Johnny Sokko!
One of my brothers used to be obsessed with Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, which premiered as Giant Robo in Japan back in the ‘60s.
I assume that the series was a touch more coherent in its original Japanese, but the English dub is hilariously offbeat. Pair that with cheap effects and goofy monsters and you have the makings of THE BEST THING EVER.
Love love love this ridiculous show. Every episode features a new monster for this big ass robot to kill, and there’s even an octopus version of Cobra Commander leading the bad guys. (Complete with a Destro stand-in as his second-in-command — an extra impressive feat when you remember that neither character had been invented yet.)
I think this point might sum up the show best: There’s this one random villain with sunglasses and a beard. He’s just sort of a background soldier. He dies at least five times during the series.
Here are a few random episodes of the show. Totally worth your time.
Enjoy!
The Chilling!
Here’s The Chilling, from 1989:
I haven’t seen it, but it stars Linda Blair and is apparently about defrosted cryogenic zombies. Count me in!
…and since we’ve been having such a good run with the surveys lately, I’ll add one of those, too:
Growing up, what was the one videocassette you could *never* stop playing? (Both official releases and taped-off-tv things count!)
Tell everyone, in the comments!
The Making of ALIENS!
Here’s a super long documentary about the making of Aliens, from 1986:
I was much too young to see Aliens when it was in theaters, but that didn’t stop my parents from dragging me along with them. I’d have to call that the scariest in-theater experience I’ve ever had… possibly excluding the time I saw The Shining while stoned at some arthouse theater in the early 2000s.
So let’s turn that into a survey:
What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen IN THEATERS? Doesn’t count if you watched it at home!
Spill it, in the comments!
Hornets from Hell!
Just a weird shorty for tonight:
This old Nat Geo segment about Japanese giant hornets utterly decimating a honeybee hive is fascinating and frightening. It’s also been “internet famous” for many years, so chances are good that a number of you have already seen it!
I can watch stuff like this all day long.
