Episode 34: Return to the Black Lagoon

We've only mentioned him before, but today we go all out with our love for that mysterious and dangerous, yet misunderstood, monster from the depths - the Creature from the Black Lagoon! If you've been listening to Planet 8 for any length of time, you've probably heard us heap praises on Creech, but now we have a whole episode devoted to the Gill-Man.

Engineer Bob with Creech in Bob Burn's place

What is it about the Creature that makes him so appealing? Certainly he has a fantastic look. His design was ahead of his time, and so has become a classic. Your Planet 8 crew discusses that amazing suit, and some differences in the design for the water scenes versus land. There's been a lot of awareness of Millicent Patrick's role in designing the Creature lately, and we touch on that, as well as the work of Jack Kevan, Chris Mueller, and Bud Westmore. And of course, the men who wore the suit on land and underwater, Ben Chapman and Ricou Browning, must be recognized.

We'll take a look at each of the films (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature , The Creature Walks Among Us), and which is our favorite -and you might be surprised! And what would a fourth Creature film have been like?

It's hard to discuss the Creature without talking about his desire for human ladies -of course in the first film, it was Julie Adams, and the sequence with the Creature swimming below her has become iconic. This leads into a discussion of Shape of Water...

We all have our Creature Collectibles -Bob has a whole basement devoted to the Creature. His favorite Creature item though, is his Bally pinball machine. Karen's favorite (which she's mentioned many times before) is the Sideshow premium format figure of the Creature swimming. Last but not least, Larry's favorite is his Anchor Hocking Creature glass. 

Bob's Creature basement

Karen's Creech bust

All this, and so much more! It's a Creature-palooza this time on Planet 8!

For our Sensor Sweep, Karen shares an appropriate item: a wonderful book called The Creature Chronicles, by Tom Weaver, friend of the show David Schecter, and Steve Kronenberg. It's from McFarland Books, and you can order it from McFarland or Amazon. It has a wealth of info on the Creature, including overviews and inside info on each film, but also background on the music, other underwater monster films, and the Creature films that were never made. It would be a great addition to anyone's library.

That's it for us! As the late, great Julie Adams used to say, Stay out of dark water!

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Episode 32: A Blast from Creatures Con!

Commander Larry and Chief Engineer Bob made the visit to Creatures Con again this year and we have some great interviews to share (Recon Officer Karen was stuck in the satellite with a bad case of Venusian flu). 

Michael McCreery, proprietor of Mantiques in Fremont, California, shares with the boys his unique collectible, the Mecha-Creech! This modern day chimera is truly something to behold. Check the Sensor Sweep below to learn about this fantastic beast. And if you're ever in Fremont, stop at Mantiques at 37671 Niles Boulevard - you won't believe all the cool stuff there!

Returning guest C. Andrew Nelson, know to us for playing Darth Vader in many video games and other Lucas projects,  tells us about his latest project, Theme Parkology! If you have an interest in Disneyland and other theme parks, you'll want to hear about this new series that will explore the origins of various parks and their attractions. You can find Andrew at http://candrewnelson.com/, and you can see his amazing video fish tank at Aquatasy.

The multi-talented Strephon Taylor discusses the efforts to bring Creepy Koffee Movie Time to Amazon Prime, as well as the many documentaries he has produced over the years, including his recent one, I Believe in Halloween, and Jack Pierce, Maker of Monsters. You can find Strephon's movies at Novemberfire.com.

Our last guest was the man, the myth, the legend, the great John Stanley! John is well known in the Bay Area as the second host of Creature Features, the show started by Bob Wilkins which inspired so many people. John was a film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle for over 30 years, and besides hosting Creature Features, he has authored a number of books, including the notable Creature Features film guides. John is always a pleasure to talk to and he graciously spoke with us about his many projects, past and present. You can see John's work at http://creaturesatlarge.com/ and http://stanleybooks.net/catchall.htm.

Our Sensor Sweep this week is by Commander Larry and features the amazing Mecha-Creech. This vinyl figure is part Creature from the Black Lagoon, part Godzilla, and a crazed montage of skateboarding, heavy metal, and other references! Truly a wonder of the modern day.

Thanks again to our friends Lord Blood-Rah and Tom Wyrsch for putting on Creatures-Con and for having us once again! We had a blast! We're already looking forward to next year!

We hope you got a good taste of Creatures Con. Please share your thoughts, here, or at our other listening posts:

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Episode 27: All Those Wonderful Toys

One of the great things about being a fan is all of the fun and amazing (if not expensive) collectibles that are to be found based on so many of our favorite TV shows, movies, comic characters, and more. It's astonishing the variety of items available - Star Trek Enterprise pizza cutter, anyone? Many of us have acquired a ton of posters, figures, books, and what-have-you over the years. Building a collection is a point of pride for many. Some are downright obsessive about it.

In this episode, Larry, Bob, and Karen discuss the fine art of collecting, and look at a few of their favorite items in their own collections. Bob has a number of one-of-a-kind or nearly so items of the kaiju variety (like an Ibanez Ultraman guitar), while Larry explores some rare Anchor-Hocking Universal Monster glasses that he hunted down. Karen shares a favorite piece, the Sideshow Creature from the Black Lagoon premium format statue.

Just why do we collect? Is it out of a sense of nostalgia? Is it the thrill of chasing down that rare item? And do you limit yourself to just one genre or show, or do you range far and wide in the types of things you enjoy? And we ask the question, if you didn't collect genre-related stuff, what else would you collect?

For this episode's Sensor Sweep, Bob tells us about a special painting he had done for him by Hugo-winning artist Bob Eggleton. It depicts the landscape of Planet X from Monster Zero. And now it proudly hangs in his living room!

Now it's your turn. We would love to hear about all of your collections! You know where to reach us -in the comments here, or at:

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Episode 21: The Beautiful Sounds of Monstrous Movie Music

David Schecter with the late, great Julie Adams

Music can make or break a film. It can set mood, create tension, tug on your heartstrings. And in a monster movie, the music really needs to heighten the excitement, the mystery, the fear factor. Some of the greatest film scores around can be found in the sci-fi and monster films of the 1950s. In this episode we talk with writer, film music historian and soundtrack producer David Schecter, owner of Monstrous Movie Music, about some of the most memorable genre soundtracks of the 50s and beyond. We learn from David how he got access to many missing film scores and re-recorded them with a full symphony. Some of the soundtracks Monstrous Movie Music has reproduced include Creature from the Black Lagoon, This Island Earth, Mighty Joe Young, It! Terror from Beyond Space, and dozens more. But that's not all! David also discusses his experiences with some of the stars of those films, like the wonderful Julie Adams from Creature from the Black Lagoon, Colleen Gray from The Leech Woman, and Joyce Meadows from The Brain from Planet Arous.

If you'd like to get some of these soundtracks for yourself, head on over to David's site and purchase a few, and experience the thrill of listening to this wonderful music outside of the films! For the Sensor Sweep this time, David made us aware of some new BluRay releases from SHOUT! Factory that he has done some commentary on - films like Tarantula, The Alligator People, The Land Unknown, The Strange Door, and others! Click HERE for info.

That's it for us this time. Let us know about your favorite sci-fi film music, either here, or at our other two hideouts:

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Episode 8: Mad about Universal Monsters

Who doesn't love the Universal Monsters? Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon - if you're like us, you grew up spending Saturday nights glued to the TV screen, watching these classic horror films. On August 28th, Universal will release a 30 film collection with all films in blu-ray format! Yeah, OK, they did release an 8 film set a few years ago...but this has got everything!

In celebration, your crew has sought out renowned horror film host, Lord Blood-Rah, to discuss our favorite Universal monsters! This is a topic near and dear to all of our twisted little hearts.  So grab some popcorn and tune in. We'll discuss the monsters, the films, the actors, you name it. Who was your favorite monster? Favorite film? Which actor did you enjoy the most as the Frankenstein Monster? Listen in and share your thoughts with us here or on our Twitter or Facebook pages.

Larry, Lord Blood-Rah, and Bob in the Monster Garage

Our guest Lord Blood-Rah has some great events coming up. On Saturday, September 1st, you can catch Lord Blood-Rah's Nerve Wrackin' Theater live at the Chouinard Winery in Castro Valley, CA for a classic monster double feature: Universal's Dracula and Frankenstein. The films will be shown outdoors when the sun sets, so bring a picnic basket, and enjoy some of the fine wines available.

On October 13th, in Peoria, IL, Lord Blood-Rah will present his Nerve Wrackin' Theater Halloween Horror Show at the Landmark Cinemas. His Lordship will present a variety of shorts followed by the classic Horror Express.  For more information, please see Lord Blood-Rah's page, http://www.lordbloodrah.com/events.html. 

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