With the recent release of Troll 2, a new season of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” right around the corner, and Godzilla x Kong: Supernova on the distant horizon, rampaging Kaiju remain on trend post-Godzilla Minus One. The Japanese term refers to giant monster cinema, and the behemoth creatures themselves, that originated with Godzilla. Their signature […]
With the recent release of Troll 2, a new season of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” right around the corner, and Godzilla x Kong: Supernovaon the distant horizon, rampaging Kaiju remain on trend post-Godzilla Minus One. The Japanese term refers to giant monster cinema, and the behemoth creatures themselves, that originated with Godzilla. Their signature move? Demonstrating just how puny humans really are in the face of widespread devastation caused by the Kaiju.
It’s not just the monster designs, epic set pieces, and big spectacle fun that have audiences returning to the giant monster movie, but they so often serve as hefty metaphors for society’s biggest (pun intended) fears. This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to the Kaiju and the utter destruction they wreak.
This late ‘90s Blockbuster horror movie pits Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube against a massive Amazonian snake. Or, more accurately, against Jon Voigt’s over-the-top villain, Paul Serone, a snake hunter who forces them to assist in capturing the eponymous anaconda. It’s a big action spectacle that features a 40-foot man-eating snake that squeezes its prey to death, eats it, and occasionally barfs it back up to enjoy all over again. Look for Eric Stoltz, Owen Wilson, Danny Trejo, and Kari Wuhrer to round out the cast as potential snake fodder. With a meta comedy based on this giant monster movie on the way, now’s a great time tor evisit.
The Host – Hoopla, Hulu, Kanopy, Pluto TV, Roku Channel
Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer, Parasite) is a master of blending genres and tone, and his epic creature feature offers a perfect example. Deftly wrapping up the family drama, dysfunctional humor, and political satire in one thrilling creature feature bow, the plot sees a monster from Seoul’s Han River wreak havoc. When the beast snatches up a young girl, the girl’s family bands together to get her back by any means necessary. This big-budget spectacle will make you laugh one minute and cry the next.
Love and Monsters – Paramount+
Seven years after a monster apocalypse decimated the population, the survivors retreated into secluded communities hidden away from the surface world. Lovelorn Joel (Dylan O’Brien) decides to leave the diminishing safety of his bunker and trek miles to reunite with his high school sweetheart. He’ll encounter friends and gigantic foes along the way. It’s a big spectacle kaiju adventure, with horror, comedy, and plenty of heart. The creatures are creative and well done, but canine pal Boy threatens to upstage them all. If you’re in the mood for lighter thrills, this charming feature will do the trick.
Q: The Winged Serpent – Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Roku Channel Tubi
No one does guerrilla filmmaking like Larry Cohen. Within days of being let go from a film being shot in New York, Cohen decided to stick around and make a movie of his own. After a mere few days of pre-production, including preparing a shooting script and pulling a cast together, he began shooting Q– a film about a Quetzalcoatl that’s taken up residence in the Chrysler building. David Carradine stars as the detective attempting to solve a string of Aztec ritual murders, and Michael Moriarty stars as a crook with jazz aspirations who stumbles upon Q’s nest. Throw in stop-motion animation, and you have a giant American kaiju film that shouldn’t be nearly as coherent as this is for coming together so quickly.
Shin Godzilla – HBO Max
This 2016 kaiju film finally makes its long-awaited arrival on streaming and it happens to be one of the best Godzilla movies. The award-winning film taps into cosmic horror and apocalyptic dread in its scathing critique of bureaucracy as a rampaging, evolving kaiju terrorizes Japan. Time is of the essence here. Godzilla evolves throughout, a mutating force of retributive nature, and it’s terrifying. The film itself, however, isn’t without humor. Hideaki Anno (“Neon Genesis Evangelion” franchise) and Shinji Higuchi (Shin Ultraman) direct from a screenplay by Anno, with visual effects by Higuchi.
