Episode 107: I Want My Mummy! Planet 8 Explores Mummy Movies

 

Here on Planet 8 we've dug deep into the lore of many creatures of the night. But this episode is the first time we've tackled that Egyptian menace, the Mummy! The Mummy arose from the popularity of the exploration/plundering of Egyptian tombs, especially King Tutankhamun. The discovery of King Tut's tomb was also associated with a curse, which fueled many imaginations and stories. The idea of a curse, or at the very least vengeance visited upon those who violated the tomb, became the basis for Universal's The Mummy in 1932, as well as most of the mummy films that have followed.

Your intrepid Planet 8 crew will take a journey through the history of mummy films, from the Universal films to the Hammer series, some independent films and TV productions, and then back around to more modern times with the mummy revival in the 90s with the Brendan Fraser films, and finally, the nail in the sarcophagus, the Tom Cruise film in 2017. 

The Mummy is a unique monster and there's a lot to appreciate in this genre of films. We hope you enjoy this trip and share your feelings too! We'd also like to point out that Karen was a guest on our friend Billy D's Magazine and Monsters podcast back in May, where they discussed the Hammer 1959 film in detail. Here's the link, please give it a listen!

For our Sensor Sweep, we actually manage to stay on topic. Chief Engineer Bob and Mission Commander Larry discuss the joys of owning a 12 foot tall, animated mummy from Lowe's! It may be hard to acquire one of these now, since they have all been replaced by Christmas decorations.

That's all this time! We hope you crazy kids are getting ready for Halloween! We'll see you in two weeks for our Halloween show!

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Ankh-es-en-Amon!

Episode 57: It's Alive! Frankenstein on Planet 8

 

For more than two centuries now, the tale of Frankenstein has fascinated people, and your Planet 8 crew is no exception! In fact, we are huge fans of Dr. Frankenstein and his monstrous creation. Joining us to do a deep dive on the topic is our good friend, horror host and monster maven Lord Blood-Rah! So come on along with us, as we travel through the many permutations of the Frankenstein legend.

Of course, we must discuss the source of the legend -the Mary Shelley novel. What might have been her inspirations? Was it the first science fiction novel ever written? And what implications does it still have for us today?

The Universal films featuring Boris Karloff, and then later, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, and Glenn Strange, provided the classic look which most of us associate with the Monster, and which has permeated pop culture. These films had a definite arc for the character through at least the first three, and then the Monster suffered a real decline, being reduced to little more than a shuffling wreck. But the Universal Frankenstein Monster had little resemblance to Shelley's creature.

Hammer films went on to do their own Frankenstein series, but focused on Dr. Frankenstein rather than the Monster. The doctor just can't help himself, he has to keep stitching bodies together! His creations never seem to come out the way he plans, though.

Since Frankenstein is in the public domain, there have been tons of films made that either retell the Frankenstein story, or borrow the name quite liberally. One of the better ones we discuss is Frankenstein the True Story, a 1973 made for TV production that was aired on NBC, and featured Jane Seymour, David McCallum, and Michael Sarazin. This one is a little closer to the book, although it veers off from it too. And there's a shocking moment that none of us ever forgot!

It wouldn't be Planet 8 if we didn't toss a little kaiju your way, so we'll bring in the Japanese Frankenstein connection -namely, Frankenstein Conquers the World, and War of the Gargantuas (aka the Frankenstein Brothers!)

The story has crossed over into comics, and we'll discuss a few of them, from the Marvel series and black and white magazines, to Mike Mignola's Frankenstein character who appeared with Hellboy, and the beautiful Frankenstein, Alive, Alive illustrated by Bernie Wrightson.

For our Sensor Sweep, all our instruments are focused on our wonderful friend, Lord Blood-Rah. If you haven't seen his show, Lord Blood-Rah's Nerve Wrackin' Theatre, you're missing out! Head on over to http://www.lordbloodrah.com/, and check his schedule to find where and how you can catch him. He's also putting together a DVD that collects material he has used in his live Halloween shows. The feature film on the DVD will be House on Haunted Hill, in 3D for the first time! Don't worry, a pair of 3D glasses will be included. Although Creatures Con was cancelled this year, a virtual Creatures Con was put together and you can see interviews and panels at the Facebook Creatures Con page. But next year, if we are free of this terrible pandemic, Creatures Con 2021 will be held August 8th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Concord, California, and will focus on the birth of the Universal Monsters! The special guest will be author David J. Skal, writer of The Monster Show and Death Makes a Holiday, as well as contributor of commentary on many Universal films.

And Engineer Bob reminds everyone that the Arrow box set of Gamera films is out now, including his commentary with Keith Aiken on Gamera the Brave! Check it out!

We hope you enjoyed this trip through all things Frankenstein. What's your favorite Frankenstein film? Do you like to focus on the doctor or the creature? We want to hear from you!  Send us your feedback here or at our other locations:

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Thanks for listening!

Episode 41: Holy Saint Nick! It's A Batman Christmas!

It's the holiday season and of course, that means Batman! Uh...well...on Planet 8 it does! We have a great love for the Caped Crusader and on this episode we share our earliest memories of Batman, and talk about all things Batman: the comics, cartoons, TV show, movies, toys...you name it, we blab about it!

Of course, the Bat has had a pervasive reach across all media but for some of us, the 60s TV show was probably where we saw him first. The show brought Batman and Robin into the homes of millions of viewers and kids went nuts. An invasion of toys, models, games and so forth followed. And Batman's popularity has seemingly never waned, but only grown stronger.

Commander Larry fondly remembers Batman and Robin from the Superfriends cartoon. And he treasured his Mego Batman!

And who didn't have some sort of Batman toy or model? There was -and continues to be -so much Batman merchandise (of varying quality...)

And what discussion of Batman would be complete without some back and forth on the best batmobile? Yep, we go there too! All this and so much more!

Planet 8 crew outside the Batcave 

This week's Sensor Sweep is brought to us by Recon Officer Karen and features what might be a perfect Christmas gift for someone on your list. Imagine having to fight against not one, not two, but all of the Universal Monsters! That's what you and friends can do with the Horrifed board game from Ravensburger. This is a cooperative board game where the players must overcome two or more of the classic Universal monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Bride of Frankenstein, Mummy, and Invisible Man) as they threaten the village. You can find this at a number of retailers, including Amazon, Target, and Barnes and Noble. It's a blast! And don't be surprised if you run across Wilbur and Chick!

With that, we wrap up another trip around our sun here at Planet 8. It's been a great year and we want to thank you all for traveling along with us. As always, we'd love to hear from you. You can leave comments here or at our other reception stations: 

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See you in two weeks -same bat time, same bat channel!

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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Thanks for Listening!

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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Thanks for Listening!

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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Thanks for Listening!