More Robot Mayhem In Hillary Yeo's GODAIZER

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Twitch / GODAIZER Web Site / Avery Guerra

If you have actually taken the time to read many of my articles here at MIN, you have undoubtedly noticed my tendency to bitch and moan about copy-cat films, the fact that film makers seem to all make the same type of film at the same time, i.e. Bigfoot films and giant shark flicks, and the use of CGI animation over old-school stop-motion effects. That being said, you will probably be surprised to learn that there is one genre out there that no matter how many films get produced, I won't complain about it, that is, the giant robot genre, and I am actually thankful that the latest improvements in CGI effects have given film makers the tools to produce quality work on a small budget.

I know, you just fell out of your chair.

True, many of these films are either homages, or based on existing robot franchises, which I suppose makes them copy-cats, none the less, but I love them anyway.

Today's film, "GODAIZER", is an homage, it is CGI, it's story seems to be based (heavily) on "Tetsujin 28-go", some of the mecha looks exactly like the ones in "Macross" and the monster looks kinda like the one from "Ultraman: The Next." In fact some of the story looks like it may have been inspired by "Ultraman: The Next" or possibly "WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3", which to me doesn't matter, because it looks like one hell of a cool short film.

"GODAIZER" has been a three year project for film maker Hillary Yeo who has poured both heart and soul into creating a visually stunning tribute to the great giant robot anime of the 1970s and 80s.

When I say stunning, I mean stunning. Though the animation in "GODAIZER" is computer generated, I has all the qualities of hand-painted art.

Truly beautiful.

No word yet on any release info on this one, so we'll just have to wait and see what develops.

Until then, here is the trailer plus a few stills:

Godaizer Animation Short - Full Trailer from hilscreate on Vimeo.

Cole Bayford Serves Up A Little Bigfoot Australian Style In YOWIE

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Robert Hood / Avery Guerra

For the last couple of years American independent film makers have caught a major case of the 'Bigfoot Movie Crazies' with at least a dozen movies about the legendary beast being put into production. Now, it seems that the trend has spread across the Pacific to Australia, where low-budget movie maker Cole Bayford has decided to feature the countries own version of Sasquatch in his short film entitled "Yowie".

The film itself is actually a graduate project for the Griffith University Film School: Bachelor of Film and Screen Media Production Program in which Bayford is currently enrolled and is being filmed in actual Yowie country, Springbrook, NSW, a location where the creature has been sighted numerous times over the years.

Bayford had this to say about the project, "The themes in Yowie are of young love, jealousy and the ‘what if’. What would you do if you witnessed a death in the bush? Yowie explores the reality of basic human instincts and reactions. The film showcases the strength of relationships and the importance of communication between people in terror. The story delves into the speed of emotional change and rising paranoia’s effect on decisions.'

Sounds like some pretty well thought out stuff.

Here is the official synopsis:

Deep in the Australian bush, a legend lies dormant. In an effort to rekindle their relationship a couple drives into the hills for a romantic retreat. James and Vivian find themselves caught between a breakdown in their relationship and a fight for survival against a mysterious beast. What seemed like a new beginning is now a terrible encounter with the unknown. After James mistakes Angus, a harmless bushman, for the Yowie, he shoots him dead. The only way they can endure is to find a way to trust each other again, which, in this extreme situation, is easier said than done. Will they survive the night? And if they do, where will they stand after all that’s happened? This myth is deadly…


"Yowie", which is being produced by Jarred Bocca and stars Rupert Raineri, Anna Kennedy and Brendan Smoother, may only run for 10 minutes, but it looks as if Bayford has managed to squeeze a big film into a little package.

Bayford adds, “A younger audience and those of all ages who love tension and drama can sink their teeth into this psychological thriller."

Look for "Yowie" to hit the film festival circuit in 2011.

Here is the trailer:



See Also: The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #7) / Borrego Sandman / Speedway Monster - Updates - California The Monster State - Part 4 / The Fontana Speedway Monster (1951 - 1992) - California The Monster State - Part 3 / The Borrego Sandman (1939 - Present) - California The Monster State - Part 2 / Classic Tales From Cryptozoology - Mass Flying Dinosaur Sightings In Texas Circa 1976 / The Long Beach Sea Monster (1909) - California The Monster State - Part 1 / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #6) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #5) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #4) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #3) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #2) / The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #1) / Young Film Makers Taking On The Scottish Sasquatch In BROKEN SPECTRE / Bigfoot Movie News - Nightbeasts Premiere Info - The Bloody Rage Comes To DVD / Two Terrified Kids Unleash THE DEVIL AT LOST CREEK / Is It The Great Pumpkin? Or The MOMO Monster? / An Update On Jamie Belty, The LEGEND OF GRASSMAN Crew Member Who Was Assaulted With A Hammer / A Call Out To All Fans To Help THE LEGEND OF GRASSMAN Crew Member After Assualt / The New Poster For James Baack's BLOODY RAGE OF BIGFOOT - Cast And Crew On MNBRT Radio / Bigfoot Pummels Both Peter Graves And Mr Lobo / New Behind-The-Scenes Photos From Brian Jaynes BOGGY CREEK / Bill Barton's Modern Bigfoot/Western 'Blood Forest' Comes To DVD / Fred Olen Ray Jumps Into The Bigfoot Movie Craze With "Sasquatch vs Chupacabra" / New Toy Tuesday! A Sexy Princess, Ash, Bigfoot, The Mummy And The Starship Enterprise / Two New Clips From Jordan Blum's Bigfoot Horror, 'Savage' / 'Savage' To Premiere At Horrorfind Weekend In Maryland / The Bloody Rage Of Bigfoot - Preview Clips, Nasty Church Letters And Sequel News / The Bloody Rage Of Bigfoot - Behind The Scenes Shots / The Brand-New Teaser Trailer For Brian Jaynes 'Boggy Creek' / “The Legend of Boggy Creek” Director Charles B. Pierce Dead At Age 71

IT CAME FROM BEYOND THE MOUNTAIN! - Director's Cut

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Douglas Bankston / Avery Guerra

You may, or may not, remember back in June when I posted an article about film maker Douglas Bankstrom's perils at trying to produce a short film called "It Came From Beyond The Mountain!" an homage to the 'big-bug' films of the 1950s like "Them!", "The Deadly Mantis", "Black Scorpion", and most notably, the 1955 Jack Arnold classic, "Tarantula".

Tom make a long story short, Bankstrom's dreams of producing a full-length feature film fell way short and all the indie film maker could afford to produce was a mere four-and-a-half minute monster tribute.

Granted, what Bankstrom was able to cram into his mini-movie was quite good, pity he wasn't able to find enough green stuff to make the movie he wanted to. It could have been really something.

Well, as fate would have it, the film maker was able to get his hands on some more money, not a lot of money, but enough to extend "It Came From Beyond The Mountain!" to a staggering 10 minutes and 38 seconds.

Okay, it's not as long as one of Peter Jackson's 'month-long' movies, but it was the best that he could do ....... give the guy some slack.

Bankstrom refers to this new version of his film as the 'director's cut'.

A classic! Long thought to have been destroyed in the great vault fire of '59, a print was discovered during the police raid of a reclusive collector's home and can now be seen for the first time in 40 years! Teens are terrorized by a giant rampaging spider mutated in a 1950s atomic test gone awry, featuring a mad general, a freight train and a mind-numb... I mean bending... climax that will make your brain turn into some sort of quivering, gelatinous substance. This restored director's cut features footage found under a bed in room 927 in the Roosevelt Hotel.

Lots of old film footage is found like that.

So, without further ado, here is the new, and improved, director's cut of "It Came From Beyond The Mountain!"

It Came from Beyond the Mountain from Douglas Bankston on Vimeo.

See Also: Douglas Bankston's Tribute To 50s Horror IT CAME FROM BEYOND THE MOUNTAIN

Don't Loose Your Head Over The SPACE BUGS Infestation

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Jesse Blanchard / Robert Hood / Avery Guerra

It has been said over a billion times, if you ever want to be really good at something, you need to practice, practice, practice.

If you want to be good at football? You need to practice. If you want to be good at baseball? You need to practice. A good writer? Practice. Painter? Practice.

Practice, practice, practice ....... okay, I know you all get it.

But, what do you do if you want to be a better movie maker?

You can't exactly go out and make a movie every day. That costs a lot of money.

Do you film your wife, or life partner, doing naughty things with a handi-cam?

No, um ....... well, maybe, but film makers never really talk about that stuff. No, you make short films in preparation for filming the 'really big one'.

Well, at least that's what you do if you a film maker with as long a list of credentials as Jesse Blanchard, who has made over 43 films in eight years including the documentary, and film festival fave, "The Ranch", and one of George Romero's favorite zombie flicks, "Run For Your Life."

The 'big one' that is looming just over the horizon for Blanchard is the 3D monster film "Chompers 3D", but in preparation, practice if you will, he has just completed the short film, "Space Bugs", a great little sci fi/horror about alien insects that come to Earth to feed on people, and cause their heads to pop like a ripe pimple.

I know ...... eeeeewwwww!

Here Blanchard gives us a little history on how "Space Bugs" came to be:

Mutant Bugs attack Portland, Oregon. A young girl rushes home to warn her husband. Will she get there in time?

The original idea for Space Bugs was a ticking time bomb that shoots down from space and latches onto someone’s arm. The Hero then spends the next three minutes running through total chaos trying to get the thing off of him. However, I couldn’t connect with a 3D person to do the effects I wanted. So, I tweaked the idea into Space Bugs so that I could produce the bugs without any 3D work.

Originally, I was going to use LED lights for the bugs. I ordered a whole bunch from China and got heaps of hearing-aid batteries to power them. I was really excited about this approach and planned on throwing them past the camera and pulling them around on wires. But, another failure. The LEDs were not bright enough. I could either see them or light the set and see my actors. So, back to the drawing board.

Eventually, I ended up using a whole bunch of tricks including homemade ooze covered light bulbs, flares, flashlights, and one shot with LEDs.

The Bugs’ point-of-view shots were a ‘homage’ (rip-off) of Sam Raimi’s monster cam from the Evil Dead series. I tried to one up him by mounting the camera on a board two storeys in the air. This end shot flying into the house took a long time to get right. And I’m certain the neighbors were a little confused seeing me running over and over again at a house with my camera on top of a 16ft board.

I made Space Bugs completely on my own including all of the writing, shooting, editing, and effects. I’m practicing for my next feature Chompers 3D which will be much more ambitious, much more fun, and whole lot scarier.

Here is the finished product:



And here are some concept drawings of the "Space Bugs":