The Naked Monster

Last updated

The Naked Monster
Naked monster key art 4 wiki.jpg
DVD cover
Directed byTed Newsom
Wayne Berwick
Written byTed Newsom
Produced byTed Newsom
Starring Kenneth Tobey
Brinke Stevens
R.G. Wilson
John Goodwin
Cathy Cahn
Forrest J Ackerman
John Agar
Michelle Bauer
Bob Burns
Jeanne Carmen
Robert Clarke
Robert O. Cornthwaite
George Fenneman
Robert Shayne
Paul Marco
Linnea Quigley
Les Tremayne
Narrated by George Fenneman
CinematographyLazslo Wong Howe
Mark Wolf
Edited bySteve Bradley
Ted Newsom
Jeffrey W. Scaduto
Music by Albert Glasser
Ronald Stein
Production
company
Heidelberg Films
Distributed byAnthem Pictures
Imageworks Entertainment International
Release date
  • April 22, 2005 (2005-04-22)(Festival premiere)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Naked Monster is a 2005 American ultra low-budget science-fiction and horror comedy fan film written by Ted Newsom and directed by Newsom and Wayne Berwick as an homage to and spoof of the "giant monster-on-the-loose" films of the 1950s. [1] [2] [3] [4] The final project took 21 years to make, and was the final film for Kenneth Tobey, John Agar, Lori Nelson and Robert Clarke. [5]

Contents

Background

The project originated in 1984, after director Ted Newsom was challenged with a bet to produce a movie for $2,500. [3] [6] In response, he created Attack of the B-Movie Monster, [7] which had a limited VHS release under that name in 1985. [8] [9] [10] In revisiting the project, the filmmakers added scenes from old monster films to make a new version for release on DVD. [5] According to Newsom, he "hauled out the old scripts, took gags and lines, and did a 25-page script, which condensed things to manageable size. That version of the project was designed as a half-hour short that could be shot in about four weekends (plus the time for effects). On that basis, I asked Wayne Berwick to direct Attack of the B-Movie Monster, since I was 'producing' and had drawn the storyboards for both the live action and effects shots." [6] The film was shot on Super-8 film during 18 days of shooting in the summer of 1984, although for some days, they would only shoot for two hours then quit. [6] Over the following months, the animation effects were added and the version was finished by the end of the year. [6] The film was first screened at the now defunct EZTV in West Hollywood. [6]

In 1992, Newsom professed to have "slop-edited a version of the old show together using the original color footage, although the FX shots were still in black and white", stating "I wanted to see if it looked any good." [6] However, several of the original stars had died, including Robert Shayne and John Harmon, and Ken Tobey had severe problems with his back, which made a remake impossible with the original cast members. [6] In 1994, Newsom transferred the Super-8 film to tape on a high-end Rank Telecine apparatus and made a deal with Chuck Adleman of Anthem Pictures to use their editing system to cut the 100 minutes down by 16 minutes. [6] In the cutting process several effects shots were lost, such as the whole Titanic and submarine sequences, but Newsom claimed these needlessly slowed down the film. [6]

The character names of the veteran performers all refer to their own past films. Brinke Stevens stars, with cameos from two of her fellow Scream Queens. Kenneth Tobey returns as Colonel Patrick Hendry, a promotion for his character originally an Army captain in The Thing from Another World , and Les Tremayne reprises his General Mann role from War of the Worlds (1953). [2]

Synopsis

A colossal series of disasters releases something monstrous from a glacier. Strange disappearances in a small California town attract the attention of a thick-headed sheriff (R.G. Wilson), his transparently uninterested scientist girlfriend (Brinke Stevens) and a visiting government agent (John Goodwin). They discover that a giant green monster is at large, the Creaturesaurus erectus.

They turn to experienced monster fighter Colonel Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey), who has been locked in a government asylum for decades. With the help of other monster experts, humanity fights back against the "Thing from Another Time Zone".

Cast

Critical reception

DVD Talk reviewer Glenn Erickson noted, "the generation of baby boomers who grew up watching 'Creature Feature' movies on television has become a substantial fan base, and the audience for all manner of nostalgic movie fare, most of it terrible". He explained that with such topics now being the subject of films with major budgets, the only low-budget genre filmmaking being produced is at the direct-to-video level, and expanded that "finding anything worthwhile in either camp has become an exceptional event". He noted that being assembled by genre enthusiasts, The Naked Monster has an "amusing point of view", and that while it is "Nobody's idea of quality moviemaking, [it] is good fun for the undemanding monster fan", which "follows the tradition of John Landis' Schlock ", but "accelerated with nonstop jokes in the manner of Airplane! ". He clarified that while the jokes are not all funny, "most of the nonsense makes one smile and the occasional mismatched cutaway or individual gag is especially funny", making special note that the film's humor is "fine-tuned to the movie memories of the film's intended audience". [1]

Dread Central wrote, "There is nothing better than a great bad movie", and the film's cast of B-movie horror and sci-fi celebrities sweetened the deal in creating a film "that epitomizes everything that is so scrumptious about all of your favorite B-movie entrees". They also wrote that the film acts as a "compilation/montage/homage..." "...of nearly every early monster or sci-fi film ever made". After viewing it, the reviewer wrote that the film began "beyond cheesy and damn near annoying at first, but once I finally understood what the filmmakers were attempting to do, I just sat back, set my brain on coast, and enjoyed the ride". He enjoyed that the acting was "intentionally atrocious", the monster "unbelievably ludicrous", the plotline and story "full-blown stupidity at its finest", and the use of nudity "relentlessly gratuitous", writing, "you can't help but take pleasure in watching the brilliantly calculated cinematic train wreck." [4]

M. J. Simpson noted that the final film took 21 years to create, [5] and acts as "both an homage to, and a spoof of, 1950s sci-fi and horror movies". The reviewer's initial impression was that the film was "cobbled together using two VHS machines, a stopwatch, and the complete literary works of Bill Warren", and that the story was not what mattered in that the script "is basically what you would get if you threw every monster movie plot filmed between 1955 and 1965 into a blender, then scooped out 90 minutes' worth and baked at gas mark seven." The reviewer praised the film's manner of not taking itself too seriously, as such was the "central conceit of Newsom's hugely entertaining film". The reviewer then listed the number of '50s-and '60s-genre icons that returned to reprise their characters from other films, and noted it as Kenneth Tobey's last film, and that actors John Agar, Les Tremayne, Robert Cornthwaite, George Fenneman, Robert Shayne, and Gloria Talbott died before the film was completed, and that Paul Marco died within a year of the film's release, and remarked that the film "stands as a warm tribute to each and every one of them". [5]

Stuart Galbraith IV of DVD Talk had a small role in the film, writing, "The project began around 1983–84, and was still shooting as late as 1998 or '99, when this reviewer was enthusiastically recruited for a bit part." In reviewing the completed project in 2006, he shared instances where science-fiction and horror films of the '50s and '60s had been the target for satire and parody by "neophyte directors", and wrote, "Rarely are these misbegotten projects made by filmmakers who actually like or understand the nature of the films they're sending up, and rarer still are they actually funny, striking that delicate balance between an affection for the genre with a recognition of its sometimes silly clichés and successfully translating this into humor." He noted that The Naked Monster was successful in striking that balance, but that it was "overlong and will appeal mainly to an audience weaned on the myriad films it references", and that the film's humor "wisely varies" from sight gags and bizarre non sequiturs to plays on words, in-jokes, and unashamed bawdiness, with its dialogue "played with straight faces", and the film dialogue being "often funny precisely because it's only very slightly askew". He concluded by writing that the film "would probably play a lot better cut even tighter, say trimmed of another 15 minutes or so," as "The style of humor tends to tax the viewer after an hour, and the climax drags on much longer than it should." [3]

The Washington Post noted director Ted Newsom's success in his wish to create a 1950s-style B-movie for 2005 using footage from many earlier films in creating his homage to the genre. [2]

DVD extras

The DVD includes an audio commentary with directors Wayne Berwick and Ted Newsom, with Newsom discussing everything from Tobey's grumpy dissatisfaction with the project to his own realization that years after they had originally shot their scenes, some actors from the cast are no longer speaking to him. Also included is a gallery of film stills, six minutes of deleted scenes, a brief video documentary, and a 16-minute interview with Kenneth Tobey with Dr. Franklin Ruehl. [3] [4] [5]

Recognition

Awards and nominations

Related Research Articles

<i>Airplane!</i> 1980 American satirical comedy film

Airplane! is a 1980 American comedy film written and directed by the brothers David and Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams in their directorial debuts, and produced by Jon Davison. It stars Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty and features Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lorna Patterson. It is a parody of the disaster film genre, particularly the 1957 Paramount film Zero Hour!, from which it borrows its plot, central characters, and some dialogue. It also draws many elements from Airport 1975 and other films in the Airport series. It is known for its use of surreal humor and fast-paced slapstick comedy, including visual and verbal puns, gags, running jokes, and dark humor.

<i>The Thing from Another World</i> 1951 science fiction film

The Thing from Another World, sometimes referred to as just The Thing, is a 1951 American black-and-white science fiction-horror film, directed by Christian Nyby, produced by Edward Lasker for Howard Hawks' Winchester Pictures Corporation, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film stars Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, and Douglas Spencer. James Arness plays The Thing. The Thing from Another World is based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell.

A parody film or spoof film is a subgenre of comedy film that lampoons other film genres or films as pastiches, works created by imitation of the style of many different films reassembled together. Although the subgenre is often overlooked by critics, parody films are commonly profitable at the box office. Parody is related to satire, except that "parody is more often a representation of appreciation, while a satire is more often...pointing ...out the major flaws of an object through ridicule." J.M. Maher notes that the "difference is not always clear" and points out that "some films employ both techniques". Parody is found in a range of art and culture, including literature, music, theater, television, animation, and gaming.

<i>Police Squad!</i> 1982 American television crime comedy series

Police Squad! is an American television crime comedy series that was broadcast on the ABC network in 1982. It was created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, starring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin. A spoof of police procedurals and many other television shows and movies, the series features Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker's usual sight gags, wordplay, and non sequiturs. It resembles the Lee Marvin police show M Squad and the late 1960s series Felony Squad. It was canceled after six episodes, and yielded The Naked Gun film series from 1988 to 1994.

<i>The Kentucky Fried Movie</i> 1977 American independent anthology sketch black comedy film by John Landis

The Kentucky Fried Movie is a 1977 American independent anthology sketch black comedy film, produced by Kim Jorgensen, Larry Kostroff, and Robert K. Weiss, and directed by John Landis. Among the numerous star cameos are George Lazenby, Bill Bixby, Henry Gibson, Barry Dennen, Donald Sutherland, Tony Dow, Stephen Bishop, and the voice of Shadoe Stevens. According to writer David Zucker on the DVD commentary track, David Letterman auditioned for the role of the newscaster, but was not selected. The film also features many former members of The Groundlings and The Second City. The "feature presentation" portion of the film stars Evan C. Kim and hapkido grand master Bong Soo Han. The Kentucky Fried Movie marked the first film appearances of a number of actors who later became famous, and launched the careers of the Zucker brothers, Abrahams and Landis.

<i>Reptilicus</i> 1961 Danish Kaiju film

Reptilicus is a 1961 Danish-American monster film about a prehistoric reptile. The film was produced by Cinemagic and Saga Studio and separate versions were released in Denmark and in the United States, with American International Pictures handling distribution for the latter.

<i>The Howling</i> (film) 1981 American film by Joe Dante

The Howling is a 1981 American horror film directed and edited by Joe Dante. Written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless, based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the film follows a news anchor who, following a traumatic encounter with a serial killer, visits a resort secretly inhabited by werewolves. The cast includes Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone, Belinda Balaski, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, and Elisabeth Brooks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Tobey</span> American actor (1917–2002)

Jesse Kenneth Tobey was an American actor who performed in hundreds of productions during a career that spanned more than half a century, including his role as the star of the 1957-1960 Desilu Productions TV series Whirlybirds.

<i>Night Monster</i> 1942 film by Ford Beebe

Night Monster is a 1942 American black-and-white horror film featuring Bela Lugosi and produced and distributed by Universal Pictures Company. The movie uses an original story and screenplay by Clarence Upson Young and was produced and directed by Ford Beebe. For box office value, star billing was given to Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, but the lead roles were played by Ralph Morgan, Irene Hervey and Don Porter, with Atwill in a character role as a pompous doctor who becomes a victim to the title character, and Lugosi in a small part as a butler.

<i>Howling: New Moon Rising</i> 1995 British film

Howling: New Moon Rising is a 1995 British direct-to-video comedy horror film, directed, produced, and written by Clive Turner, the seventh film in The Howling film series. The film reuses footage from the previous three sequels in the Howling series, and features characters from each film. The plot has a detective in the film uncover several clues that connect events of the latter part of the series. It was followed by The Howling: Reborn in 2011.

<i>Jack-O</i> 1995 American horror film by Steve Latshaw

Jack-O a 1995 American horror film directed and co-produced by Steve Latshaw and executive produced by Fred Olen Ray. It is the third collaboration between Latshaw as director and Ray as executive producer, following 1993's Dark Universe and 1994's Biohazard: The Alien Force.

<i>The Slime People</i> 1963 film by Robert Hutton

The Slime People is a 1963 horror film directed by Robert Hutton, who also starred in the film. The film was featured on the first season of the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000, as well as the 1986 syndicated series The Canned Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Cornthwaite (actor)</span> American actor

Robert Rae Cornthwaite was an American film and television character actor.

<i>Soultaker</i> (film) 1990 horror fantasy film

Soultaker is a 1990 American fantasy horror film written by Vivian Schilling and directed by Michael Rissi. It stars Joe Estevez in the title role, alongside Vivian Schilling, Gregg Thomsen, Chuck Williams, Robert Z'Dar, and David "Shark" Fralick. The film follows a group of young adults who try to flee from the titular "Soultaker" when their souls are ejected from their bodies after a car accident. Inspired by discussions with Action International Pictures producer Eric Parkinson, the script was based on a real-life car accident which Schilling was involved in.

The Monster of Piedras Blancas is a 1959 independently made American black-and-white science fiction-monster film. It was produced by Jack Kevan, directed by Irvin Berwick, and stars Jeanne Carmen, Les Tremayne, John Harmon, Don Sullivan, Forrest Lewis, and Pete Dunn. The film was released by Filmservice Distributors Corporation as a double feature with Okefenokee.

"A Day in Beaumont" is the first segment of the twenty-fourth episode of the first season of the television series The Twilight Zone. In this segment, a couple spends an entire day trying to convince the people of a small town that aliens have landed nearby.

<i>Deep Freeze</i> (film) 2001 American film

Deep Freeze is a 2001 horror film directed by John Carl Buechler. Written by Robert Boris, Dennis A. Pratt, and Matthew Jason Walsh, the film was shot in Germany in 2001. The film was retitled Ice Crawlers for United States release.

Creature of Destruction is a 1967 American made-for-television film produced and directed by Larry Buchanan. It is an uncredited color remake of the 1956 movie The She Creature directed by Edward L. Cahn.

<i>The Face of Marble</i> 1946 film by William Beaudine

The Face of Marble is a 1946 American horror film directed by William Beaudine and starring John Carradine, Claudia Drake and Robert Shayne.

<i>Hand of Death</i> (1962 film) 1962 film by Gene Nelson

Hand of Death is a low-budget 1962 American horror film directed by Gene Nelson, and written and produced by Eugene Ling. The film stars John Agar, Paula Raymond, Stephen Dunne and Roy Gordon. The narrative follows a scientist who develops a military nerve gas. After accidentally exposing himself to it, he not only turns into a grotesque monster, but anyone who touches him dies. The scientist goes on the run but is killed by police before a curative serum can be tried on him.

References

  1. 1 2 Glenn Erickson (August 16, 2006). "DVD Savant review: The Naked Monster". DVD Talk . Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Mike Keefe-Feldman (August 15, 2006). "It Came From the DVD Bin". Washington Post. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Stuart Galbraith IV (August 1, 2006). "review: The Naked Monster". DVD Talk . Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Melissa Bostaph (December 18, 2007). "DVD review: The Naked Monster". Dread Central . Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "review: The Naked Monster". M. J. Simpson . Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Ted Newsom Interview:Part 1". M. J. Simpson . Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  7. ↑ "The Naked Monster Video". OV Guide . Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Attack of the B-Movie Monster (1985)". Movies and TV. The New York Times . 2012. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Attack of the B-Movie Monster overview". AMC . Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  10. ↑ Gary Westfahl. "John Agar". Gary Westfahl's Bio-Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Film . Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  11. 1 2 Shockerfest 2005, wins and nominations
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.