Help identify Harryhausen Monster... in Men Behind the Monsters Forum

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Help identify Harryhausen Monster...

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lizardwizard	Help identify Harryhausen Monster...	Lead	[-]
Jun 22 12 1:26 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hello, I'm new to the board here and looking for some help in identifying a specific film monster from the following picture. It looks like Harryhausen, with elements of Ymir and the Kraken, any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Aupperle		#1	[-]
Jun 22 12 1:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	lizardwizard wrote: Hello, I'm new to the board here and looking for some help in identifying a specific film monster from the following picture. It looks like Harryhausen, with elements of Ymir and the Kraken, any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. That's the talking monster seen at the end of FLESH GORDON (1974) and it was indeed inspired by Ray's Cyclops. Most of the final puppet's look was built up by Lane Liska and stop motion was by Rob Maine and David Allen. Photographed by Dennis Muren and Jim Danforth. The monster wasn't named in the film but it's known both as the Great God Porno and Nesuahyrrah by his friends. You can see the same monster here giving instructions to a stage hand on how to do the final set dressing on this miniature set. Last Edited By: Aupperle Jun 22 12 1:42 PM. Edited 1 times.
lizardwizard		#2	[-]
Jun 22 12 1:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow, thank you Aupperle, truly...this was a long shot and I wasn't expecting a response, much less this quickly. I really appreciate all of the info. I saw the pic posted on a blog and it looked vaguely familiar and for the life of me, I just couldn't place it. I've never seen the film, but am going to go pick it up today, if I can find a copy locally. Again, thank you very much. I owe you.
Aupperle		#3	[-]
Jun 22 12 2:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	lizardwizard wrote: Wow, thank you Aupperle, truly...this was a long shot and I wasn't expecting a response, much less this quickly. I really appreciate all of the info. I saw the pic posted on a blog and it looked vaguely familiar and for the life of me, I just couldn't place it. I've never seen the film, but am going to go pick it up today, if I can find a copy locally. Again, thank you very much. I owe you. Hi lizardwizard, You're very welcome. There are two other stop motion creatures in the film and wall to wall miniatures and matte paintings. It's fun to see what could be accomplished on a low budget way back before computer effects. Tom Scherman was in charge of building the miniatures and special props and Mike Minor, who went on to art direct STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN designed the cool sets.
kcor.tylerandjacksmo...		#4	[-]
Jun 23 12 8:22 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Funny this should come up, I watched this for the first time since I was a college kid just last week and was surprised how entertaining it was as I recalled it being corny and obvious with no real hardcore parts and much repetition of stuff but this time found it fun and respectful and quite full of effects. I have no idea why i walked around for 30 years not particularly interested in re-seeing it.
BijouBob8mm		#5	[-]
Jun 25 12 11:36 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Unlike the incredible FX scenes in this film, the risque' moments come off a bit amatuerish. As a result, the R-rated cut of the film is (to me) a better-paced presentation.
Tim Smyth		#6	[-]
Jun 26 12 12:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I will have to disagree with you on this one BijouBob, Yes the film is amateurish, but the current VHS, and DVD presentation is superior to the release print. It is indeed 11 minutes longer or so, but characters just don't disappear from scenes, due to sloppy editing, now the scenes are allowed to play out, so the story telling for what it is worth, just flows better in my opinion. The actual X rated scenes have never been released, or seen by anyone, except the FBI. Tim
Aupperle		#7	[-]
Jun 26 12 2:34 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tim Smyth wrote: I will have to disagree with you on this one BijouBob, Yes the film is amateurish, but the current VHS, and DVD presentation is superior to the release print. It is indeed 11 minutes longer or so, but characters just don't disappear from scenes, due to sloppy editing, now the scenes are allowed to play out, so the story telling for what it is worth, just flows better in my opinion. The actual X rated scenes have never been released, or seen by anyone, except the FBI. Hi Tim, I think you're right about this. The current longer DVD version of FLESH GORDON seems very much like what I remember seeing at the crew screening and even having worked on the film I don't recall ever seeing any footage that would have needed an X rating unless you count frontal nudity. I'm sure that X rated footage existed but I don't think it was ever returned after the police raided the Graffiti Productions vault. Last Edited By: Aupperle Jun 26 12 3:50 PM. Edited 1 times.
BijouBob8mm		#8	[-]
Jun 26 12 3:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm sure that X rated footage existed I'm confused here, Jim & Tim; I would swear the film played here with an X rating when it was first released, with a slightly shorter R-rated cut making the rounds a few years later (maybe in the wake of STAR WARS). We had one drive-in in the area that played this thing once a year...pairing it one year with BARBARELLA, another time making it a triple feature with THE GIRL FROM STARSHIP VENUS and 2069: A SEX ODYSSEY. I think the last year the drive-in booked it, it was paired with GALAXINA. I really enjoyed the commentary on the DVD for this, but it was a pain in the neck to get to it. This was an early DVD purchase, and there was no audio option for the commentary anywhere onscreen like my other DVDs (unless it was an Easter Egg hidden so well that I've still yet to find it after all these years). At first I thought the box's listing for the commentary was a misprint. Only as an afterthought did I decide to try using the Audio option button on the remote and was finally able to access it. Last Edited By: BijouBob8mm Jun 26 12 3:57 PM. Edited 3 times.
Aupperle		#9	[-]
Jun 26 12 4:02 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	BijouBob8mm wrote: I'm sure that X rated footage existed I'm confused here, Jim & Tim; I would swear the film played here with an X rating when it was first released, with a slightly shorter R-rated cut making the rounds a few years later (maybe in the wake of STAR WARS). There might have been a slightly longer X rated version but I'm just going on my memory of almost 40 years ago. I know there was frontal nudity but I can't recall anything really stronger than that. Like I said, the current long DVD version seems the same to me as the print I saw at the crew screening and from what I recall the original theatrical release only cut scenes from that and didn't add anything. I think that the theatrical R rated version might have been the same as the X rated one and that Graffiti Productions just pulled off a little slight of hand with the ratings board. Perhaps the answers are in the DVD commentary... anyone here listen to all of it? There very well might have been something X rated going on in a wide shot like this Jim Danforth matte painting but but that was about it as far as anything I ever saw (color has faded in this image, original was not so red). Last Edited By: Aupperle Jun 26 12 4:21 PM. Edited 2 times.
BijouBob8mm		#10	[-]
Jun 26 12 4:20 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	IMDB shows two pre-DVD running times, one 78 minutes and another 72 minutes. (With the Collector's DVD edition clocked at 90 minutes on the site.) They also suggest a more risque cut might have slipped out briefly under their "Alternate Versions" listing (but don't know what their source is for that to know how reliable it may be): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068595/alternateversions Another factor may be what constituted X back then. I've seen the uncut versions of FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN and BLOOD FOR DRACULA from that same era, neither of which seem all that outrageous in terms of explicit content. And didn't MIDNIGHT COWBOY carry an X rating, once upon a time? Last Edited By: BijouBob8mm Jun 26 12 4:24 PM. Edited 2 times.
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Tim Smyth		#11	[-]
Jun 26 12 4:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hey Jim, and BijouBob, I have listened to the commentary track twice, and it is really quite informative, and it goes into detail about how the film was confiscated, and what they had to do to get the non x rated stuff back, boy and we think we have trouble making a movie. The commentary was recorded separately while not watching the film, so it never goes with the film, but it is still very well done. Like a giant ape movie of the past, I think this film evolved a lot during the production, due in this case to the amazing effects, where they started aiming less at porn and more at extravaganza. BijouBob, I remember the drive in pairing of Flesh with Galaxina, that was the last time I saw it at any theatre. Like Jim, I too think there was only this one version of the finished film, the one that is on DVD, minus 11 minutes that was cut after a test run in New York, and I think the X and R were probably one and the same. I did hear somewhere that they wanted to cut a PG version as well, but what would be the point. After Flesh, Bill Osco produced Alice in Wonderland, was also shot as an X, but Fox released the R version, they probably didn't know there was an X. Tim
Tim Smyth		#12	[-]
Jun 26 12 4:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yes Midnight Cowboy, and I think the Last Tango In Paris were really rated X when they came out, The Evil Dead, and the Evil Dead II, both received an X rating, which they declined to take, so those films were sent out unrated. The porn industry took over the rating of X, which I think for some reason was not trademarked, and so now everyone thinks of X meaning just porn , when it was really just for any adult film. Tim
BijouBob8mm		#13	[-]
Jun 26 12 4:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The double bill of it and GALAXINA was the last time I saw it on the big screen. (I recently found the trailer for FLESH in Super 8 for the projector. This lists it as R rated. Nice print, with some great stop-motion clips. I threw it on a reel of trailers that include FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS, QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE, GREEN SLIME, etc.) Code Red released the R version of ALICE to DVD last year. Seems like I'd read that the X-rated version got a VHS release, but have no idea if that's true or not...my adult viewing has been somewhat limited. (When a buddy of mine heard that I liked Hammer's VAMPIRE LOVERS and LUST FOR A VAMPIRE, he decided I must be into lesbian vampire films and surprised me with a couple of titles along those lines one Christmas. And surprised I was! No Peter Cushing in those romps.) Seems like Something Weird and Image released a boxed set of "adult fairy tale" films, but I've no idea what's in it. (Although the same buddy who gave me the vampire films treated himself to that collection.)
ryanbrennan		#14	[-]
Jun 30 12 3:23 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	CLOCKWORK ORANGE originally received an "X" but a different take of the "William Tell Overture" scene reduced it to an "R." Some other major studio films (including those already metioned) from those early days that were actually rated "X," though some ended up released without a rating, were: LAST OF THE MOBILE HOT SHOTS THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE FRITZ THE CAT 1900 (uncut) BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS THE CANTERBURY TALES FEMALE TROUBLE THE EVIL DEAD LA GRANDE BOUFFE HEAVY TRAFFIC INSERTS LAST TANGO IN PARIS MIDNIGHT COWBOY PINK FLAMINGOS SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG THE GORE GORE GIRLS TROPIC OF CANCER CALIGULA (reportedly self-imposed) THE DEVILS THE DAMNED MEDIUM COOL PERFORMANCE I don't know if SALO, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM actually went through the rating process but I think it was released without a rating. Oddly, in the 1990s THE WILD BUNCH was re-rated NC-17 despite its original "R" rating. WB appealed and got another "R."
mitchell169	Great God Porno unused animation	#15	[-]
Jun 30 12 1:51 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Aside from the rating issues there were many very difficult effects shots that were not used in Flesh Gordon. None of the front and back light matte shots of the Great God Porno were even composited. Also many first take versions of the Griffith Observatory scenes and the rear projection shot of the GGP pulling the dress off of Dale Ardor were not used.
Aupperle		#16	[-]
Jun 30 12 6:13 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	mitchell169 wrote: Aside from the rating issues there were many very difficult effects shots that were not used in Flesh Gordon. None of the front and back light matte shots of the Great God Porno were even composited. Also many first take versions of the Griffith Observatory scenes and the rear projection shot of the GGP pulling the dress off of Dale Ardor were not used. You're right about there being several excellent animation shots of the Great God Porno that never made it into the film. The first series of takes of the monster chasing Flesh and his pals around the Griffith Observatory were among the casualties of a recut however the shot of the stop motion monster pulling the dress off the live action Dale is in the film (just checked my DVD). I recall the producers saying that they couldn't find the negative for the front and back light shots but I always suspected that they just found it cheaper to retake those shots with the 5" wire puppet and a glass painting of the tower rather than going through some costly optical printing. Here is a test frame from the unused version of the Griffith Observatory sequence. Dennis Muren did the camera and rear projection setup and Joe Musso did the glass painting of the sky and cliffs seen in the background. Below you can see a very preliminary test set up by Jim Danforth for the second version of the Griffith Observatory sequence that was ultimately used. Rob Maine did the stop motion for both versions of this sequence as well as the majority of the stop motion shots for the Great God Porno. In the final shot a miniature set extension by Mike Minor covered the cars. Last Edited By: Aupperle Jul 1 12 9:44 AM. Edited 2 times.
HalLane		#17	[-]
Jul 1 12 9:45 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Aupperle wrote: There very well might have been something X rated going on in a wide shot like this Jim Danforth matte painting but but that was about it as far as anything I ever saw (color has faded in this image, original was not so red). Oh yeah, there definitely was, the second time I saw the film (with my dad!). Don't recall if it was longer or shorter than the version I'd previously seen in Cleveland the previous year (which was rated 'X'), but I think maybe it was rated 'R' by this time. I have an article on censorship in some cheap skin mag that describes some of the hardcore cuts (power pasties in places they don't belong, for instance). The Penthouse spread had some delightful behind the scenes shots as well.
BijouBob8mm		#18	[-]
Jul 10 12 8:59 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG Now there's a title I haven't heard anyone mention in a looong time!
SAM33		#19	[-]
Jul 28 12 2:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I too think it was more or less just reissued unchanged with an "R" after the original "X" (which I saw it with in college, so it definitely was out with that rating at one time). I never recall any real hardcore stuff save some long shots of probably just simulated sex like above. I don't think most people even in the Midnight Movies days of the 70's went to this to see real porno, they went for the cool effects and satire. SAM33
BijouBob8mm		#20	[-]
Aug 30 12 2:18 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I recall at least one screening where the lesbian sequence was shorter, with less footage of the gals pawing Dale. (Which kept things moving at a better pace.)
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Help identify Harryhausen Monster...

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