Download or read book Giant Bug Movies of The 1950s written by Jon Abbott and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-29 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They creep... they crawl... and they're the size of a house! This book looks at the giant bug movie fad of the 1950s that began with the spectacular giant ants of Them! and continued with Tarantula!... The giant grasshoppers of The Beginning of the End swiftly followed, accompanied by The Deadly Mantis, The Monster That Challenged the World, The Monster from Green Hell, Earth vs. the Spider, The Black Scorpion, The Fly, Return of the Fly, Attack of the Giant Leeches, and The Wasp Woman. Giant Bug Movies of the 1950s, the second in a series of books that also looks at Flying Saucer films, Space Travel cinema, and panic in the streets movies of the '50s, looks at the entire phenomenon of these mutated monsters in chronological order, with detailed features on all the films in the genre from the best to the inevitable worst and all the fun in between. The book also includes The Incredible Shrinking Man for his battle with what, to him, was a giant spider, plus photo galleries of sci-fi bugs on TV and insects in the comics. So grab a can of bug spray and some netting, and pray that furry arm around your shoulder belongs to your partner...! D...d...doesn't... it... Jon Abbott is the author of numerous books on 20th century film and television available on Amazon. He has written over four hundred articles and features for over two dozen different publications, trade, specialist, and populist, and is currently writing for Infinity magazine.

Download or read book Monster Insects of the Movies written by John Lemay and published by Bicep Books. This book was released on 2020-03-16 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This throwback to kid's monster books from the 1970s examines giant bug movies from the 1950s (like Them!) all the way into the 1970s (Empire of the Ants). Fully illustrated, the book also covers Earth vs. the Spider, Monster from Green Hell, The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Kingdom of the Spiders, and more!!!

Download or read book Flying Saucer Films of The 1950s written by Jon Abbott and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-29 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1950s was a golden age for cinematic sci-fi, offering up dozens of films of varying degrees of interest, competence, and entertainment. Some of it was schlock, knocked out by fast-buck con-men and opportunists, who inadvertently created iconic trash. Some of it was tedious, well-intentioned, and tiresome. Those are mostly forgotten. And some of it was inspirational, memorable, and for the True Fan, literally life-changing. No-one could have known, back in the 1950s, that decades later these films would still be showing, written about, admired and respected, loved and laughed at, featured in magazines and books, released on home video, DVD, and streaming services, picked apart, studied and quoted, cracked a beer open to, and enthused over, while more serious and sensitive fare of the era gathered dust. Flying Saucer Films of the 1950s features detailed coverage of such classic sci-fi films of the '50s as The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Thing from Another World, Invaders from Mars, It Came from Outer Space, This Island Earth, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, War of the Worlds, and I Married a Monster from Outer Space. Also included in full detail are The Flying Saucer, The Man from Planet X, Plan Nine from Outer Space, Invasion of the Saucermen, The Mysterians, Battle in Outer Space, The Cosmic Man, and Teenagers from Outer Space. The other three books in this series are Giant Bug Movies of the 1950s (Them, Tarantula, The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, The Fly, Earth vs. the Spider, etc.), Panic in the Streets: Sci-Fi Movie Mayhem in the 1950s (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It Came from Beneath the Sea, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Twenty Million Miles to Earth, The Giant Claw, The Blob, etc.), and Space Travel in 1950s Cinema (Destination: Moon, Rocketship X-M, Forbidden Planet, Flight to Mars, Conquest of Space, When Worlds Collide, Cat Women of the Moon, Queen of Outer Space, etc.), all available on Amazon. Four fun-filled, fact-filled studies of sci-fi films of the Fifties begin here, with Flying Saucer Films of the 1950s... All four volumes combine to make up a detailed study of "Sci-Fi Before Star Wars", the science-fiction boom of the 1950s. Jon Abbott is the author of numerous books on 20th century film and television available on Amazon. He has written over four hundred articles and features for over two dozen different publications, trade, specialist, and populist, and is currently writing for Infinity magazine.

Download or read book Panic in the Streets written by Jon Abbott and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-08-29 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who doesn't love a 'panic in the streets' scene? As a kid watching sci-fi movies, it was the part I always loved the most, the moment I eagerly waited for after seeing The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms on television for the first time. Hordes of everyday mugs, interrupted in their boring lives by the massive creature rising from the docks or alien saucers obliterating buildings above them... that was the money shot for this little wide-eyed scamp. Not all of the films in this book deliver those screaming crowds, though they all include that all-important element of mounting hysteria, that escalation from minor disturbance to all-out alerts to the helpless authorities. To be truthful, these are the leftovers, the films that didn't fit into the other three categories in this series, which are: Flying Saucer Films of the 1950s; Giant Bug Movies of the 1950s; and Space Travel in 1950s Cinema. But what tasty leftovers they are. This volume features some of the very best of 1950s sci-fi in all its mad glory: for me personally, Revenge of the Creature, It Came from Beneath the Sea, The Giant Claw, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Twenty Million Miles to Earth, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and The Hideous Sun Demon are among some of my most loved and returned to films of the period. Also included are The Neanderthal Man, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Amazing Colossal Man, The Blob, Monster on the Campus, The Werewolf, Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman, War of the Colossal Beast, Behemoth the Sea Monster, and Invisible Invaders. Put all four volumes together, and you have a pretty good guide to the glories of Sci-Fi Before Star Wars. So don't hang around here... We've got dinosaurs, giants, blobs, cavemen, extraterrestrial lizards and buzzards, an octopus, the Gill man, pod people, werewolves, zombies, and a sun demon waiting for you in these pages, so grab those running shoes and head for the hills... They're coming...!! Jon Abbott has been writing about film and television professionally for nearly forty years. He has contributed to most of the major sci-fi magazines in that time, and is the author of numerous books on popular culture, including the highly regarded Cool TV series. He has been publisahed by McFarland and is currently writing for Infinity magazine. Click on my name in blue to see my other titles.

Download or read book Son of the 100 Best Movies You ve Never Seen written by Richard Crouse and published by ECW Press. This book was released on 2008-09-01 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fans of offbeat cinema, discriminating renters and collectors, and movie buffs will drool over this checklist of the best overlooked and underappreciated films of the last hundred years. In Son of the 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, Richard Crouse, Canada AM film critic and host of television’s award-winning Reel to Real, presents a follow-up to his 2003 book with another hundred of his favorite films. Titles range from the obscure, like 1912’s The Cameraman’s Revenge, to El Topo’s unusual existential remake of the classic western, and little-seen classics like The Killing. Each essay features a detailed description of plot, notable trivia tidbits, critical reviews, and interviews with actors and filmmakers. Featured interviews include Billy Bob Thornton on an inspirational movie about a man with his head in the clouds, Francis Ford Coppola on One from the Heart, and Mario Van Peebles on playing his own father in Badasssss! Sidebars feature quirky details, including legal disclaimers and memorable quotes, along with movie picks from A-list actors and directors.

Download or read book 1950s Science Fiction Films and 9 11 written by Melvin E. Matthews and published by Algora Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1950s Cold War-era monsters meet 21st century terrorists: this exploration of sci-fi movies examines the similarities and differences between the political environment and popular culture of two eras. This examination and appreciation of 1950s science fiction films includes behind-the-scenes tales about their production and many quotes from those who produced and starred in the films. The author draws parallels between the Cold War fears of the 1950s and 60s and the constant "terrorism alerts" of the September 11th era, exploring how the politics and the psychological climate of the times influences and is reflected in this vehicle of popular culture. This book is the first of its kind, studying the pop culture genre in the wake of the September 11th tragedy. It shows that, whatever the era and whatever the challenges and crises confronting America, many entertainment themes remain the same, reflecting their respective times and the relevant issues. For instance, Godzilla, the only Fifties-era monster to remain a "movie star" beyond that era, could be fashioned to reflect whatever issues dominate the times, be they nuclear war in the Fifties when Godzilla originated to a Seventies Godzilla film about environmental pollution. Conceivably a Godzilla for the age of terrorism is possible. "Them"! the 1954 atomic mutation classic, is the spiritual ancestor of the 2002 film "Eight Legged Freaks." The alien invaders of the Fifties signified a Russian invasion of America, while other films of the genre, such as "Invaders from Mars," depicted aliens utilizing mind control to manipulate humans to commit acts of sabotage, signifying Communist enslavement. If such a film were made now, such invaders could be seen as terrorist masterminds using human slaves to commit terrorist acts. Finally, several Fifties films depicted the end of the world at a time when Americans expected a nuclear war with Russia. The immediate pre-September 11th era witnessed films presenting galactic threats to mankind's existence ("Independence Day," "Deep Impact," "Armageddon"), while the early 2000s witnessed the popularity of the "Left Behind" Christian films dramatizing the Tribulation period in the Book of Revelation.

Download or read book Horror Films of the 1970s written by John Kenneth Muir and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2012-11-22 with total page 682 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The seventies were a decade of groundbreaking horror films: The Exorcist, Carrie, and Halloween were three. This detailed filmography covers these and 225 more. Section One provides an introduction and a brief history of the decade. Beginning with 1970 and proceeding chronologically by year of its release in the United States, Section Two offers an entry for each film. Each entry includes several categories of information: Critical Reception (sampling both '70s and later reviews), Cast and Credits, P.O.V., (quoting a person pertinent to that film's production), Synopsis (summarizing the film's story), Commentary (analyzing the film from Muir's perspective), Legacy (noting the rank of especially worthy '70s films in the horror pantheon of decades following). Section Three contains a conclusion and these five appendices: horror film cliches of the 1970s, frequently appearing performers, memorable movie ads, recommended films that illustrate how 1970s horror films continue to impact the industry, and the 15 best genre films of the decade as chosen by Muir.

Download or read book Attack of the New B Movies written by Justin Wigard and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2023-04-14 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its inception in 1992, the Sci-Fi Channel (later rebranded as SYFY) has aired more than 500 network-produced or commissioned films. Campy and prolific, the network churned out one low-budget film after another, finally finding its zenith in the 2013 release of Sharknado. With unpretentious charm and a hearty helping of commodified nostalgia, the Sharknado franchise briefly ruled the cultural consciousness and temporarily transformed SYFY's original films from cult fringe to appointment television. Naturally, the network followed up with a steady stream of sequels and spin-offs, including Lavalantula and its sequel, 2 Lava 2 Lantula! This collection of essays is the first to devote critical attention to SYFY's original film canon, both pre- and post-Sharknado. In addition to unpacking the cultural, historical and critical underpinnings of the monsters at the heart of SYFY's classic creature features, the contributors offer a variety of approaches to understanding and interrogating these films within the broader contexts of ecocriticism, monster theory, post-9/11 criticism, and neocolonialism. Providing a further entry point for future scholarship, an appendix details a thorough filmography of SYFY's original films from 1992 to 2022.

Download or read book Sci Fi Film Fiesta written by Chris Christopoulos and published by Chris Christopoulos. This book was released on 2022-12-31 with total page 67 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The SCI-FI FILM FIESTA eBook series is intended as a salute to the pioneering work of science fiction film makers. May future generations have the privilege of enjoying your work and never stop wondering....What if? The classic science fiction films from the 1950s in this volume 8 “Big Bugs and Crazy Critters” of the Sci-Fi Film Fiesta eBook series, deal with forces of nature going haywire and seeming to strike back at humanity with a veritable menagerie of colossal critters, reminding us just how insignificant and powerless we are in the face of forces over which we really have little control. If humanity is not more careful, it could very well be…..The Beginning of the End!

Download or read book Animal Horror Cinema written by Katarina Gregersdotter and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-02-22 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This first full-length scholarly study about animal horror cinema defines the popular subgenre and describes its origin and history in the West. The chapters explore a variety of animal horror films from a number of different perspectives. This is an indispensable study for students and scholars of cinema, horror and animal studies.

Download or read book The Eternal Future of the 1950s written by Dennis R. Cutchins and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2023-07-17 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science fiction cinema, once relegated to the undervalued "B" movie slot, has become one of the dominant film genres of the 21st century, with Hollywood alone producing more than 400 science fiction films annually. Many of these owe a great deal of their success to the films of one defining decade: the 1950s. Essays in this book explore how classic '50s science fiction films have been recycled, repurposed, and reused in the decades since their release. Tropes from Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), for instance, have found surprising new life in Netflix's wildly popular Stranger Things. Interstellar (2014) and Arrival (2016) have clear, though indirect roots in the iconic 1950s science fictions films Rocketship X-M (1950) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), and The Shape of Water (2017) openly recalls and reworks the major premises of The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954). Essays also cover 1950's sci-fi influences on video game franchises like Fallout, Bioshock and Wolfenstein.

Download or read book Sci Fi Film Fiesta written by Chris Christopoulos and published by Chris Christopoulos. This book was released on 2022-10-12 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is part of a series intended as a salute to the pioneering work of science fiction film makers from the ‘golden age’ of science fiction films of the 1950s. The films in this volume feature monsters that stand as metaphors for the fears of the time when people had genuine concerns about atomic power and the atom bomb’s potential for the first time in human history to bring about the end of human civilisation. For instance, in the case of Godzilla (1954) the film is an allegory for the destruction and devastation unleashed on Japan by the atomic bomb, with the 400-foot-tall mutant dinosaur Gojira, serving as the visual metaphor. Such monsters represent forces of nature awakened by human science that once brought into being cannot be controlled.

Download or read book Monsters in the Movies written by John Landis and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-12-13 with total page 798 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From B-movie bogeymen and outer space oddities to big-budget terrors, Monsters in the Movies by legendary filmmaker John Landis showcases the greatest monsters ever to creep, fly, slither, stalk, or rampage across the Silver Screen! Landis provides his own fascinating and entertaining insights into the world of moviemaking, while conducting in-depth "conversations" with leading monster makers, including David Cronenberg, Christopher Lee, John Carpenter, and Sam Raimi — to discuss some of the most petrifying monsters ever seen. He also surveys the historical origins of the archetypal monsters, such as vampires, zombies, and werewolves, and takes you behind the scenes to discover the secrets of those special-effects wizards who created such legendary frighteners as King Kong, Dracula, and Halloween's Michael Myers. With more than 1000 stunning movie stills and posters, this book is sure to keep even the most intense fright-seekers at the edge of their seats for hours!

Download or read book Insect Biodiversity written by Robert G. Foottit and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 1024 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume Two of the new guide to the study of biodiversity in insects Volume Two of Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society presents an entirely new, companion volume of a comprehensive resource for the most current research on the influence insects have on humankind and on our endangered environment. With contributions from leading researchers and scholars on the topic, the text explores relevant topics including biodiversity in different habitats and regions, taxonomic groups, and perspectives. Volume Two offers coverage of insect biodiversity in regional settings, such as the Arctic and Asia, and in particular habitats including crops, caves, and islands. The authors also include information on historical, cultural, technical, and climatic perspectives of insect biodiversity. This book explores the wide variety of insect species and their evolutionary relationships. Case studies offer assessments on how insect biodiversity can help meet the needs of a rapidly expanding human population, and examine the consequences that an increased loss of insect species will have on the world. This important text: Offers the most up-to-date information on the important topic of insect biodiversity Explores vital topics such as the impact on insect biodiversity through habitat loss and degradation and climate change With its companion Volume I, presents current information on the biodiversity of all insect orders Contains reviews of insect biodiversity in culture and art, in the fossil record, and in agricultural systems Includes scientific approaches and methods for the study of insect biodiversity The book offers scientists, academics, professionals, and students a guide for a better understanding of the biology and ecology of insects, highlighting the need to sustainably manage ecosystems in an ever-changing global environment.

Download or read book Popular Media and Animals written by Claire Molloy and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-06-29 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do mainstream film, television, advertising, videogames and newspapers engage with topics such as vivisection, hunting, animal performance, farming, meat eating and animal control? This book explores social, economic, ethical and cultural aspects of relationships between popular media forms and key animal issues.

Download or read book Atomic Environments written by Neil Shafer Oatsvall and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2023-02-21 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In "Atomic Environments," Neil S. Oatsvall examines how top policymakers in the Truman and Eisenhower administrations used environmental science in their work developing nuclear strategy at the beginning of the Cold War. While many people were involved in research and analysis during the period in question, it was at highest levels of executive decision-making where environmental science and nuclear science most clearly combined to shape the nation's policies. Because making and testing weapons, dealing with fallout and nuclear waste, and finding uses for radioactive byproducts required advanced understanding of how nuclear systems interacted with the world, policymakers utilized existing networks of environmental scientists-particularly meteorologists, geologists, and ecologists-to understand and control the United States' use of nuclear technology. Instead of profiling individuals, Oatsvall focuses on executive institutions, especially the leadership of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and high level officials in the Truman and Eisenhower White Houses, including the presidents, themselves. By scrutinizing institutional policymaking practices and agendas at the birth of the nuclear age, a constant set of values becomes clear: "Atomic Environments" reveals an emerging technocratic class that consistently valued knowledge about the environment to help create and maintain a nuclear arsenal, despite its existential threat to life on earth and the negative effects many nuclear technologies directly had on ecosystems and the American people, alike. "Atomic Environments" is divided into five chapters, each of which probes a different facet of the entanglement between environment, nuclear technologies, and policymaking. The first three chapters form a rough narrative arc about nuclear weapons. Chapter One situates bombs in their "natural habitat" by considering why nuclear tests occurred where they did and what testers thought they revealed about the natural environment and how they influenced it. Focusing on nuclear fallout, Chapter Two argues that nuclear tests actually functioned as a massive, uncontrolled experiment in world environments and human bodies that intermingled medicine, nuclear science, and environmental science. Chapter Three shows how the environmental knowledge gained in the first two chapters led to nuclear test ban treaty talks during the Eisenhower era, when the advancement of environmental knowledge and the natural world itself became crucial grounds of contention in the creation of nuclear test detection and evasion systems. The last two chapters step away from weapons to question how other nuclear technologies and facets of the U.S. nuclear program interacted with the natural world. Chapter Four examines agriculture's place in the U.S. nuclear program, from breakthrough advances in agricultural science including the use of radioisotopes and the direct application of radiation to food, to "atomic agriculture's" public relations value as a peaceful proxy, which shifted the moral calculus and further leveraged the U.S. government's atomic power. Chapter Five shows how knowledge of the natural world and the functioning of its systems proved important to uncovering the most effective ways to dispose of nuclear waste. Running throughout, Oatsvall consistently demonstrates how the natural world and the scientific disciplines that study it became integral parts of nuclear science, rather than adversarial fields of knowledge. But while nuclear technologies heavily depended on environmental science to develop, those same technologies frequently caused great harm to the natural world. Moreover, while some individuals expressed real anxieties about the damage wrought by nuclear technologies, policymakers as a class consistently made choices that privileged nuclear boosterism and secrecy, prioritizing institutional values over the lives and living systems that agencies like the AEC were ostensibly charged to protect. In the end, Oatsvall argues that although policymakers took their charge to protect and advance the welfare of the United States and its people seriously, they often failed to do so because their allegiance to the U.S. nuclear hierarchy blinded them to the real risks and dangers of the nuclear age"--

Download or read book Creature Features written by William Schoell and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-09-30 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work offers a critical, colorful and informative examination of different types of monster movies, spanning the silent period to today. Chapter One focuses on dragons, dinosaurs, and other scaly giants from films like 1953's The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, an impressive stop-motion production that ushered in a new era of atomic-spawned monster films. Chapter Two examines "big bug" flicks, beginning with 1954's giant ant-infested Them! Chapter Three focuses on ordinary animals grown to improbable proportions through scientific or sinister experimentation, such as the huge octopus in 1955's It Came from Beneath the Sea. Chapters Four, Five, and Six look at films in which nature goes berserk, and otherwise innocuous animals flock, swarm, hop or run about on a menacingly massive scale, including 1963's The Birds and 1972's Frogs. Finally, Chapter Seven focuses on films featuring beasts that defy easy definition, such as 1958's The Blob and Fiend Without a Face.