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| "Hilarious, warm hearted movie." |
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The Naked Monster
DVD/APPROX. 86 MINS/2005/USA UNRATED
DVD/APPROX. 86 MINS/2005/USA UNRATED
As a teenager I always enjoyed B movies the best. While my friends were all seeing Evil Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the umpteenth
time, I was hunting down stuff like Sorority Babe at the Slimeball Bowl-a-rama or Spirits, or even B monster movies from the 50s like The Thing
from Outer Space and This Island Earth. Basically there were names that, in my mind, became synonymous with my love of B: Brinke Stevens, Ed
Wood, John Agar, Michelle Bauer, Dave DeCoteau, Roger Corman, and others of their ilk. For me, these were the heroes and heroines of cinema,
and my love of them probably came from a misspent youth in front of my Grandmothers black and white TV, eating popcorn, drinking Coca Cola and
watching Godzilla and Abbott and Costello movies…actually, this is also where my fat gut probably came from. The essence of the B movie tapped
into something within me, and I developed a love of gorgeous ‘actresses’ with disposable clothing, square jawed heroes who can find scientific fact
in amongst nonsense, and either stop motion or rubber-suit monsters.
The Naked Monster is a spoof that taps into this love directly, and doesn’t just wear its influences on its sleeve, it has them in neon, hovering
above its head as it shouts’ LOOK AT ME!! LOOK AT ME!!!’ Writer Ted Newsom, who also co-directed this feature with Wayne Berwick, has an
obvious love of the B movie, as can also be seen by his impressive body of work during the 90s on documentaries about B rated horror and sci fi
films and their stars (under the 100 years of Horror banner). One of his more impressive credentials is that he was the last director to work with
Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee together, on the made for TV documentary: Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror. He has also
worked, on occasion, with Marvel figurehead Stan Lee, and with a previous writing partner, was responsible for the first draft of the Spiderman
movie.
The tale of The Naked Monster is thus: when a comet crashes into the Earth, it releases a creature, whose origins are somehow alien,
earthbound, and inter-dimensional at the same time. The government calls on the services of scientist, Dr Nikki Carlton (Brinke Stevens) and retired
monster fighting army officer Colonel Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) to defeat the creature before it can threaten mankind any further, but which
is the biggest threat? The monster… or the cavalcade of B movie cliches….
This is clearly a labor of love by the directors, and their affection for the source material for this parody is apparent. There is such an astounding
amount of ‘stock footage’ used in this film, that if Edward D. Wood Jnr. were alive to it, he would have hung up his angora and walked away from
filmmaking forever, and if you want special guest stars, this film has them in spades. Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer, John Agar, Bob Burns, Forrest
J. Ackerman, Ann Robinson…the list goes on, sufficed to say, there are many faces in this pic that are incredibly familiar to the B aficionado. The
jokes are corny, and the effects are bad, and the homages come thick and fast, but they are all perfect within the confines of this film, and I have
to say left me with a warm sick feeling, similar to that of eating too much of your favorite food. This feature, originally called Attack of the B Movie
Monster, and feature stop motion animation instead of the ‘man in a rubber suit’ monster, will appeal to those who thrive on the ridiculousness of
the B’s.
The image had a lot of artifacts on it, and occasionally was not quite in focus, and the soundtrack was only in stereo, but whether this was
deliberate or not, I cannot say. I will declare though, that it added to the ‘B effect’.
There are several extras on this disc, including a trailer for Microwave Massacre, a funny director’s commentary from Wayne Berwick and Ted
Newsom, a stills gallery, a selection of deleted scenes (which includes some extras Brinke Stevens nudity, which I am all for), an amusing
documentary about changing the stop motion monster for the rubber suit one and a great interview with leading man Kenneth Tobey.
All in all, the only people who will really appreciate, or even ‘get’ this film are those who have a love of William Castle styled schlock, the worst of
the Godzilla flicks and a love of 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s B movies. It really isn’t for everyone, but if you have ever bought an issue of Famous
Monsters of Filmland…you will love it for the kitsch-factor alone.
time, I was hunting down stuff like Sorority Babe at the Slimeball Bowl-a-rama or Spirits, or even B monster movies from the 50s like The Thing
from Outer Space and This Island Earth. Basically there were names that, in my mind, became synonymous with my love of B: Brinke Stevens, Ed
Wood, John Agar, Michelle Bauer, Dave DeCoteau, Roger Corman, and others of their ilk. For me, these were the heroes and heroines of cinema,
and my love of them probably came from a misspent youth in front of my Grandmothers black and white TV, eating popcorn, drinking Coca Cola and
watching Godzilla and Abbott and Costello movies…actually, this is also where my fat gut probably came from. The essence of the B movie tapped
into something within me, and I developed a love of gorgeous ‘actresses’ with disposable clothing, square jawed heroes who can find scientific fact
in amongst nonsense, and either stop motion or rubber-suit monsters.
The Naked Monster is a spoof that taps into this love directly, and doesn’t just wear its influences on its sleeve, it has them in neon, hovering
above its head as it shouts’ LOOK AT ME!! LOOK AT ME!!!’ Writer Ted Newsom, who also co-directed this feature with Wayne Berwick, has an
obvious love of the B movie, as can also be seen by his impressive body of work during the 90s on documentaries about B rated horror and sci fi
films and their stars (under the 100 years of Horror banner). One of his more impressive credentials is that he was the last director to work with
Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee together, on the made for TV documentary: Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror. He has also
worked, on occasion, with Marvel figurehead Stan Lee, and with a previous writing partner, was responsible for the first draft of the Spiderman
movie.
The tale of The Naked Monster is thus: when a comet crashes into the Earth, it releases a creature, whose origins are somehow alien,
earthbound, and inter-dimensional at the same time. The government calls on the services of scientist, Dr Nikki Carlton (Brinke Stevens) and retired
monster fighting army officer Colonel Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) to defeat the creature before it can threaten mankind any further, but which
is the biggest threat? The monster… or the cavalcade of B movie cliches….
This is clearly a labor of love by the directors, and their affection for the source material for this parody is apparent. There is such an astounding
amount of ‘stock footage’ used in this film, that if Edward D. Wood Jnr. were alive to it, he would have hung up his angora and walked away from
filmmaking forever, and if you want special guest stars, this film has them in spades. Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer, John Agar, Bob Burns, Forrest
J. Ackerman, Ann Robinson…the list goes on, sufficed to say, there are many faces in this pic that are incredibly familiar to the B aficionado. The
jokes are corny, and the effects are bad, and the homages come thick and fast, but they are all perfect within the confines of this film, and I have
to say left me with a warm sick feeling, similar to that of eating too much of your favorite food. This feature, originally called Attack of the B Movie
Monster, and feature stop motion animation instead of the ‘man in a rubber suit’ monster, will appeal to those who thrive on the ridiculousness of
the B’s.
The image had a lot of artifacts on it, and occasionally was not quite in focus, and the soundtrack was only in stereo, but whether this was
deliberate or not, I cannot say. I will declare though, that it added to the ‘B effect’.
There are several extras on this disc, including a trailer for Microwave Massacre, a funny director’s commentary from Wayne Berwick and Ted
Newsom, a stills gallery, a selection of deleted scenes (which includes some extras Brinke Stevens nudity, which I am all for), an amusing
documentary about changing the stop motion monster for the rubber suit one and a great interview with leading man Kenneth Tobey.
All in all, the only people who will really appreciate, or even ‘get’ this film are those who have a love of William Castle styled schlock, the worst of
the Godzilla flicks and a love of 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s B movies. It really isn’t for everyone, but if you have ever bought an issue of Famous
Monsters of Filmland…you will love it for the kitsch-factor alone.
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