Could ‘King Kong’ Be the Greatest Movie Ever Made?

Image March 28, 2021 Manic Exorcism 2 Comments

King Kong on TV was an event! – Doug Jones (The Shape of Water, Hellboy, Star Trek: Discovery)

I was a monster-loving kid. They were my world back in those mythical days before entering school and being introduced to a broader horizon of realities to come. But for the rest of my life that passion has never faltered or dissolved.

As a kid I would throw on a bath towel and pretend to be Dracula. And of course, my mom, who had an amazing cackle, would play the evil witch with me and that tickled me stupid.

Along with my love for monsters came a deep-rooted passion for dinosaurs, dragons, and Godzilla. They all blended together and just fed my imagination as I ran around our little home roaring and imitating giant monsters I saw on TV.

Oh but then came the day when King Kong aired on TV. My mom knew I couldn’t miss out on this one, and I don’t say it lightly, it was an event! Nothing could stop us from watching this upcoming movie. The name alone captivated me but I had no idea just how blown away I was about to be!

To set this up, I was young. Like toddler young. My sister wasn’t born yet so I had to be at least 3 or 4. So I’ve just crawled out of diapers and had learned to talk by then and monsters (as previously stated) were my world, and, if I’m being honest, is there any better way to live?

To further set this up this was the early ‘80s. And yes, I’m older than DVDs, the internet, and even Nintendo. Go me! But it also meant watching any movie – let alone something as grand as King Kong – when it came on TV was a very big deal! One, that if missed, you’d never forgive yourself for.

I sat my happy ass in front of the TV to watch nothing less than absolute and pure cinematic magic at its absolute finest. You could not have prepared me for the adventure lying in wait inside that classic movie.

You also couldn’t convince me the movie wasn’t real. King Kong was real. He had to exist! I saw it with my own eyes, by the gods of Midgar! And so were the dinosaurs. They all existed on that mysterious Skull Island where fantasy was allowed to live on.

The Adventure of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror!

King Kong has it all, and really, stands as the criteria for all the genres we now love and celebrate. The whole reason why this site exists is to praise the things we grew up loving, and had there not been King Kong to pave the way – not only as a colossal success but also as an inspiration to future dreamers – we would have so much less to cherish and praise.

For example, for all us gamers, King Kong led to a little blockbuster arcade called Donkey Kong. A game Universal sued Nintendo over due to the strangely similar themes the game shared with the movie. But then DK introduced us to Jumping Man, who later would venture through the Mushroom Kingdom on a rampage of crushing death upon turtles and goombas who had the fucking audacity to get in this guy’s way. Sure, it was Super Mario Bros. and that brought the NES into most homes.

But then there were a few of those friends at school who thought those of us who played Nintendo were a bunch of fucks and they had to go get the Sega so they could play Sonic the Hedgehog on. And Sonic was simply a way to compete with Super Mario. And now look at video games today!

All because Nintendo was inspired by King Kong! Though they denied any connection, (cough, cough).

So just as Kong smashed down the gates barring him from the villagers who worshipped him he also broke down barriers of what to expect out of films and pop culture, and he went on to pave a new way for filmmakers and creative minds to come.

Not just as a monster movie, but as a breakthrough in cinema in every way you can imagine.

The Story Behind The Magic

And we were asleep, my brother and I, and my father, who is a very serious man, if you don’t do sports you don’t exist kind of, isn’t into fantasy or anything like that, came into our bedroom, woke us up, which is unheard of we thought the house was on fire or something, and took us into the living room where we had this tiny TV, and he said, “This is the greatest movie ever made.” David Colton, Senior Editor USA Today

We might take it for granted today, but before King Kong there was simply nothing on earth like it. The closest thing would be The Lost World, a film that greatly influenced the film makers when making King Kong, but Kong took those concepts and upgraded them to the max.

So what makes it so special? What is it about this movie that drives film critics nuts to talk about it?

On its surface, the film is a majestic tale of colossal adventure. At the age I saw it I missed out on all the subtext the movie has to offer though. All I could focus on was the sprawling adventure: a majestic sea voyage that quickly turns into a prehistoric jungle adventure but then quickly becomes a monster masterpiece!

The flow of the film – aside being a testimony to the director’s talent – is seamless. The story builds upon poor Ann Darrow (Fay Wray), a starving young woman who must steal for her food is offered the opportunity of a lifetime. Money, fame, and the promise she’ll never have to go hungry again are all offered to her and just like that she sets out to live the Hollywood dream.

Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), on the other hand, is desperate to make the greatest movie of all time. Something no one will soon forget and in this meta journey the director happens upon his lead actress as if the stars above have aligned and these two strangers were meant to cross paths and venture out on a wild voyage towards destiny.

Landing upon an unknown island, the two discover a land forgotten by Time, a place purposely hidden by God, a place untouched by modern man, and once modern man enters into this wild Eden all Hell breaks loose as we upset a natural order that’s existed since humanity crawled out of the primordial ooze.

Oh and little Ann is offered up as sacrifice to the island’s alpha predator, a beast we know as King Kong.

That’s when the film really takes off as we’re then, not only introduced to Kong himself in a mesmerizing reveal, but we soon learn about the terrors that reign supreme across the island itself. Primarily dinosaurs!

Little did my little child brain know that dinosaurs live in the swamps and jungles of this island! I was beside myself with excitement! I can’t imagine the impact this film had on its first audiences.

And – fucking hell! – the filmmakers knew what we wanted! They gave us some extraordinary scenes of these creatures. Brontosaurus, T-Rex, stegosaurus, plesiosaurus, and a pterodactyl all wreak havoc on not only our cast of heroes but also prove challenging to the titular hero of the movie itself, Kong!

My favorite part, as a kid, was seeing King Kong fighting a ferocious T-Rex! As a kid that was pure magic. I mean he had to fight my favorite dinosaur of all time. And that blew my mind. Today, that is still my favorite scene but for much deeper reasons. I’m still enthralled by the scene and how they made it work! It’s ingenious and for its time it was perfection.

I mean not only is Kong and a T-rex just wrestling around, but these beasts are flipping each other over their backs, getting tossed in the air, knocking down trees, and climbing atop each other as they both fight to the death. And this is all done by stop motion and it just feels so realistic.

Credit goes out to Willis O’Brien who was the stop-motion animator of The Lost World – a film that inspired King Kong – and, of course, King Kong. The animation talent behind Kong is breathtaking and holds up in 2021. It’s a piece of cinematic special effects history at it’s finest.

It’s worth mentioning that O’Brian also brought Mighty Joe Young to life, another big ape movie that’s worth seeing.

Merian C. Cooper, uncredited director of the film, must have been a fan of Jules Verne (Around the World in 80 Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), a writer who is considered the Father of Science Fiction and is praised for his stories of world-challenging adventures to mysterious locations and the horrors (and giants) awaiting there.

Cooper’s imagination must have been brimming with adventures of unexplored far-off places where the layers of mystery veil the wonders that await us there.

And Merian C. Cooper was one hell of an interesting character. Not scared of a goddamn thing. The man survived a plane crash and was nearly mauled to death by a tiger while filming a shot.

He had the heart of a true adventurer, one that converted over to characters in his films. In reality the lead character of Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) really is Mr. Cooper, a driven director Hell-bent on making the greatest movie ever filmed.

And really, I think Merian C. Cooper did just that.

So at its heart, it’s one helluva great adventure story, but it’s also a modernized retelling of the fairy tale classic Beauty and the Beast. In this case, the Beast is taken out of his castle of mystery and forced to deal with the skyscrapers of New York.

But the movie is more than just a ‘monster movie’ and won over film goers and critics alike. The movie pulled in viewers on a weekly basis despite the pesky little fact that it was released during the Great Depression! Now that’s fascinating.

The movie just works. In every way – the beauty of Fay Wray brings it romance, Denham gives us the adventure, the crew fills in the horror as the dinosaurs viciously attack them, and, I must insist, dinosaurs in movies need to be scary! The fantasy of Skull Island enthralls our imaginations and finally seeing Kong rampaging through New York is pure science fiction at its finest.

This is a movie history needed to happen.

As stated before, it gave audiences a magnificent distraction from the daily drudgery of the Great Depression. And it’s proven to be more than simply a product of its time as it’s reached out to kindle the flame of imagination across generations. No one watches King Kong without somehow being inspired by it.

Size Matters!

One of the greatest moments in my life (as a fan) was being at a convention and seeing King Kong face to face. I got to meet that little and sweet armature that climbed the Empire State Building and swatted fighter planes out of the sky. I couldn’t believe it! I stood in front of King Kong and all that nostalgic enchantment swept through me all over again.

It’s incredible how much life was put into that tiny armature. But that’s the brilliance of filmmaking. When I was a kid I sincerely believed Kong was real and, as an adult, I found myself standing in front of the real King Kong, in the presence of true magic.

And I cannot leave out the beautiful matte paintings that brought Skull Island to life. Being inspired by Gustave Dore, King Kong’s realm looks so lush and that jungle is rich in depth! I was shocked when I learned that was all done by painted glass.

But the way the puppets are set in the background and lumber about gives that glass imperial life. The jungle doesn’t just look real, it feels real. It has life, and it is brimming with danger. But, in a wild twist, it feels entirely other worldly.

Before I move on here’s a fun fact. King Kong is the first movie to feature character themes in its soundtrack. Today it’s a given that – and largely thanks to Jaws and Star Wars – characters should have their own themes. You hear the Imperial March and you think of Darth Vader. That’s just how it goes. But King Kong was the first movie to feature individual character themes.

It Broke Open A Way For Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror!

Chances are if you name any of the big-name directors today King Kong had an impact on them. The reason a lot of them got into movie making in the first place was all due to seeing King Kong! They saw that movie and had to go work their own magic.

Think of any giant monster movie you know today and it will have ties back to the original King Kong. But among them all, there’s one name that stands out more than all the rest. And that name is GODZILLA!

No, wait, there’s that of course, but we’ll get to that later. What I meant is Ray Harryhausen. I mean Clash of the Titans is credit alone! The Kraken attack is still exciting. But there are the Sinbad films too, and that moment when you see the Cyclops stomping out of the cave. It’s all a tribute to the magic of Kong.

Peter Jackson, who, in 2004, gave us a beautiful remake of the Kong legacy, was heavily influenced by the original film. And Jackson is very vocal about it, King Kong is his absolute favorite movie.

It’s what got him into making movies. That stands to reason that had it not been for King Kong I can honestly say we would not have the legendary LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy.

Something about the last march of the Ents rings of King Kong to me btw.

Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, The Shape of Water, and Pan’s Labyrinth) is another King Kong fan.

I could go on and on. So many of our favorite classic films, horror, fantasy, you name it, are all directly influenced by the 8th Wonder of the World.

Oh Hell, even Rob Zombie credits King Kong as to why he started making movies. So in a way the Devil’s Rejects, Hell, Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig RIP) lives on in fans’ hearts thanks to Kong!

Directors, special effects artists, and actors all share a love for Kong’s magic. Due to all the movie has influenced it can be said King Kong molded pop culture and turned it into what it is today.

And the film was an international hit too. Sea borders couldn’t contain the beast as cultures around the world were uniquely captured by and reacted to Kong’s might and majesty.

Godzilla sure wouldn’t exist without Kong’s titanic success. So heavily was the influence over the project that Godzilla was originally planned to be stop motion. Now that would have been interesting but I’m glad they changed their minds. Godzilla went on to make history himself and likewise stands as an imperial icon amidst pop culture. And his legacy lives on today, right alongside King Kong.

It’s no secret I’m more of a Godzilla fan, and all you gotta do is search Godzilla on here to see how much the kaiju has influenced me. But I love Kong too and praise him for the impact he’s had on genre fans across generations.

And that brings us to today. Godzilla and King Kong are coming back together for a battle of the ages! It’s the monster fight fans have wanted since they first watched Toho’s original King Kong vs. Godzilla from the ‘60s.

We wanted more! And we’re getting it!

So is King Kong the greatest movie ever made? Honestly, how can it not be? Given not only all it’s achieved over the years, and not to mention the impact it’s singularly had over multiple generations, but also every single person it’s inspired, and how they, the dreamers, went on to further enlighten generations with their own visions of adventure and horror of the great and mighty fantastique, King Kong is more than deserving to stand as the greatest film ever made.

And Kong lives on to this very day! Without any sign of slowing down.

Retro Toy Corner

Unearthed Video of Complete Walkthrough of Toys ‘R’ Us Circa 1991!

Image March 22, 2021 Patti PaulterGeist Leave a comment

A few months ago, I shared a video I had discovered on the YouTubes of a short, but quite satisfying clip of footage shot inside a Toys ‘R’ Us shot in 1989. While it indeed induced sweet memories of running up and down the aisles searching for the prefect Ninja Turtle, it had us clamoring for more. Low and behold, the Gods of Geoffrey have bestowed the ultimate treasure for us nostalgic nuggets- a complete twenty-minute video walkthrough of the once gold mine of toys and games that will have you oozing nostalgia from your eye sockets!

The raw footage is filmed inside a Manhattan Toys’ R’ Us at Herald Center in New York the day before Thanksgiving, showcasing the Christmas season’s hottest toys and giving an inch on the dreaded Black Friday for most parents. It’s pretty amazing this video exists and it’s as if some random someone 30 years ago just picked up a video camcorder and started shooting knowing people like us today would be creaming our pants over this type of stuff. All I can think to say is, this person is a damn hero.

Brought to us courtesy of YouTube Channel btm0815ma, the reel highlights the best of the best and everything we can possibly remember from this now relic as children. We get a complete nostalgic gut-punch with WWF wrestling buddies and WCW figures, Ninja Turtles with Technodrome playsets, the universe of Barbie, and Lego sets of yesteryear! We also get to roam the bike aisles, (tell me I’m not the only asshole who rode those around the store) and I even caught a glimpse of those Universal Monsters PVC bendy figures!

Also, can we appreciate that the recorder spent a good amount of time in the World of Nintendo? Memories of taking those yellow tickets up to the counter to get your coveted game to take home to scream at that night were one of the greatest feelings in the early 90s’. We even get a shot of a ballsy woman taking a Gameboy out of its original packaging to get a closer look at it!

Fantastic.

Then, we end the video with a thorough guided process of checking out and walking out into the streets of the city with a panoramic shot of the once beautiful Toys ‘R’ Us monument. It truly is, one of the coolest videos I’ve seen in a long time, and proper high-fives to this Youtuber for unearthing this gem and sharing it with the world!

Enjoy as much as I did Nostalgic Nuggets!

Interviews

Still a Dead-Eye 35 Years On: A CHOPPING MALL Interview with Kelli Maroney

Image March 20, 2021 Landon Evanson 1 Comment

When Season 2 of The Last Drive-In opened with a shot of CHOPPING MALL spelled out on the marquee over Joe Bob Briggs’ shoulder last April I nearly squealed. Okay, I might have squealed. But it was only because CHOPPING MALL is perhaps my favorite drive-in movie of all-time, and knowing that Barbara Crampton had already been on the show meant that we’d be getting a dose of Kelli Maroney had me straight up giddy with anticipation.

And judging by the reaction on Twitter, I was not alone. While it’s hard to believe that it’s been three-and-a-half decades since we spent the night with a group of horny teenagers taking on a gang of killbots, it isn’t difficult to understand why the film seems to grow in popularity the further it gets from its original release date of March 21, 1986. It hits the ground running and never stops.

With titles like FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) and NIGHT OF THE COMET (1984) to her credit, Kelli Maroney is a bona fide queen of ’80s cinema, but CHOPPING MALL holds a special place in the hearts of many, including the star of the film.

“How could you not be delighted that people enjoy something as much as they seem to enjoy CHOPPING MALL? The appreciation and the gratitude is off the charts.”

Our appreciation and gratitude too is off the charts, not only for 77 minutes of awesome, but that Ms. Maroney shared a few moments with us over the phone in early February to discuss her memories of the shoot, her confusion over why no one ever told her Joe Bob was a fox, the status of a possible television series, and she even shared a personal tidbit about the picture that she’d never told anyone before.

Ladies and gentlemen, Kelli f***ing Maroney.

NIGHTMARE NOSTALGIA: Can you believe it’s been 35 years?

KELLI MARONEY: That’s what I always say. If you had told me in 1986 that in 2021 I’d be giving five interviews this week for CHOPPING MALL? (laughs) I would’ve said “What are you smokin’?” because it wouldn’t have been real to me. It used to be more NIGHT OF THE COMET but now it’s CHOPPING MALL. Even Joe Bob Briggs said “What’s the deal with CHOPPING MALL?” and his producer said “Dude, it’s the most popular thing.”

Even I said to (director) Jim Wynorski “Can you believe this? I can’t get over it. I can never get over it.” It never gets old, it’s always stunning. I’m tickled, I’m delighted and really touched because that’s the whole point of doing this is to connect with people and give them something that they enjoy. And this is beyond anybody’s wildest dreams to have done something that people like so much, but I had no idea it was going to be CHOPPING MALL.

NN: It almost felt like the anniversary celebrations began last year when CHOPPING MALL opened Season 2 of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. We’re not going to rehash that conversation, but give us a peek behind the curtain of being on one of horror’s biggest stages.

KM: It was amazing. First of all, I got a message from (Briggs) on Twitter and I thought “this isn’t really Joe Bob Briggs,” but it was, it was John (Bloom). He’s a lovely guy and he’s extremely smart. And Joe Bob is a character obviously, but it’s just heightened. If John was always in his sense of humor, and it was just heightened and a little more Southern, it’s still him. So, you get there and everybody is so nice. At first I met Diana (Prince) — Darcy the Mail GIrl — and my friend Felissa Rose had been on before, so I reached out because I was excited. If you’re on Joe Bob you’re a horror fixture in that community otherwise you wouldn’t be there.

First of all, I had never met him before, so when he was on MonsterVision I had never seen that so I thought Joe Bob, what is he a big, fat guy with a beer belly that talks about boobs all the time? I had no interest. I didn’t know what he was doing because I’d never seen it, but no one ever told me he was a babe (laughs). Seriously, no one had ever said anything to change that perception that I had.

He’s a very big supporter of the Chattanooga Film Festival, which is lovely, and they gave me an award once, First Joe Bob did a little riff on NIGHT OF THE COMET — well, it wasn’t a little riff because that dude gets seriously in depth and it’s never little, he always gives a full talk — but my award was a paper mache slice of pizza designed by a local artist who is told what the recipient means to the festival and then the artist creates it. And I said, pizza? And Chris Dortch, who owns and runs the festival and presented the award, said “Yes, you’re like pepperoni pizza. You make everything better that you’re in.” I said “awww, that’s adorable. That’s so sweet!” So, I took a picture with Joe Bob, and even with my huge high heels on I am half his size because he’s tall and I”m petite.

So, back to Felissa. I asked her advice on guesting for the show and she said “don’t tell him something you’ve already told everybody else in interviews” So, I took that as don’t tell the same old story about how I wanted to be an actor since I was a little girl. Don’t bore Joe Job. Be entertaining. And Felissa has no problem just saying things, so she set the bar so high.

Sometime as actors you get all serious about things and nobody cares, they want you to be fun. And as you can see, I’ll just talk as long, until you tell me to stop (laughs).

I love when fans feel like they’re a part of things, and that’s what’s so great about The Last Drive-In. The whole Mutant Family gets on Twitter and it’s a lot of fun. But I was extremely thrilled when I found out it was true. In fact, Darcy direct messaged me on Twitter saying “let me know if you’d don’t hear from them because I’m not doing CHOPPING MALL if you’re not there.”

NN: You’ve probably seen tons of CHOPPING MALL cosplay over the years, but has anyone done it better than Darcy?

KM: No. No. And we had a long girl conversation about “can you even find this blouse anymore?” and the shoes that were closest to what I had worn were $100 so we weren’t doing that, but in two million years I never thought I’d be having a set conversation about that outfit (laughs). She had it down. She even had the patch, and she even did the limp — like at the end when I was limping — it was a thing of beauty. You can really tell she doesn’t just do it because it’s in the movie and she sees what they’re wearing, she’s got the whole thing down.

NN: Is it uncomfortable maneuvering around with a flare in your bra?

KM: You know I forgot all about it. It fit perfectly in there and I forgot all about it (laughs). As did Allison, she almost forgot she had it, too! She looks down and she’s like “oh yeah, I’ve got a flare!” I don’t know, it just fit right.

NN: You never know what movies are going to resonate with audiences, and 35 years later we’re still talking about CHOPPING MALL as you said, but did your head kind of explode like Suzee Slater’s when Liam Carroll posted his piece for The Spool (which you shared on Twitter) outlining how the film had helped him through anxiety attacks and depression. When you read something like that about a drive-in , B-movie that obviously means something to people, how does that make you feel?

KM: Through the internet and doing conventions you hear these kinds of stories a lot and that’s why you want to be an actor. You put up with the lifestyle and the uncertainty and everything that goes along with it because we just have that driving need to connect with other people. It’s such extreme validation to hear that back, that something I put my heart and soul into and it comes back in a wave. I wasn’t out there acting into a void, it’s hitting people and it means something to them. I’ve given them something and they’ve given me something, and it means that I didn’t waste my life doing something that didn’t mean anything, people like CHOPPING MALL (laughs).

NN: There were some rumors a few years ago about CHOPPING MALL doing a television series, and unless I missed something, did anything ever come of that or something that might still happen?

KM: Wynorski’s in charge of that. We were getting set to do a tease, and then I’m not sure exactly what happened because I think he had several meetings with Lionsgate but as they say in the industry, put a pin in it, which means put a pin in it like on a bulletin board and save it for later. It’s just a risky venture I would think, so I don’t know I haven’t heard anything about it for quite a while.

NN: We’re not going to ask you what your favorite scene or line from the film is because I know you’ve answered those questions a thousand times, but I am interested to know what your lasting image is. When you’re thinking about CHOPPING MALL and not being interviewed about it, what comes back to you most?

KM: I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone.

NN: I like to hear that.

KM: Ready?

NN: I am.

KM: Sometimes that song, the CHOPPING MALL theme goes through my head when I’m doing my makeup or driving around (laughs). And that is true, it is absolutely true (laughs).

NN: I introduced a friend of mine to CHOPPING MALL and he appreciates it as a B-movie, but I refer to it as a classic and one day he said “you know what, CHOPPING MALL is not a classic.” So, I said I’m going to be interviewing the star of the movie and we’ll see. His name is Chad, so if you have message for Chad as to why CHOPPING MALL is a classic, I’d love to hear it.

KM: Hey Chad, sorry you got dragged into this, but since you are (laughs), you can like it or not like it but I don’t like THE SOUND OF MUSIC particularly, but it’s a classic so you’re just going to have to eat this one on CHOPPING MALL. I’m sorry (laughs).