Charles D Shell

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris

(Originally posted on June 6, 2018) The Gamera Heisei trilogy comes to a rousing finale in Gamera: Revenge of Iris.  Not only is this a solid movie, but it explores issues heretofore ignored or glossed over in kaiju movies.  The first two films (which I discussed here and here) skirted some of these issues, but […]

Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (Another Nifty Kaiju Film)

(Originally posted on May 15, 2018) Gamera 2: Attack of Legion is the second in the Gamera Heisei trilogy, following the (surprisingly good) Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (that I discussed here.)  This movie is directed by Shusuke Kaneko, just like the first entry in the trilogy. The movie starts out roughly a year after […]

Who Remembers Spectreman?

I first saw the Spectreman series in my youth on Superstation TBS, shortly after we got cable television installed.  It’s an odd Japanese live-action “tokusatsu” series that first aired in Japan in 1971 under the title of “Space Ape Gori”. “Spectreman” ( is a super-cyborg sent from a benevolent alien race to help save the […]

Godzilla versus Hedorah: Weirdest Godzilla Ever

(Originally posted on February 7, 2018) I actually didn’t get to see Godzilla versus Hedorah (1971) until I was an adult, which is probably good for my mental health.  This is one weird Godzilla movie. That’s saying a lot considering this is a genre filled with sweaty Japanese actors in rubber suits destroying tiny cities.  […]

Zarkorr! The Invader: A Fun, Bad Kaiju Movie

(Originally posted on November 16, 2016) Back in 1996 when I was living in New Jersey, a friend and I spotted Zarkorr! The Invader in the local Blockbuster (You youngsters can look that up.)  To be honest, I got it just to piss my friend off since he couldn’t decide on what to rent.  We […]

A Nifty Kaiju Movie: Gamera, Guardian of the Universe

(Originally posted on November 9, 2016) Gamera, Guardian of the Universe (1995) is a giant monster movie that is far better than it has any right to be.  The Heisei Gamera series is a reboot of the original Daiei Studio Gamera series (1965-1980.)  The series was Daiei’s answer to Toho’s Godzilla series.  Much in the […]