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 56: Dino-mite! A Dinosaur Extravaganza

This episode serves as sort of a companion piece to our last one that focused on King Kong, as we turn our eyes this time to one of Kong's foes, dinosaurs! Most kids grow up loving dinosaurs, spending time playing with plastic dinos and learning the names of the many different species. There are so many different types, with new ones still being discovered. Perhaps part of the magic of dinosaurs is the fact that these amazing creatures actually existed! While we love our Kongs and Godzillas, the Tyrannosaurus Rex was a real (and terrifying) beast, and we can go to museums and see its skeleton, and get a sense of just how imposing it would have been. For over 100 years, artists have depicted dinosaurs in film, going back to the days of silent pictures, all the way up to today, with the popular Jurassic World films. Dinosaurs never seem to leave the imagination of humanity.

The Planet 8 crew watched a whole heap of dinosaur films, and we'll talk about them -in no particular order! But rest assured, we will discuss many well-known films, as well as some oddities and a few not so great movies. Like the range of species in the dinosaur world, dinosaur films are many and varied!

But we couldn't discuss dinosaur movies without talking about the work of stop-motion animation legend Ray Harryhausen. The way Harryhausen imbued his creatures with life, with personality, is still impressive. Films such as Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Valley of Gwangi, and 1,000,000 Years B.C. all come under our lens.

Of course, other techniques besides stop-motion have been used. We'll look at the pros and cons of these too, including puppetry, men in suits, and CGI. And don't miss our discussion of - DINOSAURUS!!

You can't talk about dinosaur movies without bringing up Jurassic Park/World, so of course we'll go there. The first Jurassic Park film revolutionized special effects, and the dinosaurs in it still look fantastic.

We're sure that people will be watching dinosaur movies (or holograms, or virtual reality programs) far into the future!

For our Sensor Sweep segment, Bob shares some news about some artists you should know about. Nick Shev, who we covered on a previous episode, is now designing t-shirts! He has a bunch of cool Godzilla tees over at his Tee Public shop: https://www.teepublic.com/user/nickshev

Another great artists you should check out is Gaz Gretsky. Especially if you are a Power Rangers fan, you will want to see Gaz's shop! Head over to https://www.etsy.com/shop/gazbot to check out all his cool stuff.

Well, it's time to return from prehistoric days to the present. Yeah, we know it's not much fun right now, but we hope everyone is staying healthy and safe! And we hope you were entertained by this episode. Send us your feedback here or at our other locations:

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Thanks for listening!

Episode 55: The Eighth Wonder of the World - Kong!

This is it! We're finally talking about the King - King Kong that is! The big ape has been one of Hollywood's (and the world's) biggest stars since he first showed up on the scene in 1933. At the time, the original King Kong was cutting edge, and it influenced many later generations. Kong is a part of pop culture, and new versions of the eighth wonder of the world keep getting made. There is something universally appealing about this unique and powerful figure.

We'll go through the long history of Kong in films (and a little bit on TV), starting of course with the classic original 1933 King Kong, directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, with ground-breaking stop-motion effects by pioneer Willis O'Brien. The exciting story, the ferocious  Kong, and the whole beauty and the beast angle, made the film a huge success. It was quickly followed up with a sequel, also in 1933, Son of Kong, which was amusing but no where near the success of the original.

In the 60s, through a somewhat circuitous route, Kong wound up across the Pacific and got a job with Toho Studios, making King Kong vs Godzilla in 1962, and King Kong Escapes in 1967. There's a connection to the 1966 Rankin-Bass King Kong Show cartoon too!

Near to our hearts, even though it's clearly a flawed film, is the 1976 version of King Kong. The film may be best remembered today for the amazing John Berkey poster showing Kong astride the World Trade Center towers. We'll talk about the controversy over the robot Kong and how the great make-up genius Rick Baker played Kong. Bob took the hit for the team and watched King Kong Lives, and gives a rundown of that sequel.

If you're excited to hear what we think about Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong, well, you may want to ratchet back your expectations. We have some strong opinions on the film, and that's all we'll say here!

Finally, we finish strong as we enthusiastically discuss Kong Skull Island (2017), which took a very different approach to Kong, and will lead to a rematch with Godzilla next year!

Larry's Kong and Bruce mugs, seen front and back

On this episode's Sensor Sweep, our mission commander, Larry, shares his love of tiki mugs, and shows off two: a Bruce the Shark from Jaws mug from Mondo, and a Kong mug from Tiki Farm. If you love tiki mugs and monsters, check 'em out!

In a burst of shameless self-promotion, we want to mention the various side-gigs we all have going on.

Your crew at Monsterpalooza a few years ago -Larry, Karen, and Bob

Bob recently participated in a panel discussion on Ultraman for the Kaiju Con-line, an online  convention celebrating kaiju (obviously). If you want to watch the panel, click here. If you're a Gamera fan, a blu-ray box set should be coming out at the end of July, and Bob and his pal Keith Aiken are doing commentary on the film Gamera the Brave! 

Karen decided to start blogging again, to babble on about science fiction and other stuff. You can read her posts once or maybe twice a week at Echoes from the Satellite.

Larry has just started doing a video blog! It's on YouTube and it's called Larryland USA. Larry will be talking about things he loves and his many genre-based memories. Check it out!

That's all for us right now. We hope all of you are staying well, and hanging in there. If you have thoughts on King Kong, other giant apes, or anything else, drop us a line, why don't ya? You can leave a comment at our site, or hit us up here: 

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Thanks for listening!

Episode 54: The Human Adventure Continues: Star Trek The Motion Picture

That's right listeners, it's time to go where no one has gone before -to the big screen, for the first voyage of the Enterprise in theaters! Today the Planet 8 crew is talking Star Trek: The Motion Picture!

The Motion Picture (or ST:TMP) has gained a bad reputation over the years, often derisively called 'The Motionless Picture,' but it actually was a hit at the box office, if not with the critics. Without ST:TMP, we wouldn't have gotten Wrath of Khan, or any of the films to follow, and perhaps no Next Generation and beyond. So whatever your opinion of the film -and we know opinions vary, because even within our Planet 8 crew, they do - one must acknowledge its role in keeping the franchise alive.

We'll discuss the troubled history of the production, how it swung back and forth between plans to be a new Star Trek TV series (Star Trek Phase II), a movie, a TV show, and a film again. By the time the studio decided to go with a theatrical film, they went into production in a rush, without a firm script, and with a set release date (December 7, 1979) which put the pressure on, especially with the complicated special effects that were required. They were lucky to have an experienced director in Robert Wise at the helm. They also kicked out the original effects group and brought in master effects artists Doug Trumbull and John Dykstra, who managed to finish the special effects just in time for the release.

Going to see Star Trek on the big screen was a real experience for all of us. There was, of course, huge anticipation. We hadn't seen our Enterprise crew in a new adventure in years! What would they look like? What would the story be like? Of course we had seen photos in magazines but to see them on the big screen would be a special thrill! For some though, the movie was not what they expected. After the excitement of Star Wars, ST:TMP might have seemed too slow, too talky. For others, it was too reminiscent of the Star Trek episode, The Changeling, where an ancient Earth space probe, modified by an alien probe, mistakes Kirk for its creator. But in some ways, ST:TMP is the Trek movie most like the original episodes. It may have been their attempt at Trek's '2001,' but it maintains Trek's hopeful concept for mankind's development as a species.

Regardless of one's thoughts about the plot of the film, the special effects are still beautiful to behold (and if you haven't seen the director's edition, run out now and get it!), and Jerry Goldsmith's score is perhaps the best Star Trek score of all. His main theme went on to become the theme of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it originated here, with this film, and it's absolutely beautiful to hear in conjunction with the visual of the streamlined Enterprise.

In any case, it's worth a revisit if you haven't seen it in a while. Check it out and let us know your thoughts!

For our Sensor Sweep this episode, to go with our theme, Karen shares a book that goes into great depth on ST:TMP: Return to Tomorrow: The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Preston Neal Jones. In this hefty tome, Jones has put together an oral history of the film, which includes interviews with the cast and crew of The Motion Picture. Honestly, anything you would ever want to know about how the movie was made is included in this book. You can find it from sellers on Amazon, and at the time of this writing, they now have an ebook version too.

We also want to give a plug to our first ever video-only episode on our YouTube channel! We decided to do a quick little video Sensor Sweep for you guys, sharing some of our collectibles, and a funny story about a near-miss the guys had with a collectible. So we hope you'll check it out at our YouTube channel. Let us know if you'd like to see more video episodes!

All right, that's it for this time around. But if you want to contact us, hailing frequencies are open!

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Live long and prosper!

Come and see Planet 8's video-only episode!

Hey listeners! How would you like to become viewers? We have our first video-only episode up on our YouTube channel now. You can click here to see it. It's a video version of a Sensor Sweep, and we each review a cool item from our collections. Plus, Bob and Larry have a story to tell about a near-mishap they recently had with a custom Creature from the Black Lagoon collectible! If you enjoy seeing us share our memorabilia, please subscribe to the channel, and we'll do more videos like this one. Thanks!

Episode 53: Hail to the King, Baby

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All right you primitive screwheads...this episode is devoted to our friend Ashley Williams! Yes, we're taking a trip through the Evil Dead films and TV series. When the original Evil Dead movie first came out, it really shook things up. The camera angles and movements, the strange sound effects, the story, and of course, the charismatic Bruce Campbell, all added up to a hit with horror audiences.

The later entries would add more than a little humor to the horror, and that's where it seemed to really take off. Campbell had a gift for playing Ash as a lovable jerk, who was maybe more lucky than good. And he certainly delivered a number of notable one-liners!

Your Planet 8 crew will talk about the origins of the Evil Dead film series, how Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell got the idea for the first film and financed it, and was it connected at all to an older film called Equinox? All this and more!

We all like the third film, Army of Darkness, the best. It's an odd mix of fantasy, horror, and comedy, but it works really well. Ash pulls a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court act, but despite his technological know-how, he still screws up and conjures up an army of deadites, including his own undead counterpart. There were two different endings and we talk about both the theatrical and director's cut versions.

Finally we take a look at the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV show. It only lasted three seasons, but it was well done and really expanded the Evil Dead universe. Will there be more Evil Dead? Perhaps the truth is hidden in the pages of the Necronomicon...

Starting with this episode's Sensor Sweep, Chief Engineer Bob will be throwing the spotlight on different artists who normally appear at the Godzilla and anime shows Bob puts on in the Bay Area, but Covid-19 has shut all that down right now. This time we are featuring artist Nick Shev. You can find his work at https://nickshev.bigcartel.com/. Nick does a lot of Godzilla art, but also aliens, mummies, original Halloween art, and more. He also does black light art -he takes a printed lithograph and hand draws details with a luminous marker. You can get lenticular stickers from him too. Take a look, there's a lot of very cool stuff on his site!

That's all this time, friends and neighbors. Be sure to share your thoughts on Ash and the Evil Dead. Do you enjoy this film/TV series? Can you see it going on without Bruce Campbell as Ash? We want to know! And you know the drill by now...

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Thanks for listening!

Episode 52: Submitted for Your Approval - The Twilight Zone

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You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension—a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.

Witness three podcasters, all awestruck by the same television show from over 50 years ago. A show that has become legendary, and has inspired generations of creative minds. Yes, in this episode of Planet 8, we will be talking about  - Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone.

Larry, Bob, and Karen each came up with a short list of episodes that really spoke to them, so they sat down and discussed what made them so special. Twilight Zone had some wonderful stories, and the twist endings have become well-known. But they were also capable of subtlety and beauty. And the actors! Watching the show is a real treat, as so many now-famous performers appear in the early days of their careers. Robert Redford, Carol Burnett, Telly Savalas, and of course, William Shatner, all appeared on the show before they became household names. 

Why do we still love Twilight Zone? What is the secret of its longevity? The stories have a timeless appeal -we relate to them because they speak to the most basic qualities of the human condition, things that do not seem to change -for better or worse.

Wrapping up the episode is our Sensor Sweep, Larry shares a plethora of Twilight Zone items. Foremost is the Twilight Zone Companion, by Marc Scott Zicree. It's loaded with tons of behind the scenes information on the episodes. Another great treasure is the 4 CD set of the 40th Anniversary edition of the Twilight Zone soundtrack. From the 60s,we have From the Twilight Zone, a book by Rod Serling collecting adaptations of Twilight Zone episodes. Finally, Larry shares Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, a collection of Richard Matheson short stories, some of which were made into TZ episodes, including the title one which became the famous William Shatner episode with the gremlin on the airplane.

All right friends, give the episode a listen and tell us what you think. We covered 12, count 'em, 12 Twilight Zone episodes, but there were so many more we would have enjoyed talking about! Maybe we will do a follow up show. Let us know what you thought of the episodes we discussed, and tell us about your favorite episodes. You can leave comments here, or at our other receiving stations:

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Thanks for listening!