Attack the Block (2011) feat. Frank Olson

It's inner city vs. outer space when London street urchins battle monsters from another world. Starring John Boyega (in his first feature!), impressive creature effects, and borderline unintelligible slang, this film gives new meaning to the British Invasion. Best of all, Frank Olson returns (see Troll 2, Rodan, and more) to lend his thoughts; plus, Peter Lorre reviews Lon Chaney in The Unholy Three (1925). Thanks for joining us, friends!

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We'll see you next time for ⁠⁠Gremlins (1984)

TRAILERS

Attack the Block (2011); The Space Children (1958); The Children of the Damned (1960); The Day of the Triffids (1963); It Came From Outer Space (1953); Invisible Agent (1942)

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• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Film Criticism by Matthew Cole Levine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Plays by Vincent S. Hannam⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Novels by Matthew Cole Levine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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• Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Camp Kaiju: Monster Movie Podcast. Attack the Block (2011) movie review. Hosted by Vincent Hannam, Matthew Cole Levine, Frank Olson. Camp Kaiju: Monster Movie Podcast, produced by Vincent S. Hannam; © 2024 Vincent S. Hannam, All Rights Reserved

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello and welcome to Camp Kaiju Monster Movie Podcast. We're your hosts, Matt Levine and

(00:22):
Vincent Hanum. And we are talking about all our favorite monster movies, The Good, The
Bad and The Downright Campy and asking if they stand the test of time. Camp Kaiju is
sponsored by Zach Linder and the Zach Pack, powered by Coldwell Banker Realty, a year

(00:45):
source for real estate, home rehab, fixing and flipping for investor clients and residential
buyers. Reach out to the Zach Pack today for real estate services, follow the Zach Pack
on social media and contact the Zach Pack for investment opportunities. Link in the

(01:25):
the block. Vincent, how are you doing tonight? Good. I'm ready to talk some alien invaders.

(01:46):
Yeah, tonight we're talking about Attack the Block, a British sci-fi action movie from
2011. Before we get to that, we do want to say hello to somebody who's familiar to our
Camp Kaiju audience, Frank Olson. Hello, Frank. Hey, Frank. Hello. Just when you thought it
was safe. I'm back after a long hiatus. Hello. All the Frankaholics have been clamoring for

(02:12):
your return and now here it is. Yes, the Frankaholics. Hello. I was thinking, I think the last time
you're on the show was for Troll 2. I think so. In October of last year. I think so. Yeah,
it was either that or Porco Rosso. I can't remember which one was before the other. But
yeah, those were the last two I did. Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy how quickly time flies because

(02:37):
here we are over a year later in your back. But yeah, it's like what a year it's been.
Yeah. Yeah, I can't believe it's been that long. I feel like just yesterday we were talking
about so bad they're good movies and Hayao Miyazaki. So I'm glad you're back, Frank.
Yeah, glad to be back. You know, I was just listening last night actually to your Godzilla

(02:59):
minus one episode that you guys recently did. And it was funny because Matt in kind of the
introductory part was talking about the movie Thanksgiving. And I just happened to watch
that like two nights ago, or I guess a few nights ago at this point. It was like Black
Friday I think. But as he was talking about it, I was like, hey, I just saw that and kind
of like talking back to the podcast as if I was like on it, which I was not. But yeah,

(03:26):
pretty good movie if anyone is curious. It's a slasher movie. So there's like a limit to
like how great it can be, I guess. But it's fairly clever for what it is. It's one of
those ones where you don't know like the identity of the killer until the end. And I thought
the revelation of who it was, was actually pretty clever, and well done. And it's also

(03:51):
it delivers on the slasher movie stuff to like the the kill scenes are fairly creative
and a lot of them are kind of Thanksgiving themed. There's one part where he uses like
those, you know, those like corn on the cab, like the things that look like the corn in
the cab, but that you stick in the either side of the corn on the cob. He uses that

(04:11):
on a human being at one point. So yeah, it's pretty good. I recommend it. Although, you
know, it's not like amazing or anything. But for what it is, it's pretty fun. Okay. I am
yeah, I'm very intrigued by that movie. I think it's directed by Eli Roth, right? He's
a little bit hit or miss for me. Yeah, I agree on him being hit or miss. I'd say it's one

(04:34):
of his, probably one of his better movies for me. I'm definitely intrigued. I feel like
I might have to do a belated watch of that movie, even though it's after Thanksgiving.
But yeah, it's always a good time for a decent slasher movie, I would say. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome.
Well, yes. It sounds like that's not so much of a kaiju movie in the traditional sense

(04:56):
or a monster movie. So I don't know if that'll be on the podcast. But but yeah, hopefully
I'll give that a watch at some point. So yeah, we'll we'll talk a little bit more about some
other monster movies and stuff that is coming out soon in theaters. Before we get into that,
just a little bit of nuts and bolts, as we call them. Thank you again for hanging out.
Please rate and review the podcast wherever you listen. You can also send us listener

(05:18):
comments at camp kaiju at gmail.com, our Facebook page or Instagram page at camp underscore
kaiju. If you'd like to be a featured voice on the show, you can leave a voicemail at
six one two four seven zero two six one two telling us about your favorite monster movies
and memories. We definitely would love to hear your thoughts. Last but not least, please

(05:40):
do check out our website, Camp Kaiju podcast dot com for more reviews and special content.
Truly last but not least, I take I take it back. We have some great merchandise too at
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(06:02):
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Jason, Chris, Sean, Peggy and our anonymous patron. We really appreciate you so much.
We have so many ways for you to reach out to us if you're interested. So we look forward

(06:22):
to hearing from you soon. Now that that's over with, what have you guys seen aside from
Thanksgiving? Any good monster horror movies at all?
Since Thanksgiving? Yeah, that's a good question. I have not seen anything, but you know, I
had a I had a nice Thanksgiving with the with the in-laws and a bunch of cousins. Well,

(06:44):
not my cousins, my cousin in-laws, little kids running around. So yeah, it was nice.
How was your Thanksgiving?
Pretty good. I saw family. I went back to West Bend, Wisconsin and saw extended family.
Most of them were sick, which is how I got this cold that I have right now. So that's
not the good kind of giving that you want around this time of year. But it was wonderful

(07:07):
to see everybody and just kind of have a break for a couple of days. So it was very nice.
Yeah. How was yours, Frank?
It was nice also. Yeah, I was also in West Bend at my parents' house. Yeah, it's a nice
time. My brother was there, too. So it's kind of a smaller group, but it was it was fun.
My wife made a like baked macaroni and cheese thing that turned out to be really great.

(07:31):
So that's two and a half pounds of cheese in it. Oh, my God. The kinds of cheese. So
it was it was very, very rich and very tasty. A very Wisconsin Thanksgiving. Yeah, I'm all
for Thanksgiving mac and cheese. I did not have one this past year, but I've got to get
back on that. Yeah. Yeah. As far as other movies, I saw an interesting horror movie

(07:55):
recently that's available for free on YouTube called Milk and Cereal. Cereal is spelled
like serial killer like S.E.R.I.A.L. It's the guy who directed it, I guess, has like
a regular YouTube channel where he does like pranks. So I guess his regular videos are
like comedy videos. I haven't seen any of his other stuff. But this was like a horror

(08:20):
movie, like a found footage style horror movie that he made for on a budget of eight hundred
dollars. And it's just over an hour long. And it's it's pretty like clever. I would
say like the plot is pretty clever. You could tell there's like raw talent there. But the

(08:40):
acting is really bad, which is not ideal for one of these things that's like supposed to
be like documentary style footage. It does kind of throw you off a little bit. But I'd
be interested to see what that guy could do if he in the future gets access to like a
real budget and like professional actors and stuff. So that's worth kind of checking out.

(09:02):
I think if you want to see like an upcoming talent on like the ground floor. Totally.
How did you find out about that? I'm curious. I was somewhere online. I saw something about
it like I don't remember if it was. I think I saw like an image for it somewhere. It might

(09:24):
have even just been like an ad like on the side of a website or something where it showed
there's a guy in the movie who was kind of like a creepy mask and it showed him and said
something about it. And then I think I just like looked it up on IMDb to see what it was
and saw that it was available for free on this guy's YouTube page and that it was made

(09:45):
for eight hundred dollars. And I was like, oh, that sounds worth checking out. So I just
watched it one night and yeah, I'd say it's again, it's not great, but it is worth checking
out. OK, cool. I bet I bet the the creator of that would be very easy to reach out to
and we can get him on the show. Probably. His name is Curry Barker, which I thought was

(10:09):
an interesting name. I don't know if that's a given name or like a stage name, but but
he's a strange looking guy. But but yeah, he's like the main star in it. And he wrote
and directed them, I think probably like to the editing himself and stuff, too. So for
eight hundred dollars, it must have been a very tiny crew. So yeah, yeah. Cool. I I always

(10:35):
want to like, you know, try out some of those sort of like hopeful diamonds in the rough
or just like very low budget, obscure movies and just like hope that you discover something
that maybe isn't super well known. But the few times I've tried, it doesn't always go
well. But like when it does, it's like a great feeling to feel like you discovered something.
Yeah. Well, maybe there will be a Camp Kaiju crossover at some point in the future. We'll

(10:57):
see. Speaking of other monster movies, as we often do on Camp Kaiju, it turns out that
December is like a very rich time of the year for monster movie releases. There are so many
classic monster movies that have been released throughout the years. I got to go with Godzilla
versus Space Godzilla released in December of 1994. It's part of the Heisei series. A

(11:20):
little sneak peek into our announcement episode coming up. We will not be covering Godzilla
versus Space Godzilla, but we will be covering something else in that era of Godzilla flicks.
But it's a fun movie to check out. Maybe not the best quality wise, but it has a lot of
really campy moments. I was intrigued by that title. Yeah. I mean, I haven't seen a lot.

(11:45):
That's from the Heisei era. You said, right? Yeah. I haven't seen a lot of those movies.
I we may have a couple titles from that era that'll be in our upcoming season, but more
to come about that soon. Frank, do you want to discuss any of the movies on that list
there? Yeah. I guess sticking with Godzilla, the return of Godzilla. I know that's one

(12:06):
you guys have an episode on. In fact, that's one of the first ones that I watched specifically
so I would be prepared to listen to your guys episode a couple of years ago, whenever that
was. But that's a good one. I would say it starts out really slow. It's one of those
Kaiju movies that has a very slow exposition period. But then once it gets to the actual

(12:33):
Kaiju destruction stuff, it's pretty great. I think the little miniature sets and everything
on that one are really great looking. And also the Godzilla suit in that one, I think
is great looking too. And I remember there's just one really cool shot of him just kind
of like, I can't remember if he's supposed to be injured or if he's just like resting

(12:56):
or something, but he's kind of like slumped over like, like in a building basically. He's
kind of knocked part of the building out for his just just to be able to lay down. Yeah,
he's taking a little nap. Yeah, I remember that being really cool. So so that's a good
one if anyone listening hasn't seen it. Yeah, that one is really great. Oh, well, I was

(13:19):
going to discuss a different one, but I feel like I need to mention the third actual Godzilla
themed movie that's on our list here, which is Ghidorah the three headed monster, which
came out in December of 1964. We do have an episode on that movie as well. I really love
that movie. Honestly, that's probably my second favorite movie in the Godzilla universe after
the original Godzilla. It is a little bit silly. And some of the human characters aren't

(13:43):
totally interesting, but like it's so beautiful. And the actual kaiju fights are a lot of fun.
I feel like the Ghidorah design from that movie is like maybe my favorite monster design
of any kaiju movie ever. So I have to shout out Ghidorah the three headed monster. Really
love that movie. And yeah, we have an episode about it. So check it out if you haven't already

(14:03):
heard it. Yeah, it's it's honestly a top tier entry in the series. But Matt, I'm interested
in this new and upcoming movie that you have here called Nightbit. Yeah, I don't know how
I feel about that title. But it's like it stars Amy Adams and it's based on a book that

(14:25):
did really well. It was a very popular novel, I think like a year or two ago. I can't remember
exactly when it came out. I think it's I don't really know all the details, but it's kind
of about a stressed out mother. I don't know if she's a single mother or maybe just her
partner or husband is like not doing a very good job of like helping raise their child.
But from what I know, she kind of turns into like a wolfish creature at night to sort of

(14:50):
like let out some of that aggression. And oh, sure. I've heard of this movie. Yeah. Yeah,
it looks OK. I you know, again, it hasn't come out yet. I think it comes out December
6th, which is only a couple of days from now. So but you know, it's a it's a monster movie
that sounds like it has some intriguing themes. So yeah, hopefully I'll check it out soon.

(15:10):
From what I understand, the idea is supposed to be that like the husband is, you know,
not really pulling his weight like he's kind of expecting her to cook and take care of
their kid and do all the stuff and then like the stress somehow manifests itself and her
becoming a werewolf or whatever. So sounds kind of interesting. Yeah. Yeah. It's a cool

(15:32):
idea. Yeah. Again, I don't know how I feel about that title, but like, you know, it sounds
like there are some cool, you know, kind of feminist themes there. So I'll definitely
be checking that out soon for sure. Yeah. I thought Frank might be interested in this
other movie that I have in the new and upcoming releases section, which is werewolves starring
Frank Grillo and Frank Olsen happens to be the head of the Frank Grillo fan club. Yes,

(15:53):
Frank Grillo from the second and third purge movies and a bunch of other stuff. I think
he's actually in Captain America or something to in like a small role or one of those Marvel
movies. But yeah, that's just an awesome action star name. Frank Grillo sounds very hard boiled.

(16:14):
Yeah, I do love that name. All I know about the movie werewolves is that it has werewolves
and Frank Grillo and that's all I need to know. That's that's enough. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So those those two movies are coming out later this December. In terms of what's coming up
on Camp Kaiju, we do have episodes on gremlins coming out. And then following week after

(16:39):
that, we will release our holiday celebration party episode. It's been a couple of years
since we did that. Frank, you were here for that last one. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. We
put on some you know, maybe I'll put on a Santa hat. Matt, you are a really banging
Jewish letter. That was really cool. So you know, we'll have fun celebrating season four

(17:05):
and announcing season five, at least the first six months. Me and Matt have each picked out
six films each. Yeah, roughly two a month. Yeah. Yeah. So there are there are surprise
titles to both of us. We have not discussed these to each other. And it'll be it'll be

(17:29):
fun to see what what monster movies we have on the docket. Totally. I can't wait. And
you know, season five, it's just cool that we're going to have a season five. That's
pretty exciting. What does it look like? I can't describe it. The hideous part of it

(17:52):
is making the children obey its every command. Children are completely in its power. And
we're in the power of the children. Space Children, spreading a network of terror through
a top secret missile base in a nation's desperate power of decision. Space Children, the dangerous

(18:18):
pawns of a power so strange that no sentries can stop them. Why did you let those children
inside you? That's a woman. What children? No rocket can rise anywhere in the world.
Three, two, one, fire. No army destroyed. Get those kids out of there.

(19:06):
Science fiction has never imagined so strange or terrifying a story as that of the village

(19:30):
of Midwich, England, cut off from life as we know it by some mysterious force. And later
at one and the same time, a child was born to every woman in the village. Children that
grew to look like this beautiful youngsters behind whose fiery hypnotic eyes lurked the
demon forces of another world. They're not human. They ought to be destroyed. Forces

(19:52):
put to such sinister use that it became a national emergency. We are gathered here as
advisors, as scientists, as government experts. Have we established anything about the origins
of these children? There is a possibility of the transmission of energy. Let me get this
straight. You imply that these children may be the result of impulses directed towards

(20:13):
us from somewhere in the universe. What we need is time to investigate. Are you aware
of life on another planet? Why are you so nervous when an aircraft flies above you?
Until recently, we haven't been able to make our control reach as far as a high aircraft.

(20:35):
Well, now you have. Is that it? Today, their control reaches out into space. Tomorrow,
let it girdle the globe. There's nothing you can do to stop us. Leave us alone.

(21:10):
Tonight we're talking about Attack the Block, written and directed by Joe Cornish. I don't
know if any of us really have any personal histories with this film, but we can talk
about that very briefly. I'll just say I didn't have any history with this movie. I knew that
it was pretty well-reviewed when it came out about 13 years ago, but I had never seen it,
so this was a first watch for me.
Yeah, same here. I'd always heard about it. I know it's sort of a modern cult classic.

(21:37):
I vaguely knew that it had something to do with inner city kids being the first line
of defense against aliens or monsters or something, and that's pretty much all I knew going into
it.
Yeah. I had been turned onto this film last year, a year or two ago, because it's featured

(21:57):
in a really great documentary from Shudder called Horror Noir, A History of Black Horror.
This is actually based on a book by the same title by Dr. Robin Coleman, an African-American
film historian and professor. In that documentary, Dr. Coleman holds up this film as an example

(22:19):
of black empowerment in the horror genre, a genre with a long tradition of African-Americans
being not the heroes, either the villains or the poor suckers who get killed all too
soon. But John Boyega's character in this Attack the Block, at least in Horror Noir,

(22:40):
is held up as a character with agency and empowerment for himself and his community.
So that was the first time I was exposed to this film. I was really interested in it.
And yeah, I'm glad I got around to watching it.
Definitely. Yeah, well, I'm sure we'll talk about that more in the episode. That's probably
one of the more interesting subtexts about the movie. But we can just dive into the cast

(23:03):
and crew. This was Joe Cornish's feature debut as a writer and director. He has been working
on British TV and radio and podcasts for quite a while. He was a member of the comedy duo
Adam and Joe with Adam and Adam Buxton. Sorry. So they had a show called the Adam and Joe

(23:24):
Show, which spoofed British pop culture, among other things. Cornish was also on this week
only with Nick Frost and Lauren Laverne. Nick Frost, some people might recognize that name.
He is in a number of Edgar Wright movies and frequently co-stars with Simon Pegg. They're
kind of like a tight knit group of collaborators a little bit. Joe Cornish is a friend and

(23:45):
frequent collaborator with Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. Cornish has cameos in
Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. He also has a cameo alongside Edgar Wright in Star Wars
The Last Jedi. Finally, Joe Cornish co-wrote The Adventures of Tintin and Ant-Man. As a
writer, this was not his debut, but as a director it was. So yeah, kind of all part of that

(24:08):
same circle of collaborators with Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. Edgar Wright was
the executive producer on this film as well.
Very cool. So it was also produced. So yeah, Edgar Wright was the executive producer. The
producers were Nyra Park, another longtime collaborator of Edgar Wright, music by the

(24:32):
British electronic duo Basement Jacks and Stephen Price and cinematography by Tom Townen.
This film was edited by Jonathan Amos, another Edgar Wright collaborator on films like Scott
Pilgrim versus the World and Baby Driver.
Yeah, I will say watching it, even if you didn't notice Edgar Wright's name in the credits,

(24:57):
it does definitely feel like it's kind of in that same vein stylistically and just in
terms of its tone as like a Shaun of the Dead. So yeah, definitely felt familiar in that
sense.
Yeah, it kind of reminded me of the world's end a little bit, just like story and kind
of tone vibe overall.
Yeah.
Frank, do you want to maybe talk about the cast a little bit?

(25:20):
Yeah, yeah. So most of them were young relative unknowns who lived in South London and they
had to go through numerous auditions to get the parts. John Boyega is Moses, who's kind
of the leader of the gang. And this was actually his feature film debut. So of course, he's
gone on to be in some of the recent Star Wars movies and things like that. Jodie Whittaker

(25:45):
plays Samantha. She's like a nurse who lives in the same tower as the gang members. She
actually gets mugged by them at the start of the movie. But then, of course, over time
has to gradually work with them. So there's this alien invasion going on. And you know,
kind of comes to appreciate some of their finer qualities that she wouldn't have seen

(26:07):
originally. But she, she is a veteran of theater and TV and film. And I was trying to figure
out where I recognized her from. And then when I saw this, this document that you guys
put together that says that she appeared in Black Mirror, I realized that's probably where
I've seen her from because I've seen the first couple seasons of that. And she just had a

(26:29):
very recognizable face, but she's also been on Doctor Who and Broadchurch.
Yeah, awesome. Yeah. And so Nick Frost, who we just mentioned, is also in the film. He
plays Ron, who is the building's marijuana dealer, kind of a comic relief sort of part
for the most part. And then finally, Luke Treadway is a Brewess who's a young stoner
who lives in the building. I thought this was kind of interesting. Joe Cornish said

(26:52):
that this character was kind of based on him in his 20s. So I don't know what that says
about him necessarily. But another kind of comic relief character who, you know, not
to get too far ahead of ourselves, I feel like he's the funniest part of this movie,
in the sense that he gets extremely stoned and then finds himself in the worst possible
predicament you can find yourself in when you're extremely stoned. So some of that stuff

(27:15):
is kind of funny in this movie. Yeah. There's one part that I thought was particularly funny
where it cuts from something that the main gang guys are doing, fighting off aliens or
whatever. And then it cuts to those last two characters, Nick Frost and the Treadway character

(27:37):
just on a couch. And they kind of look like they're just overwhelmed by the situation
and exhausted or whatever. But then after a little while, the little clouds of smoke
kind of out of their mouth and you realize that they're just stoned.
Yeah, all that stuff is great. And they're both really good in this movie. And no, you

(28:01):
know, we were not mentioning most of the other cast by name, no disrespect to them. They're
just very young actors who don't have a lot of credits to their name. So that's the only
reason we don't mention them. But yeah, most of them have good screen presence and are
very compelling in their roles. So that yeah, that's the cast and crew. We can move on to
the production backstory of the film a little bit. So I Sack the Block was produced by Big

(28:24):
Talk Pictures, which again, is that company that has produced a lot of Edgar Wright's
films in conjunction with Film 4, the UK Film Council and Studio Canal. Cornish, when he
wrote the screenplay, he kind of based it on his own experience getting mugged in South
London where he's from. During that experience, he realized that the gang members were just
as scared as he was, or at least according to his perspective. So that kind of drove

(28:46):
him to want to portray these characters sympathetically instead of just demonizing them as so often
happens as Cornish has said in interviews in other kind of British and horror movies
and and and films like that. After Cornish added the science fiction angle, he interviewed
young people in South London to see how they would react in the event of an alien invasion.

(29:08):
He also researched slang to write believable dialogue. I watched this movie with captions.
I don't think I would have understood a single word had I not. And I think that authenticity
is great. I'll also shout out my own heritage. My dad is a was born and raised in London.

(29:28):
And I have been over to London a few times. And I'll tell you, sometimes it doesn't sound
like they're speaking English. Yeah, the accents are thick over there.
Yeah, what one of my favorite things about this movie, actually, is just how extremely
British it is like, yeah, you know, constantly people calling each other bruv or like, you

(29:50):
know, saying stuff like she's a nurse in it. In it. In it. Yeah. And even just like referring
to like, I had assumed, you know, going into this that attack the black man attack the
neighborhood, but the block is like they're slang for like their apartment building. Yeah.
So same. Yeah, there's a lot. It was kind of a crash course on London slang, I guess.

(30:15):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Close captions recommended for sure. The Wyndham Tower therein is named
after British sci fi writer John Wyndham. Well, some of the other buildings and settings
are named after writers like J.G. Ballard, H.G. Wells, Aldous Huxley and Douglas Adams.
Are either of you guys familiar with John Wyndham? I know all of those other names,

(30:37):
but I do not know John Wyndham. No, he's new to me. I'm not very familiar, although he
wrote the book that the Day of the Triffids is based on a movie that we talked about on
the podcast. Pretty bad movie, but I've heard that the book is decent. Oh, hey, it all comes
together. Yeah. He has another book that's called like The Kraken Awakens or something

(30:58):
like that. It's a cool title, but I haven't read it. So I know he's kind of like sort
of a legend in like the British sci fi world. Oh, wait, wait, wait. He also wrote the Midwitch
Cuckoo's The Basis for the Village of the Damned. Oh, OK. I figure he must be a big

(31:19):
name if he's up there with those other names who are all, you know, very famous authors.
But yeah, I just was not familiar with them. Yeah. Well, there you go. We've heard of his
work at any rate. Yeah. Cool. Village of the Damned is a great movie. I would definitely
like to read the book that that's based on. It's the actual setting of the film is a little
bit. It's not based on an actual real place. It's a it's set in the South London district

(31:43):
of Stockwell, but there's not like a real location that it was shot or that it was based
on or whatever. So it was shot in numerous areas throughout England, including Southwark.
I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right. Brixton, Eilington and other areas. So it's
kind of just like a vague South London locale movie. Well, I have to just say that Eilington

(32:04):
is pronounced Islington. That's the that's the neighborhood my dad's from. Oh, nice.
I'm trying to sound classy and pretend that I know the pronunciations, but I don't. I
don't know what I'm talking about. It's a different language. I'm telling you. Yeah.
The creatures in this movie, the aliens, they were played by actors in suits on the set

(32:27):
and Cornish wanted there to be a tactile presence to scare the actors. The alien suits did have
animatronic jaws, however, and other effects were added in post-production like the dark
spiky fur claws and some of their movements. The film was a critical and commercial success
in the UK and in North America, though, it was well received but didn't do so great at

(32:50):
the box office at first, although now, as Frank said earlier, it has become a cult classic.
And there's a sequel on the way, written and directed by Cornish again and starring John
Boyega. So it works. I'm not sure what stage of development it's in though. I don't know
if you guys know any more about that. I don't. I think it was announced in 2021 and it's

(33:15):
been in development for a while. So maybe it's this kind of indefinitely postponed,
but hopefully it comes out of something. Now is a good time for our sponsor break. Camp
Kaiju is sponsored by Zach Linder and the Zach Pack powered by Coldwell Banker Real
Team, your source for real estate, home rehab, fixing and flipping for investor clients and
residential buyers. Reach out to the Zach Pack today for real estate services, follow the

(33:37):
Zach Pack on social media and contact the Zach Pack for investment opportunities. The
link is in the show notes. Vincent, do we have any communiques in the Menya's mailbox?
Yeah, I want to shout out our fan. Her name is Joe and Joe actually won our trivia prize

(34:00):
back for the Wolfman episode. And I sent Joe a shirt not too long ago and she says in response
to Godzilla minus one great episode. I love my new Camp Kaiju shirt. No guesses on trivia
this time. Math is hard. Because if you remember Naomi's trivia question has to do with the

(34:26):
amount of how many minutes Godzilla appears in the runtime of Godzilla minus one. So Joe,
I'm with you at least. Math's not that's why I don't I don't host a math podcast. So I'll
leave it there. But thank you, Joe. Cool. Well, thank you, Joe for for writing back.
Glad that she liked the Godzilla minus one episode. I was a little bit worried that,

(34:51):
you know, I was a little too hard on that movie. So hopefully I didn't get any hate
mail about that. But no, actually, I've gotten additional positive feedback from that episode.
Cool. Well, it's it's already kind of a classic Godzilla movie. So a lot of people love it.
It's very well known, obviously. So it was fun to talk about for sure. Yeah, it was a
good one. Indeed. I'm sorry. I never know what's going on with Silent But Deadly. Do

(35:15):
we have anything going on there? Yeah, I think Peter was lined up to talk about The Unholy
Three, a crime drama thriller directed by Todd Browning starring Lon Chaney. And yeah,
he's only got two episodes left with us. He might make an appearance at the happy hour

(35:36):
or the holiday party. But I haven't heard from him in a while, so I hope he's OK. Hmm.
Strange. I hear him cackling from inside of his small cell that we keep him trapped inside
of. So I know that he's still alive. That's the only contact I have with him, though.
I don't know if he's cackling or screaming, to be fair. A little bit of both, perhaps.

(35:59):
I have to say that he and Pierre are the best part of the show. No offense to you guys,
but no, that's better. They're the highlights for me every time. It's bittersweet that he'll
finally be liberated from his cell. What are we going to do without him? And what's Pierre
going to do? Yeah, we've been upstaged by a rodent. Well, perhaps there will be other

(36:25):
guests in the next season of Camp Kaju. Yeah, we'll see. Yeah, maybe Bella Lugosi. I'm not
sure yet. We're in contract negotiations. Which I'm sure is especially difficult if
they're coming from beyond the grave. Like they're just like unforeseen obstacles, you
know? Yeah, backdoor channel type of thing. Yeah, yeah, for sure. OK.

(36:55):
Before Karloff and Lugosi stalked the screens, movies were no less monstrous. These frightful
figures lurked in the expressionistic shadows and danced in the macabre moonlight. Oh, they
laughed, they cried, they fooled the sensibilities of honest, decent folk. In the age of silent

(37:19):
pictures, these gruesome ghouls nonetheless crying out for savage humanity took the breath
from all who witnessed their devilish delights. Or in the silence, no one can hear you scream.
Oh, oh my goodness, this, this is terrible. I, I must clean up all this blood before Matthew

(37:46):
and Vincent find out what has happened to Pierre. If, if anyone is listening to this
recording, the events of last time will, will forever echo in the broken caverns of my mind.
My, my beloved companion, my, my partner in this podcast of doom, my precocious mouse

(38:07):
friend Pierre came at me with a meat cleaver. I do not know what snapped inside his little
furry noggin, but perhaps he could no longer stand this blasted recording prison. Friends,
I turned the cleaver on Pierre. It was no difficult matter. He stood no chance considering the

(38:31):
size disparity between the two of us, but, but, but I had no choice. Oh, there is even
blood on the microphone. Well, let me, what am I to do but carry on the work I have been
summoned to do this week on silent but deadly. We, I mean, I discussed the long, shabby picture,

(38:55):
the unholy three directed by Todd Brown and of Dracula fame. The film is a disturbing
crime thriller about three carnies who use their sideshow talents for grand larceny.
One plays the ventriloquist master of disguise leading the gang as a seemingly poor old woman.

(39:17):
Harry Earls of Freaks and the Wizard of Oz plays Tweedledee, the dwarf who masquerades
as a, as a baby to gain entry into upscale households. The third member is the muscle,
Hercules the strong man. The unholy three was produced by Metro Goldwyn Mare, was the first

(39:39):
of eight movies between Chaney and Browning. It was wildly popular and the New York Times
named it one of the top ten films of 1925. The movie was subsequently remade as a talking
picture in 1930 with Chaney and Earls reprising their roles. Alas, it would be Chaney's swan
song in the only film to feature the actor's voice. An icon of the movie's he, like your

(40:06):
bereaved host, was forever entombed in the silence.
If there be any peace in this, in this ill-begotten world it is that I have but one more segment
left on my unholy contract. Hmm, what should I do next? Nosferatu? Waxworks? Perhaps the

(40:28):
Phantom Carriage or the Hands of Orlok? There are so many to choose. Ah screw it, let's
talk about dinosaurs in, in the lost world brought to you by the one and only Willis
O'Brien. Oh now what to do about all this blood, it is, it is so sticky and, and-
A

(41:10):
The day of the triphids, when terror rained from the sky.

(41:41):
The day of the triphids, when the earth orbits into a nightmare.
When the solid world of everyday reality disintegrates.
And the whole population is driven by fear towards insanity.
The day of the triphids, when destruction closes in from every side.

(42:04):
The day of the triphids, when the earth orbits into a nightmare.
It's going to be starvation, fire, pestilence.
Anyone caught in the middle of it doesn't stand a chance.
I think we ought to get out of here and go on to Spain.
How can you know it's any better?

(42:25):
I don't.
Doesn't seem to have any central nervous system.
Then how does it move?
All plans move.
They don't usually pull themselves out of the ground and chase you.

(42:46):
You have never been married?
No.
Why?
I guess I've never been to one spot long enough to get caught.
And now you're saddled with a family.
It might have its points.
The day of the triphids, when law and order are overwhelmed in an avalanche of terror.

(43:28):
Yes, it came from outer space to fill the world with terror, to bring you unforgettable suspense.
What was it?
Where did it come from?
Who were the all-powerful creatures it brought from outer space?
And what did they want on earth?
You can learn the amazing stories of the world by following the link in the description.

(43:50):
And if you want to learn more about the world,
you can visit the link in the description.
And what did they want on earth?
You can learn the amazing answer only when you see the most thrilling picture in years.
It came from outer space.
In the astonishing realism of three dimension,
with objects coming right out of the screen so real they almost touch.

(44:32):
Back to Attack the Block, the focus of this episode.
Let's talk about some of the themes in this movie.
There are some, there may be a little bit on the nose.
They're fairly overt, I would say, with the horror noir book and the discussion of this film.
Certainly it's about the young gang members who are predominantly black.
There is one white kid that's part of the gang as well.

(44:54):
But part of the setting and part of that character group is themes of empowerment, themes of racist policing.
Definitely are emphasized in this movie, especially in the ending.
This is sort of a spoiler, so if you don't want to ruin the end of the movie,
maybe fast forward through this part.
But not surprisingly, the young gang members vanquish the aliens.

(45:16):
They seem to have saved the day.
But of course, as soon as they exit the building that they live in,
this kind of huge apartment complex, you know, the police have their weapons drawn and they immediately arrest all of them.
But as the John Boyega character Moses is put into the back of a police van,
all of the residents in the building are chanting his name.
And he kind of has this moment of empowerment, even though he's still being, you know,

(45:40):
targeted by the police who just assume that he and his fellow gang members are responsible for all this violence and mayhem.
So I would say that's the most overt example of the themes of the movie coming out during the climax.
Related to that, I found the what popped to me was the system in which these young individuals are born into.

(46:08):
And I found the movie an effective criticism of, you know, sometimes it's not.
Sometimes it just comes down to the opportunities you either have or lack.
And I have a quote from the film that I think speaks to this.
A couple of quotes, one from the character Pest.

(46:29):
No, no, sorry. It's John Boyega as Moses. He says that the feds.
The feds sent these aliens, he says, government probably bred those things to kill black boys.
First, they sent in drugs, then they sent guns. Now they're sending monsters in to kill us.
They don't care, man. We ain't killing each other fast enough. So they decided to speed up the process.

(46:50):
I found that that just enlightening and illuminating and just like puts me in check as, you know,
the privileges I've been born into and understanding that, you know, just because you dress a certain way,
you act a certain way doesn't mean you're a bad person.
It's just that to some degree, it's the cards you've been dealt.

(47:13):
One more thing I want to mention is another quote.
This is by Pest and he's the I believe he's the white gang member.
And he has a really funny flirtatious relationship with the nurse.
And he asked the nurse about her having a boyfriend.
And she says, yes. And he's like, where is he?

(47:34):
And the nurse says he's in Ghana with the Red Cross.
And Pest, again, I think brilliantly says, well, why can't he help poor people in Britain?
Is it not exotic enough for him?
I'm just like, yeah, that's a I think that's a valid criticism of of, you know, people's hearts are in the right place.
But is there value in helping those in your own neighborhood and or not to the exclusion of international needs?

(48:02):
But, you know, I think it it it it's a conversation starter that's worth having.
Yeah, like maybe her boyfriend's, you know, volunteer efforts are performative to some extent.
You know, like he wants this experience, he wants to see the world not to, you know, I'm not trying to vilify him perhaps as hard as in the right place.
But maybe there's an element of that, too. Right.

(48:23):
And I think that's Pest's critique.
And at any rate, yeah, I think sort of going along with that, I think, you know,
another theme is kind of just about like the other, like this kind of fear of the other and like people's misconceptions and assumptions about the other,
meaning like, you know, this group that you label as an author because you don't want to understand them because, like you said, Vincent, they look or or dress or act differently than you.

(48:47):
So you kind of just say, oh, this is like another community.
And and we get that, you know, from the nurse to the young gay members and also from the gang members back to the nurse, they all have their assumptions, their misconceptions about the other person or group of people.
And throughout the course of the movie, they're pretty much proven wrong, making the perhaps sentimental but still very good point that like, you know, you should try to understand somebody before you vilify them and assume the worst of them.

(49:16):
I think one one way they get at that pretty well in this movie is, you know, it starts off just kind of in the opening credit sequence following the nurse as she's like, I believe, coming back from work to her apartment right before she gets mugged.
So you're kind of put in the position of identifying with her initially. And the John Boyega and the other guys in this gang kind of seem, you know, like just generic villains at first.

(49:47):
I mean, they they just mugger and they they don't really have any good reason to or anything. It's just kind of something that they're doing.
So I thought that that was a fairly bold way to start it, you know, to have the guys who are going to become the heroes of the movie be these sort of just kind of like generic thugs at first until you get to know them, you know, so you're kind of put in the same position as the the nurse who has to eventually come to see their, you know, see these people as human beings and and learn their value and everything as the movie goes along.

(50:23):
Yeah, and inevitably lessons are learned and it's maybe I should save this for for our breakdowns later. It feels a little bit, you know, kind of like, yeah, a little a little sappy at times, but of course, well intentioned and like still a very, you know, unfortunately, as we see in the real world all the time, still a very significant theme that people probably should be reminded of more often than not.

(50:45):
All right. So, yeah, now is the time for our individual breakdowns. As always on Camp Kaji, we have the good, the bad and the campy.
I really like the the creature design in this film.
I love the design in and of itself. At first I was like, because they're all like they're pitch black creatures like black as night.
Maybe that's intentional for more than one reason, but at the very least it adds such a they're like shadows, the way they move and you really only see their their like phosphorescent mouths and jaws.

(51:18):
And then I totally caught on that these these to a large extent, these creatures are also actors in suits.
And I love that practicality. I love that the actors not in suits are actually being able to interact with something live.
It's great. Not done enough.

(51:41):
So that was I really like the creature design in this film. I think John Boyega has a strong presence, whether or not, you know, his character has written works for me.
I can't deny that he made a lasting impression as like an actor. And I totally see why he took off the way he did.

(52:02):
So props there. I mean, Jodie Whitaker, she's also a lovely presence on screen and I think they have really good chemistry with each other.
Yeah, all in all, I like the cast of this film.
Yeah, I second that. I think the the characters are just kind of fairly generic stock types for the most part.
And you can pretty much guess what their, you know, narrative trajectory is going to be as well.

(52:28):
But but yeah, I do think that the cast brings some liveliness and some some charisma to those roles and and makes them stand out a little bit.
Like you said, you can see why John Boyega became a big name.
And that monologue you mentioned is probably his best moment in the movie, I think.
And yeah, those those comic relief characters we were talking about earlier, the kind of pothead guys are, I think, really funny.

(52:54):
Pest, I think, is a pretty funny character.
He had just a lot of not even necessarily funny lines, but just like his delivery of the lines were funny.
He's just kind of seems like a naturally funny guy.
Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I definitely think, yeah, they brought they brought more to it than was than what was probably on the page.

(53:15):
Yeah, that's a good way to put it.
The only thing that I would add to the good category, I agree with you guys, but everything you said, but it's just a very fast paced entertaining story.
It's the kind of movie where you like it jumps right into it.
Like the mugging scene is pretty much the first scene of the movie.
The ending happens like immediately after the aliens are kind of vanquished.

(53:36):
For the time being, we don't really know what's happening like elsewhere in the world or if there are going to be more aliens coming.
But in any case, like the story is very tight.
It's like there's not really any filler in here at all.
So I actually could have used a little bit more like unexpected scenes or moments, but it's a very tight, well-constructed movie.
Yeah, and I think to, and I don't know if you guys have any more to go on the good, but I think to the kind of bounce off on that and get into the bad.

(54:06):
I think with that fast pace and just the sheer narrative momentum of it, I think a lot of the themes and things we were talking about kind of get glossed over.
Like it seems like the movie always, whenever it would kind of get into these sort of socially conscious moments or whatever, or whenever it would have these opportunities to kind of dive more into those themes,

(54:30):
it seems like what was prioritized was always like narrative streamlining, you know, and just kind of keeping the pace going.
So it just felt to me like a lot of things got glossed over.
Like in that very good monologue we were talking about that John Boyega gives about just kind of nobody caring about people like him and this whole alien invasion possibly being just sort of plot to kill people like him off faster.

(55:06):
Right after that, there's something that Pest says, it's some sort of thing where he's like agreeing with it, but then people kind of laugh because he's the one guy who's not black in this crew or whatever.
And then they laugh and then the movie just kind of moves on from it.
Or like at the ending when you see the nurse kind of trying to talk to the police and being like, trying to kind of explain in vain that these kids aren't at fault and they were actually kind of the heroes in this situation.

(55:42):
It just kind of like immediately moves on from that to the part where everybody is cheering for John Boyega's character.
So it just feels to me like a lot of the stuff that was most potentially interesting in the movie kind of got just like trampled over by the pacing.

(56:04):
Yeah, I totally agree with that.
I think the movie lays out its themes very clearly.
It wears its heart on its sleeve.
And that's not really a bad thing.
But there's not really any kind of interpretation that the audience has to do. And I feel like for that reason, there's not really a lot of thinking that we have to do as an audience.
All of the themes are just given to us in a silver platter.

(56:25):
And again, there's a lot of value in our entertainment.
And I'm not saying that every movie has to be challenging and difficult, but I would have preferred a little bit more complexity or ambiguity to some of this stuff.
But I think more importantly for me, a more important flaw is just how cliched and sentimental a lot of it is.
From the very start, you can kind of tell that the gang members are going to learn valuable lessons about the nurse and vice versa.

(56:50):
You kind of know that this villainous drug dealer character, this drug lord whose name is Hi-Hats in the movie, you know he's going to get his comeuppance.
You kind of know the themes that are going to be presented. And it feels a little sappy to me a lot of the time.
And some of the slang-filled dialogue didn't actually seem all that believable to me.

(57:16):
I know that maybe contradicts what I said before, but I almost rather wish that the actors would have improvised instead of what I assume they did,
which is to read all this dialogue that was written by Cornish, which maybe doesn't always seem very convincing.
One line that I wanted to say in particular, I think it's Pest who says this actually, but he says,
I'm shitting meself in it, bruv. And at the same time, this is sick.

(57:39):
My eyes rolled out of my head at that line of dialogue. It's very cheesy. It's a little bit lame, even if it's well-intentioned.
Maybe that sounds harsh, but it's hard for those themes to fully land for me because of some of those elements.
Yeah, and this is a minor thing too, but these are people who are supposed to live in poverty and everything.

(58:05):
And this may just be a function of it being hard to shoot and light in tiny rooms and everything,
but their apartment building looks fairly nice, I would say. It doesn't really look like they're living in squalor or whatever.
They're presumably supposed to be. So that kind of goes along with it being kind of an unconvincing look at poverty and everything as well.

(58:32):
And I don't know, Frank. I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud here. I wonder if that is a difference between what poverty might look like in the United States versus the UK.
I know there's a lot of subsidized public housing as depicted in Attack the Block that may seem more refined than it would here in the States.

(59:05):
Yeah, that may be too. That could just be my own ignorance of British culture and everything.
But again, I don't know. I don't live in poverty and I never have. So to a certain extent, I just don't know.
It's the same with the slang too. I don't know. This felt like a foreign movie to me.
And not every British film feels like a foreign movie, right? But this one was 100% British produced depicting life on the streets.

(59:35):
I don't know. I don't know if it's right or wrong for me to give it a lot of leeway, but part of me is like, I don't know enough to criticize it.
Yeah, that's fair. It's very possible that my dislike of some of the dialogue is just because of that, because I'm not used to it, because I'm an American viewer watching this British movie and maybe all the bruvs and in it.

(59:57):
Maybe I'm a little too harsh on it. It seems to me like Cornish went in and did his slang research and then was like, all right, I'm going to throw all these words in the screenplay.
And to me, it's not totally convincing. But again, that might just be because of that cultural divide. It's certainly possible.
Yeah. And I actually, for me, would almost put that stuff in the good category. I did kind of like all the off the wall slang and the thick accents and everything.

(01:00:25):
I thought that gave the movie some character. I have no idea how accurate it is.
Being like a British street person is about as far away from my own experience as possible. But I enjoyed that part of it.
Yeah. I don't think any of us are British street people in this chat here.

(01:00:46):
It reminded me a little bit of like Clockwork Orange or something almost where you've got whatever that language is that they're supposed to be doing in that one, which obviously in that one is very stylized and not supposed to be realistic at all.
But it reminded me a little bit of that where you kind of like kind of as the movie goes along, you kind of pick up on some of the repeated phrases they're saying and you kind of start to learn like how they talk.

(01:01:16):
I enjoyed that aspect of it. Yeah. Nothing else for the bad category. I have one other thing for the bad.
I will say, although I do think the creatures are really cool looking. I love the design of them and that their practical effects and everything and you know the like neon blue teeth stand out from the black bodies in a really cool way.

(01:01:39):
I would say for me there's like no real like memorable set piece with them. Like the action scenes are good and entertaining while I'm watching them. None of them really stand out to me in hindsight as like big memorable moments.
Like there's nothing in this movie for me that's similar to like the scene in Alien where the thing bursts out of the chest or like King Kong where he's climbing up the Empire State Building or something.

(01:02:12):
And I know those are like that's setting a super high bar, but it just seems like there's nothing in this movie that's even like trying to be like iconic like that. You know what I mean? Action scenes were like good but kind of generic, I thought.
Yeah, I would agree with that. Like the main one that I remember is I think it's actually Pest again who is going to like show off how we can like jump from one stairwell to another.

(01:02:42):
And then he does that a little bit later on when he's getting chased by the monsters or the aliens, which should like should be an effective moment, but it kind of just happens all of a sudden and you're like, all right, I guess we're past that now.
Like it's there should be more opportunities for like memorable scenes like that.
That's another thing that thing you mentioned is another thing going back to what I was saying about the fast pace, although it does keep the movie entertaining and lively and everything.

(01:03:06):
It's almost like too fast, like to the point that nothing really like connects or hits you very hard, you know, it just kind of like, yeah, it seems like the movie just kind of like brushes past a lot of stuff before it can really sink in and become memorable, I guess.
Yeah, I would agree with that.
What about campy stuff? And is there any?

(01:03:27):
There's there's an element of camp throughout the whole movie, I would say. But is there anything particular that you guys want to bring up?
Yeah, I really like how I forget the character's name, but he's hiding in a dumpster throughout this whole invasion.
And he's the only one with cell phone service. And I find it really funny that these aliens are seemingly able to just get through any barrier that's put in front of them. And yet this one alien cannot get into the dumpster.

(01:03:59):
It leads to a lot of intentional comedy, I think, but it's good. It's good.
Yeah, that reminds me of the campy thing that I would bring up, which is like the two very young kids who are like want to be members of the gang and they like have, you know, toy guns and everything.
Maybe campy is not the right word for it. It's just a little it's a little sappy, but like those kids are like very likable like all the characters are in the movie, even if they're not always convincing.

(01:04:28):
So I'm not necessarily complaining, but those two characters were like, like little rascals almost a little bit, you know.
Yeah, it's a little hard for me to think of things in this movie that like specifically stand out as being campy because I think the movie is sort of going for campiness to an extent.
Like it's it's clearly like kind of a lighthearted, you know, comedic. I would say it's more almost more of a comedy than it is even like an action or sci fi movie necessarily.

(01:04:58):
So, yeah, the whole thing really overall is just just kind of campy, not necessarily in a bad way, but but yeah, that's just kind of the tone it goes for.
Agreed. I also like how all of these teenagers.
Oh, that's another thing when you find out that Moses is only 15 years old, not to get too deep in the weeds here, but as a teacher, it's it's always at the front of my mind when I'm dealing with youth of color because there is a there can be often a unintentional subconscious choice by

(01:05:39):
white authority figures to adultify black teenagers.
And this is what has happened to Moses.
And we see that in his casting. And it's like, holy crap, he's only 15 years old. Guess what he should not be dealing with any of this stuff he's dealing with.
So some more social commentary there for you.

(01:06:01):
But anyways, I find it really charming that each of these teenagers are talking to their moms and their parents and saying, yeah, mom, I'm going to be home.
I swear. And it's just like, oh, man, like they act tough.
But there's, you know, they still got moms at home and they still have a bedtime.

(01:06:24):
And it's just really, it's really charming to me.
And that's one way, you know, Frank was talking about the fast pace being a little bit too fast and brushing over things a little bit too quickly.
I would have loved to see some more of like the family home lives of these characters, you know, like I feel like maybe more than the dialogue and some other stuff.
Like, maybe that's why I didn't totally buy it, because like I we don't know a lot about them.

(01:06:46):
They really are like stock characters like Frank said.
And I think if we knew a little bit more about their family dynamics, not to like stretch out the film too far, but I think that would have helped in that regard to make them seem like real people.
Yeah, there's room for it, I think. Yeah.
Well, we've arrived at the time of our show when we give the film a rating.
As always on Camp Kaiju, our highest rating is it is a timeless classic and definitely stands the test of time.

(01:07:11):
Our second rating, there may be some antiquated moments, but overall, it's great.
It stands the test of time.
The third rating is it may be historically significant or just fun, but it does not stand the test of time.
And our lowest rating, it is not worth revisiting and definitely does not stand the test of time.
Maybe I'll go first just really quick to get things going and then I'll turn the ball over to you guys.

(01:07:33):
So for me, I'm going to give this our third rating.
It may be historically significant or just fun, but it does not stand the test of time for me personally.
This movie is only 13 years old, so hard to say if it stands the test of time or not.
But like I always just wanted a little bit more from the movie.
I wanted like, you know, a little more character development, a little more complexity to the themes,

(01:07:56):
a little more visual style, a little more like, you know, like more remarkable moments, memorable moments.
Like, you know, after I watched this movie, I kind of just shrugged and I was like, yeah, that was fine.
And like, you know, I'd rather have something be interestingly bad than just like fine, you know.
Yeah, so I didn't I didn't hate it.

(01:08:17):
There are definitely good things about it, but but that's that's the rating I'm going to give it. Yeah.
Yeah, I think I'm at the same same rating as well.
Yeah, I would say it's definitely a fun movie.
It is entertaining. I wouldn't like discourage anyone from seeing it by any means.
But but yeah, I do feel like there were some some missed opportunities for sure to get deeper into some of those themes that we talked about,

(01:08:43):
deeper into some of the characters.
And and definitely I like I was saying before, I wish that there were some more memorable moments with the creatures because they are so cool looking,
but they they don't really do anything super memorable for me.
I don't think it's a perfect movie, but I do think it stands the test of time as a more contemporary take on a classic alien invasion story that you might have seen in the 50s or something.

(01:09:12):
And I think the youth perspective, especially these these the demographic represented in the film.
And I feel as if I this movie is not for me because I agree with you guys, especially I feel like I was also like, I don't need to see it again.
But I'm also not a black 15 year old dealing with this stuff.

(01:09:38):
So I don't know, it would probably hit different if I was.
So I'm going to give it some grace there.
But I think the aliens are memorable enough with their designs.
And I think it it works enough for me.
Nice. Um, yeah, I'm glad that there's there's, you know, a positive voice just because like there's a lot that I do like about the movie, but it didn't it didn't quite do it for me.

(01:10:06):
Yeah. All right. Thank you guys so much. Thank you, Vincent and Frank.
Thank you all out there for listening to this episode. We'll be talking at you next time when we talk about gremlins.
Frank, are you going to join us for that one?
No, it's been a while since I've seen gremlins, although I do like it.
So I'll be interested to hear your episode about it.
I actually like gremlins to even better than the first one. But hey, I agree.

(01:10:28):
Yeah, but yeah, but yeah, definitely looking forward to hearing that.
And yeah, thank you guys for having me on again.
It's always fun. Thank you, Frank.
Always a pleasure. We'll see you next week for our holiday party.
All right. Well, talk to you guys then. All right.
Thanks, Frank. All right. Yeah.
And then coming out shortly after that is our season five announcement episode.

(01:10:50):
So stay tuned for that. Thank you for hanging out, friends.
Please rate and review wherever you listen.
You can also share this podcast with a friend.
Send us listener comments at campkaiju.gmail.com, our Facebook page or on Instagram.
The links are in the bio.
If you'd like to be a featured voice on the show, leave a voicemail at 612-470-2612,

(01:11:11):
telling us about your favorite monster movies and memories.
Please check out our website, CampKaijuPodcast.com for more information.
Camp Kaiju is recorded in Minneapolis, St. Paul with Mignon's mailbox music by Ben Cook Feltz.
Thanks, friends. And until next time, stay campy.
Camp Kaiju is sponsored by Zach Linder and the Zach Pack, powered by Coldwell Banker Realty.

(01:11:32):
Your source for real estate, home rehab, fixing and clipping for investor clients and residential buyers.
Reach out to the Zach Pack today for real estate services.
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Link in the show notes.
No, mum, playing football. Yeah, I had pepperoni pizza.

(01:12:05):
There's an enemy spy at large, an invisible man. It's amazing. Oh, you will be of great help to us.
Who is this terrifying Phantom Commando? What is his amazing mission?
See The Invisible Agent, suggested by H.G. Wells' Invisible Man, starring Ilona Massey and John Hall,

(01:12:28):
with Peter Lorre, Sir Cedric Hardwick, J. Edward Bromberg, Albert Basiman, in the most amazing story of our times.
Stop!
Let's get in now.
Don't let him get away.
Kaiju!
Gesunde! Who is there?

(01:12:51):
How did you know I was going to England?
I didn't, but...
So the trap was all set, eh?
Frank, how can you talk like that?
Oh, what's this? It's full of hooks. Oh, they're tearing into me.
It's full of hooks. Oh, they're tearing into me.

(01:13:35):
I'm thankful for Mr. Lorre and all of the amazing performances he's given us over the last, you know,
well, certainly like in his acting career, but also in his weird film review, Imprisonment, Limbo, that he's in right now.
I recently saw Peter in a movie called The Invisible Agent. It's from Universal during World War II.

(01:13:59):
It's an Invisible Man movie. It's like an espionage spy thriller in which the spy is invisible.
Well, Peter plays, I thought, a German agent, which makes sense.
No, turns out he's a Japanese agent.

(01:14:21):
And he doesn't do a Japanese accent.
That's good.
He's just at some point, he just says a bit of dialogue that confirms, you know, he's going to take this information back to the Japanese government.
And I'm like, what? And I looked it up. It's a thing. He plays a Japanese man in that movie.

(01:14:44):
Wow. But they never go into like his, you know, if he's like German Japanese, like if he has, you know, ethnic heritage from various countries.
Strange. That's a little confusing. It's 100 percent Peter Laurie. But the script says he's Japanese.
Wow. Well, I as far as I know, he like really strongly did not want to play German characters in his American movies because I think he wanted to like distance himself from like, you know, Nazism and Hitler and all that, understandably.

(01:15:10):
So I guess that part of it kind of makes sense. But that still seems very confusing in that movie.
It sounds cool, though. That's a good concept for a spy movie. I mean, yeah, apart from that.
He's excellent in that movie. He's very sinister and doing all the things he does best.
Wow. Well, I'll have to talk to him about the invisible agent the next time I peek into like the small cell that we imprison him inside of.

(01:15:36):
I'll ask him about it. Yeah.
Um, cool. Happy Thanksgiving to Mr. Laurie. Happy Thanksgiving, Peter.