20,000 leagues under your Thursday!

Hello Kiddies today's Octoberween is Ten thousand leagues under your Thursday! That's right all things monster, and all thing Aquatic!


Up first is that thrilla from manilla, the one the only living thing that could survive in Tokyo Bay after the radiation spill!..............GODZRILLA! Godzilla was a behemoth of man-made excess who terrorized the citizens of Tokyo for countless years and made my youth worth living. He had numerous starring vehicles in which he fought any number of worthy adversaries after he had tired of destroying the same Japanese village over and over again: Mothra, Ghidrah, Smog Monster, Mechagodzilla, King Kong, and oddly dressed men from outer space. You name it, Godzilla battled it.


No matter how you try, nothing beats the thudding roar signaling the imminent arrival of the King Of All Monsters. It was inevitably followed by a swelling ocean and the terrifying emergence of the gargantuan reptile with the fire breath and signature scream.


He was so tremendous you could see him coming from miles away, which only added to the horror of the already paralyzingly terrifying evacuation. This was no actor in a rubber suit throwing carefully placed plastic tank models around a set, this was the end of the world clumping slowly and definitively toward you ready to set all you held dear ablaze with one fiery breath. youtu.be/7PBbK8tkTE8



Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult youtu.be/ln8-Y-fIbqM


In the pantheon of Don't-Go-In-The-Water flicks, Deep Blue Sea is as over the top as it gets. Which is what makes it great. The premise: a group of researchers on a floating science lab are engineering hyper-intelligent sharks, when things go horrifyingly awry. What's that you're asking? Why do we need smarter sharks? Don't bother me with your silly logic questions. There's some science-y talk in the beginning about how enlarged shark brains will cure Alzheimer's. Whatever. Not important.


Here's what is important: a hurricane hits the station, there's much havoc-wreaking, and the underwater levels of the station flood. And that's when the sharks break in and start slithering through underwater passageways, ripping through the crew one screaming victim at a time with an efficiency that's both sleek and diabolical (cuz, remember, these are freakin' Mensa sharks). LL Cool J plays the station's cook, making panicky jokes about how black men a) don't swim and b) always get killed first in horror movies. Saffron Burrows plays the sexy, seemingly emotionless scientist who's pretty much to blame for the entire SmartShark problem. Samuel L. Jackson is the visiting investor who (spoiler) gets shredded in the movie's best jump-out-of-your-seat moment (so good that you're laughing moments after it's over). And a pre-Hung Thomas Jane is the daredevil shark expert who you know is going to outlive everyone else, since he's the only one who seems to understand that you don't stick needles in shark brains without expecting some payback.


In the ongoing battle between us and sharks, they win again.youtu.be/yMwmqp3GLMc SAY SHARK AGAIN MOTHERFUCKA I DARE YOU!



2007 The Host is Bong Joon-ho's equally thrilling and touching film tells the Spielberg-ian tale of a South Korean clan's attempts to rescue one of their own from a rampaging amphibian Han River baddie created, it turns out, from the U.S. government's toxic pollution. Matching heartfelt family drama with horror-movie terror, it's a superior monster mash boasting an amazing maiden attack scene, with the beast exhibiting a fleetness that takes curious — and foolhardy — onlookers by fatal surprise. youtu.be/Mw6xfpZ7xpw


you know what was kinda scary that a lot of people gloss over? The introduction of Davy Jones in Pirates of the Carribean Dead mans chest. From the first glimps of the boat to all of his grotesq crew I was left a little sick feeling, but none where half so creepy as The Capn himself played by "I put it under a cold tap Sssselene" Bill Nighy youtu.be/zo-OYwh6KHA



1978 Piranha was Produced by Roger Corman and helmed by first-time director Joe Dante, Piranha was the one Jaws rip-off that truly worked. That's largely because Dante so expertly balances goofy humor with social commentary, as the school of killer fish — accidentally released near a summer camp and resort — have apparently been created by the government to win the war in Vietnam. Mostly, however, it's a gem because of its satisfying gruesomeness, as well as its fondness for generating suspense by placing children directly in harm's way.youtu.be/XoCKGvVlNYM


This movie was remade in 2010 and is just as hilariously bad and tongue in cheek as the first.



2008 Cloverfield is about as modern a version of Godzilla as you are going to get, but instead of merely having the big guy himself Cloverfield takes it several steps further. Now while its not Godzilla there is a HUGE monster out in the Hudson Bay, but the real threat comes from all of the parasite creatures that live on the big mamajamma attacking everyone. You basically follow a group of 6 New Yorkers via shaky cam through out the night which is really the only downside to this movie. (Have I mentioned I HATE shaky cam and Hollywood needs to stop it!) youtu.be/IvNkGm8mxiM


Leviathan from 1989 Underwater deep-sea miners encounter a Soviet wreck and bring back a dangerous cargo to their base on the ocean floor with horrifying results. Doctor Who did a similar episode but with Roobutt alien mercenaries, I think I prefer Doctor Who. youtu.be/V7FskSqAQis



Octopi are creepy, and sharks are scary as hell, so what happens when you mix the two together? A shark that has tentacles and can grab you off of a boat thats what! In this made for TV movie a half-shark, half-octopus creature created for the military, creates a whole lot of terror in Mexico while a scientist who helped created it tries to capture/kill it. youtu.be/P2HGoR8pSps


In our next pick Deep Rising A group of mercenaries out to rob a cruise ship get more than they bargained for — namely, an unholy tentacled creature — in Stephen Sommers's amusing B-movie. Little more than a semi-tongue-in-cheek Alien riff set on a derelict boat full of dark, narrow passageways, Deep Rising thrives primarily by keeping its monster's identity a secret for the film's majority, only revealing its true nature during a finale in which Treat Williams and Famke Janssen famously evade its grasp using that trustiest of escape vehicles, the jet ski. youtu.be/J8xD_-Kfg7g



Yes I know I am posting some really shit movies here, but really there are just so many its hard to choose just one, this next is perhaps the king of the lot of shit water monster based movies, it stars J Lo, Ice Cube and Owen Wilson for crying out loud and inspired Snakes on a mothafuckin plane! Thats right its 1998's ANACONDA! One saving grace it does have Angelina Jolies papa Jon Voight youtu.be/kY2SeyY5K2k


We can't talk about water monsters without mentioning the DC comic book character SWAMP THING! Created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson I remember finding one of these comic books in a Quarter bin at a garage sale once, like all comics I read them as soon as I get my hot little hands on them, but my mom wouldn't get it for me and I had to leave the collection behind. Wes Craven made the story of Alex Olsen into a movie in 1982 starring Dick Durrock youtu.be/kzbqK4nw3R8



I only recently got to watch The Abyss, and though it has one of the strangest twists I have ever seen in a movie I really enjoyed it. Considering it came out in 1989 this James Cameron movie is about a civilian diving team are enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species. youtu.be/4zbpL3LeW7k





Our Ode for the day goes out to Gill Man from Creature from the Black Lagoon. Creature is arguably one of the most famous creature features of the era, and for me the epitome of the genre, even if it doesn't quite utilize the anxiety of nuclear paranoia in the same way other movies of the decade did. Instead, this shares more in common with King Kong - scientists in an exotic location attempting to capture a new species that falls in love with the lone female member of the exhibition party.

As with many of the Universal monster movies (particularly those of the '30s) there is a deep sadness to the monstrous creature making its demise a bitter rather than celebratory experience. By modern standard the Gill Man is a mixed bag. The underwater glimpses of the primordial throwback are incredibly effective, even nearly 60 years on. However, on land the suit loses much of its ability to convince an audience that it is real. It's too rubbery and despite the highly expressive quality of the movements its face is to emotionless due to technology constraints of the era to make me loose sight of the fact that it is a man in a suit. Thankfully, director, Jack Arnold, keeps The Gill Man's appearances short and often obscured until the final act.

The Amazonian jungle is a fantastic location with its inky rivers and mist-strew caverns. It is the perfect habitat for a creature out of time. Even the exhibition crew are surprisingly decent with Julie Adams is gorgeous in the "girl next door" kinda way and a far more bearable 'scream queen' than many of her era. Although Creature from the Black Lagoon is still a hugely enjoyable creature feature whose influence can be found in many other movies, most notably Spielberg's Jaws. youtu.be/lM1o1xe5FGEAfter The Creature from the Black Lagoon we have Revenge of the Creature, starring Ricou Browning and Lori Nelson, and The creature walks among us.





Considering its influence I had a really hard time choosing my top 3, I wanted to place them all at the number one spot but I believe in order to pay them all justice I have to go by influence as well as popularity. Thats why sitting comfortably at our number 2 spot is Spielbergs JAWS. youtu.be/wCfWHqrYUqo
Its no doubt that Jaws is an important film to the horror genre, it kept hundreds of people out of the water after its showing and is constantly referenced and drawn on inspiration for other movies. Jaws is the first film to ever be released nationwide all at once, instead of hitting different theatres all at different times. At a time, it was also the highest earning movie of all history, until Star Wars arrived. It was the first movie ever to go past the 100 million dollar box office. youtu.be/2I91DJZKRxs
It's horror is mostly because of production fate: the shark, which was mechanical, often would not work, so Spielberg decided to shoot multiple scenes from the sharks eyes. This affected the scariness of the film quite greatly, because the viewers shuddered to think of not being able to see what can see you, in a place where you aren't at the top of the food chain.

In an unfortunate twist to the films success, it also affected the way people look at sharks. Generations were horrified of the shark, so they became afraid of actual sharks as well: they couldn't understand the difference between reality and fiction. People today set up nets to keep away sharks, which kills hundreds of sharks all the time. People hunt and kill sharks whenever an attack occurs- ever since Jaws Hell it even inspired Shark Week on Discovery. So sit back enjoy and remember, don't go in the water! youtu.be/7acI5z9vyok


Mr. Eye Candy Art did this great Drawing of a great white which is what Jaws was based on, well that and a lot of malfunctioning electronics.



and last but never least that which started it all, 20,000 leagues under the sea! Written by the Adam of the Science Fiction genre Jules Verne its the first underwater tale of its kind that puts man in the mysterious depths along with all of the real and imagined creatures. Originally written in 1870 It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus, as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax. As the story begins, ships of several nations spot a mysterious sea monster, which some suggest to be a giant narwhal; the creature also damages an ocean liner. The United States government finally assembles an expedition in New York City to track down and destroy the menace. Professor Pierre Aronnax, an expert French marine biologist and narrator of the story, who happens to be in New York at the time, receives a last-minute invitation to join the expedition, and he accepts. The leave New York on the Abraham Lincoln and after being attacked by the creature they are hurled onto its hide where they find a strange and unknown apperatus which is a Submarine Captained by the enigmatic Captain Nemo! Nemo is as dangerous as he is charming, a loose canon and an obvious adrenalin junky this character can be found through out entertainment time and time again. The rest of the story follows the adventures of the protagonists aboard the creature--the submarine, the Nautilus--which was built in secrecy and now roams the seas free from any land-based government. Captain Nemo's motivation is implied to be both a scientific thirst for knowledge and a desire for revenge on (and self-imposed exile from) civilization. Nemo explains that his submarine is electrically powered and can perform advanced marine biology research; he also tells his new passengers that although he appreciates conversing with such an expert as Aronnax, maintaining the secrecy of his existence requires never letting them leave. Aronnax is enthralled by the undersea vistas, but Land constantly plans escape.They visit many places in the world's oceans, some known to Jules Verne from real travelers' descriptions and speculation, while others completely fictional. Thus, the travelers witness the real corals of the Red Sea, the wrecks of the battle of Vigo Bay, the Antarctic ice shelves, and the fictional submerged land of Atlantis. I read this book when I was about 8 years old and fell in love with Vernes underwater world. I wanted to see every sight and discover Atlantis myself. The 1954 movie directed by Richard Fleischer starring Kirk Douglas, James Mason, and Paul Lukas was one of my first science fiction treasures. Enjoy! youtu.be/S62h2eqFtr0