5 Things I'd like to see in the new 'Skull Island' film.

At Comic Con over the weekend, Legendary Pictures (Pacific Rim, Godzilla) announced they were making a new King Kong film. Now, Legendary have a pretty good reputation for keeping fans happy with their iterations of iconic material they've handled so far (they were behind both the Batman and Watchmen films, to name but a few), so seeing them get involved in re-booting/reinventing King Kong seems like a pretty good idea at this point. It's early days yet for the project (no director, etc, announced), but seeing as I coming down after a hard few days of King Kong myself, I figure I may as well give my hopes for it, as it stands right now.

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King Kong Lives (1986)

"What the hell is this? 'Deliverance'?"

For years I had forgotten that this film even existed. I had clearly seen it a few times as a kid, probably when it landed on VHS, but then it somehow got pushed away into the dusty parts of the Attic, bar a few scenes that stuck with me that I somehow attributed to the 1976 remake. So by the time I got around to re-visiting Dino De Laurentiis' re-imagining of the 1933 classic, I was surprised to see the film didn't involve Kong having open heart surgery at some point. After digging around, I was surprised to see that there was indeed a sequel to that film, as final as it seemed in its conclusion, and I had in fact seen it. Time does funny things with memories, but are these films sometimes best left forgotten?

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King Kong (1976)

"There is a girl out there who might be running for her life from some gigantic turned-on ape."

Updating King Kong for a modern audience was never going to be an easy task, especially not in the 70's.  The original film was lodged in audiences memories for a multitude of reasons, but what endured was the heart and drama of the story, and the truly excellent special effects by stop motion pioneer, Willie O'Brien. Preserving, or indeed, improving upon the soul of the original wouldn't be the hardest task. No, the toughest part of this re-boot was going to fall on the special effects team; just how do you film a giant, "Neither beast nor man" creature in a way that would convince the more 'sophisticated' cinema fans of 1976. The challenge was going to lie in the fact that special effects hadn't really changed all that much in terms of technique since the original film in 1933; there were no computer assisted creations, and it was all going to have to be done 'in camera', meaning either stop motion or animatronics. Would the production team have the creativity and, let's be honest, madness to pull this off?

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Bargain-Bin books #3: King Kong the complete script by Lorenzo Semple, Jr.

This was one of a handful of oddities that popped up in work-related book sales, and I think I grabbed it for about 50 cents. I'm not sure why, as I was never all that crazy on the remake at the time, but it probably had a lot to do with the Frank Frazetta cover art. Since then though, I've swung around a little on the film, and I've decided to devote the rest of this week to Dino De Laurentiis and his mad attempts at bringing the big hairy fella back to the big screen.

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Under Your Bed.Org - A horror Podcast featuring me as the 33rd guest.

Yesterday I spent a few hours recording the latest podcast for Under Your Bed - the podcast all about horror. The format is fairly straight forward - guests bring three films for discussion, and they dig as deep as they care to over a few beers of their choice. The pacing is fast and the tone jovial enough, and I think we did a good job at getting to the core of these films. My choices? Carnival of Souls, Re-Animator and Lovely Molly from 2011. We drank some of my home brew, which went down a treat (Bren has a good poker face).

If you feel like kicking back and listening in, please do! Seeing as this was my first time doing something like this, forgive my nervousness and the (most likely) dozens of mistakes I made. And yes, that is me dressed as Coffin Joe from Halloween a few years back.

Enjoy!

click here to go to the Podcast.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

"You coonshits, you fudge packers, you'll be the death of me yet!"

It's late at night on a quiet stretch of Texas highway. Two drunk jocks, Buzz and Rick, are cruising on their way to Dallas, and decide to ring rock DJ 'Stretch' (Caroline Williams; The Legend of Billie Jean, Stepfather II) on her late-night show to give her shit. Unable to get them off the phone, she's forced to keep the line open, becoming more and more frustrated with their drunken nonsense. Suddenly, things take a turn for the scary - a truck starts tailing the two buffoons, nearly running them off the road. Suddenly, a hooded figure leaps up from the back of the truck wielding a chainsaw, and begins to carve their car open. Rick takes a few shots at the mad man with his revolver, but it's too late - Buzz has literally had his head sliced in half, spurting blood all over the car... all while the horrified Stretch listens on.

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Summer School (1987)

"You passed and I failed! You asshole! How could you do that to me?"

It's the last day of school, and most kids are dreaming of the unknown pleasures of what lies ahead that summer. Hanging with friends, going on holidays, lazing by the beach during the day before heading to the endless parties at night. When you are a teenager, the summer really does feel endless, and the thoughts of school never come into play until you start realising the evenings are getting shorter, and the inevitable is about to happen: all good things must come to an end.

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When You Don't See Me - The Sisters of Mercy

If you've been to a party in this house over the years, chances are you've had to listen to your fair share of The Sisters of Mercy. They were a band I got into around the same time as I was first listening to Joy Division, so it's no surprise they played a huge part in the formative years. And even though I was late enough to the goth-rock party, The Sisters second release, Floodland, is a definite Top Ten album for me. Bold words, for sure! We managed to catch them at Vicar St during the week, and as always, they put on a great show, despite the fact that it's hard to actually see them when they play...

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The Twilight Zone - Season One: 'Mr.Denton on Doomsday' and 'The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine'

"Portrait of a town drunk named Al Denton. This is a man who's begun his dying early - a long, agonizing route through a maze of bottles. Al Denton, who would probably give an arm or a leg or a part of his soul to have another chance..."

Once again we take a break from the comforts of our couch and dip a toe into the murky pool of The Twilight Zone - be sure to dim the lights, and lock the back door - because who knows just what could happen on this strange journey we are about to embark on. This week we have a double-whammy of lost souls, lost lives and that fleeting chance for redemption, backed up by some excellent casting choices. So let's dive right in here, shall we?

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Six Pack (1982)

"Kick his ass, Brewster! Don't take that shit from this fungus faced toad sucker!"

Recovering from a car crash that almost put him off the road permanently, rugged, bearded, Brewster Baker (Kenny Rogers; Kenny Rogers as The Gambler) sets out on the trail of a comeback, taking him on the road towards the the racing circuit and back into the spotlight after his dramatic drop out. Unfortunately for him, he stops off in a small, hicksville town and has a bunch of parts stolen from his car strapped to the back of his motor home. Only a short time later, he catches the same van ripping off what's left of his vehicle, which he takes off after in his motor home. He manages to run the culprits off the road and makes a startling discovery: the criminals are a bunch of kids.

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Movie Tie-In #4: Aladdin (Mega Drive)

It's hard to believe there was a time when Disney made great cash in's on their movie licenses, but growing up in the early 90's meant we played some excellent titles that held up solidly against the offerings in similar genres from the likes of Nintendo and Sega. While Sonic and Mario had the platform genre nailed by 1993, there was still plenty of room for others to get a toe in the door. And what better way to do it than with the recognisable, colourful branding of well-loved Disney movies?


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