Greg Nicotero's United Monster Talent Agency

Peter and I had the opportunity to see some of the behind the scenes shots from the making of Greg Nicotero's short film United Monster Talent Agency this past March. If you're a Universal Monster fan, I think you'll love it. Watch for our pal David J. Schow behind the camera (literally), alongside a number of other famous faces.

AMC TV is hosting the video on their site. Check it out below!

Going to bat for The Creature

The roar of Monster Kids filled the air at AT&T Park in San Francisco yesterday, as they held the second annual Creature Features Movie Night at the ballpark following the Giants game.

Those of you who grew up in the Bay Area will remember Bob Wilkins and John Stanley, who each took turns hosting the show several decades ago. Last summer, a local group of fans and film event promoters got together with the park to schedule the first Creature Features night, which included a screening of Night of the Living Dead hosted by John Stanley, with actress Judy O'Dea in attendance.

Needless to say, we were quite disappointed to find out about the event a few days after it happened, and vowed to return if they ever did it again. Well, last night was the night, and this time the film was the Jack Arnold classic Universal-International picture from 1954, The Creature From the Black Lagoon.

Stanley talking to Kihn before the event.

Local 80s rock star/disc jockey/horror writer Greg Kihn was in attendance to introduce our host for the festivities, Creature Features host John Stanley.

John provided a brief history on producer William Alland, leading up to his role producing The Creature, and shared stories of talking with composer Henry Mancini on his scoring the film (his third assignment after two other Universal-International franchise jobs: Ma & Pa Kettle and Francis the Talking Mule). 

Oh, and there was one other celebrity guest in attendance who was more than happy to mug for the crowd...

The (Gill) Man of the Hour.

The attention then turned to the big screen, as they showed a clip of an interview he did with Julie Adams and Ben Chapman, along with some Creature trailers and excerpts from a Bob Wilkins screening of the film.

Stanley, Adams, and Chapman.

The late, great, Bob Wilkins.

We missed the opening credits as the A/V team forgot to switch over to the video right away, but were soon enjoying The Creature on the big screen (albeit from reasonably far away, particularly for those of us used to sitting 10 feet from a 100" wide screen). 

As the night grew on, some folks gave up and trickled out, but for the most part the group of several hundred stuck it through. Those of us who paid the $25 for a View Reserved ticket and T-shirt can't really complain about the deal (unless of course you were more concerned about the Giants blowing their chance to retain first place in their division).

Last year's design was cooler, but still a nice T-Shirt.

The only drawback was that due to the slight chance of rain in the forecast, the grounds crew had to cover the infield, and fans weren't allowed on field to watch the film (as originally planned), and we had to watch from the stands. I thought our first onfield experience at the park would have been in the Creature's honor, but I guess that will have to wait until next year.

Vonna and T.C. saying SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

The Aurora Creature and Me: Reunited after 35 Years

John here. I grew up on the very tail end of the monster kid generation. In fact, had my brother not been four years older than me, I might have missed it altogether.

He had several Aurora kits, hailing from the square box/glow-in-the-dark run of the early 70s. Frankenstein, the Phantom of the Opera, and King Kong are permanently etched into my brain, as they sat atop the shelf above the drapes in our shared bedroom.

I was younger, less patient, and therefore with a predisposition for snap-together kits. Fortunately, Aurora was there for me, too. The Monsters of the Movies series was right up my alley, a slightly smaller scale but quickly built up and with movable parts. While I recall spending my hard-earned allowance to get the only one at Kiddie World at the time, the least exciting Dr. Jekyll kit, my all-time favorite was the MOTM Creature From the Black Lagoon I acquired in 1975. Not only did it have a better likeness than the standard Aurora Creature, the pose was awesome - the Gillman mid-stroke while swimming. You could literally fly him around the room like you might a toy airplane in this pose.

While I managed to retain a significant percentage of the toys I had as a kid (including the majority of my Creature from the Black Lagoon collection), this particular piece was lost to the ages. (We pause here for a moment of silence.)

Through the years I've kept an eye out for a replacement kit - built-up would be fine - but the cost of even that was prohibitive. I watched as countless companies reissued numerous other Aurora monster kits, including the MOTM Dracula, Franeknstein, Rodan and Ghidrah, but the Creature was nowhere to be found among them.

Fast forward 35 years. A few months back, the announcement finally came through. Moebius Models would re-release the MOTM Creature this summer. Despite our busy summer schedule, this was easily a high point of anticipation for 2010.

Click here to order your own Creature re-issue kit through CultTVMan.com

Our special order arrived and I picked him up last week. Now that he's home, we'll give him some time to acclimate before we introduce him into the display case with his brethren.

It's been a long time coming, but it's good to have him back home where he belongs.