.

.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Maniacal Movie Poster Monday #57!




The Giant Claw  (Columbia Pictures, 1957)





Producer Sam Katzman assembled a credible cast; gave them a fairly interesting sci-fi script with a supersonic menace knocking planes out of the air eventually discovered to be a giant bird made of anti-matter; and then undermined the whole thing by skimping on the special effects. The cast hadn't seen one frame of the critter until they attended the premiere - star Jeff Morrow says he "slunk down in his seat" when he saw the goofy looking puppet on display. Apparently ol' Sam knew his monster was a clunker - it even gets its head framed out in the poster!

And because you really have to see this thing to believe it - here it is - in action - The Giant Claw:














Zombie Island Massacre  (Troma, 1984)



So, looking at that title, you're probably assuming it's a massacre by zombies taking place on an island, right? Well, if you watched the movie, you'd discover it is actually a massacre taking place on Zombie Island. That's right - although there is one zombie in the movie - he kills no one. He just wanders around like he's looking to star in Weekend at Bernie's 3. Meanwhile, tourists stranded on the island are bumped off one by one. This one had a spot of notoriety at the time of its release because co-star Rita Jenrette was involved in some kind of Congressional sex scandal around that time. If you want to know more about that you'll have to do the research yourself  - these blurbs between the posters are supposed to brim with brevity...and we have another poster to look at...










I Escaped from Devil's Island  (United Artists, 1973)





I haven't seen this - but it has a couple of Cormans producing, veteran director William Witney...er...directing, and Jim Brown and Christopher George starring. MGM/HD, why hast thou forsaken me?



Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

4 comments:

  1. That's horrifying for the actors. They weren't able to discover the true identity of their acting partner, the "critter," until the premier. Wow. How times have changed!

    Cool post, Craig :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matthew - yeah - can you imagine? You know Katzman was talking the thing up "it's going to look spectacular!" And then they saw the results. Wah wah wah!

      Delete
  2. Ah, The Giant Claw - seen that one a long time ago. Remember that I totally laughed my ass off :) Need to rewatch it sometime in the near future.

    btw, will watch Sound Of Horror in the next few days!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's hilarious! So much decent filmmaking wrapped around this turd of a creature puppet. Wow! Oooh, can't wait to see what you have to say about Sound of Horror!

      Delete