Hello!

Gary Teetzel really came through with the sci-fi fantasy items today. They are often scoops first seen at the ever-busy Classic Horror Film Board.

First up is a teaser trailer for the unusual new Godzilla picture to be released in Japan on November 3. Gary explained it this way:

“So for months, Toho’s upcoming Godzilla has been rumored to be called “GODZILLA ZERO”. Today it was revealed to be titled “GODZILLA MINUS ONE.” Much more surprising is that a U.S. release date of December 1 has been announced, but with no distributor mentioned. Will it perhaps be a one-night-only Fathom Events screening? From the press release:”

Koji Ueda, President of Toho International, said in a statement last Tuesday, “Set in a post-war Japan, Godzilla Minus One will once again show us a Godzilla that is a terrifying and overwhelming force, which you already get a sense of from the teaser trailer and poster.”

The explanation continued, “The concept is that Japan, which had already been devastated by the war, faces a new threat with Godzilla, bringing the country into the ‘minus’.”

Right, ‘bring into the minus.’ What could be simpler than that?  The two titles mostly suggest weak jokes. Godzilla Zero sounds like a new Coca-Cola product. Godzilla Minus One reminds me of those old record albums with one instrumental part missing so that amateur musicians could play along at home. Gary offered that Godzilla Minus One suggests that Godzilla got invited to a wedding, He initially said he was bringing a guest but then the guest couldn’t make it, so the wedding guest list was changed from “Godzilla + 1” to “Godzilla Minus 1.”

Gary agrees that the impressive teaser trailer looks like a serious movie and not a two-hour toy commercial, which is definitely a good sign. It’s on YouTube:
Godzilla Minus One Official Teaser.

 

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The other links forwarded by Gary come directly from a Classic Horror Film Board post by one ‘GaryP11111.’ They’re special effects outtakes from the 1961 ‘Cinemagic’ feature The Angry Red Planet.

They appear to be raw takes, in perfect condition, of special effect monster shots to be converted into innovator Norman Maurer’s ‘Cinemagic’ process. Maurer’s technique created an unique ‘Martian’ environment by converting B&W footage to color, distorting the contrast values in a manner something like what photographers know as Solarization. The idea was that the show could use cardboard sets and sketchy backdrops, because Cinemagic would make them look 3-dimensional. We always thought the gimmick was ‘special’ — with a little more time and money it could have been much better.

 

We think that the Original Angry Red Planet Trailer was cut together before A.I.P. had access to the finished Cinemagic footage — either that, or the distributor didn’t care . . . the Martian monsters are B&W in the color trailer, just like these outtakes. The 19 separate clips are rather repetitous … we always knew that the Bat-Rat-Spider-Crab was a flimsy marionette, and the long unbroken takes make it even more obvious. But clever is clever — it’s a truly imaginative Outer Space Monster.

We also wonder if the film clips are scanned full-frame. Taking a 1:85 slice out of these images makes things pretty tight. Could the cameraman have thought he was composing for TV?

Here’s the stack of links to the Producers’ Library outtakes of the Angry Red Planet Bat-Rat-Spider-Crab.

 

Take 15,  Take 16,  Take 17,  Take 18,  Take 19,  Take 20,  Take 21,  Take 22,  Take 23,  Take 24,  Take 25,  Take 26,  Take 27,  Take 28,  Take 29,  Take 30,  Take 31,  Take 32,  Take 33

 

 

‘GaryP111’ also sent links to pre-Cinemagic outttakes concerning the The Angry Red Planet’s ‘Giant Amoeba Monster.’ We see no slates anywhere, which is a shame; Robert Skotak told us that the effects were filmed on a small stage at the Howard Anderson special effects company. Outttake Film Clip number 11 (V-0046B 011) shows an unused effect in which Jack Kruschen’s face, trapped in the the amoeba, becomes a cartoon skull. In another (#9), a hand pushes the amoeba with a stick.

Here’s the stack of links to the Producers’ Library outtakes of the Angry Red Planet Amoeba.

 

Take 01,  Take 02,  Take 03,  Take 04,  Take 05,  Take 06,  Take 07,  Take 08,  Take 09,  Take 10,  Take 11,  Take 12,  Take 13,  Take 14
 

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson