The Kaiju Transmissions Podcast

For Byrd, Lux, and Kevin nurse their Halloween hangover by talking about two live action films from the 00s based on the long running yokai manga, GeGeGe No Kitaro.  We've done Kitaro episodes every fall, but this is our first foray into the character's live action iterations, discussing 2007's Kitaro and 2008's Kitaro and the Millennium Curse, directed by Katsuhide Motoki and starring Eiji Wentz as the titular yokai "child."  Both films follow the typical Kitaro formula as Kitaro and his yokai friends are tasked with solving a conflict between the yokai and human worlds.  But how does the material translate into live action?  Listen and find out!

To celebrate Halloween, Byrd, Trev, Kevin and Lux talk about Toei Animation's Tomb of Dracula (1990) (aka Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned) and Monster of Frankenstein (1991) (aka Frankenstein: Legend of Terror), both collaborations with Marvel Comics to adapt their retrospective comic books.  This pair of anime TV movies would also be the first animated films based on Marvel comic books.  Monster of Frankenstein opted to ditch the comics and do another adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel, while Tomb of Dracula was more faithful to the comics, making for a crazy ride in which Dracula loses his powers, eats a hamburger, mugs a woman, battles his infant son who has turned into a grown man fueled by the power of angels, and falls in love with Satan's girlfriend.  It is every bit as insane as it sounds.  So what did the crew think of these classic monsters getting the Toei anime treatment?  Listen and find out!

Byrd, Lux and Kevin discuss three more gothic horrors from Daiei Studios (recently released in the excellent Daiei Gothic Volume 2 blu-ray set from Radiance Films).  Daiei would often combine the period drama and folk horror genres to create a unique brand of gothic cinema that was a staple of their output in the 50s, 60s and 70s.  Here we have three more classic horror films from the studio’s glory days: the historical fantasy The Demon of Mt. Oe, the gothic ghost film The Haunted Castle, and the supernatural revenge tale The Ghost of Kasane Swamp.  What did we think?  Listen and find out!

As our October horror viewing marches forward, Byrd, Matt, Lux and Kevin disusss Shinya Tsukamoto's 1991 film, Hiruko the Goblin.  After Tsukamoto had an international breakout success with his indie Tetsuo The Iron Man, he was offered a much bigger budget to helm this adaptation of Daijiro Morohoshi's Yokai Hunter manga.  This is a horror-comedy is about an evil entity that possesses a schoolgirl's disembodied head, as it grows crab-like legs and starts killing other students as a monster hunter tries to vanquish it.  What did we think?  Listen and find out!

Byrd, Matt, Lux and Kevin keep the Halloween spirit by looking at Hideo Nakata's J-horror classic, 2002's Dark Water, as well as the 2005 Hollywood remake starring Jennifer Connelly.  After the success of Ring and the global explosion of Japanese horror, Kadokawa tried to replicate their previous success by hiring Hideo Nakata (Ring) to direct another film based on a story by Koji Suzuki (Ring, Spiral).  Shortly after, the rights were bought once again by producer Roy Lee (The Ring) for an American remake, which would be released in 2005.  Dark Water tells the story of a mother in the middle of a bitter custody battle, who moves into a run down apartment building with her young daughter.  They quickly are burdened with leaky ceilings, floods, and what appears to be the ghost of a little girl.  Does Dark Water match up with the stellar reputation of The Ring?  How does the remake compare to the Japanese original?  Listen and find out!