogram and re-released the dino kits (twice). Today you can still purchase many of the Aurora Dinosaur kits under the Revell label. Although the box art is different, the kits are basically the same as the old Aurora kits minus the bases and extra accessories.

the same Ankylosaurus model released through the years…

Many of the Aurora Monster Model kits were purchased by several different companies such as Playing Mantis, Moebius, and Polar Lights. It is a bit of work to hunt all of these down as they release them sporadically but you can get almost all of them. I have recently purchased, The Forgotten Prisoner and the Aurora Godzilla model.

On top of that there are several companies that release customizing kits under the “What if…” banner and alternative pieces market which are often called Conversion Kits. You can change the head of the original Godzilla to one that is more in line with the movies. You can change the heads of the Triceratops to create different horned dinosaurs such as the Torosaurus or the Monoclonius. You can change the head of Dr. Jekyll to match the original  film “The Fly” (which looks amazing). You can now buy Julie Adams to fit with your Aurora style Creature From the Black Lagoon, where she will be set in his arms like the famous scene from the film.

Today’s model kits are amazingly detailed and there are quite a few hobbyists that take great pride in the building and painting of these kits. Many are limited release and can sell for upwards of $200. There are 3 types of kits, plastic, vinyl, and resin kits. The resin kits are the most expensive and offer the most detail.

One new kit I’ve been waiting for is Gorgo, by the company, Monarch. It was supposed to be released last year but no one has heard any news since. I hope they continue there plans to release it, because it is a fantastic model. Update: model kit was released – you can see my build here: Monarch Gorgo Model Kit

Below are some links if you care to check out some more info and pics on the subject. Some of the pics used here are from these sites.

If you want to learn more about the Aurora Kits and product lines, a good place to start is with the documentary dvd, The Aurora Monsters: the model craze that gripped the world. You can get the dvd at monstersinmotion.com or Amazon.

www.monstersinmotion.com
www.geometricdesign.net 
www.culttvman.com
www.auroraprehistoricscenes.com
www.tylisaari.com
www.morbidmonster.com
www.universalmonsterarmy.com
http://creaturescape.com

Gallery of classic kits:

this model is gone forever, the molds were destroyed.

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Gallery of new kits and conversion accessories:

same body, different head, new dino.

Model builder vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAWsr3aI0Ic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlB_rkH2414&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnWP3cg0olE

Island of the Fish Men (1979) – movie review

Island of the Fish Men (1979)
(aka: Screamers – 1981)
Directed by Sergio Martino

A ship transporting prisoners gets lost in storm and fog near the Caribbean Islands. They are thrown upon the rocks of an uncharted island and shipwrecked. The survivors, Claude, a naval officer and doctor, and several prisoners wash up on shore of this strange island. Men start disappearing in the salty marshes as they search for fresh water. They are stopped by a woman, Amanda, (Barbara Bach) on horseback who first tells them they must leave the island. Then they’re invited back to an estate, the only shelter on the island. They are greeted by the owner of the private island, Edmond Rackman (Richard Johnson) and a voodoo priestess who commands a tribe of natives to do Edmond’s dirty work. When a suspicious Claude (Claudio Cassinelli) investigates he is attacked by strange looking fishmen with Piranha-like heads and scaled skin but he is saved by Amanda. He finds out that the island is near a submerged lost city. Edmond uses these Fishmen to dive for the sunken treasures, gold and jewels, of the lost city. A scientist working with Edmond, Professor Marvin (Amanda’s Father), tells Claude the fishmen are the last survivors of Atlantis and he gets them to dive in exchange for drugs. Yes, he has them addicted to a milky drug that keeps them diving for gold. Only later do we find out that Marvin is actually turning the natives into these creatures, a point that echoes the Island of Doctor Moreau. Natives revolt, fishmen go on a feeding frenzy, a volcano erupts, Claude and Amanda fall in love and attempt to escape the sinking island.

There is tons of stuff going on in this film but somehow it works. Tightly shot to build tension in the beginning of the film, it opens to grand shots of island jungle, native ceremony, and underwater shots of swimming fishmen and the massive lost city. The Fishmen themselves look a bit silly by today’s standards but work well for this creature-feature style flick. The US released version Screamers is edited with added scenes and a new beginning, hardly necessary for the film, so I would recommend getting/watching the “Fishmen” version (Mya Entertainment). Enjoyable as a fun Saturday afternoon monster flick with some high island adventure thrown in, not to be taken too seriously. I hear there was even a sequel.