Category Archives: Monsters and Matinees

Monsters and Matinees: A lifetime of being terrorized by ‘Grizzly’

Not all movie monsters fade away with the end credits. They might make a lasting impression because of their greatness (Universal monsters), uniqueness (The Blob) or silliness (Attack of the Killer Shrews). They can feed on our fears or leave … Continue reading

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Monsters and Matinees: With Beauty and Brains, Mara Corday Battled the Beasts

With Beauty and Brains, Mara Corday Battled the Beasts My lifelong obsession with the horror classic Tarantula is well known among my family and friends. The second column I wrote for Classic Movie Hub detailed my love for the film … Continue reading

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Monsters and Matinees: Honoring Ray Harryhausen, a ‘Titan of Cinema’

Honoring Ray Harryhausen, a ‘Titan of Cinema’ Picture yourself standing in the middle of a fight with Ray Harryhausen’s skeleton army from Jason and the Argonauts. OK, it’s not the “real” skeletons, but it’s still pretty cool experience. This movie … Continue reading

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Monsters and Matinees: Modern Sci-fi owes a Debt to ‘Day of the Triffids’

Modern Sci-fi owes a Debt to ‘Day of the Triffids’ In a continuing quest to enjoy as many classic movie monsters as possible, it was time to revisit The Day of the Triffids. Seeing it with fresh eyes after so … Continue reading

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Monsters and Matinees: All Bug-Eyed over Big-Bug Movies

All Bug-Eyed over Big-Bug Movies It could have been the colossal ants. Or the big locusts. Maybe the giant leeches. Most likely it was that house-sized tarantula. I’ll never really know the one film that started my obsession with big-bug … Continue reading

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Monsters and Matinees: ‘Giant From the Unknown’ Towers over Richard E. Cunha’s ‘Six-day Wonders’

‘Giant From the Unknown’ Towers over Richard E. Cunha’s ‘Six-day Wonders’ In the world of Monsters and Matinees, discovering a filmmaker or film that is new to us is good – even if the movie isn’t so great. B-movie fans … Continue reading

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Monsters and Matinees: How Abbott and Costello brought the Meet-cute to Horror

How Abbott and Costello brought the Meet-cute to Horror To start this new year of Monsters and Matinees let’s take a deep breath, exhale all the anxiety from 2020 and laugh. Yes, even here in the world of Monsters and … Continue reading

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Monsters and Matinees: Make your Own Horror Film Festival at Home

“Have a Festival of Horror” proclaims the full-page magazine ad from 1973. It was in the quarterly magazine called The Film Journal and it literally meant to have a film festival, as in  “hey, buy these movies on 16mm film.” … Continue reading

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Monsters and Matinees: The Vampire through the Artistry of Mario Bava

The Vampire through the Artistry of Mario Bava As much as we love Bela Lugosi and our other iconic film Dracula, Christopher Lee, there’s a range of vampire films that go beyond these actors and The Count. Some aren’t memorable … Continue reading

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Monsters and Matinees: Horror Author David J. Skal Talks ‘Fright Favorites’

Monsters and Matinees Talks withHorror Author David J. Skal about ‘Fright Favorites’ Open the new book Fright Favorites: 31 Movies to Haunt Your Halloween and Beyond to find this dedication from author David J. Skal: “To monster kids of all … Continue reading

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