King Dinosaur (1955), The Cyclops (1957), & Food of the Gods (1976). What do these three films have in common? They all came from Mr. BIG himself, the one and only Bert I. Gordon. Known for films that featured giant monsters, such as giant grasshoppers, spiders, teenagers, and rats, he usually had some sort of small threat that is made larger with either shooting them on smaller sets or super imposing them over a back projector screen. No matter what the latest creature is, coming from Mr. BIG, you can be sure that fun usually ensues. So tune in and get our take on these films as well as some other interesting topics we cover.
Movies we mentioned in this episode:
Beginning of the End (1957), Brides of Blood (1968), Cannibal Ferox (1981), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), The Cyclops (1957), Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977), Empire of the Ants (1977), Faces of Death (1978), Food of the Gods (1976), Holy Mountain (1973), The Howling (1981) Hunchback of the Morgue (1973), The Innocents (1961), King Dinosaur (1955), The Legend of Hell House (1973), Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Night of a 1000 Cats (1972), Of Mice and Men (1939), The Spider aka Earth vs the Spider (1958), Slave of the Cannibal God (1978), El Topo (1970), War of the Colossal Beast (1958), Wild Beasts (1984), and The Wolf Man (1941)
kitleyskrypt.com 
Listened to this on the driver to work this morning. Yo guys had me laughing out loud! I think you guys have really hit your stride! I love the fact that you don’t only focus on movies you all love but are willing to discuss movies some of you don’t care for as well. it gives a much more balanced approach than others give.
I also love the fact that you focus on a specific topic each time as approached to just a scattershot approach. by picking one director or style, it gives you the ability to dig a little deeper than you could if you were jumping from movie to movie throughout the podcast.
Thanks for your time the 3 of you take making the show!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your comments are very much appreciated, Chris! It means a lot to know that we’re reaching people and they are getting our goal. For better or worse, the horror genre is what we love and want to promote, and we all know we can’t love everything. Thanks for continuing to tune in.
LikeLike
Interesting discussion, gentlemen! It’s an quandary, isn’t it? While Mr. B.I.G. is not the first name that comes to mind when I think about animal violence, there’s no denying that it’s in there. I feel like I treat it in the same way as films that that demonstrate rape culture or overt racism – I recognize it and have the discussion with myself that THIS IS NOT OKAY, and continue with the film (unless, of course, that is the whole nature of the film, in which case, that’s probably not for me except in the most academic way).
Your comment, Jon, about whether the animal violence being in service of the narrative as opposed to being inserted purely for emotional manipulation or shock value got me thinking: which is actually worse? To mindfully create a film wherein animal violence is necessary, imagining how best to accomplish it, vs. the random, glib, casual use of it as in the case of the Italian cannibal films? It’s definitely food for thought.
All that said, I’m glad you included an episode on Mr. Gordon as I feel that he’s an important and notable figure in the sci-fi/horror genre and I’ve enjoyed his films quite a bit over the years. Turkeys? You bet, and big time entertaining ones!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think that modern filmmakers are thinking of different ways to get the same response or impact that those animal scenes might have had back then. But then again, it really depends on the animal.
LikeLike