Byrd, Trev, Lux and Kevin take a deep dive into Sadako's well to discuss the first four Japanese theatrical films in the Ring franchise: Ring (1998), Spiral (1998), Ring 2 (1999) and Ring 0: Birthday (2000). In addition to a lively talk about all four films and the film makers involved, we discuss the origins of the series as a series of novels by …

Our October horror shows roll on as Byrd, Tom, and Kevin are joined by Chris Marti (musician alias "Cosmic Monster" and co-writer of The Author vs. the Werewolf) to discuss the fantasy/horror of Wicked City! Based on a series of novels by Hideyuki Kikuchi (Vampire Hunter D), Wicked City is about the rift between humanity and a secret society of int…

Byrd, Tom and Lux are back to take a look at the 1982 semi-obscurity The House Where Evil Dwells. This haunted house shocker is a co-production made with assistance from the legendary Toei studios. It was directed by Kevin Connor (The Land that Time Forgot) and stars Edward Albert, Susan George, and the incomparable Doug McClure. Based on an unpubl…

Byrd, Tom and Trev kick off our annual October horror series with the Italian creature feature Alien From the Deep, directed by Antonio Margheriti (Cannibal Apocalypse). Although seemingly made to cash-in on both Aliens and the Abyss, the actual plot is anything but. It tells the story of some Greenpeace activists who attempt to expose a corporatio…

Byrd and Lux sit down with guitarist/vocalist Lord Kaiju, founder of the kaiju themed heavy metal band Oxygen Destroyer. We discuss his roots as both a kaiju and metal fan, how he came up with his brand of death-thrash, the strength of the Seattle rock music scene, how the Gamera trilogy helped him, and of course their new album Guardian of the Uni…

Byrd, Kevin, Lux and Tom go back to 1996 to talk about Godzilla Returns by Marc Cerasini, the first novel in a short lived series of books by Random House. In the mid-90s, Random House signed a deal with Toho and released books for different age groups. This would include children's picture books, children's novels by Scott Ciencin, and young adult…

Byrd, Matt, Lux and Jared discuss four British sci-fi adventure films featuring b-movie actor Doug McClure fighting all sorts of giant rubber beasts! We discuss three Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptations from Amicus Productions- This includes the lost world dinosaur escapades The Land that Time Forgot (1974), its sequel The People That Time Forgot At t…

Byrd, Tom, Trev and Kevin discuss the recent DC/Legendary Comics' crossover. The mini-series, written by Brian Buccalatto (Injustice, The Flash) and drawn by Christian Duce (Detective Comics, the Flash) sees the Justice League do battle with Godzilla, King Kong, and other titans ofthe Monsterverse after some multiverse tampering from the Legion of …

Byrd, Matt, Kevin and Lux discuss the recent anime adaptation, Kaiju No. 8, based on the best selling manga by Naoya Matsumoto. The show is a co production between heavy hitters like Khara, Toho, and Production I.G., and directed by Shigeyuki Miya and Tomomi Kamiya. It tells the story of a world where giant monster attacks are a regular occurance. …

Byrd, Kevin and Justin interview author Zack Davisson (Yurei: The Japanese Ghost, Ultimate X-Men) about his new book The Ultimate Guide to Japanese Yokai. We get into his research method and fascination with Japanese folklore, as well as how the book came about. We also topics such as his translation work translating Japanese manga (most notably th…

Byrd, Matt, Kevin and Lux discuss the recent Netflix animated film, Ultraman Rising! The first American Ultraman production in nearly 30 years follows a baseball player named Kenji who moonlights as everyone's favorite silver giant Ultraman to defend the planet from giant monsters. One day he comes in possession of a baby monster and has to adjust …

Byrd, Lux and Kevin discuss the recent Netflix series, Parasyte: The Grey, (directed by Train to Busan's Yeon Sang-ho). This Korean spin-off of Hitoshi Iwaaki's classic Japanese story follows a supermarket clerk named Su-in, who is partially possessed by a parasite named Heidi, as she teams with a gangster named Kang-woo to evade the rest of the al…

Byrd and Matt discuss the Asylum's latest monster mockbuster, Ape X Mecha Ape: New World Order. The third film in the "Ape vs." series sees the giant ape Abraham and his mechanical doppelganger Mecha Ape go up against Kulalu, a Cthulhu knockoff summoned by a doomsday cult to wipe out humanity. How does this compare to other Asylum efforts? Listen a…

With a new Planet of the Apes movie in theaters, Byrd, Tom and Kevin decide to take a look at Japan's attempt to cash-in on the franchise. This Sandy Frank Entertainment-produced compilation film was made up of footage from Tsuburaya Productions 1974-1975 series, Time of the Apes, about a group of children and a scientist who find themselves shot f…

Byrd is joined by Lux, Tom (of the Final Forum Dragonball Podcast), and Trev (of the Failure to Franchise Podcast) to talk about the new film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire! This new entry in Legendary Pictures' Monsterverse is another crossover between the two monster icons, as they go up against the threat of the evil ape Skar King and his army …

Our pals Trev (frequent KT guest) and Chris over at the Failure to Franchise podcast had Matt and Byrd on their show to discuss Godzilla 1998! We discussed how it came to be, memories of living through the marketing and release of the film, the backlash to it, and the lasting effects it had on the franchise. Did the movie impact the series for good…

Byrd and Matt discuss Daiei's 1962 period monster movie, The Whale God (aka The Killer Whale). Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka (Zatoichi series), with a script written by Kaneto Shindo (Onibaba, Kuroneko) based on the novel by Koichiro Uno, it tells the story of a whaling village in the early Meiji period being terrorized by a gigantic whale. Two men, Sh…

Byrd, Kevin and Justin interview poet and Japanese literary translator Jeffrey Angles about his recent translations of Shigeru Kayama's 1955 novelizations of Godzilla '54 and Godzilla Raids Again (now available for the first time in English via University of Minnesota Press). We talk about Angles' interest in Japanese literature, his love of Edogaw…

Byrd, Matt and Tom discuss Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the recent MonsterVerse spin-off series on Apple TV+. The story flashes between the 1950s and the 2010s as it follows the founding of the Monarch organization (introduced in 2014's Godzilla reboot) and two siblings trying to untie their family's mysterious history with it. Join us as we discus…

Byrd and Lux ring in the new year by talking about two Showa-era "colliding worlds" epics. First is Daiei's Warning From Space, the first Japanese science fiction film made in color. It tells of a race of cyclops starfish aliens who warn humanity that a planet called Planet R is on a collision course with the earth. After that we discuss 1962's Gor…

Byrd, Matt, Kevin, Lux, Trev, and Tom assemble for a sprawling mega-sized, in depth review of Godzilla Minus One. Toho's latest entry in the franchise is a reboot taking place in the 1940s, as Japan rebuilds after World War 2. It follows Koichi, a former kamikaze pilot with survivor's guilt and PTSD as he struggles to find his lot in life and confr…

In our lead up to Godzilla: Minus One, Byrd, Lux, Tom and Kevin examine more science fiction and fantasy films from director Takashi Yamazaki (Parasyte, Ghost Book, The Eternal Zero). Yamazaki made his first feature in 2000 and has been a consistent hit maker since, making some of the most successful Japanese films of recent years. For this episode…

If you think Halloween came and went too soon, Byrd, Tom, Lux and Kevin are here to help soothe your Halloween Hangover with some more yokai-centric madness, with Toho's 2022 fantasy film Ghost Book (aka Yokaipedia). Directed by Takashi Yamazaki (Godzilla Minus One, Eternal Zero, Parasyte 1 & 2), this adaptation of the "Ghost Book Obakezukan" pictu…

Our October horror series continues as Byrd, Tom, Lux and Kevin discuss Shinya Tsukamoto's cult classic Tetsuo trilogy! Tsukamoto burst onto the Japanese indie scene with the first film in 1989, cementing him as a master of surrealist outsider cinema, putting his name alongside directors like Sogo Ishii, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg, and also …

Byrd, Tom, Kevin, and Lux are back to give a crash course on Japan's biggest yokai franchise, GeGeGe No Kitaro. The franchise, created by famous mangaka Shigeru Mizuki launched Japan's yokai folk creatures into the mainstream, where they have been ever since. GeGeGe No Kitaro is about a yokai boy named Kitaro and his friends often trying to resolve…

Byrd, Tom, Kevin and Lux pair up two independent horror films made in Japan by American filmmakers, with a mix of American and Japanese cast and crew. First up we have the Manster, an early body horror film directed by Kenneth G Crane (the American version of Half Human) and starring Peter Dynely (Thunderbirds), Terri Zimmern Jerry Ito (Mothra), an…

Byrd, Kevin, Tom and Lux are back with more Halloween chills and thrills to discuss Toho's two part live action Parasyte adaptation from director Takashi Yamazaki (Godzilla Minus One). Based on the popular body horror manga of the same name, Parasyte is the story of alien body snatchers who have come to earth to prey on humanity. A high school boy …

With Matt on an extended hiatus, Byrd brings in Lux, Tom and Kevin to ring in our annual October horror series of podcasts by talking about Kaneto Shindo's folk-horror classic, Kuroneko! Set in feudal Japan, it tells the story of a mother and her daughter in law who are raped and murdered by a troop of samurai. The two come back as ferocious bakene…

Byrd, Matt and Tom take a look at the completely baffling experience of the independent film Dragon Lizard Lord Super Monsters and the animated sequel, Hammer of Draco. In 2022, director Omar Sayyah cobbled together a series of Godzilla fan films he made in the late 90s, removed references to Toho's monsters, and dubbed them over to make the bonker…

Byrd, Matt, Kevin and Lux come together to talk about the long awaited return of everyone's favorite flying turtle, Gamera! Gamera is back, this time on Netflix with the new anime mini-series, Gamera: Rebirth. Directed by Hiroyuki Seshita (Polygon's Godzilla trilogy), the show follows a group of kids in the summer of 1989 as they get wrapped up in …

Byrd and Matt are joined again by author John LeMay (The Lost Films, Kong Unmade, Lost Films of the Lost World) to discuss two nostalgic stop motion dinosaur films, Dinosaurus (1960) and Planet of Dinosaurs (1977). 1960's Dinosaurus was directed by Irvin Yeaworth (The Blob, the 4D Man) and tells of a construction crew that awakens a brontosaurus, a…

Byrd and Matt are joined by author John LeMay (The Lost Films, Kong Unmade, Lost Films of the Lost World) to discuss Denmark's entry in the giant monster genre, 1961's Reptilicus! This co-production between Denmark's Saga Studios and America's AIP has a strange history, having filmed two versions with (mostly) the same cast for both countries. We d…

Byrd and Matt talk about Ray Harryhausen's classic dinosaur Western, the Valley of Gwangi! It tells the story of some showmen and a scientist who go on an expedition into a valley in Mexico to find a prehistoric miniature horse. What they also find is a flesh craving Allosaurus. They bring it back to put it on display for the public and well... thi…

Byrd, Matt and returning guest host Trev take the dive into the trench to talk about Meg 2! In this sequel, we not only have a giant Megalodon, but also a bunch of other hungry prehistoric beasties trying to eat Jason Statham and friends. It is also the first big blockbuster from British indie horror darling Ben Wheatley. We'll give our thoughts on…

Shin Kamenheimer! We are joined by Kevin and Lux to discuss Hideaki Anno's new film Shin Kamen Rider, the latest entry in the "Shin" series of reboot films. The film works as a retelling of the classic story of Takeshi Hongo's transformation into everyone's favorite Karate Bugman, Kamen Rider! We discuss the trouble behind the scenes of the film, h…

Byrd and Kevin (with bystander Lux Edwards and sort of Matt) give a rundown of this year's G-Fest convention (which took place this past July 14-16). We talk about the panels we both held and witnessed, the guests, and other highlights. We also review the films we saw at the film festival, including Yoshikazu Ishii's Yuzo the Biggest Battle in Toky…

We're joined once again by special guest Bob Johnson (SciFi Japan, Planet 8 Podcast, Bay Area Film Events) for another interview, this time discussing not one but two weekend long tokusatsu film festivals happening this summer in San Francisco. Bob has organized UltraFest coming to the 4 Star Theater from July 21-23rd and GodzillaFest, coming to th…

Byrd, Matt and Kevin discuss the brand new Skull Island animated series. Made for Netflix by Legendary and Powerhouse Animation Studios (Castlevania) and developed by writer Brian Duffield (Underwater, Love and Monsters), the series follows a group of shipwreck survivors trying to survive on King Kong's home island. How does the series fare as the …

Byrd, Matt and Kevin discuss the South Korean obscurity, 1967's Space Monster Wangmagwi! Made (cheaply) to compete with the same year's Yongary, Wangmagwi has been a rarity up until 2023 when it got its first home video release (in any country!) via SRS Cinema in The United States. The film was thought lost until the Korean Film Archive started doi…

We are joined once again by our Kaiju Masterclass co-conspirator, writer Patrick Galvan (SyFy, Our Culture, Ruan Lingyu: Her Life and Career), this time for a full audio commentary for 1991's Godzilla vs King Ghidorah! This 90s rematch between Godzilla and his arch-nemesis has plenty of fans, but it's often considered one of the more confusing and …

We finally take our first step into the vast "giant bug" subgenre with the granddaddy of them all, 1954's classic Them! Along with the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms and Godzilla, this film helped kick off a new era of atomic monster film, warning the public about the threat of nuclear weapons. Written by Ted Sherdeman (Latitude Zero) and directed by Go…

Byrd, Matt, and guest host Trev (Days of Future Podcast, Failure To Franchise) run through a superhero double feature. First up is the recent Power Rangers reunion special from Netflix, which sees many of the original Power Rangers team return to face a robotic reincarnation of their arch enemy, Rita Repulsa. We'll talk about how nostalgia drives t…

For our first comic book review, we are joined by Trev and Tom to talk about IDW/Boom Studio's crossover comic miniseries, Godzilla vs The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, written by Cullen Bunn (Deadpool, The Sixth Gun, Godzilla: Cataclysm) and drawn by Freddie E Williams II (Batman/TMNT). When Rita Repulsa decides to go to a universe without the Pow…

We are joined by Tom and Trev to tackle another Asylum movie, this time with the sequel to 2021's Ape vs Monster. Ape vs. Mecha Ape brings the giant ape Abraham face to face with a mechanical doppelgänger that is carrying nuclear weapons. Can an ape stop a mecha ape?! Can Tom Arnold help from the comfort of his desk? We answer these riveting questi…

We are joined by our Kaiju Masterclass partner, writer Patrick Galvan (SyFy, Our Culture, Ruan Lingyu: Her Life and Career) to discuss Ishiro Honda's banned 1955 film Half Human (aka The Beastman Snowman). Made immediately after the original Godzilla, the film tells the story of a mountain expedition to search for the abominable snowman (and a slea…

We look at not one but TWO recent giant monster films from Thailand. Although not known for giant monster cinema, last year saw two giant monster movies come from the Land of Smiles. The Lake is the story of a giant creature terrorizing the rural countryside in search of its missing young. The Beast Below is a more light hearted fare about a giant …

We are joined all the way from Thailand by a very special guest, film director Lee Thongkham! Lee takes us behind the scenes of his new independent giant monster film THE LAKE, a Thai/Chinese co-production about a giant creature rampaging the Thai countryside in search of its offspring. We get the details on Lee's inspirations for the film, the myt…

Byrd, Matt, Tom and Trev are back in the Asylum, this time reviewing their 25th anniversary film, 2025 Armageddon! Aliens invade our world by sending the Asylum's giant monsters to attack Earth. We have Mega Piranha, Mega Shark, Crocosaurus, Megaboa, Sharknado, Transmorphers, zoombies, and more causing mayhem. Does this live up to the hype? Listen …

Byrd and Matt are joined by guest hosts Tom (Final Forum - A Dragonball Podcast), Kevin (Maser Patrol), Lux (of metal bands Soulmass and Wraithstorm), Connor (Easter's Kaiju Kompendium blog) for a giant round table discussion on Tsuburaya's recent reboot, Shin Ultraman! The film was directed by Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno, following up their ma…

Byrd, Matt, and Kevin are joined by Lux Edwards (of metal bands Wraithstorm and Soulmass) to discuss 2022's Norwegian giant monster film, Troll. Directed by Roar Uthaug (Tomb Raider 2018) and released by Netflix, the movie follows a giant troll that is awakened from his ancient slumber by a drilling operation in the mountains. What did the gang thi…