Monthly Archives: October 2019

King Kong vs. The Dude (Part 1 of 2)

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KongPoster

Pretty fuckin’ ballsy to call your obvious  remake an “original motion picture event” 🤣

As a monster movie fan I’ve seen all the Godzillas, all the Gameras… but only most of the Kings Kong.  This month I am one step closer to Kongpletion, because I finally saw the 1976 remake, King Kong!  We got Jessica Lange, we got Jeff Bridges, we got Charles Grodin, we got the guy who played Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, we got some tasty American suitmation, and it’s all in a lavish, mid-70s Dino De Laurentiis super-production!

So what the fuck took me so long? For one thing, Kong ’76 has always had sort of a mixed reception… for another thing, they took out the dinosaurs.  And the expedition to Skull Island (only they make sure to NOT call it Skull Island) switched from an ambitious-but-doomed movie shoot to an ill-advised oil survey (because it’s the 70s, so you gotsta get those gas crisis references in!) These are all really minor, nitpicky things, but in my brain they all pointed to the distinct possibility that this was a King Kong movie that was embarrassed to be a King Kong movie, and I wasn’t exactly champing at the bit for another one of those.

I’m psyched to be wrong though! Kong ’76 is a mixed bag, but it’s a beautiful mixed bag! Most importantly, it IS 110% an honest-to-Godzilla King Kong movie! There’s also a shitload of BUCK NUTTY behind-the-scenes stories about Kong ’76’s conception and creation. Plus it’s fascinating seeing how this movie clearly laid some (unintentional?) groundwork for 2017’s terrific Kong: Skull Island.  So hit pause on Deep Throat, grab your pet rocks Petrox, and get ready to feel feelings about the Twin Towers all over again, because we’re setting sail for (definitely not) Skull Island!

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MCTW Podcast: La Llorona!

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thumbnailMonsters Conquer the World Podcast is here with a spooktacular new episode! Just in time for Halloween, we’re taking on the classic Mexican ghost story La Llorona and its  2019 film adaptation, The Curse of La Llorona! We’ve got a super special guest to guide us through the wild and woolly world of the weeping woman, our good friend Richard (inventor of the Monsters Conquer the World signature cocktail!)! Richard grew up hearing tales of La Llorona, so we were super excited to get his perspective on the movie and of course dive into the deep folkloric roots of this iconic ghoul!

We weigh in on jump scares and anti jump scares, Mexico’s horrifying(?) Hairy Hand, the real-life historical figure that (may have) inspired La Llorona, Steve Urkel, and so much more!

We also get some bonus ghost stories–enough to fill up the adjoining Shadow Episode, which I super duper recommend checking out!  Come for La Lechuza, Mexico’s terrifying owl witch, and stay for Richard’s run in with a Curandero! Plus Ralph and Richard discuss the nature of ghost stories and superstitions and what they mean not only in Mexican folklore, but the human experience at large. Shit is dope, friendos.

Monsters Conquer the World Podcast is available everywhere you pick up your favorite casted pods, but you can also just clack on this lonk if you wunt: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/monsters-conquer-the-world

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I hope you enjoy the episode (and Shadow Episode)–due to life stuff I had to be more hands-off this time, but Ralph and Richard totally crushed it–this is absolutely one of my favorite episodes we’ve done.  That said, between my work schedule (which will continue to be crazy through the end of the year), the hectic insanity of the holiday season, and just needing to make sure our personal lives don’t fall apart, Ralph and I have decided that Monsters Conquer the World Podcast will be on hiatus at least through November and December.  We don’t have an exact return time locked in yet, but we’re aiming for January or February.  We’ve still got a bunch of episode ideas that we’re psyched about, so hopefully life will have chilled out enough by then so we can actually make those episodes.  Of course Patreon will be on hold while we’re gone, but monthly(-ish) blog posts won’t be effected–my review of the 1976 King Kong should be ready to drop (at least in part) before All Hallow’s Eve.  Our Discord channel, Facebook, and Twitter will keep functioning as normal too!

M E R C H

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UH OH Y’ALL

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WE. HAVE. FRICKIN’. MERCH.  Like a real-life big boy podcast and blog! Our friend Mikey cooked up a KILLER logo for us and Ralph slam-dunked it onto Teepublic! Here’s a closer look at the sexy new icon! Roll that beautiful bean footage!

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Aw doink! Looka that!

Teepublic gives you roughly a zillion different options, so head over there and slap it onto your favorite color t-shirt, some fun fridge magnets, or hell, a coffee mug that you use to discretely drink the official Monsters Conquer the World Cocktail out of!