Dougherty cites Aliens as his all-time favorite movie. “I remember going to the theater with my dad and watching that. I haven’t seen an audience reaction to a movie like that ever since.”

He continues, “I know it’s a constant debate, which film’s better: Alien or Aliens. But Aliens actually has a really clear emotional arc for Ripley as a character. I mean, Ripley wasn’t even the main character in the first film until the third act. But Aliens, I mean, she’s really going back and facing her demons.”

Dougherty calls John Carpenter’s Halloween “almost a perfect film. Or maybe it is a perfect film,” he ponders. “It’s just beautiful. It’s elegant, scary, suspenseful, obviously. Huge inspiration for me.”

Next on his list is The Omen. “Part of the unholy trilogy between The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Exorcist. All three kind of form this satanic trinity for me that I just love.”

Finally, Dougherty praises Poltergeist as “an absolutely all-time favorite haunted house film, I think because it has such a perfect mix of scares and laughter.”

After Trick ‘r Treat, Dougherty went on to helm Krampus and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

https://twitter.com/letterboxd/status/1973448675277021202

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Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Saga Arts are digging up Trick ‘r Treat this Halloween, newly restored in 4K and back on the big screen with partner Fathom Entertainment, the leading specialty distributor of content to theatrical partners worldwide, for a special, long-awaited nationwide re-release of the horror classic on October 14 & 16!

Fathom previews, “For two nights only, die-hard fans and curious newcomers will have the chance to relive the frights, the laughs, and the twisted traditions of this cult favorite. Plus, audiences will get bonus content straight from writer/director Michael Dougherty himself.”

Since its release, Trick ‘r Treat has grown into a modern Halloween classic—part horror anthology, part cautionary tale, and 100% wicked fun. At the center of it all is “Sam,” the mischievous spirit who punishes anyone who dares to break the rules. Sam’s lasting impact has made him one of the top-selling Halloween icons nationwide, transforming him into the unofficial mascot of the holiday in homes across America.

[Related] ‘Trick ‘r Treat 2’ – Michael Dougherty Provides Latest Update

Written and directed by Michael Dougherty (Krampus, Godzilla: King of the Monsters), Trick ‘r Treat weaves together sinister stories set on Halloween night: a high school principal, Dylan Baker, moonlights as a serial killer; a young virgin’s, Anna Paquin, search for the right man turns horrific; Leslie Bibb and her husband discover the cost of ignoring holiday rituals; and a cantankerous old man, Brian Cox, faces Sam in a terrifying showdown. Darkly funny, gruesome, and endlessly rewatchable, Trick ’r Treat secures Sam’s place as the true spirit of Halloween.

“Horror fans have long been thirsting for Trick ‘r Treat to take its rightful place back on the big screen and in cinemas nationwide. Fathom is thrilled to bring this classic horror film back in theatres in sparkling 4K with our partners just in time for Halloween,” said Tom Lucas, Vice President of Studio Relations at Fathom Entertainment. “A stellar cast helps make Trick ‘r Treat a frightening cinematic experience fans will not want to miss!”

In addition to the movie, fans will also be treated to a special featurette where Dougherty revisits the Halloween memories that inspired Trick ‘r Treat, taking us through the evocations that brought the iconic Sam to life. Additionally, experience the very first appearance of Sam with the all-new 4K restoration of Dougherty’s 1996 animated short, Season’s Greetings.

Get your tickets from Fathom Entertainment now!

Michael Dougherty’s TRICK ‘r TREAT is back on the big screen with a new 4K restoration on October 14 & October 16, along with an all-new 4K restoration of Dougherty’s SEASON’S GREETINGS, the 1996 animated short that featured Sam’s very first appearance! pic.twitter.com/CkqDJqV2mF

— Bloody Disgusting (@BDisgusting) September 15, 2025

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Trick ‘r Treat stands alongside the opening credits of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers as a felicitous distillation of the Halloween atmosphere on celluloid. Sam, the impish demon played by 7-year-old Quinn Lord that serves as the film’s mascot, personifies the tricks and treats of Halloween while serving as the connective tissue between segments.

Writer-director Michael Dougherty — in his feature debut after making a name for himself as a writer on X2: X-Men United and Superman Returns — evokes Pulp Fiction with his expertly crafted nonlinear anthology narrative with interwoven segments. Each story celebrates Halloween from a different perspective, from childhood activities to adolescent mischief to young-adult partying to ornery twilight years.

First, principal Steven Wilkins (Dylan Baker, Spider-Man 2) teaches young Charlie (Brett Kelly, Bad Santa) a lesson in carving more than just pumpkins. Next, a group of teenage trick-or-treaters learn the truth behind the local urban legend of the Halloween school bus massacre. Then, 22-year-old Laurie (Anna Paquin, “True Blood”) ensures her first time is special at a surprise party like no other. Finally, Sam teaches neighborhood curmudgeon Mr. Kreeg (Brian Cox, “Succession”) to obey the rules of Halloween.

Arrow Video has newly restored Trick ‘r Treat in 4K, approved by Dougherty, with Dolby Vision. A stark contrast to the grungy torture-horror of the era, Glen MacPherson‘s (Rambo, Resident Evil: Afterlife) cinematography embraces a colorful, heightened reality that pops with HDR. Douglas Pipes‘ (Krampus, Monster House) playful yet ominous score sounds massive with the original DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track.

Dougherty sits down for a new commentary moderated by Dead Meat’s James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca, who are well-versed in interviews not to mention friends with the filmmaker. The casual conversation covers the evolution of the film and points out influences ranging from The Changeling and The Howling to The Exorcist III and Halloween III.

Perhaps most notably, Dougherty confirms that the long-gestating sequel — first announced in 2013! — is written (with his Krampus collaborators Todd Casey and Zach Shields) and storyboarded, but getting it made within the studio system has been complicated. He recognizes that the first film was lightning in a bottle and does not want to compromise his vision for the sequel just to get it made. That said, there is still momentum moving forward.

The disc features new interviews with Lord, now 25, who reminisces about his time as Sam; MacPherson, who reveals he initially turned down Rambo to shoot Trick ‘r Treat and discusses the techniques and inspirations he employed; production designer Mark Freeborn (“Breaking Bad,” “The X-Files”), who comments on the film’s visual consistency; costume designer Trish Keating (The 6th Day, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight), who relished the creative opportunity; creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos (Independence Day, I Am Legend), who details working on the werewolves, including one that was reused in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans; plus Freeborn plays tribute to special makeup effects designer and Sam puppeteer Bill Terezakis (Freddy vs. Jason, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), who passed away in 2021.

A previous commentary with Dougherty, Pipes, conceptual artist Breehn Burns, and storyboard artist Simeon Wilkins is included, striking a good balance between informational and humorous. Dougherty also leads a four-part making-of documentary from Scream Factory’s 2018 Blu-ray edition — “Tales of Folklore & Fright: Creating Trick ‘r Treat,” “Tales of Mischief & Mayhem: Filming Trick ‘r Treat,” “Sounds of Shock & Superstition: Scoring Trick ‘r Treat,” and “Tales of Dread & Despair: Releasing Trick ‘r Treat” — with input from Burns, Wilkins, Pipes, and film historian Rob Galluzzo.

Other archival extras include: “The Lore and Legends of Halloween,” a 27-minute documentary narrated by Cox focusing on the traditions that spawned Halloween and how they tie into Trick ‘r Treat; 17 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes with optional commentary by Dougherty; Season’s Greetings, the 1996 animated short that introduced Sam with optional commentary by Dougherty; a VFX comparison of the school bus scene; six Easter- and Christmas-themed FEARnet promos; Sam O’Lantern, an hour-long Yule log-esque video of a jack-o’-lantern accompanied by ambient sound; four galleries (stills, storyboard and concept art, behind the scenes, and the Trick ‘r Treat comic book “Monster Mash”), and the trailer.

Arrow’s limited edition set comes with a reversible cover featuring new art by Sara Deck and the original poster, a booklet containing new writing by Becky Darke and Heather Wixson, a double-sided foldout poster, and six postcard-sized art cards.

Trick ‘r Treat is a rare modern movie that managed to disrupt the established horror canon, arguably seizing Creepshow‘s throne as the quintessential anthology and giving John Carpenter’s Halloween a run for its money as the definitive Halloween viewing. This year and every spooky season hereafter, Arrow Video has delivered the ideal way to witness Sam’s autumnal exploits.

Trick ‘r Treat is available now on 4K Ultra HD.

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In a new commentary moderated by Dead Meat’s James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca, Doughtery confirms that he wrote Trick ‘r Treat 2 with his Krampus collaborators Todd Casey and Zach Shields and it’s already storyboarded, but getting it made within the studio system is complicated.

“It’s tricky, because I think we really did capture lightning in a bottle with this one, and it nearly killed me. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the bulk of our favorite horror movies, especially the ones that introduced new horror icons, were all independent movies,” Dougherty explains, citing the likes of Halloween, Friday the 13th, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

“There aren’t the typical metrics that a studio can point to to make it an easy ‘yes.’ Something I was adamant about in the sequel was that it has to retain this nonlinear storytelling, [and] it has to retain that weird mix of horror and comedy,” he notes.

Dougherty continues, “I want to do it. It’s not dead by any stretch. We have some momentum moving in the right direction for sure, but I’m also of the belief that I’m not going to compromise or make sacrifice just to make a sequel. It has the be under the right conditions with the right resources. Otherwise, I will be content with just letting this be this weird little movie that fought its way through a lot of adversity.”

He adds, “But I’m very, very happy with the script for the sequel.”

In the meantime, Sam will return in the four new stories in the upcoming graphic novel Trick’ r Treat: Witching Hours.

Stay tuned for a full review of Trick ‘r Treat on 4K UHD later today.

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This marks the first all-original Trick ‘r Treat graphic novel in a decade, presented by Trick’ r Treat creator and director Michael Dougherty. Also, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Michael Dougherty’s Krampus in 2025, a new edition of the tie-in graphic novel, Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas, will be launched with a special Kickstarter edition.

Trick ‘r Treat: Witching Hours features four brand-new, original stories centered around everyone’s favorite mischief-maker, Sam. The stories are brought to life by a talented group of creators, including writers Michael Dougherty (Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Trick’ r Treat: Days of the Dead), Zach Shields (Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Trick’ r Treat: Days of the Dead), Todd Casey (Trick’ r Treat: Days of the Dead), Breehn Burns (Trick’ r Treat movie, Trick’ r Treat: The Haunting), and Curtis Waugh (Stegosaurus, the Moistest), with artistic contributions from Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night), Breehn Burns (Trick ‘r Treat movie original concept artist and comic illustrator), and Tristan Jones (Mad Max: Fury Road comics).

“I’m thrilled to return to the twisted world of Trick ‘r Treat for more of Sam’s mischievous adventures,” said writer/director Michael Dougherty. “This new graphic novel is a true labor of love, created by a top-notch team of writers and artists, and I can’t wait for fans to join us for the best Halloween party ever.”

Fans and collectors will also have the opportunity to pledge for exclusive items available only during the Kickstarter campaign, including a special slipcase edition of the graphic novel and other limited-edition merchandise. Learn more and pitch in on Kickstarter now.

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Speaking with Collider after a recent screening of Trick ‘r Treat, where he also teased Trick ‘r Treat 2, Doughtery noted that he and his team have discussed Krampus sequel plans.

“We have an idea for a sequel on that one, too,” Dougherty explained.

“It doesn’t necessarily center around a family as much as it might be about a group of strangers who are trapped somewhere,” the filmmaker continued.

This doesn’t mean Krampus 2 is happening, but it’s interesting to hear that Dougherty is still thinking about the possibilities nearly 10 years after the first movie brought the Alpine folklore to the big screen. It sounds like he has ideas for more stories in both the Krampus and Trick ‘r Treat universes, and it’s only a matter of time before one of them comes to life.

Stay tuned for more as we learn it.

In Krampus, “When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers. All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.”

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But while the world of Trick ‘r Treat has been expanded upon with various comics, we’ve still never gotten the sequel we’ve been waiting over 15 years for. It’s become an annual tradition to get an update on the status of the project each and every October, with Dougherty revealing at Beyond Fest just last year that Trick ‘r Treat 2 was in “very active development” at the time.

It’s now one year later. And we’re less than a week away from Halloween. Like Santa Claus in the wee morning hours of Christmas, Dougherty has popped back up with another update.

Collider brings us our annual update this morning, straight from Michael Dougherty’s mouth to the ears of Collider’s Perri Nemiroff during a post-screening Q&A over the weekend.

“I will say this, because we said it last year at the Beyond Fest screening, the sequel is in active development with Legendary,” Dougherty again confirms.

He continues, “I’ll go so far as to say that we have several drafts of a script. I brought back the same storyboard artist I mentioned before, Simeon Wilkins, so we have a stack of storyboards and a good fat stack of concept art done by Breehn Burns as well. So it’s inching along,”

“I’m hoping to talk to Legendary,” Dougherty adds. “They’ve been wonderful, like great collaborators. But so much of it is timing, and as you know, we just got out of a strike, so the next step, fingers crossed, would be looking at budget, of course, schedule, and all the rest. But we have a really, really great script for a sequel. And I brought in my co-writer from Krampus to do it with me. So Zach Shields and Todd Casey also helped me write Trick ‘r Treat Part 2.”

Trick ‘r Treat features five interwoven stories that occur on Halloween…

“An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband; and a mean old man meets his match with the demonic, supernatural trick-or-treater whose name is Sam.”

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With the long-awaited theatrical run this October, Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat remains an emblem for great anthologies everywhere and perfectly captures spooky season in all its glory 一 with Sam as its devoted icon. Courtesy of cinematographer Glen MacPherson, the film drips with shadows and mood, always playing on the unseen eye to send chills down your spine. There’s plenty of violence and gore, of course, befitting a slasher flick that causes “oh my god” and “ew” reactions in the audience. 

Four intertwining stories depict lives uprooted and destroyed from callous, reckless actions and blatant disregard for All Hallow’s Eve. And Sam watches from afar, a voyeur to the sick and twisted 一 even though the characters deserve what’s coming to them. In Mr. Wilkins’ (Dylan Baker) segment, a young boy named Charlie (Brett Kelly) topples numerous pumpkins from their perch, sending them crashing into and scattering across the ground. He proceeds to climb upon Wilkins porch and snag every single candy bar in the hollowed out pumpkin. 

“My dad taught me tonight is about respecting the dead,” Mr Wilkins tells Charlie. “All these traditions一jack o’lanterns, putting on costumes, handing out treats一they were started to protect us, but nowadays no one really cares.” A wistfulness glistens in his eyes, and he stops for a moment from carving a fresh pumpkin. Charlie rolls his eyes… and abruptly pukes his guts out all over the front steps. Another tradition, Wilkins points out, is you never forget to check your candy. Wilkins then drags Charlie’s lifeless body inside, lobs off his head, and helps his son Billy (Connor Levins) carve out the eyes. Charlie may have been a kid but his ignorance and naivety were his own undoing.

In “Halloween School Bus Massacre,” Macy (Britt McKillip), Sara (Isabelle Deluce), Schrader (Jean-Luc Bilodeau), and Chip (Alberto Ghisi) learn that bullying and othering a girl named Rhonda (Samm Todd) comes with equally-severe consequences. Much like Sam, Rhonda is a certified weirdo, obsessed with all things spooky. She has a knack for carving some wickedly cool pumpkins (her entire front lawn is littered with them) and knowing the history of Samhain. 

After Macy regales the tale about the school bus massacre, in which a bus-full of society’s outcasts are driven over a cliff to their deaths, Macy and her friends play a sick practical joke on Rhonda by pretending to be the reanimated corpses of the dead kids. It’s not as funny as they expected; in fact, it forever traumatizes Rhonda. And who could really blame her for freaking out一the “joke” was in poor taste. When the actual dead kids return from beyond the grave, Rhonda hops into the elevator and leaves Macy, Schrader, Chip, and Sara behind to be mauled and eaten alive in the rock quarry. She smirks and offers a chilling wave goodbye. Once again, mocking a tragedy and those who were just like Rhonda is contemptible and deserving of some oh-sweet revenge.

Despite having a very clearly different message, “Surprise Party” supplies an equally-exhilarating emotional return 一 the sexual liberation of women through a werewolf lens. It’s all a gas in the end and goodness, is it a blast. For his part, Sam looks on from a nearby log, the grisly screams and throaty groans filling the night air with delightful euphoria. Its response to revenge is less rooted in red-faced vengeance than it is about dismantling pressures put upon women in how they dress, carry themselves, and react to the world. Revenge is just an added bonus, really.

In another tale of revenge, Sam’s story comes into the picture in the finale as a way to connect the dots between chapters. Sam tracks down Mr. Kreeg (Brian Cox), Mr. Wilkin’s next door neighbor 一 who, we come to learn, was the infamous bus driver who killed those kids and never had to face any punishment for his crimes. Well, Sam just can’t have that and attacks Kreeg in his home. Instead of killing him, though, Sam plants a lollipop in his lap, leaving him bewildered and greatly injured. It’s not enough to kill him outright; there would be little justice in that. But teaching him a near-death lesson should do the trick.

Sam is not only a wonderfully frightening pumpkin child doing Satan’s work but a surrogate for year-round horror fans一those passionately defending the genre and willing to die upon their self-proclaimed hills. You simply do not mess with horror fans. You don’t taunt them, and you can’t anticipate them. Whether it’s The Academy baiting fans with disingenuous platitudes about popular horror films or those hot takes claiming there’s no good horror being made these days, there’s a tendency to blithely shrug off the horror community.

Horror makes us feel safe. Sam makes us feel safe and seen. And invading those safe spaces is downright sacrilegious. As psychologists have suggested, there are numerous reasons people are drawn to and find comfort in horror. Horror elicits both fear and excitement, two contrasting emotional responses that are equally valid and ever present. “Fright can trigger the release of adrenaline, resulting in heightened sensations and surging energy,” a 2021 investigative report states. Researchers then break down several “protective frames” or ways in which we find safety in watching and experiencing horror, positing that feeling safe, having control over the situation, and detaching from the events onscreen fuels a desire to relive those emotional responses again and again. 

It’s no surprise then that a film like Trick ‘r Treat would become a comfort film for someone. I know it is for me. The blood splattering, the graphic vomiting, the severed head, the werewolf feast 一 it all gives me a charge. Perhaps, it’s because I have a stronger “sensation-seeking trait” and need to replenish that well to feel emotionally satisfied or maybe I’m somehow “not so empathic” as others (not true, by the way). Either way, there’s social bonding that also occurs in the process; i.e. why there’s a horror community in the first place. We all love horror, and Sam is the manifestation of that love, connection, and adoration for the spooky and the disturbed.

Sam wanders through the four stories as we wander through the year as horror hounds. We consume horror all times of the year, whether it’s snowing outside or sweltering with heat. Like clockwork, super casual horror fans roll out their goblins and ghouls to celebrate October. While that’s super cool and all, it often feels alienating, like an invasion of pod people coming to earth to wreak havoc on those who make horror their entire personality. Of course, not everyone will be as consumed by the genre as we are. The noted research also considers that those who rarely consume horror (or not at all) may lack a sensation-seeking trait or have a low presence of “the trait of openness to experience,” resulting in their avoidance of the genre outside of October. But we welcome those with open arms because the horror community is much better for it 一 to guide the proverbial younglings through unfamiliar territory, to allow them a glimpse of what makes horror the greatest storytelling medium, to bask in the shared experiences of the terrifying and the macabre.

Fifteen years later, Trick ‘r Treat is as relevant as ever. Through its themes of community, resilience, and committed reverence for All Hallow’s Eve, the film beckons the audience to confront, to question, to rebel against society’s archaic expectations and standards. It provokes as much as it delivers a damn fine piece of entertainment, drenched in grotesque imagery, frightening kills, and tension-burning atmosphere. Beneath the filmmaking technique throbs a story about what it means to be a year-round horror fan and how our society perceives those a little weird and different as the other 一 and with a film so bold, we witness delicious comeuppance on those who laugh at us. Such visceral catharsis is what great horror movies are truly made of.

And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

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NECA made the announcement last Christmas Eve that they’ve acquired the license to make action figures based on Michael Dougherty’s holiday horror favorite, Krampus.

Since this year’s Toy Fair has gone virtual, NECA is sharing teases of all their new licenses online, starting with Krampus!

While they have yet to pull back the curtain on the half-goat, half-demon monster, they did share a little teaser of all of the accessories that will come with the Ultimate action figure.

What does this mean? Well, we’re not only getting a big gift but also all the stocking stuffers, including Derr Clown (the jack-in-the-box), Perchta (the Cherub), and Teddy Klaue (the teddy bear)!

Check them all out below.

Expect more soon. And expect NECA’s Krampus next holiday season!

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The difference in runtime between the initial release and the Naughty Cut is minimal, roughly four minutes worth of footage. A few key notable scenes are reinserted from the original Blu-ray release’s deleted scenes, like Max (Emjay Anthony) offering his cousins candy from his Halloween stash, with Sam’s lollipop from Trick ‘r Treat sitting pretty at the top of the candy pile.

The other most noticeable sequence benefitted by the 4K edition is during the toy assault in the attic. The restored version accentuates more of the violence than before, making the action much more fluid and easier to follow. Close-ups of stabbing and a little more prolonged moments of toy gore ensue, just enough to highlight how nitpicky the MPAA can get. There’s nothing all that offensive or egregiously R-rated about these scenes, however, many of which are hard to even detect without comparing cuts.

Because the changes are so minimal between the theatrical cut and the Naughty Cut, it’s hard to recommend the 4K to those hoping for a drastically different version of the movie. This is still the same Krampus that we know and are familiar with, just with a few more curse words and elongated moments throughout. 

What does make the Naughty Cut worth owning and warrants a recommendation is the 4K transfer and new special features. The release is loaded with brand new interviews with Dougherty, Emjay Anthony, Producer Todd Casey, actor David Koechner, actress Allison Tolman, WETA’s Richard Taylor, storyboard artist Simeon Wilkins, Composer Douglas Pipes, and Krampus performer Luke Hawker. It also includes previously released special features, rounding out an insanely loaded disc for massive fans of the movie.

The Naughty Cut is billed as the definitive version of Krampus, primarily because of the restored bits excised to pacify the MPAA. But for casual viewers, the newly added moments are rarely obvious and never push the content far enough to feel deserving of R-rated horror. None of the changes in this cut alter or recontextualize the story in any way; they just add a slight bit of spice to the mix.

Krampus: The Naughty Cut is for the avid Krampus fans and physical media collectors or those looking to upgrade their disc to 4K. It’s a detailed and lovingly crafted release, loaded with so much new content that’ll give you your money’s worth. The picture and sound quality are fantastic, too, making for another win for Scream Factory. Max and his family’s unruly behavior may have summoned Krampus, but there’s nothing naughty about this release.

Krampus: The Naughty Cut is available now.

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Krampus: The Naughty Cut was originally coming to 4K Ultra HD on November 16, but Scream Factory has updated today with the news that it’s been bumped back a tad bit.

The good news? It’s still coming *before* Christmas!

From Scream: “The response to our recent announcement of the upcoming UHD/Blu-ray was so positive and overwhelming that Director Michael Dougherty kindly asked for a little more time to work on the release, which of course we agreed to! The new release date is Dec 7th and will be worth it. Final extras and more details will be revealed in Late Oct/early Nov.”

Yes, this is a brand new, never-before-seen version of the 2015 holiday horror film. Scream Factory explains, “For the first time ever Michael’s Dougherty’s previously unseen “Naughty Cut” of the film will be seeing the light of day! This alternate version restores key dialogue and scenes that had to be trimmed from the original theatrical release to appease the MPAA.”

This definitive version of the film was supervised by Dougherty himself. The release from Scream Factory will *not* include the theatrical version of the movie we know and love.

In Krampus, “When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers. All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.”

The post Scream Factory’s ‘Krampus: The Naughty Cut’ 4K Ultra HD Release Pushed Back to December appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Krampus: The Naughty Cut comes to 4K Ultra HD on November 16!

Yes, this is a brand new, never-before-seen version of the 2015 holiday horror film. Scream Factory explains, “For the first time ever Michael’s Dougherty’s previously unseen “Naughty Cut” of the film will be seeing the light of day! This alternate version restores key dialogue and scenes that had to be trimmed from the original theatrical release to appease the MPAA.”

This definitive version of the film was supervised by Dougherty himself. The release from Scream Factory will *not* include the theatrical version of the movie we know and love.

The full list of extras will be announced soon, so stay tuned.

In Krampus, “When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers. All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.”

The post Scream Factory Bringing Michael Dougherty’s ‘Krampus’ to 4K Ultra HD With a Never-Before-Seen Cut! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In the past, Dougherty has shared never-before-seen concept art of the title character, while today he offers up another present, a behind the scenes look at the creation of Perchta the Christmas Cherub for Krampus.

The monster was designed by Miguel Ortega & Tran Ma and brought to life by the magicians of Weta Workshop and Emersen Ziffle.

“There’s nothing like the thrill of creating an animatronic monster and using it to attack Academy Award nominee Toni Collette,” jokes Dougherty.

READ ALSO: Why Krampus is the Definitive Christmas Movie of the 21st Century

 

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And Deadline reports tonight that Clive Barker himself is on board the ship!

Barker will executive produce the first-ever “Hellraiser” TV series. Notably, this is the first time Barker has had credited involvement with a Hellraiser adaptation since 1996’s Bloodline.

Deadline details, “The idea is to create an elevated continuation and expansion of the well-established Hellraiser mythology. It is by no means a remake, but rather assumes the past mythology to be a given. The centerpiece remains Pinhead, the pin cushion-headed merciless leader of the Cenobites, the formerly humans-turned-demons that live in an extra-dimensional realm and are activated through a puzzle box called the Lament Configuration. The Cenobites come from hell to harvest human souls and keep balance between good and evil.”

Barker said in a statement, “[I’m] delighted the Hellraiser mythology is seeing a new life. It’s time the stories went back to their roots. I’m eager to bring to a new audience the most powerful and ancient elements of horror: the darkest evil invading our human lives and how we must find in ourselves the power to resist it.”

Executive producers include David Gordon Green, Michael Dougherty, Mark Verheiden, Dan Farah, Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee, Lawrence Kuppin, David Salzman, Eric Gardner, Andrew Farah, Adam Salzman, Danny McBride, Jody Hill and Brandon James.

Mark Verheiden will serve as showrunner.

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Legendary teases, “Start your copy of Trick ‘r Treat at 7pm PT on October 30th and Join Director @Mike_Dougherty as he tweets along from the @Legendary Twitter account!”

@Nerdist is also taking part in the fun, and Legendary notes that there will be an Instagram Live conversation happening after the movie ends. So be sure to follow @Legendary on IG.

Sam will be watching…

Ghouls and Goblins, get ready for a Trick ‘r Treat watchalong! Start your copy of Trick ‘r Treat at 7pm PT on October 30th and Join Director @Mike_Dougherty as he tweets along from the @Legendary twitter account! @nerdist @Legendary pic.twitter.com/3fOWJtDeeP

— Trick ‘r Treat (@trickrtreat) October 28, 2020

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Unfortunately, despite being initially announced back in 2009 and further teased at various points throughout the past 10 years, Dougherty has yet to make the sequel to Trick ‘r Treat that he’s long been itching to make. After directing the Halloween anthology film, Dougherty embraced the Christmas spirit with Krampus, and he later directed Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Dougherty is now currently attached to both Hellraiser and Nightbreed TV shows.

But Sam actually *did* come back for a series of official short films that were put together by the now-defunct FEARnet several years back. Beginning in 2011, FEARnet turned Trick ‘r Treat into the A Christmas Story of the Halloween season by airing a 24-hour marathon of the film every Halloween day between 2011 and 2013. And to promote that marathon each year, they released a handful of short films that brought Sam back in fun and unique ways.

One series of shorts laid out the rules of Halloween, while others saw Sam brought into other holidays like Father’s Day, Easter and Christmas. Most of the shorts were even directed by Michael Dougherty himself; “They’re almost like minute-long sequels to Trick ‘r Treat,“ he noted during a behind the scenes video for one of the shorts.

We may not yet have an official sequel, but these fun shorts continue to tide us over!

This article was originally published on September 22, 2017.

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The collection also features an intro written by Michael Dougherty as well as behind the scenes extras and a brand spankin’ new piece of cover art that we can’t stop looking at.

Today Legendary Comics has released a new motion trailer in celebration of the graphic novel’s release, and you can check that out (along with the new cover art) below!

From the deliciously dark imagination of Trick ‘r Treat creator Michael Dougherty comes the definitive Trick ‘r Treat comic book collection in celebration of the 10th anniversary of this beloved horror saga. For the first time, Legendary Comics brings fans the full compendium of twisted Halloween tales, brought to life by a top-notch team of creators including writers Zach Shields (Godzilla: KOTM, Krampus) and Todd Casey (Krampus), Eisner Award-winning writer Marc Andreyko (Batwoman), Eisner Award-winning artist Fiona Staples (SAGA), ZID (Skull Island: Birth of Kong; Lost in Space: Countdown To Danger), Stuart Sayger (Bram Stoker’s Death Ship), Stephen Byrne (Green Arrow), Grant Bond (Supernatural), Mike Huddleston (Man Bat), and Christopher Gugliotti (Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

First up, Trick ‘r Treat, the graphic novel adaptation of the film, reveals 4 evocatively illustrated tales of horror interwoven into one unforgettable Halloween night as the unsettling figure known as Sam pays a visit to an unsuspecting community, wreaking havoc during the scariest night of the year.

And then in Days of the Dead, franchise icon Sam takes readers on a journey back through Halloween history with 4 chilling new Trick ‘r Treat tales. Discover old-world lovers whose romance takes a chilling turn and Western pioneers who discover the dark side of the frontier. Travel to 1950s Los Angeles for a tale of pure horror noir and into the heart of small-town America to see some pranksters taught a lesson they’ll never forget. Across centuries of Halloween horror, wherever fear lies, Sam will be waiting…

It’s AVAILABLE NOW and you can grab your copy through Amazon today for $21.65!

The post Sam is Back in a Fun Motion Trailer for the New ‘Trick ‘r Treat’ Graphic Novel Release [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“It’s exciting, after 30 years, to go back to these characters and find out who’s still speaking to me, who wants their story told,” Barker told the site. “My tongue isn’t in my cheek when I say that as when I start a piece, it’s listening. The writing is a piece of listening, I’ve always said I was a journalist and what I was reporting on was the space between my ears.”

Barker is currently fleshing out the “bible” for the series, Coming Soon notes.

Interestingly, Dougherty is also working on HBO’s “Hellraiser” series.

Clive Barker wrote and directed the 1990 feature film Nightbreed, an adaptation of his novella Cabal. In the film, “A troubled young man (Craig Sheffer) is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer (played by filmmaker David Cronenberg!) is looking for a patsy.”

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Trick ‘r Treat Omnibus is in stores and available online today, featuring an intro written by writer/director Michael Dougherty as well as behind the scenes extras.

This new deluxe edition features all-new cover art, and brings all of Sam’s stories together into one collection for the first time.

From the deliciously dark imagination of Trick ‘r Treat creator Michael Dougherty comes the definitive Trick ‘r Treat comic book collection in celebration of the 10th anniversary of this beloved horror saga. For the first time, Legendary Comics brings fans the full compendium of twisted Halloween tales, brought to life by a top-notch team of creators including writers Zach Shields (Godzilla: KOTM, Krampus) and Todd Casey (Krampus), Eisner Award-winning writer Marc Andreyko (Batwoman), Eisner Award-winning artist Fiona Staples (SAGA), ZID (Skull Island: Birth of Kong; Lost in Space: Countdown To Danger), Stuart Sayger (Bram Stoker’s Death Ship), Stephen Byrne (Green Arrow), Grant Bond (Supernatural), Mike Huddleston (Man Bat), and Christopher Gugliotti (Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

First up, Trick ‘r Treat, the graphic novel adaptation of the film, reveals 4 evocatively illustrated tales of horror interwoven into one unforgettable Halloween night as the unsettling figure known as Sam pays a visit to an unsuspecting community, wreaking havoc during the scariest night of the year.

And then in Days of the Dead, franchise icon Sam takes readers on a journey back through Halloween history with 4 chilling new Trick ‘r Treat tales. Discover old-world lovers whose romance takes a chilling turn and Western pioneers who discover the dark side of the frontier. Travel to 1950s Los Angeles for a tale of pure horror noir and into the heart of small-town America to see some pranksters taught a lesson they’ll never forget. Across centuries of Halloween horror, wherever fear lies, Sam will be waiting…

You can grab your copy through Amazon today for $20.49!

The post New Graphic Novel ‘Trick ‘r Treat: Sam’s 10th Anniversary Collection’ Brings All of Sam’s Stories Together! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The highlight of the new Cavity Colors collection is a Trick ‘r Treat t-shirt featuring Michael Dougherty‘s original Sam artwork from the Season’s Greetings animated short that years later became the live-action anthology! The company joined forces with Dougherty on the special shirt, titled “Season’s Greetings Sam,” and it’s decked out with those original illustrations.

The illustrations depict the earliest incarnation of the lovable horror icon known as Sam, drawn up by Dougherty for the 1996 short film that you can check out down below.

The collection launches Wednesday, September 2nd at 5 PM EST, and it also includes other brand new t-shirts as well as pocket tees, sweatpants, hoodies and enamel pins.

Preview the collection underneath the Season’s Greetings short film below!

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Based on Legendary Pictures’ Krampus, the animatronic is exclusive to Spirit Halloween, and we’re incredibly excited to debut your first look at the badass holiday horror nightmare today.

Spirit’s Krampus animatronic features side to side motion, yellow light up LED eyes, and realistic chains with rattling sounds, and he’s equipped with a terrifying howling sound.

You can pre-order yours for $349.99, with an expected August 12th ship date.

Preview this incredible piece of home decor with our exclusive image gallery below!

Be sure to also browse Spirit Halloween’s full line of Krampus movie merchandise, which also includes a “Krampus is Coming to Town” sign and a coffee mug with horn handles!

The post Spirit Halloween Turned Michael Dougherty’s ‘Krampus’ into a Massive 7-Foot Tall Animatronic! [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Creative people have a whole lot more free time on their hands right now than they normally do and the rest of us are benefiting from that. Case in point, Michael Dougherty (Trick ‘r Treat, Krampus, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) and editor Evan Gorski have joined forces for one hell of a genre movie mashup video this week.

Titled “Everything I Need to Know to Survive COVID-19 I Learned By Watching Sci-fi & Horror Movies,” the 3-minute supercut video cleverly brings together clips from various different genre films, specifically ones that eerily tie into what’s unfortunately going on across the world right now.

Films like Alien, World War Z, The Thing, I Am Legend, The Mist, Terminator, The Shining and Jaws are prominently featured in the video, with clips from them and other films perfectly strung together to reflect recent headlines, concerns and conversations. The horror and sci-fi genres, after all, have always been warning us about the worst. More importantly, they’ve been preparing us for it. And we can learn a whole lot of lessons from our favorite films.

We’re all in this together. Stay safe, stay inside, and watch more horror and sci-fi movies.

They just might save your life…

The post Michael Dougherty and Evan Gorski Cut Together the Ultimate Horror/Sci-fi Movie Mashup for 2020 [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

If Trick ‘r Treat was a movie you missed in its limited theatrical release, you’re not alone. Most people didn’t get the opportunity to experience it in a theater. The Boo Crew were fortunate to catch it at Screamfest LA the year it premiered. And much to our delight, we were left wondering after the credits when this movie would see the light of day in wide release. Once the movie was acquired by Legendary/Warner Bros, they had different ideas and plans for its release.

Dougherty discusses how the experience of the film’s release is something he’s accepted as a truly satisfying experience. “That’s part of the fun of it. The reason I would be willing to go through that hell again is that there’s a very rare joy in creating a film where the audience gets to prop it up. We love this. They give the middle finger to the system, the man, whatever you want to call it. And they say No, we love this and we are going to support it.”

“Because a lot of time you make a movie, and I just went through one, where there’s a marketing machine and it’s got promotional deals and tv spots. They almost create mass hypnosis to convince people this is a good movie and you should go see it. And this had none of that. Just bare minimum marketing support and distribution. And when it got eventually released on DVD, it’s audience was grown through pure word of mouth. Whether it was you telling friends, emailing, texting, or social media. And that’s a rare event and it’s something I wish every filmmaker could experience. You know when people come up to you and tell you they loved it, you know they are being honest. Because they weren’t marketed. They were just sort of exposed via friends and word of mouth and they watched it and fell in love with it. There’s a lot films through history and that sort of get to do that.”

The movie Mike Dougherty set out to make was anything but easy. The incredible idea of making it an anthology was something the movie studios did not understand at the time. Even with the backing of horror’s greatest directors, the studios did not fully understand how good this movie could be if given the chance.

Dougherty recalls the difficulty of making the film: “The first draft was finished in 2001 and spent about five years in development hell at various studios. But interesting enough the first producer who really fell in love with it was Stan Winston. So what happened was, I was talking to Stan back in the late 90’s early 2000’s about working together on some projects. He saw my short film Seasons Greetings and really loved it. He’s the one who said ‘You need to be out here in LA making movies. I know you’re doing animation in New York, but you should come out here. And let me know when you’re in town and we’ll sit down and talk about it.’ So I bought a plane ticket the next day and flew out to LA and we sat. He was one of my idols growing up. He said ‘Listen if you any ideas or you ever write a spec, just let me know.’ And that gave me the motivation to spend the summer writing the script.”

“And I finished it in late September, early October. And he was the first guy to say ‘Okay this is great – it’s a modern day Creepshow. Let me try to assemble some directors and maybe we can take this out.’ And so he cobbled together George Romero, Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter and himself. And I was like wow, okay, I just assembled the Superfriends of horror. And every studio came back with the following notes: “This movie feels too old fashioned. It’s filled with zombies, vampires and werewolves. Those are too old fashioned. Nobody wants to see those things anymore.” And I’m like okay, now look at us. We can’t swing a dead cat without hitting vampires, werewolves and zombies.”

In Episode 80 we discuss Trick ‘r Treat more in depth, talking about the original design of our Halloween hero, Sam, as well as the look, costumes and design of the kids in the school bus massacre segment. Listen to Mike tell great stories about the production and character designs, casting the movie, and why he wanted to make this movie *the* definitive movie for Halloween. We also delve deep into the books, TV, horror and sci-fi movies that inspired him and his passion for the paranormal, as well as his other movies – Krampus and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Remember always wear a costume, always check your candy and always download the latest edition of The Boo Crew!

Follow Michael Dougherty on:

Twitter: @Mike_Dougherty

Follow The Boo Crew on:

Instagram: @talesfromtheboocrew
Twitter: @talesfromtheboo

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Comic books, Halloween decorations, action figures and all kinds of merchandise have been released in the past decade, but for now, Trick ‘r Treat 2 remains as elusive as ever.

So what’s the latest on all that? It’s inevitable that someone asks Dougherty about the potential sequel each and every October, and ComicBookMovie.com is that outlet this year.

“Oh man, it’s that time of year! I feel like that’s become the new Halloween tradition: ask Mike about Trick ‘r Treat 2! [Laughs] Listen, I’m intrigued by the idea and it’s completely up to Legendary,” Dougherty recently told the site. “It’s been a few years since we initially talked about it and there’s been a regime change since then. They still have the property and they love it and there’s still a long line of merchandise and a continuing line of comic books based on the film but the ball is in their court.”

“The moment they say they’re interested and ready to go, we’ll see if the stars align.”

Dougherty continued, “At the same time, I think there’s something to be said about not sequelising it. In a business that is obsessed with franchising and spinoffs and prequels and sequels, maybe there’s something to be said about just leaving it alone.”

What do you think? Should Dougherty and Legendary try to recapture the magic from 10+ years ago or should they move on to something new altogether? Sound off below.

The post Michael Dougherty Offers Latest Thoughts on ‘Trick ‘r Treat 2’; Is It Ever Happening? Should It Ever Happen? appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Over on Twitter last night, Dougherty shared several pieces of King of the Monsters concept art that were whipped up during pre-production. Godzilla, Rodan, Ghidorah and Mothra are all represented in the art, showcasing the early conceptual beginnings of memorable scenes like Godzilla unleashing his atomic breath and Ghidorah emerging from the ice.

Check out the concept art below and be sure to grab the Blu-ray on 8/27!

#GodzillaMovie pic.twitter.com/HPDNtw4VZV

— Mike Dougherty (@Mike_Dougherty) August 15, 2019

#GodzillaMovie pic.twitter.com/SfA3HYcD7D

— Mike Dougherty (@Mike_Dougherty) August 15, 2019

#GodzillaMovie pic.twitter.com/AtKwvHep7B

— Mike Dougherty (@Mike_Dougherty) August 15, 2019

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The 4K UHD Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD Special Edition from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will include the following special features:

• Commentary by Director
• Deleted Scenes
• Godzilla: Nature’s Fearsome Guardian
• Queen of the Monsters
• King Ghidorah: The Living Extinction Machine
• Airborne God of Fire
• Godzilla 2.0
• Making Mothra
• Creating Ghidorah
• Rodan
• The Yunnan Temple
• Castle Bravo
• The Antarctic Base
• The Isla de Mara Volcano
• The Undersea Lair
• Millie Bobby Brown: Force of Nature
• Monster Tech: Monarch Joins the Fight
• Monsters Are Real
• Welcome to the Monsterverse

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film:

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

The post ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Heads Home in August With Deleted Scenes! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“The director’s cut was around 2 [hours], 40-45 [minutes]. I called it Godzilla the mini-series,” Dougherty explained. “There weren’t a lot of whole scenes that got lifted out. There were a few, and they’ll end up on the Blu-ray. But a lot of it was trimming moments within each scene. We had a large ensemble cast, so there was a tendency to give each character a moment… and that adds up.”

He continued, speaking about those full scenes, “I don’t have a tally; I want to say that there’s roughly six to eight scenes…like actual, legit full scenes. And they’re a fun watch. I mean, listen, if we were doing Godzilla: The TV Series, they would be perfectly great scenes. But when you’re trying to make a 2-hour+ movie, pacing is a very important consideration.”

“It was too front-loaded. Too much set up. The first act was dragging,” Dougherty added.

King of the Monsters is still playing in theaters, so get out there and support it!

The post Michael Dougherty Says to Expect ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Deleted Scenes on Home Video appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Attack of the Monsters! was, as Dougherty explained on Twitter this week, “A very early attempt at making a Godzilla film while at NYU, circa 1994.” He made the short for the Sight & Sound Video class, using clips from Toho’s Godzilla movies and, well, another program entirely.

You’ll see what we mean in a second. Check out the fun spoof short below!

The post [Video] Michael Dougherty Shares Humorous ‘Godzilla’ Spoof He Made Over 20 Years Ago appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Most of us will never get to make a Godzilla movie, but director Michael Dougherty did. When Bloody-Disgusting sat down with the filmmaker to talk about his new film Godzilla: King of the Monsters (read my review), we asked what scene he always wanted to put in a Godzilla movie.

MAJOR SPOILERS ahead.

“Okay, so there’s a key moment when a particular character has a very intimate scene with Godzilla. And by ‘intimate’ I don’t mean romantic!” Dougherty laughed.

“But there’s a very emotional and meaningful moment that a human character and Godzilla share together, and that’s something that I’ve always wanted to see in a Godzilla film, and it happens in a very special environment that we’ve never seen in any Godzilla movie.”

If you’ve seen the film, you know the scene: Dr. Ishirō Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) ventures into Godzilla’s underwater lair to set off a nuclear bomb, healing Godzilla so the titan can rise up and defeat his nemesis Ghidorah, and save the world. In the moments before the bomb explodes, Watanabe shares a moment of human connection with Godzilla.

It’s a scene that carries odd significance. Earlier in the film, Dr. Serizawa suggested that mankind should become Godzilla’s pets, and now here he is, atop a pyramid, in an ancient city which – if the statues of Godzilla are any indication – once belonged to a culture who worshiped the monster as a god.

And no, it’s probably not Atlantis.

“I am fascinated with lost civilizations, [like in] Chariots of the Gods,” Dougherty said. “Just the basic theory that there might have been a race of people that predates our own civilization, and Atlantis is one example of those lost cities. So this spot isn’t necessarily Atlantis. Who’s the say? It’s meant to provoke more questions than answers. But it definitely is meant to represent a civilization that one point co-existed with Godzilla and the titans, and probably mastered a way of living in balance with them.”

“I love the idea that these creatures were worshipped by people at some point in history,” Dougherty added. “Kong clearly has his worshippers, has his cult on Skull Island. Mothra has hers. So it’s already interwoven, it’s already part of the Godzilla legacy and DNA. I just like that in this movie we get to explore that a little bit more.”

You can explore the history of these monsters – or at least watch them fight – in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, in theaters now.

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I had the opportunity to chat with the Alejandro Diego, the VFX executive of Ollin VFX (Mindhunter, Deadpool), one of the visual effects teams behind this summer’s blockbuster. Alejandro and Ollin were tasked with rendering several jaw-dropping pieces throughout King of the Monsters. Ollin VFX is based out of Mexico where portions of the KotM were filmed. Production wanted assistance with on-set, live VFX and called up Ollin. Initially, Alejandro and his team were only asked to deliver 150 shots for the film. As time rolled on, that number quickly skyrocketed to 530.

Taking on a massive challenge such as Godzilla and what is considered by many to be a sacred cow, I assumed Alejandro must be a fan of The King. I was surprised by his response, “Well, honestly, I wasn’t so much [a fan] until we worked on this movie. Now, I actually love it. I used to watch them when I was a little kid, of course…I think [we] did a really good job, from what I can tell, to represent the Titans. What’s cool is now you have a lot more than just Godzilla…It’s something I think the fans will like a lot.”

Since we held this interview a week prior to the film’s release, I couldn’t help but try and dig up a little insider info about the film itself. I wanted to know if there were any “monster” surprises outside of the advertised quartet of Big G, Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. While Alejandro assured me those were the main Titans to appear on screen, he also assured me this: “Compared to the last one (Godzilla ’14), I think the battle scenes and the Titans themselves look so real.”

Speaking of Gareth Edwards’ introduction to the MonsterVerse, I was curious how this film would differentiate itself stylistically. Godzilla ’14 is an overall dark film with a consistent greyish-blue color palette. From the trailers alone, it would seem KotM adds a bit more depth to the overall color story. Alejandro backs this up by stating, “This one will feel a lot more alive! There are a lot more vibrant colors throughout the show.” Again, he takes the chance to hype up the epic monster showdowns, “The battle scenes are much better in terms of detail. It makes you feel like you’re in the middle of it all…It makes you [feel] at awe at how big they are in terms of us humans.”

Considering the epic scale of these battles and the love fans have for “The Titans,” Alejandro and his team didn’t seem nervous to take on such a monster-sized task. “More than nervous, it was just a huge challenge. We loved it. It was really a lot of fun…Legendary and the whole group of production involved in this project really did a great job in kind of understanding what the whole series is about and communicating it in turn to us. They’re always pushing the envelope. And at the end of the day – how do we make it better? Better story? More engaging…how do you make it better?”

The man wearing “make it better” on his shoulders was, of course, Dougherty. It’s easy to imagine a director calling all the shots on a live action production, but what about the VFX side? “At the end of the day [Dougherty] is the one who has the final say on every single shot in the movie…It’s amazing to me how [a director] can zoom into the details of one particular shot, and always have it in their mind the idea of what the whole thing has to look like.”

Dougherty explained during our set visit how important it was to capture the spirit of the original Toho monsters through their sound and design. For Alejandro, it made the VFX team’s job that much easier having a director with such a strong vision. “He had a very clear idea of what he wanted, and he definitely did his research.” With so much respect being paid to the history of Toho and its creations, I wanted to know just which towering behemoth was Alejandro’s favorite. “If I had to pick one, I guess Ghidorah would be my favorite one, just because of the…because of what it takes to make it look real and having to deal with the three heads. It’s always a challenge…I don’t know if I could pick a favorite. It’s tough.”

It’s clear that a lot of time, love, and care went into the production of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. As of now, only time will tell if this entry stands the test of time and pleases the diehard fans as well as general audiences. As far as American takes on Godzilla, the last two efforts were certainly met with their share of criticism. Alejandro makes a pretty bold promise for the U.S. of A’s latest attempt: “[Audiences] will be surprised at how action packed it is, how hopefully engaging the whole show will be for them…It’s definitely a step up from the previous one…It’s something you walk out of [the theater] like ‘wow! That was really cool’.”

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is out this weekend in theaters! 

The post ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ VFX Lead Takes Us into a World of Titans [Interview] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Godzilla fans already know the title titan and his best friends/enemies Rodan, Ghidorah and Mothra, but Godzilla: King of the Monsters features several other giant beasts that aren’t from the original Toho canon. A few may be familiar to fans of Godzilla (2014) and Kong: Skull Island but the majority are all-new creations that Dougherty and his team have added to the franchise.

For example, one of the titans in King of the Monsters is a gigantic mastodon with human-like arms. His name is “Behemoth.”

“That one is named Behemoth, so that’s a biblical reference, and he’s one of the few male creatures,” Michael Dougherty explained to Bloody-Disgusting. “Because they always tend to be insectoid or reptilian or some combination of the two, and I really wanted another big, furry creature that looked like it could have survived during the Ice Age.”

“But yeah, all the creatures have names and little biographies, and all the names are drawn from classic mythology.”

Behemoth may be new, but fans will no doubt be interested to see the return of a familiar face: Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism, aka MUTO, Godzilla’s nemesis from the 2014 film. But wait, wasn’t MUTO destroyed? Is that the same MUTO?

“One of them, or a new one,” Dougherty explained. “Or another female in hibernation.”

Sharp viewers may also recognize the return of a species from Kong: Skull Island, Dougherty revealed.

“So do you remember the tiny little bat-like creatures that swarm around and pick off the characters?” Dougherty asked. “So they’re present in the final scene of the film. So I like the idea that once the earth opened up and these creatures started to emerge out of the hollow earth, some of these other Skull Island-type creatures flew out.”

The question that Godzilla fans might be asking is, why create so many new monsters when the Godzilla franchise has so many to choose from? Well, it turns out it’s not as simple as all that.

“I wish I could have brought in a few more of the classic Toho creatures but they all come at a price. They’ve all got their fees, and so it was a choice. Do I want to shell out money to use a Toho creature by name or do I want to actually put that money on-screen in a visual effects shot?” Dougherty explained.

As far as the other famous kaiju creatures go, it gets even trickier. Let’s just say if you’re waiting for a Godzilla vs. Gamera movie… keep waiting.

“Well, I actually really appreciate Gamera too,” Dougherty said. “Not as deeply as Godzilla, naturally. He’s not a Toho character so there are rights issues involved, but who knows? Anything’s possible in this day and age. You know, I feel like franchise characters are getting thrown together and bought up by parent companies left and right, so anything’s possible.”

“I’d be down to see that fight,” he concluded. “But I would still have to place my money on Godzilla.”

And what about Zilla, the version of Godzilla that menaced New York City in Roland Emmerich’s failed reboot from 1998? Godzilla: Final Wars revealed that it was its own, distinctive kaiju. Could Michael Dougherty have used Zilla too?

“I don’t know and I don’t know if I would have,” he said.

Fair enough. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is currently rampaging up on the big screen!

The post [SPOILERS] Michael Dougherty Explains the OTHER Monsters in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Fans got a taste of Dougherty’s homages in the trailer, which revealed King Ghidorah – Godzilla’s greatest nemesis – perched on a mountaintop, closely mirroring the classic shot of Pazuzu’s statue in William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.

In a recent interview with Bloody-Disgusting, Dougherty revealed that was no coincidence. In fact, he went one step further.

“Actually, Pazuzu’s in the movie,” Michael Dougherty said, confirming our suspicions.

“Okay, so in [spoiler redacted], where a certain event happens, you’ll see the silhouette of Pazuzu perched on top of a column, a stone column,” Dougherty revealed. “It’s in the trailer, by the way.”

Eagle-eyed fans may want to start scouring those trailers for Pazuzu’s proper cameo, but they should also scour the rest of Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

“There’s so much,” Dougherty added. “There’s layers upon layers of sight gags and Easter eggs and references. I like to reward my audience for paying attention. So I’m waiting to see if anyone succeeds in chronicling all them.”

Will YOU be the one who catches all the references in Godzilla: King of the Monsters…? The Easter egg hunt begins when the movie hits theaters on May 31, 2019.

The post Michael Dougherty Challenges Fans to Find All the References in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ [Interview] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Name: King Ghidorah

Etymology: “Ghidorah” is derived from the Japanese word hidora, meaning hydra. He is called “King” because, well, he’s the king. But only until Godzilla takes him out.

Species: Golden hydra

Description: Three-headed, armless, winged bipedal dragon.

Abilities: King Ghidorah can fly, cause gale-force winds with its wings, and breathe “gravity beams” from its mouths. He can also survive in space.

First Appearance: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)

Actors Who Played Him: Shoichi Hirose, Susumu Utsumi, Kanta Ina, Hurricane Ryu, Tsutomu Kitagawa, Akira Ohashi, Jason Liles, Alan Maxson, Richard Dorton.

Rundown: King Ghidorah has traditionally been the central recurring super-villain monster of the Godzilla franchise. While Godzilla himself can alternately be a destroyer or a protector of mankind, King Ghidorah is always (with one exception) hellbent on global annihilation. In his first film, Ghidorah is credited for destroying the people of the planet Venus, and has now set his six eyes on Earth.

Ghidorah is typically depicted as being much more powerful than Godzilla, and Godzilla is often seen teaming up with other monsters in order to kill him. In the 1964 film, Ghidorah is taken out by Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan. In Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965), Ghidorah is taken out by just Godzilla and Rodan. In Destroy All Monsters (1968), it takes an army of Toho monsters (Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, but also Kumonga, Anguirus, Gorosaurus, and Godzilla’s son Minilla) to take down Ghidorah. There is only one monster that has typically always been at Ghidorah’s side, and that’s Gigan, a metallic, hook-handed bird creature.

Origin: In the first Godzilla continuity, called the Showa Era, Ghidorah is an impossibly ancient space-dwelling creature in the Lovecraftian vein that falls under the thrall of a series of malevolent aliens who seek to use him to conquer earth.

In the second continuity, the Heisei era, Ghidorah was the result of a nuclear blast, just like Godzilla. In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), the film’s human protagonists travel back in time to the 1940s to discover, on a remote island, the still-living dinosaur that would eventually be exposed to radiation to create Godzilla. The time-traveling aliens accidentally leave a trio of cute little alien critters called dorats in the 1940s. The dorats would also be exposed to radiation, and would eventually merge together, forming King Ghidorah.

In the third continuity, the Millennium era, Ghidorah was born when the soul of a murdered Mothra merged with a lesser Ghidorah creature, forming the golden dragon we all know and love. This was depicted in Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) also known as simply GMK. GMK is the only instance wherein King Ghidorah is seen as a protector, rather than a destructor, of mankind. It’s also one of a handful of films in the Godzilla franchise that acts like a direct sequel to the 1954 original, ignoring most of the continuities to come before it.

In the fourth Godzilla continuity, an anime trilogy set 20,000 years in the future, King Ghidorah has evolved into a form of energy, passing through wormholes and granted with the new ability to essentially turn into a shadow. Godzilla, meanwhile, has continued to grow on an abandoned Earth, standing larger than all previous Godzillas by a long shot (the Godzilla in the 2014 film stood over 100 meters. The anime Godzilla is about 300 meters tall).

Commentary: King Ghidorah, over the course of the films, is seen as being under the control of wrathful villains who are keen on world destruction, giving him the mantle of other peoples’ hate. If Godzilla can be seen as a metaphor for the nuclear bomb (the most common critical interpretation of the creature), King Ghidorah might represent resentment, hate, and bitter feelings of vengeance after a destructive act. With King Ghidorah being more powerful than Godzilla, we can see that hatred, spite, and revenge are much more destructive forces than any bomb.

Ghidorah returns to the screen in King of the Monsters, opening this weekend.

The post Meet the Monsters: Getting to Know Ghidorah Before He Rears His Ugly Heads in ‘King of the Monsters’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

If you’re hungry for one last little taste of Michael Dougherty‘s Godzilla: King of the Monsters (read our review) before you sit down to experience it in your local theater, this new featurette video should be just what the doctor ordered. Titled “Meet the Titans,” it introduces the film’s main monsters, while also showing off new footage of each Kaiju icon!

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film:

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Dougherty directed from a script he wrote with Zach Shields.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post [Video] Final Featurette for ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Features New Footage of the Titans appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Name: Rodan

Etymology: “Rodan” is a bowdlerized version of the Japanese name “Radon,” which is, in itself a contraction of the word “pteranodon.”

Species: Mutant pteranodon.

Description: Brown, leather-winged reptile.

Abilities: Rodan can fly incredibly fast, laying waste to the ground below him in a series of supersonic booms. His wings are so powerful, they can cause gale-force winds. Rodan is immune to Godzilla’s nuclear breath.

First Appearance: Rodan (1956)

Actors Who Played Him: Hauro Nakajima, Masaki Shinohara, Teruo Aragaki, Naoko Kamio, Jason Liles.

Rundown: While the original 1954 Godzilla was the first film directed by the great Ishiro Honda, Rodan was his third, cementing his technical skill with kaiju material. If Godzilla was a symbol for the American nuclear attack following WWII (as is the most commonly accepted interpretation), Rodan was meant to represent Russia’s nuclear threat. While Rodan is a fun monster, he has always been depicted as a secondary or tertiary monster in the Godzilla universe. Indeed, the stiff-armed design and large, silly eyes were meant to make Rodan look deliberately sillier than Godzilla. Rodan is like Godzilla’s sillier, wimpier sidekick.

The sight of Rodan flying overhead is always an impressive one, usually achieved through a combination of puppetry and impressive stunt work. In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Rodan was realized entirely through puppetry. But Rodan, when compared to other monsters, looks a little silly. He has short, stubby legs, a lack of arms, and not much in the way of articulation. As such, his fights are limited to a few signature moves. Rodan has been heavily featured in the Godzilla canon, having been seen in (as of the 2019 film) six Godzilla films, not counting appearances via flashback or stock footage. And while he will always have a spot at the big kid’s table, Rodan may have to fight his way to the top.

Origin: In the 1956 Rodan, the creature was awakened from an extended underground dormancy by nuclear blasts. This continuity has never been re-written in the Godzilla franchise, so we can assume that Rodan always was a mutated dinosaur, or simply a dinosaur that can remain dormant for extended periods. At the conclusion of Rodan, both the title monster and its mate – a second Rodan – were seem melting into a volcano. One can only assume that one of these monsters was the same one to appear in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964), his next on-screen performance.

In the Heisei era, the second Godzilla continuity, Rodan’s origin is never given, but he does appear in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) in the role of Godzilla’s protector (?). In that film, when Godzilla was in dire straits with Mechagodzilla, Rodan flew to a nuclear power plant, absorbed its energy, and became Fire Rodan (technically a different monster according to Toho). Fire Rodan melted down on top of an ailing Godzilla, transferring all his powers into Godzilla’s body.

In the Millennium era, Rodan had a small role in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), the biggest monster conflagration of the series, and, at the time, the presumed final chapter in the Godzilla franchise (the series has since been rebooted three times: Once in America with the 2014 film, and twice in Japan with the anime trilogy and with the excellent Shin Godzilla). Perhaps feeling sympathy for a long-time series regular, Godzilla did not kill Rodan in Final Wars, but left him unconscious.

In the Netflix anime trilogy, Rodan is seen to be dead, as his skeleton makes a cameo appearance. I like to think he died of old age.

Commentary: Rodan deserves credit for being what is essentially the Godzilla franchise’s primary fodder monster. He is used to round out super-monster teams when King Ghidorah attacks, or he is used to provide Godzilla with a momentary distraction on his way to other, more powerful monsters; but – apart from his debut – Rodan never seems to present a genuine threat to Godzilla. You will note that there is no film called Godzilla vs. Rodan. As a flying monster, he provides a good deal of variety in visuals and in fight choreography, but doesn’t have the same personality as Mothra, King Ghidorah, and definitely not of the G-Man himself.

Perhaps Godzilla: King of the Monsters will provide him with some well-deserved credit.

The post Meet the Monsters: Getting to Know Rodan Before He Returns in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

We’ve got destruction in Scene One, a giant monster in Scene Two, and our first giant monster fight (of many) before the third act is even over.  It’s like Warner Bros. heard our collective complaints about Godzilla (2014) and unloaded three sequels worth of monster fights into one follow-up. I guess that’ll show us.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) and Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) as Dr. Emma Russell and her daughter, Madison. They’re stationed in a rain forest, waiting for one of the newly discovered “titans” to hatch. There are 17 titans that the organization called Monarch – which has been studying these creatures since the events of Kong: Skull Island – is aware of, and the group is trying to convince the U.S. government to treat Godzilla more-or-less like an actual god so he can protect them from the more dangerous leviathans.

Meanwhile, Dr. Russell has invented an “Orca” device which can be used to communicate with – and possibly control – these enormous creatures. But the second she successfully tests it, extreme environmentalist Jonah Alan (Charles Dance, Game of Thrones) kills everybody in the station and abducts Dr. Russell, Madison and the Orca. (Apparently they were all perched outside of Monarch’s doors, guns drawn, ready burst in or beat a hasty and embarrassed retreat if the Orca didn’t work today.)

Jonah Alan can’t be trusted with the Orca, because A) he’s a murderer, and B) he wants to use it to free the titans and make them wreak havoc on Earth, in order to save the planet from humanity’s climate-changing madness. To find Jonah Alan, Monarch needs to find the Orca, and for some reason Dr. Russell never told anybody else how it worked, so they enlist her ex-husband Mark (Kyle Chandler, King Kong), who helped design the device many years ago, to track its signals across the globe, as the bad guys free one monster after another.

There are a couple of unexpected reveals, but mostly Godzilla: King of the Monsters uses all of its build-up and mythologizing to justify flying around the world, chasing Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and Ghidorah as they fight each other and any other giant monster that wanders into their paths. Once the fighting starts it never stops for very long, and that’s a good thing, because even though the film’s supporting cast includes Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Bradley Whitford, Zhang Ziyi and O’Shea Jackson Jr., they’re all saddled with one-note characters who only exist to explain plot points or come up with new ones.

Even the main cast struggles. Kyle Chandler plays “the inexperienced outsider who repeatedly teaches a whole team of experts how to do their jobs,” a role that hardly any actor can get away with, and playing an American condescending to an international cast only makes it harder for him to be likable. Vera Farmiga has some nearly impossible scenes where she has to justify seriously iffy decisions, and she mostly gets away with it. But at least Millie Bobby Brown emerges unscathed, playing a girl whose ideas and identity are challenged, who then steps up to the plate, which may be a straightforward arc but at least it’s a complete and effective one.

So the human cast seems like they’re trapped in a 1990s disaster movie. They’re not the reason we’re here. We’re here for those giant monster fights and Godzilla: King of the Monsters has got them. Pretty much all of them. And they are unbelievably huge. Dougherty, his cinematographer Lawrence Sher (Joker) and the visual effects team have created vast leviathans who always look overwhelmingly gigantic, whether they’re in dangerously close shots or looming in the distance. Every fight features images that are suitable for framing, and the creatures themselves are so detailed that some – particularly Ghidorah – practically look like impeccable stop-motion.

There are multiple matchups, often between multiple monsters, and they wreck damn near everything in their paths. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is an impossibly huge movie, an exhilarating theme park attraction where the guides are all award-winning Hollywood stars. If you think of blockbuster movies like something that just happens to you, never mind thinking about it, this is a cornucopia of eye candy that’ll shake your seat and make you cheer. You’ll have a truly amazing time with Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

If, on the other hand, you treat blockbuster movies like any other movies, you’re going to be frustrated by the film’s failure to take advantage of its astounding ensemble, not to mention its deeply confusing messaging. Godzilla started out as a metaphor for nuclear destruction but the only people in this movie trying to prevent man-made disasters are the villains, who are also trying to start man-made disasters. By the time the film is over, it’s genuinely hard to tell if the movie is trying to tell us the eco-terrorists had a point or not. If King of the Monsters hadn’t played like a toy commercial it could have gotten away with some moral ambiguity, but instead, it comes across like a big muddle of contradictory ideas.

With that being said, let’s be clear (even if the movie isn’t): Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a big, kinda silly, but otherwise exciting blockbuster. It’s gorgeous, it’s epic in the extreme, and it features some of the most impressive monster fights you’ve ever seen. Maybe someday Americans will make a Godzilla movie that isn’t just “badass,” but which also works on another level and resonates in a meaningful way.

Until then at least we have Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which is, if nothing else, badass as hell.

The post [Review] ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Has All the Giant Monster Fights You Can Handle! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

And he knows the match-up doesn’t quite seem fair. Godzilla has atomic super breath, while King Kong is just a giant ape. Bloody-Disgusting asked him how he planned to make King Kong a serious contender for the title of “King of the Monsters,” and he already knew the answer.

“I think part of the fun of watching that fight go down is we are witnessing a potential underdog battle,” Dougherty said.

“We’re looking at an almost David vs. Goliath situation. Because everyone, the moment you say Godzilla’s going to fight Kong, your first reaction is Kong doesn’t stand a chance. Godzilla’s got his radioactive breath, et cetera, et cetera.”

“But then if you really take the time to look at Kong as a character, it’s like, okay, in Skull Island he was an adolescent, so he was still growing. So who knows how big he is since the 1970s when they first met him?” Dougherty explained.

“Kong is extremely intelligent,” the director added. “As a primate, he’s a tool-user. So he’s got speed, he’s got agility, he might have some good size.”

“And I like a good underdog battle,” Dougherty teased, comparing this fight to another iconic heavyweight battle. “You know, it’s like watching Rocky go up against Ivan Drago. It seems like it’s unfair but clearly, this means the underdog might have a few surprises.”

Maybe Kong has a chance after all, but that still doesn’t explain why they’re fighting in the first place. If Godzilla is Earth’s protector, and Kong was the protagonist of his own film franchise, why are they fighting? Are these two titans only coming to blows because it’s cool?

“I think there’s something primal in human beings to want to see a fight like that,” Dougherty said. “I think it goes back to all of our myths and legends, ancient Greek myths about gods battling each other. It’s just part of who we are as a species. Half the reason I think people watch the Planet Earth nature specials is to watch animals going up against each other, to see crocodiles going up against water buffaloes.”

“So there’s that, but it just seems like it’s written in the stars for this to happen,” Dougherty continued. “It’s no accident that Kong was a direct inspiration for Godzilla, that the Japanese filmmakers watched King Kong and were hugely inspired by him and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and came up with Godzilla as an answer to that. So it just seems like it’s destiny.”

“And storywise,” Dougherty added, “the hope is that their motivations for fighting each other are sound, and not contrived. But when you have two extremely hyper-aggressive masculine territorial animals who both believe that they’re the rightful rulers of an entire species, chances are they’re going to do more than have afternoon tea.”

Godzilla: King of the Monsters chomps its way into theaters on May 31, 2019.

The post Michael Dougherty on How, and Why, King Kong Will Fight Godzilla [Interview] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Don’t take this as me hating on the more lighthearted entries in the series; I absolutely adore them.

Bloodshed in the Show Era

When I was younger, TCM would run all day marathons of classic Godzilla films, and I would sit glued to my TV for every poorly dubbed, cheeseball moment. That said, even I couldn’t withstand the saccharine cuteness of Son of Godzilla. Minilla is where I draw the line, folks. Even during the later Showa era with it’s Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic (the hilarious teamup of Godzilla and “Jet Jaguar” complete with flying kicks in Godzilla vs Megalon will never be forgotten), there remained images of brutality that would stick with me as an impressionable youth.

The original Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla features some awfully bloody beatdowns. Mechagodzilla flies towards a weakened Big G, blasting eye lasers directly at the roaring beast’s jugular. A literal geyser of blood springs from the wound. This happens much later in the same film where a decoy ‘Zilla rips the jaws of C-level baddie Anguirus apart before yanking the monster’s tongue right out of his mouth in exceptionally bloody detail. Yay! Family fun!

Despite occasional displays of grand guignol dismemberment, most of the Showa era films hew pretty close to the family-friendly matinee playbook. While some might callout Godzilla vs Hedorah (AKA Godzilla vs The Smog Monster) as being nightmare-inducing due to its truly out there psychedelic imagery and stomach-churning depictions of sludge, it wasn’t until the Heisei era (1984 – 1995) that filmmakers started exploring Godzilla’s darker side once again.

Godzilla vs Biollante (1989)

After a five year hiatus from cinemas, Toho was eager to continue the Heisei era that had begun with The Return of Godzilla (AKA Godzilla 1985).  Return’s aim was to bring some of the gravitas back to the character. Godzilla was no longer a hero of the people. This time around the big green machine was once again a one-track minded mechanism of destruction. Godzilla vs Biollante picks up right where Return left off before jumping forward five years. Amongst the ruins of Tokyo, a team of scientists are tasked with collecting biological samples of the main man himself. Unfortunately, there are some not so friendly folks who want to get their mitts on the genetic material as well.

These opening moments cement the more adult tone with dark cinematography, shadowy gun battles, and some surprising bloodshed. Rumor has it director Kazuki Omori wasn’t terribly interested in helming a man-in-suit production and was keen to get behind the camera of a James Bond picture. This explains Biollante’s subplot featuring espionage, spy vs spy, and shadowy assassins. Despite a lot of narrative real estate being taken over by these warring factions clamoring for “Godzilla cells,” the Bond-esque plot never really pays off. Thankfully, it’s of little consequence as Godzilla vs Biollante excels when the focus is on good ol’ fashioned mad science/creature feature mayhem.

The convoluted plot involves Dr. Shiragami, a geneticist whose daughter is killed during an attack on his lab in attempt to steal the valuable Godzilla cells. Being a geneticist and whatnot, he obvi decides it would be a great idea to splice his daughter’s DNA with that of her prized rose garden. When Miki, a telepath from the Japanese Psyonics Research Center (and a recurring character through most of the Heisei era), confirms the genetically altered roses exhibit some psychic energy, Shiragami takes things up a notch by adding some Godzilla ju-ju into the mix. Wouldn’t you know, half-plant/half-‘Zillas containing the soul of a human are ultimately a really bad idea?

Yes, the plot here is pretty wild, but for the first time since Gojira, it feels like Omori is trying to tap into national fears and exploit a genuine sense of horror. Omori banks on burgeoning fears of biochemical warfare to elevate this entry. In an equally smart bit of social commentary, the use of Godzilla cells are considered controversial and locked away tight by the government, only allowing them to be used when they see fit. The argument is made these cells could lead to huge scientific breakthroughs if access were made available…but at what cost? While the use of stem-cells were still fairly new at the time of this film’s release, it’s a curious inclusion that surely meant something to the director.

What about the horror, though? That’s what you came for, right? Biollante is one nasty piece of work. Beginning a theme that would carry over into many of the Heisei films, the monster mutates through numerous forms throughout the picture. In one of the most straight-forward horror leaning sequences, a bit of double espionage is spoiled by an all-out monster attack. As two different sets of spies infiltrate Shiragami’s lab in an attempt to steal those darn cells again, baby Biollante breaks free from her greenhouse and wreaks some true monster movie havoc. Flying tentacles erupt from wooden floorboards, wrap around their victims, and fling them around the room. Bloodied corpses and green slime ensue.

From here, Biollante grows to “legitimate threat to Godzilla” size, and the real Kaiju action begins. The creature’s second form is quite a marvel: huge vines weave together a body that is capped off with a mutated rosebud for a head. The original design was actually meant to feature the face of a human girl at its center. Now that would have been horrifying.

Biollante’s final form is nothing if not terrifying, however. The climactic battle is one of the greatest in Godzilla canon. Biollante erupts from the ground with an elongated jaw filled with rows of gnashing teeth, a giant belly of glowing embers, and an entire army of Little Shop flytrap tentacles snapping and impaling their prey. It’s one of the gooiest battle scenes in the entire franchise. The flytrap-tentacles literally burrow straight through the palms of G’s hand unleashing buckets of green slime. We even get a nice Regan pea-soup moment as Biollante literally vomits a truckload of glittering bile all over her opponent. It’s wicked stuff and is sure to tickle the fancy of any creature-feature aficionado.

Godzilla vs Destroyah (1995)

Godzilla vs Destroyah has always been one of my favorite flicks in the series. If you couldn’t tell, I’m extremely partial to the Heisei era. While Biollante set a more serious tone for the further adventures of Big G, the succeeding entries returned Godzilla to more of an anti-hero role while still having some fun with the human narratives surrounding him. We had takes on Indiana Jones-style action with Godzilla vs Mothra and a twisty sci-fi riff on Terminator with the gonzo time travel shenanigans of Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (for reals, that’s a fun one). They even brought back “Godzilla Jr,” though the little tyke is massively less annoying than Minila and proves to be fairly endearing, especially in this, the final film of the timeline.

Destroyah is quite possibly the darkest film in the franchise outside of the original. The intent with the release was to officially kill off Godzilla for at least ten years in order to make room for the planned American trilogy that launched in 1996. Well, we all know how that went down, and Toho was back at it only four years later with Godzilla 2000 in 1999. Nonetheless, there’s a finality to this entry. The opening moments reveal a glowing Godzilla rampaging like he does best. His chest pulses bright red as if something is burning inside of him. Well, that’s exactly what is happening.

Kenichi Yamane, a college student with a fascination for Godzilla, believes the giant monster carries with it an atomic core deep inside, an atomic core that is slowly failing – turning Godzilla himself into a literal walking atomic bomb that could turn all of Japan “into a cemetery.” In many callbacks to the original film, Kenichi is the grandson of Gojira’s Dr. Yamane, the man behind the oxygen destroyer that initially brought down the monster.

Destroyah exists firmly within the Heisei continuity with a subplot featuring psychic Miki trying to locate Junior and the return of hotshot Sho Kuroki from Biollante. Despite this, in many ways, it feels like the Halloween ’18 of Godzilla flicks as a multitude of parallels are drawn between the original film from 30 years prior. As this was intended to be the last Godzilla film for some time, Toho very much wanted this to be of a piece with Gojira.

In terms of frights, Destroyah feels like a mid-90’s horror film from it’s slick cinematography and ominous score to its suspenseful setpieces. The actual Destroyah in question is first established as a microscopic organism found in soil samples taken from the now-defunct “Monster Island.” It’s slowly growing, taking on similar characteristics of the oxygen destroyer of yore. A lone security guard at an aquarium is horrified to find all the fish in the tank decaying before his eyes, leaving nothing but bones. A swat team is sent in to put down the creature before it can grow any larger. This leads us to one helluva sequence that features armed men battling a horde of human-sized crab-like creatures with glowing eyes, atomic breath, and sharp claws. In a scene that feels like it was ripped from countless other Aliens rip-offs, it’s easy to forget you’re watching a Godzilla pic.

After the complete massacre of an entire swat team, it’s time for all the mini-Destroyahs to join forces as they mutate in one giant mutha’ that resembles a horned demon straight from the depths of hell. The final battle here is another for the Kaiju record books, as Big G on the verge of a literal meltdown takes on his most vicious foe yet…while sweet Godzilla Junior watches it all go down. Surprisingly, Godzilla vs Destroyah manages to muster up a bit of pathos in its final moments. The film balances reverence for the film that started it all, wild special effects monster mayhem, an emotional arch for the Big Guy, and one of the meanest villains in all of Godzilla canon. It’s the perfect bookend to one of my favorite slices of Godzilla continuity.

King of the Monsters

While, I don’t anticipate Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters will be a full-blown horror film, I do know the director promised some of his love for the genre would seep through. At the end of the day, we should all be celebrating the ongoing legacy of ‘Zilla. This is the type of franchise that lulls kiddos into the horror genre. Godzilla is simply the gateway drug to something like Tremors. From there…it’s nothing but George Romero zombies and Fulci gut-munchers. Okay, maybe that was only my personal trajectory, but still – Godzilla might not be all blood and guts or terribly frightening. It is nonetheless the longest running franchise in history, and it revolves around giant monsters beating the crap out of each other!

Hail to the king, baby!

The post Celebrating the Most Frightening Entries in ‘Godzilla’ Canon! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film:

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Dougherty directed from a script he wrote with Zach Shields.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Image Gallery Looms Large appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film:

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Dougherty directed from a script he wrote with Zach Shields.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post Series of Stunning ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Banners Are Larger Than Life appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

To quickly sum up all the reactions we’ve seen, the consensus looks to be that King of the Monsters is absolutely epic, a visual stunner that is loaded with the monster action many were disappointed to not see all that much of back in 2014. Whereas Godzilla ’14 held back and made you wait for the mayhem, it looks like Dougherty’s sequel has no interest in such things. It’s clear he set out to make the craziest, most fun Kaiju movie to grace the big screen in a long, long time, and judging by these early reactions, it sounds like he succeeded big time.

Check out some rave Twitter reviews below!

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film:

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Dougherty directed from a script he wrote with Zach Shields.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

#GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters ups the monster action considerably. The battle scenes are gorgeous & fierce & feel ripped from the pages of a gnarly graphic novel. You want a giant-monster movie throwdown, this is it and then some. Can’t wait for that Godzilla vs Kong movie now pic.twitter.com/3RnAOSc00V

— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) May 11, 2019

Godzilla: King of the Monsters rules so goddamn hard. Easily the most fun I’ve had in theaters all year and the best Monsterverse entry yet. The scale is mind-boggling & every action scene could be your new desktop wallpaper. See it on the biggest screen possible. #GodzillaMovie pic.twitter.com/YoZrAAjey1

— Dan Casey (@DanCasey) May 11, 2019

#GodzillaMovie is the film I’ve waited years for. The thrilling sequel captures the spirit of Japan’s famous kaiju while setting up his reign for years to come. There are few words which describe the film as well as momentous, and its epic scale will leave audiences of astounded.

— Megan Peters (@meganpeterscb) May 11, 2019

Our senses are still recovering from @GodzillaMovie. This movie does not give you a moment breathe with the most insane Kaiju action we have ever https://t.co/WA1X2j9J7h‘s working hard to set up the future of the MonsterVerse, and features a wicked, impressive ensemble. See it! pic.twitter.com/5Xy0tVw1JP

— CinemaBlend (@CinemaBlend) May 11, 2019

Social reaction embargo has lifted on #GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters, so I can finally say OH MY GODZILLA YESSSSS! If your biggest complaint of #Godzilla 2014 was not enough monster time, DEFINITELY get it in this! Let them fight! Had a great time from start to finish! #godzillamovie pic.twitter.com/8qNfQ3P9b9

— Detective Andre-chu (@BlackNerd) May 11, 2019

There’s so much passion for the creatures in this film and the camera lingers gloriously on all of them. This is a monster movie that fires on all cylinders and I can’t wait to see it again. Pure summer movie fun. #GodzillaKingoftheMonsters

— Paul Shirey (@arcticninjapaul) May 11, 2019

Had real issues with #godzilla (2014). The movie was called Godzilla but he was barely in it. Thankfully @Mike_Dougherty‘s #GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters is awesome. It’s everything I wanted last movie to b but wasn’t. If u want to see Godzilla fighting other monsters u will b happy. pic.twitter.com/ksswtSey6O

— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) May 11, 2019

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is packed with larger than life action. Godzilla is breathtaking and a modern marvel. See this movie on the biggest screen you can. #GodzillaMovie @GodzillaMovie pic.twitter.com/ptryWEayeV

— Lee Travis (@lostthenumbers) May 11, 2019

The post Check Out First Reactions to ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’; “Most Insane Kaiju Action We Have Ever Seen” appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

So what’s next? Well, if King of the Monsters director Michael Dougherty (Trick ‘r Treat, Krampus) has his way, he’d like to explore monster origin stories from the past.

“I like the idea of going back in time, and telling creature stories from different eras,” he told SFX Magazine.

Dougherty continued, “Skull Island was set in the 70’s, but personally I’d like to do GODZILLA-BC, go back to ancient times and really see the Ray Harryhausen-esque world where primitive humans had to try to survive with these creatures. Maybe we’d get to see the first time mankind truly encountered Godzilla, and get to see how that relationship was christened.”

In order for the MonsterVerse to continue, Toho and Legendary will need to extend their partnership, but we’re thinking that’s going to be a very smart idea for both studios. And again, if both King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong end up being box office success stories, there’s a high likelihood the 2020 fight flick will be far from the MonsterVerse’s last hurrah.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post Michael Dougherty Would Love to Explore “MonsterVerse” Stories from Different Eras appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“The whole story ponders whether or not humans and Godzilla could potentially coexist together, or even possibly form an alliance,” Dougherty explained to the site. “This particular moment answers that question.”

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film…

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post Godzilla Makes Contact with the Humans in This Pinnacle ‘King of the Monsters’ Moment [Image] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

If you don’t want a pretty kickass reveal to be spoiled, maybe avoid both of these.

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film…

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Dougherty directed from a script he wrote with Zach Shields.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post Japanese Trailers for ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Include Some Cool Bits of New Footage appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The art (via Toho Kingdom) highlights the battle between two kings: Godzilla and Ghidorah!

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film…

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Dougherty directed from a script he wrote with Zach Shields.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Poster from China Highlights the Epic Battle Between Two Kings appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Some of them, he notes, will even be *original* Kaiju!

“Yes, [there are other Kaiju in the movie],” Dougherty told the Monsterpalooza crowd during his Q&A. “Not other Toho licensed creatures, but some original new ones. Yeah.”

“We’ve expanded the ecosystem a little bit,” he added.

You can watch the full Monsterpalooza Q&A session below!

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film…

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Dougherty directed from a script he wrote with Zach Shields.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post Michael Dougherty Teases That Original New Kaiju Will Appear in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It may be fan made, but it’s also the *ultimate* King of the Monsters trailer!

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film…

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Dougherty directed from a script he wrote with Zach Shields.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post Fan Edit Brings Together All the Best Footage for One Hell of a ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Trailer appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

These “Titans” are merely a blanket term for the Kaiju of so many Godzilla films before. “The Orca” is the codename given to a massive larva discovered in the jungles of China. Hmm? Larva? It’s no secret, but come the film’s release on May 31 we’ll be witnessing an all-star lineup of giant monster mayhem on the big screen. Director Michael Dougherty‘s Godzilla: King of the Monsters aims to be the ultimate rendition of an Americanized Big G. To accomplish this, the film seemingly pulls upon the vast legacy of films predating its production. Godzilla will be battling legendary foes Mothra, Rodan, and the biggest and baddest of them all, King Ghidorah.

“It doesn’t really get much better than these four. These are the crowned jewels of Toho,” gushes Dougherty.

Beyond the scientists of Monarch who seek to preserve the creatures, there’s even a special military unit formed to protect and defend against the giants, G-Team. Not to be confused with G-Force from the Heisei era of Godzilla films. A mistake even one of the film’s stars, O’Shea Jackson is quick to make.

“There’s certain divisions of military, and then there’s G-Force,” he quickly corrects himself to namedrop the modern incarnation, “There’s G-Team. There’s the cream of the crop, and then there’s the crazy cream of the crop that make it to G-Team. You know, you got to get up on a different side of the bed to hunt monsters willingly.” These updated concepts from classic Godzilla canon are refreshing, especially considering the previous US installments to toy with the Toho universe have attempted to distance themselves greatly from the source material.

In the words of Dougherty himself, “We’re putting the ‘God’ back in ‘Godzilla.”

In the Land of Gods and Monsters

In the wake of Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, some fans were a bit miffed. On one hand, the grounded and realistic depiction of Godzilla was met with much praise, yet the lack of…well, screen-time for Godzilla and the absence of a creative foe (the MUTOs weren’t the most interesting from a design standpoint) left others cold. Love or hate the film, it was the start of a new shared universe of giant monster flicks; the MonsterVerse as it has since become known. Edwards went on to play in a much bigger cinematic sandbox with Rouge One: A Star Wars Story which left the director’s seat wide open. To fill the position, a filmmaker with a vision for how to pick up where Edwards left off and to start the world building needed to launch a successful shared universe was needed.

Michael Dougherty, certainly most famous to readers of BD due to his penchant for holiday horror by way of insta-classics Trick r’ Treat and Krampus, was to many, a surprising choice. Those naysayers might have felt a film of this scope was too large a leap for the director of “small” genre films. At the top of the interview, a fellow reporter innocently started with this line of questioning. Dougherty, however, wasted no time in shutting that ish down. “I don’t know if X2 and Superman count as small.” He’s right. Sure, his two directorial features are both modestly budgeted horror fare (still major studio productions), but he’s been in and around much larger sets from the beginnings of his career as a screenwriter and animator. To me, a Michael Dougherty directed Godzilla is nerd-gasm inducing. As a huge fan of the series himself, it seemed like a no-brainer. “When I got the job, I went back and looked at an old childhood Bible…I found an old Bible where I had drawn Godzilla into various Bible illustrations. I figured if you add Godzilla to anything, it makes it better.” That, my friends, is a factual statement.

Despite obvious Super X-loads of talent and passion for the material, Dougherty sealed the gig over a conversation with one of the film’s producers, Alex Garcia. Garcia recalls what excited him so much about Dougherty’s pitch:

“He really had a handle on how to [take] that grounded sensibility that we tried to bring in with Gareth – looking at our plans for expanding the mythology, he brought his own spin to it that was super exciting, but also very steeped in real-world thematics as the franchise has always been. It’s very much about how we deal with these threats that are bigger than ourselves, how we deal with our demons.”

Dougherty furthers the notion that his film is respectful of the groundwork laid by Edwards while managing to up the ante in terms of monster-y goodness.

“I hesitate to say it,” realizing the massive gauntlet he’s about to throw down, “but I would call it the Aliens to Gareth’s Alien.”

It appears that James Cameron’s pinnacle mashup of sci-fi and horror is quite a touchstone for the director in King of the Monsters. It’s mentioned a total count of five times during our brief interview.

“The first movie was really about Ford Brody’s character sort of weaving his way through that adventure, and Monarch was the backdrop for that. Here, Monarch is the focus. So I found that concept really fascinating – the idea there is a secret agency tracking giant monsters. [There was] an opportunity to craft Monarch as a group of heroes…What I appreciate about Gareth’s film is that it took things seriously. I think there’s a fine line between the two. This isn’t a knee-slapping comedy by any means. But, again, if you compare Alien which is a very straight science fiction film without a lot of yuks compared to Aliens which was sort of – had a bit more fun and tongue and cheek moments. [This is] somewhere in the middle there.”

A common sentiment repeated throughout the day, these creatures are more than mere monsters. They’re gods. They existed long before us, and as Dougherty put it, “We’re the invasive species.” It’s an element that has certainly been touched upon throughout the various reincarnations of Mothra within the Toho films, but not explored much with Kaiju on the whole. It’s this reverence for these deities coming from Dougherty that makes this lifelong G-fan confident in what he’s bringing to the table. This is a richer tale steeped inasmuch the history of these beings as it is the modern science used to understand them. The story will take audiences all across the globe as evidenced by concept drawings of Rodan rising from an erupting volcano, massive underwater laboratories, and ancient ruins with stone etchings resembling a potentially familiar pair of twins. Dougherty did promise we may see the Shobijin fairies, only to follow with “I don’t know how big they’ll be, but they might make an appearance.”

From a God’s Lips to Your Ears

One thing most people agreed upon with Godzilla 2014 is the look of the big man himself (except for those fat shamers out there). It certainly could have gone left with an attempt to differentiate the new series from the original. Never forget 1998. However, in regards to Kaiju purists, there was limited risk to pit Godzilla against a new creation, the MUTOs, as opposed to chancing a bastardization with an additional Toho headliner. For Godzilla 2019, the pressure is most certainly on. King of the Monsters will see Godzilla battling some of the biggest names from the Toho kingdom of monsters: Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. It’s a bold move that has fans excited. Even Jackson couldn’t believe it when he heard the news, “Anytime Ghidorah is mentioned, it’s just like ‘No way. No way!’ No way, that’s the second fight? It goes down. It’s not going up.”

To bring these iconic men-in-suit creations to life using modern technology and have them make sense within the more grounded reality of the MonsterVerse, it’s without question a tall order. Dougherty, however, remains un-shook.

“To me, it’s important that the silhouettes of the creatures honor the originals…you need to be able to look at the silhouette of your monster whether it’s the Alien or Godzilla, Rodan or whatever, and be able to identify it. You can’t have Ghidorah without the two tails and three heads and he’s got to have the right amount of horns. And then the wings are a very distinct shape. They’re not traditional western dragons. Those have been the marching orders from the beginning is to make sure Ghidorah looks like an Eastern dragon versus a Western. You know. we don’t want them to look like Game of Thrones dragons.”

From Sam in Trick r’ Treat to the multilayered concept of his Krampus design (layers of which we’ve apparently still yet to see), Dougherty speaks about the designs in such a thoughtful manner. What if these creatures were real? Yes, simply put, we’d likely be terrified, but his focus is on the deeper story – beyond simple plot mechanisms.

“The bigger challenge [has] been Mothra. How do you take a giant moth and make it look cool? It can’t just be a moth magnified big.

“The beauty of it is that I had to go down a rabbit hole and research moths…There are so many different species of moths that have very different shapes. Some of which almost look predatory. Some of them are much more sleek and a little scary looking than the typical Mothra design. That allowed some leeway. The approach with Mothra is to create an insectoid, huge creature that looks believable from every angle, and especially in motion. But, also looking at the different kinds of aspects you can draw from nature: bioluminescence, moth dust – and also going back to the idea that these creatures were once worshiped as gods. What would she look like flying in the sky at night? I wanted to jump off this idea that if you saw Mothra hovering in the sky at night you’d think you were looking at an angel.”

It’s easy to see just what he means when up close to a model of the creature, designed by ADI. The design is every bit as majestic as Dougherty intended. Mothra’s wings are absolutely massive, the wingspan easily doubling the size of her body. Yet, there’s still a fierceness to the creature with mandibles that resemble sharp claws – ready to tear into the flesh of an opposing Titan. Despite any changes, the model was instantly recognizable as Mothra. “Toho has very specific requirements. All of which I completely agree with,” Dougherty told us.

Even more important than the look of the monsters is their iconic roars, screeches, and shrieks. Since the original ’54 film’s use of leather gloves, pine resin, and a double bass to create the echoing wail for Gojira, that sound has become intrinsically linked to the series. “I think you should be able to close your eyes and listen to the creatures and be able to identify them without having any visual whatsoever,” Dougherty explains. His intent is keep the distinct essence of each creature. “What I did was, I gave a supercut of all the creature noises from the original films to the sound designers and said, ‘Start there,’ and then start layering and playing. But they have to be as distinct as the original films.” He even enlisted the production sound mixer, Whitt Norris, to create a monster sized set of speakers (nicknamed “Behemoth”) in order to pipe the sound effects on set during filming.

“Any scene that involves our cast running and screaming in terror – there’s a lot of them – I’ve been playing the creature noises. And it really ups their performance…In some ways, the creatures have been on set with us.”

For the Love of Godzilla

“The Hanna Barbera cartoon, that weird Ferris Bueller one, I love all Godzillas. I’m a huge fan,” states a beaming O’Shea Jackson Jr. He comes off as jovial and excited with that quintessential “kid in a candy store” vibe. Playing one of the key members of the G-Team, Jackson isn’t allowed to reveal many specifics about his role or the film itself. “I’m nerding out pretty hard. There’s something I can’t really speak on. We definitely give you – you get that burn in the movie. You’re going to go on the internet immediately after.” While much of the film beyond the basic setup was kept shrouded in mystery, there was a sense of commitment to the material from all those involved. O’Shea teases out the evolution of Godzilla even more, “We’re still learning about Godzilla – exactly what he is…More gets unraveled the further that this story goes. I’m glad people are getting to further understand what Godzilla represents.”

The people working to uncover the “what” are Monarch, a government organization first gleamed in the ’14 film. However, Dougherty’s film is going to bust the gates wide open. We were given a tour of the intricately built Monarch set. A cavernous tunnel leads you into their headquarters where lines of glass-enclosed offices open up to a large area filled with high tech gadgetry and flashing computer screens. A massive image on the wall lays out a map of various Titan sightings, their name, and any important information. Some names were familiar. Kong, for instance. Others, less so. We have Abaddon from Cambodia, Leviathan from beneath the Indian Ocean, and Sargon of Mexico.

Beyond the Monarch lab, there was an expansive, chilly-looking Arctic diorama representing a crashed military plane and a snow-filled wasteland, all leading to the entrance of the Antarctic Monarch facility, Outpost 32. To horror fans, this should be an obvious homage. Of course, Dougherty is pretty quick to cop to it. “Yes, Outpost 32 is a total nod to The Thing. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies. I like the idea that once Outpost 31 burnt down, they had to build another one. So who knows?” By no means does that mean we’ll be seeing a full-blown horror film like the John Carpenter classic, but as a fan of the genre, Dougherty doesn’t plan to shy away from varied genre elements.

“I wouldn’t call it a ‘horror’ movie. There’s definitely horror elements. I’m definitely trying to bring in some of that. Obviously, [I’m] going for a lot of suspense and fear and tension and, occasionally, some gross-out moments. The fact that you referenced The Thing was fitting. Because regeneration is one of the things also drawn from nature. Uh, I’ll leave it at that, but there’s definitely a little bit more horror to it than I think the previous film had.”

The suspense he refers to can be easily imagined from the ruins of Fenway Park erected in the middle of the giant warehouse where filming is taking place. Garcia describes the scene as we look on at a gorgeous conceptual drawing of young star Millie Bobby Brown staring out from the press box at Fenway Park into the eye of a giant monster. “There’s a sequence in the movie where Millie Bobby Brown’s character has run into the city, which is where her family’s from, trying to escape and ends up trapped alone in Fenway Park which had been used as an evacuation site…She comes face to face with [Ghidorah]…And then Ghidorah starts to lay waste to the stadium as she’s trying to run out.”

From all the promises of massive monster action and exciting set-pieces, it’s easy to lose sight of Godzilla’s origins as an allegory for nuclear weaponry. Kyle Chandler, admittedly not a fan prior to taking on the lead role, dove into the original films in preparation.

“In the ’54 version, two things that blew me away – There’s a scene on a cable car…where there’s two gentlemen and a lady on a train and she flippantly says, ‘First Nagasaki, and now this!’…The other one…Godzilla, you’ll notice, when he vaporizes people – they’re left as shadows. It shouldn’t be lost how important this was to the filmmakers, what it was doing and saying….Obviously, it’s not lost anymore. Today’s August 8th, inbetween the day[s] of those two droppings of the bombs. That’s something I find very interesting about this whole deal.”

Ultimately, I can safely say that I feel the film is in good hands. They’re not shying away from the not so jolly green giant or his origins. As Garcia puts it, “Godzilla is the star of the movie.” I believe Dougherty knows just how to handle the property and set the series up for success in the years to come with future films in the MonsterVerse. The director certainly put it best:

“Besides laying the groundwork for the organization and sort of, I hope, a visual bible for what Monarch is – which is still developed from Gareth’s film…I’m hoping it gets passed on to the next film. It’s kind of like an exquisite corpse. The artwork gets passed from one artist to another. Ideally, they’re adding new and interesting layers to it.”

Come May 31st, we’ll all find out together just how exquisite it is.

The post Putting the ‘God’ Back in ‘Godzilla’: Our Visit to the Set of ‘King of the Monsters’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“[Rodan] is a bit of a rogue… you never quite know where his loyalties lie,” Dougherty tells Empire. “Godzilla’s more of a lumbering, plodding presence; it takes him a couple of days to destroy a city like Tokyo. Rodan can level it without even thinking. He’s this massive A-bomb, so there’s a speed and ferocity he brings.”

Check out the new shot below, first glimpsed in the most recent TV spot!

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film…

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Dougherty directed from a script he wrote with Zach Shields.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post The “Massive A-Bomb” Known as Rodan Flies in Glorious New Shot from ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The sequel takes place five years after the events in the first film…

“When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

Zhang Ziyi, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance and Aisha Hinds star.

Godzilla returns on May 31, 2019.

The post ‘Godzilla’ TV Spot Opens Pandora’s Box and Lets the Monsters Loose! [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.