Editorials
Go, Go, Notzilla! 6 of the Most Memorable ‘Godzilla’ Knock-Offs in TV History
No matter how much the corporate rights holders might try to keep a story or a character to themselves, once an idea reaches critical mass, it ultimately belongs to the people. From parodies to legally distinct alternatives, truly universal ideas will resurface again and again in the hands of other creators, regardless of any legal limitations. If you need a concrete example of this, look no further than Godzilla!
Our favorite atomic dinosaur has stomped his way into the hearts and minds of millions of people despite the fact that only a relatively small fraction of fans have actually gone out of their way to experience official Gojira-related media, with a lot of folks actually becoming aware of the monster through cultural osmosis.
In celebration of Godzilla making another official appearance on TV courtesy of the latest season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, today we’d like to highlight six of the most memorable Notzillas in television history. After all, while these loving knock-offs may not be official representations of Toho’s iconic creation – they’ll always be a part of the monster’s massive cultural footprint.
As usual, this list is purely based on personal opinion, but don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite Godzilla knock-offs if you think we missed a particularly fun one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. Gatorella – The A-Team
The A-Team was never meant to be a serious show, but some moments in the long-running series are definitely wackier than others. Case in point: Season 4’s Where is the Monster When You Need Him? – an hour-long parody of overseas filmmaking where Hannibal is set to star in a monster movie as the titular “Gatorella”.
Presented to viewers as a mutant alligator hybrid (albeit with surprisingly complex character motivations), it’s clear from the get-go that Gatorella is supposed to be an off-brand Godzilla despite its cyclopean face. Of course, the only reason this lovable knock-off ranks so low on this list is the fact that the episode appears to be borrowing just as much from Universal Horror pictures like The Creature From the Black Lagoon as it is from Japanese Kaiju movies!
5. Lizardo – The Real Ghostbusters
From Samhain to Cthulhu himself, The Real Ghostbusters had more than their fair share of memorable villains. However, one stand-out episode had the group face off against a trio of fictional Kaijus from the 1960s who had been brought to life (or is it unlife?) by a freak accident involving VHS tapes.
While the episode is an obvious love letter to Godzilla, with the reptilian Lizardo being said to have been featured in over 12 monster movies and serving as a mascot of sorts for Japan, his design is actually unique enough for the monster to continue showing up in the background of future Ghostbusters media for years to come.
4. Shagzilla – What’s New, Scooby Doo?
This might sound a little blasphemous, but I actually have more nostalgia for Cartoon Network’s 2002 reboot, What’s New, Scooby Doo? than I have for the original show. I was at the perfect age to enjoy this slightly less spooky spin on the Scooby Gang back when it was first coming out, and that Barenaked Ladies theme song will live on in my head until the end of time.
However, being generally less horror-centric doesn’t necessarily mean that the revamped show skimped on the monsters, and one memorable creature that was inevitably revealed to just be a scam artist in disguise was none other than Shagzilla! A kaiju-sized reptilian monster meant to look like Shaggy after ingesting a cursed pizza, the villain was later unmasked as a vengeful professor piloting a giant robot.
3. Empty Tank Zilla – PTT Performa Gold Commercial
This bizarre gas station commercial from Thailand takes the same approach as UltraQ/Gomess by simply gluing horns onto an obvious Godzilla suit and calling it a legally distinct monster, but the absurdist humor on display here makes it clear that the creators knew exactly what they were doing with this hilarious example of a Notzilla.
While many fans originally saw this strange ad as an online meme usually shared without context, over the years, it’s become popular enough among Kaiju enthusiasts that I’d argue it’s just as iconic as the official (but no less bizarre) commercials where Godzilla promotes everything from Snickers to Nike shoes.
2. Jirahs – Ultraman
Bringing over-the-top Kaiju battles to the small screen is no small feat, so I’ve always admired the ingenuity behind the Ultraman team when it came to designing new threats for the show. Of course, the low budget and rushed schedules meant that not every monster could be completely unique, and one of the most iconic creatures on this list is precisely the result of the showrunners attempting to recycle an old Godzilla suit.
A repainted Toho suit featuring a hastily-glued-on frill, Jirahs looks like Godzilla wearing a cheap disguise – and that’s precisely why he remains one of the most beloved monsters in Tokusatsu history, though UltraQ’s equally absurd Gomess also deserves a shout-out!
1. Reptar – Rugrats
Hands-down the most recognizable Notzilla on this list, Nickelodeon’s Reptar is so iconic that he was actually the subject of a lawsuit between Toho and the creators of the show. In fact, this legal drama is the main reason why the fan-favorite dinosaur has since taken a backseat in the Rugrats franchise, with the producers not wanting to step on the actual Godzilla’s gigantic toes with their cartoony antics.
Nevertheless, Reptar remains one of the channel’s most beloved creations, and watching the Rugrats babies freak out whenever they see their favorite monster is an undeniably relatable memory for all of us kaiju fans who got hooked on the genre early on!
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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