*For the next week or so, I’m going to add a random film the great Ray Harryhausen worked on. The legendary special effects MASTER passed away on May 7, 2013 at age 92 in London and yes, the film world owes him more than they can ever repay…

For some fans of giant monster movies, Godzilla is their gold standard, but I’m a Rhedosaurus man, myself. 1953’s The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms is a smaller-scale picture when compared to Toho’s epic genre entry and it’s also not as sprawling and dynamic as King Kong in terms of impact. On the other hand, Ray Harryhausen’s work here is superb and at a mere 80 minutes, this one goes down easy and doesn’t wear out its welcome one bit.

With its giant lizard (OK, fake, but pretty scary and really huge dinosaur) awakened from the Arctic ice by a nuclear bomb, some interesting plot twists and yes, plenty of wonderful stop-motion mayhem (and some great crowd scenes), this one’s yet another memorable classic for genre fans… Continue reading →