This week's Dimension Chat - My Pet Monster

You remember My Pet Monster, right? The plush toy from the 80's designed for boys, that launched a made for TV movie, an animated series and an undying love for all things Monster! This week, join me as I look closer at My Pet Monster, the craze and how badly I NEED one!!

Are Giant Monsters Going to Make a Resurgence?

Are Giant Monsters Going to Make a Resurgence?

With the summer blockbuster trailers making the rounds, I can't help but be excited by a few. I've said it before, I'm a HUGE Giant Monster (Kaiju) fan...I think I was raised at the right time in TV.

 Kaiju is a Japanese term that has been Universally coined to mean "Giant Monster", think Godzilla. Typically, these Giant Monsters reign devastation on city's...usually Japan...those poor people. I still watch my Ultraman DVD's, my Millennium Godzilla series with some zesty Space Giants every once in a while.

Pacific Rim has my interest peaked at an all time high...maybe even Kaiju levels...see what I did there? Guillermo del Toro is leading the giant monster resurgence with his Pacific Rim film that pits giant Mecha Robots vs Giant Monsters, that are actually referred to as Kaiju..yeah US, way to catch up. The trailer looks insane...the time has finally arrived for Kaiju madness to take the World by storm. 

This leads me to a filmmaking question....is it possible to make a legit Kaiju film on the Independent level? Sure, Tom Berdinski, also a Kaiju fan made his Giant Rubber Movie...which was a throw back to the era of past days with a lot of fun involved...but I have to wonder...what kind of a budget would one need to make something of a real magnitude? Something that looks amazing...something that looks real and something that might equate to fear?

Godzilla is also currently under production, filming in Canada and plenty of photos are leaking..but so far..no sight of the Big G. Gareth Edwards has a huge void to fill with this...del Toro is beating him to the starting line plus, as a Kaiju lover..I wasn't really sold on his first entry "Monsters". It was after Kaiju had taken over the Earth, so to speak and it was a battle to get back home from Mexico.


My expectations are high for this. We Kaiju fans already had to deal with the last Godzilla remake in the US. I can't blame Matthew Broderick, but if I ever see him...after I size him up...I might punch him or at least give him a strong talking too. I can't deal with another let down like that film. I've written before and have talked openly about my hatred for it...if it wasn't called Godzilla, it might not have hurt as bad....regardless, I still suffer from night sweats and tend to eat my feelings because of the trauma.

Ok, so back to my question....can it be done? A Giant Monster movie on an independent level...with an independent budget? Editing software is incredible but come on...to make a serious giant monster movie we need more than that. We need miniatures to destroy, plus we really need 2 giant monsters to fight and wreck shit!! Yeah, that's what we need!! Oh man, the thought of this has two sides..one is the fan boy in me that says "Oh, I will wear the suit and devastate everything!! Then the other part of me, the realistic, budget conscious producer thinks of the headache of getting the right shots, having one set, having suits of Kaiju's that look like something that someone should have wiped after dropping it off...plus, let's not forget that TOHO, the people behind Godzilla will SUE your ass if it even remotely looks like anything Godzilla related.


So, as I now have shown my nerdiness for Giant Monster films and shared that I lay around on Sunday mornings in my underwear watching repeats of Ultraman....errr..wait, I guess, I'm saying that now...this is the questions that take up space within this tiny cranium....will I ever make the attempt of a Kaiju film??? Maybe..

This is an 8 minute Kaiju film by Studio Ghibli, the people behind so many people anime's like Princess Mononoke, Totoro and Nausicaa Valley of the Wind, titled Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo....it's their first step away from anime and their first attempt at a Kaiju...it's not bad. Even sense a little Evangelion in the design, maybe some Go Nagi's Devilman...check it out.

Monster-Mania Details

Monster-Mania Details

Ok gang, here's the scoop...as you may have heard (after numerous postings) our award winning Horror/Drama short film "No Clowning Around" is premiering on Saturday, March 9th, at Monster-Mania Con in Cherry Hill, NJ. It will be screening in Grand Ballroom C at 1pm. Brian Mitchell, whom did the artwork for No Clowning Around is offering 20, limited edition posters for free to the first 20 people in for the screening. 

Rob and Kim Dimension will be manning the booth, located in the Vendors Room on Friday and Saturday only. Rob will be hosting the Yorkie Auction followed by the Sinister Short film festival right after. Co-director Matthew Burd will be at the table on Saturday, as will Steve Corino (12-3pm only). This is your chance to come grab your dvd, have it signed and support an Independent film at ground level. We could not be happier. 

Dimension will also dress as Mumbles the Clown on Saturday from 4-7pm only. He would LOVE to get a picture with YOU. Come see Mumbles, everyone's favorite clown.

Plus, they will have Limited Edition VHS, DVD's, posters, t-shirts and more, so stop by and see them.

Introducing - Dimension Monster Chronicles (coming soon)

Dimension Monster Chronicles

Filming this weekend, Dimension Monster Chronicles will be something a little new and kind of the same. Yeah, confusing right? Kim and Rob Dimension, the couple who, last year began a new type of review show. Tired of the same old, basic, guy in front of a camera review, they started using puppets, humor, clips and showing their "unique" love for each other in the process. Getting some attention, the couple decided it's time to work a little harder this time around...but, with a twist.

Rob had an idea (we know, very rare) to change things up a bit...what if...Dimension was a Monster dealing with Monster issues, while still reviewing movies and products? At the same time, while dealing with trying to become human again and trying to get along with Hack and Danny Pickle..this could be fun. If anything spells fun, it's puppets....or maybe it's a creepy thing, either way, the couple is excited.

Rob, who voices all the puppets, plus writes, edits and directs the process had this too say; "I love working with Kim, we had gotten some good reviews for our reviews..haha...and I figured I could step back a little and work on producing a fun concept. She has a dry sense of humor and gets where the joke is going. We want to create an awareness of what people might be missing, or simple forgot about." When asking Kim, she says "I'm not an actress..I just do this to have fun and I've fallen in love with some of these puppets personalities, especially Danny Pickle. He's such a Momma's boy, I forget that Rob is behind it...I have so much fun."

That sums up the project, as the key word is FUN. Rob closed with this "I think it's safe too say, we won't win any awards, we will be thankful to those who tune in and watch, even if it's just us. The episodes will have run times of 3-10 minutes, based on what we are talking about or doing....we also have a Villain that will make his presence known."

Right now, stay tuned to http://www.robdimension.com/ until we launch http://www.dimensionmonsterchronicles.com/ within the next few weeks. The episodes will be every few weeks...we look forward to seeing you guys!

Dimension's Horrible Podcast #7 - The Holy Giant Monsters show!!!

Episode #7

The Holy Giant Monsters Show!!

Well, Rob Dimension had the bright idea to dedicate an entire show to those wonderful Giant Monsters that we have all grown to love and enjoy. Keep in mind, Dimension can NOT stay on topic. Co-host Sal Valente has his hands full as Dimension forgets "this is a HORROR podcast...!!"

Remember the days of Ultraman and Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot?? Relive memory lane as the guys weave a very mis-guided course from Godzilla and other Japanese, Kaiju based shows and films. Plus, mentions of Food of the Gods and Empire of the Ants remind us all of thse Saturday afternoons watching Giant Behemoths destroying cities!

Sal discusses some games that have been modeled after the Giant Monster craze and even gives some words of advice for Godzilla comic fans. Are they worth it? You need to listen!

Reviews for Godzilla X MechaGodzilla, Cloverfield, The Host and even Kaiju Big Battel are on this one!! Dimension shows Sal, Chikara Pro Wrestling and Sal goes nuts!! Sounds amazing right?? There is even more in this jam packed..mis lead...completely off kilter podcast.

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DEATH KAPPA review - like Kaiju? Who doesn't.....

DVD REVIEW

“DEATH KAPPA”

Directed by: Tomo’o Haraguchi

Written by: Masakazu Migita

Starring: Mika, Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi

Released by: Tokyo Shock 

 reviewed by :Mark Mackner

Giant monster fans rejoice!!!! It brings me immense, kaiju-sized pleasure that in 2010, man-in-suit giant monster slugfests are still being produced by our good friends in Japan. There was a whole cycle of GODZILLA films released in the 00’s, followed by GAMERA THE BRAVE, MONSTER X STRIKES AGAIN, and now comes the strangest kaiju film I’ve seen in a long time, DEATH KAPPA. 

DEATH KAPPA takes a handful of genres and grafts them together with all the grace and humanity of a mad scientist. And, if you know me, you DO know that I mean that as a compliment. This film is many things, and even if it’s not for you, you could never call it BORING. It starts off as some kind of creepy ghost town movie, then goes into I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER territory, then makes a sharp left turn into E.T., before careening into HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP, and then into insane Japanese ROBO GEISHA-esque fare. And that’s just the first half hour!!!! And THEN it becomes a kaiju movie!!!! 

So, let’s slow it down about so we can fully appreciate what they’ve done here. A young girl has given up her dreams of J-Pop stardom in Tokyo, and is heading back home to the sleepy little burg that she hails from. When her grandmother is suddenly struck and killed by a speeding car full of drunken young hooligans, she swears to continue her grandmother’s vow of protecting the local kappa. Kappa are a form of YOKAI, mischievous goblin-like creatures from Japanese folklore. 

Soon after her grandmother’s death, our hero (Played by a stunningly beautiful young woman whose name I couldn’t glean from the credits OR the imdb page) discovers a real live kappa that just so happens to LOVE her music. We’re then treated to a ridiculous (yet thoroughly entertaining) extended montage of the hero and her friends, playing and dancing and just generally having a great time with the kappa. 

And here’s where things get ugly. Those drunken young hooligans get their karmic retribution in the form of some weird, reptilian/fish kinda creatures. It’s here where I was happy that I decided to screen this before I watched it with my kids. My kids enjoy watching GODZILLA and GAMERA films with me, and I thought about letting them watch this one with me for my first viewing of it, but this scene features lots of limbs being ripped off and some really bloody and gory deaths. I figured that the FROM THE PRODUCERS OF MACHINE GIRL AND TOKYO GORE POLICE tag on the front was something of a warning against letting children watch, and I’m glad I abided. 

So what were these strange creatures that attacked the speeding grandma killers? Well, that scene is followed by a wild scene of absurdist brilliance that addresses that question. There are some villains that are conducting strange experiments and trying to create an army of monster soldiers to avenge Japan’s defeat in WWII, and take over the world. They’ve captured our hero, as well as the kappa. This scene… man… mere words can not do it justice, but I’ll try. It takes elements from HELL BOY, The ’66 BATMAN show, TROMA, and POWER RANGERS, and delivers the most singularly schizophrenic spectacular of the year. If this scene were a short film, you’d have a damn fine film in just 10 minutes time. You’ve got a hot mad scientist chick in a lab coat and lingerie, skipping and dancing while pushing her dead grandfather around in a wheelchair. You’ve got hot bikini babes with fish gills. You’ve got a kappa sumo wrestling the villains, kung fu fighting, an atomic bomb, and all kinds of other craziness. 

And immediately after that it becomes an all-out, old-school kaiju movie. The entire second half of the movie concerns the sudden appearance of a giant monster named HANGYOLAS. And that part is friggin’ hilarious! A beautiful reporter cuts in and says “We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to tell you that a giant monster has appeared and he’s walking around town like he owns the place.” Then, 2 seconds later, she says, “The cabinet has just decided that the monster’s name will be Hangyloas”. That’s a welcome in-joke for fans of the genre, where the government/military/scientists regularly pull odd monster names out of the blue the moment something rises out of the sea and proceeds to level Tokyo. 

There’s lots of gags like that in this film, from the visible wires on the fighter jets, to the little plastic people smooshed in Hangyolas’ footprint. I’ve seen a couple reviews for this film that complain that the kaiju action doesn’t get started until halfway through, but isn’t that MOST kaiju movies? If you’re lucky? Even in many of the classics, you might get one brief city destruction scene midway through, and then the monster will come back for last 10 minutes or so. 

Not so in DEATH KAPPA. Once Hangyolas shows up at the 39-minute mark, you get 40 solid minutes of kaiju mayhem, including city destruction, a fight with the military, and an epic Death Kappa vs. Hangyolas slobberknocker that features elbow drops, airplane spins, and buildings used as nunchucks. Add all that to such glorious dialogue as “What’s the status of the Gorgon Monster Death Ray Unit?”, and you’ve got yourself a WINNER!!!! 

Oh, and that Gorgon Monster Death Ray is an homage to the Mazer Cannons from the classic TOHO Showa era (the 50’s through the 70’s), in both appearance and sound. Nice! Fun miniature work, too. The Hangyolas creature design is terrific. He reminded me of TITANOSAURUS from TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA. I hope they make a toy of him. I’d totally get it. Kappa, well, even before he grows to kaiju size, he’s pretty ugly. 

Cast-wise, I know no one watches these kinds of movies for the acting/characters, but this one has two standouts worth mentioning. One was the female reporter covering the Hangyolas attack. Again, the credits are in Japanese, and the imdb listing does not have character names, so I have no idea who she is, but she is AMAZING!!!! The other is this guy in the war room where the military plans out their attack

on Hangyolas. This guy doesn’t say a word, but his facial expressions and his grunts of “Mm?” and “Uh?” cracked me up every single time. Really, it’s a small part, but that guy OWNS it! He’s a genius. 

With so much madness going on, it’s no surprise that not EVERYTHING works. If they just had the visible wires on the jets shown for a second, I think that would’ve been funnier than showing them clear as day EVERY time the jets flew by. Because once, it would be like, “Ha! Lookit the wires!” But 10 times, and you’re like, “OK, even in the older, lower budgeted fare like YONGARY, the wires didn’t show THAT much.” Also, many characters scream “Mommy!” before they die, and that gets old fast. Plus, there’s all kinds of WTF stuff, like the main jet pilot (A man) wearing blue eye shadow for some reason, but I don’t mind some random quirks here and there. 

This is the kind of movie that would be an absolute blast to watch with friends, whether sober, drunk, or high. It proves that you CAN make a great giant monster movie that doesn’t feature any already-established creatures whose names start with “G”. DEATH KAPPA is new to DVD and BLU RAY. GO GET IT!!!!! You’ll be glad you did. 

REPORT CARD…

DIRECTION: A

SCRIPT: A

MINIATURES: A- . The minus is for the overuse of visible wires. The buildings, tanks, cannons, etc are wonderful).

MONSTERS: A. Kappa himself is kinda weird-looking. More like an especially ugly beaked toad than a rad dinosaur or dragon. But he’s organic-looking. The suit is well-made. And Hangyolas is everything you want in an enemy monster. Just a massive dragon with fire breath and a long, pulverizing tail.

OVERALL: A. Action-packed and loads of laughs. The first half is bugnuts brilliance, and the second half is kaiju-rrific!!!!

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When not hanging out at The Horror Hotel, Mark Mackner can be found creating such local indie horror gems as DAISY DERKINS: DOGSITTER OF THE DAMNED!, EVIL BREW, THE HALF-LIFE HORROR FROM HELL or: IRRADIATED SATAN ROCKS THE WORLD!, and EMBALMO!  He’s also the resident Spider-Man scholar over at geek site POPTARDS where he writes SPIDEY’S WEEKLY WEB-UP.  In 2011, he’ll be directing his latest original script PROM NIGHT ABORTION!  

Scary good Breakfast Cereals made for the Season

Halloween Cereals and the Power They Possess

By: Rob Dimension

If your like me, you have been searching high and low for these amazing Breakfast cereals...you know...Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Frankenberry. Accessible during the Fall season, hunting these guys down can be tricky but I am here to help...I will be known as "Halloween Cereal Hunter Rob Dimension", not that catchy but still a good title.

Let's start with a little bit of background on these amazing breakfast starters - Did you know that there were originally 5 of these sugar coated treats? We have (currently) Count Chocula, Frankenberry and Boo Berry, but we can't forget the classics like Fruity Yummy Mummy (discontinued in 1993) and Fruit Brute (discontinued in 1983). I will admit, I really miss Yummy Mummy but Fruit Brute, from what I remember was nasty...the pitch was "Frosted fruit-flavored cereal
with lime flavored marshmallows" - LIME!!! Yuck...are you kidding me...well, I guess Zima and Fruit Brute would be a good mix.

The Key to hunting these bad boys of Breakfast down:

 The Major Chain stores - Stores like Target and Wal-Mart are known to carry these during the Fall season. Make sure you get there early (like now) to make sure they are not sold out. They order a batch and are then done, so once they are out...they are out.


Smaller stops - Stop and Shop in New Jersey has been reported to have some as a smaller grocery chain called Redner's - so if you miss on the bigger chains, hit locally.


Online - Yes, how bizarre, ordering cereal online, sounds nutty. It's the modern age, plus the benefit is they are available year round on sites like Amazon.com - in all honesty, Amazon pretty much has everything.


Retail price - Retail per box will range anywhere from $1.99 to $2.99 per box. Target, actually where I loaded up, was $2.50 per box...I call it a great deal for a slice of my childhood and well, a sugar rush too.

So head on out and get yourself some breakfast!!!!