Foster on Film

Tarantula (1955)  The Black Scorpion (1957)  The Deadly Mantis (1957)  The ‘50s giant bug craze was part of the larger atomic monster sub-genre which started with The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and went on full tilt for the next decade. These were B-pictures—or C-pictures—where sparing expense was always a factor. Still, they tended not to

Gamera is just wandering around in outer space, which is something he does now, when he runs into hostile aliens in a collection of beach balls. He destroys the balls after they have radioed home for reinforcements. On Earth, two Kennys, one Japanese and one American, are at some kind of international boy scout camp.

Rebirth of Mothra (1996)  Rebirth of Mothra II (1997)  Rebirth of Mothra III (1998)  Three films in which a pair of fairy sisters, Moll and Lora, work to save humanity with the help of children and the goddess moth, Mothra, while their evil sister attempts to do the opposite using various huge monsters. In Rebirth

Dr. Niko Tatopolous (Matthew Broderick) is drafted onto a team that is investigating attacks by a giant monster. They quickly discover that a huge, radioactive lizard does exist and it is heading toward New York. Waiting in the city is Tatopolous’s ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo), who is trying to get a break as a

Gamera’s rocket is struck by a meteor, returning him to earth where he vanishes from the movie for nearly an hour. Meanwhile, three men (who I think might be low level gangsters—it isn’t clear) head to New Guinea to recover an opal that our more-or-less hero’s brother hid during WWII. The opal is not a

In a teal world, a group of “eco-terrorists” breaks into a Monarch facility, taking Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) and her monster communication device, as well as her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown). Their plan is to wake the ancient monsters all over the world and let them remake the planet. Monarch, lead by Dr.

Giant monsters—kaiju—have risen up through a dimensional portal on the ocean’s floor, and caused massive death and destruction. Eventually, humans got the advantage by building giant robots they call jaegers. The robots require two closely aligned pilots whose brains are connected to the machines and to each other. Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) was such a

A volcanic eruption serves the dual purpose of calling Gamera and waking Gyaos, an ancient flying lizard-bat that shoots sonic beams. Nearby, a greedy firm is trying to build an expressway through a village of equally greedy people. The prepubescent grandson of the village elder is obsessed by Gamera and makes friends with him. It

French officer Hector Servadac (Cesare Danova) and Irish soldier of fortune Michael Denning (Sean McClory) are about to duel to the death when a comet sweeps them up. On it’s last trip around the sun the comet had picked up prehistoric animals, leaving the two modern men in a world of stock footage and hot

A Cornish fisherman turns up dead with radiation burns, and overly enthusiastic scientist Steve Karnes (Gene Evans) is sure that a giant sea monster is responsible. With the aid of various government officials and scientists, he seeks to solve the mystery until the beast turns up and solves it for him. It is a radiation

Two school boys discover a spaceship which takes off when they get in, leaving a sister behind to fail to convince the adults what’s happened. The ship is almost hit by a meteor, but Gamera, who was perusing space for lost children, saves the day. But the mighty turtle can’t keep up with the spaceship,

After a volcanic eruption, people living near an isolated Mexican village begin to disappear. A pair of geologists, one American (Richard Denning) and one Mexican (Carlos Rivas), on their way to study the volcano, find a damaged police car, dead officer, and abandoned baby. They soon find themselves in the middle of the mystery given