I love my monster movies. I especially like the vintage ones. They just have something about them. I know they don’t look real like the CG ones we have now, but they have a draw all their own.
Ray Harryhausen set the standard for special effects, using stop-motion animation to give a distinctive look to his terrifying monsters.
Check out this amazing video of his accomplishments! I have seen every one of these. Some of them still creep me out!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9kmjW73-v4]
My all time favorite is Valley of the Gwangi. Have you seen it. I remember this one so well. I loved the miniature horse. Couldn’t find a video of it, but check out this video. I love it!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXRkwR9zDRc]
Did you see some familiar monsters? What is your favorite vintage creature feature?
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Cool as all get out. Happy birthday Ray! They’ve come a long way with the technology today. I kinda miss the old stuff. Like a living cartoon.
Great description Sherry. I guess you could call it vintage anime! The stop-motion is so cool. I think I like it better than slo-mo.
I also loved medusa. Truly creep factor #1.
Happy Birthday Ray. I miss the vintage monster movies. They may not have the technology that we have today, but they had a quality all their own.
They don’t make them like they used to, eh? I love these old movies. I didn’t realize Ray did all of these! I have seen every one!
Great collection of Harryhausen creatures. I think the only one missing from this is The Black Scorpion. I own all of these on DVD except the Animal Kingdom, but all of Harryhausen’s dinosaur sequences from that film are in the Special Bonus Features of one of his other films (I think, The Black Scorpion). I grew up with Jason and the Argonauts and the Sinbad Movies, buying Famous Monsters Magazine to see stills and read the stories about making these films.
I am going to go check out the Black Scorpion. I am pretty sure I know it as I lived and breathed these movies all my life. I used to spend my Saturday afternoons watching these until my eyes blurred. Still my favorites and I have most of them also.
Harryhausen is a legend and will live on in his films forever, expecially with this digital age and restoration programs!
There’s a great scene at the end of The Black Scorpion where the giant scorpion stings a helicopter – you’ve probably seen this film, it’s b&w and it played on all the Fri. night or Sat. ‘creature feature’ movie shows in the 70’s and early 80’s.
I do remember the helicopter scene, vaguely. I miss those days spent with creature theater!