May 9^th, 2001

"OLDIES BUT GOLDIES"

You know being a horror fan for years upon years now it's come to my attention that they really don't make them like they used to.

Look at it, all we're really getting these days (with the exception of some of the cooler stuff coming from the independent filmmaking side, Ice From The Sun anybody?) are teenage themed slasher movies and wannabe "hip" stuff like The Forsaken (which from commercials reminds me heavily of 1987's Near Dark).

And let's face it, slasher flicks ran out of steam in the mid-80's.

So we've went back in time to offer up these three choice films all made at least four decades (one of then almost seven decades) ago.

King Kong [1933] is just delightful. Who knew that the tale of a love-struck giant ape who's taken to the big city against his will and goes on a rampage would be so timeless? Yet this is.

Despite the fact it's, as of this writing, 68 years old the stop-motion effects are pretty darn cool. Plus the story takes the fashion of an old jungle adventure/monster movie and there's that well-known rampage while clinging to the Empire State Bulding.

Escapism is at its best here and this movie still manages to capture the imagination even today (and even if you've seen King Kong Lives and the other atrocities Kong has gone through).

Truly the king of apes and much quotable is the final line of dialogue, "It was beauty that killed the beast".

Godzilla:King Of The Monsters [1956] was the start of it all. Just ignore the Raymond Burr scenes they added on for North American release.

Who really knew that a giant, radioactive, fire-breathing lizard that enjoy to stomp not only Toyko but also other monsters (most controlled by aliens) would prosper even today with a huge fan following of (some) geeks who'd watch the films really early in the morning when they were young.

It's here though were Godzilla was at his least "cutesy". It's here that he was a lean, mean destruction machine who's woken from his slumber by radioactive bomb testing and decides to stomp, chew and roast his way through a couple hundred-thousand Japanese.

Heck, the effects are even above average for a Godzilla movie - and if you've seen Vs. Megalon you'll see what I mean.

It! The Terror From Beyond Space [1958] was not only the inspiration for 1979's Alien, but it's also a pretty creepy little stand-alone 50's sci-fi effort.

The year is 1973 (dated, I know) and a space crew investigating the disappearance of another crew on Mars accidently picks-up an alien being who proceeds to stalk and kill the people on board.

Eerie, intelligent (which is quite a feat when you look at a lot of 50's sci-fi films) and well-made; this has a couple of slow spots but makes-up for it big-time with moody direction and the one memorable alien attack that's just shown in shadows.