The Original

Monsters have always been in human mythology and legends and this is why they are so intriguing even to today's realist world. Filmmakers have shown everything from vampires and fish people to killer mushrooms but of these creations the biggest creatures come out on top. From dragons to mutant beasts created by man's folly to giant insects, Kaiju are some of the most bizarre yet powerful figures in science fiction and horror. One of the still most well known, and earliest, Kaiju to make their presence felt by its creator was "King Kong" in 1933 but the real granddaddy of the Kaiju genre was "The Lost World" in 1925. This was a silent retelling of the Arthur Conan Doyle's novel. The dinosaur models were built largely out of clay and cloth on wooden armatures and brought to life with the aid of stop motion. For those who are wondering, Stop motion animation is a process where models and other objects are photographed one frame at a time, with very small but carefully planned moves between frames. When it is shown together at the proper speed, "persistence of vision" creates the illusion of life. Of course Willis O'Brien went one step further even as seen in Interviews it was learned that he went as far as to apply foam musculature and detailed latex skins onto the armatures to make them more lifelike, and that many of them even included an air bladder for breathing effects. This was state of the art technology that was developed and this took place in the early twenties, and all for the sake of providing entertainment but it led to these amazing new techniques and technologies being brought mainstream. According to Wikipedia In 1998, the film was even deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The story itself was an example of how things should be left in their natural habitat. The film did this by showing an example of what a brontosaurus would do when removed from its natural habitat, which resulted in death and massive property damage.

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Below Is a trailer of the original Film, Enjoy!

The Beginning

Filmmakers have given movie goers fantastical films and stories galore but of these stories some of the most popular of the early days of filmmaking were Giant Monsters (Dai-Kaiju In Japan). Whether through Willis O'Brien's stop motion models, Harryhousen's claymation, or even full scale models (THEM), to the Japanese's entry with suitmation, and recently in stunning CG, filmmakers have been able to bring these creatures to life. It is this cultural significance that will be focused on in this blog, for those who have grown up with them and love them to this day this blogs for you. The concepts have changed over time but many of the messages were both deep and important fables that were told in these stories. While it is true that others were simply created to be entertaining they were often inevitably important in the evolution of film.

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