Monster of the Day #982

Updated on September 1, 2014 By Ken Begg 14 Comments


I usually wrap up themes on Friday, but long time correspondent Zombiewacker suggested this gem. It’s hard to top the difference between the Sea Serpent of the poster and the one the film gives us, but this is pretty close.

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  • sandra

    So is this week’s topic movie posters that made promises the movie did not live up to ?

  • You know, I’ve seen this movie, but all I can remember about it is that it sting-ked.

    I hope you all appreciated that. It took me HOURS to come up with.

  • Ken_Begg

    It was last week, but ZW asked me to extend it for this particularly egrecious exampale.

  • Rock Baker

    To be fair, this image is more symbolic than literal.

  • Gamera977

    Guess I’m strange but I really liked this film. Ok, the poster has nothing to do with the goofy wasp woman make-up I’ll give you that though.

  • Ken_Begg

    Oh, I’m pretty sure anyone who visits these pages likes the film. It’s a Corman special; quick and fast paced, a bit witty, enough subtext to play around with but not so much it’s shoved in your face.

    On the other hand, it’s obvious the poster promises a lot more than the film delivers. Still, who among us doesn’t admire this sort of huckerism?

  • Rock Baker

    Again, it’s pretty obvious this image is symbolic rather than literal. Anyone who came out with a complaint based on the poster art would have to be extremely nit-picky to have any sort of issue with it.

  • Ken_Begg

    It’s obvious AFTER you’ve seen the movie. Poster art was a much more important selling tool back in the day, and remember, people were a lot less media savvy back in the ’50s. Moreover, movies movie like this were mostly seen by kids and teens, so I imagine a fairly large percentage of the audience expected something at least something along these lines after seeing the poster.

  • Eric Hinkle

    “It’s a Corman special;”

    Roger Corman may sometimes have confused his audiences, but he rarely left them feeling cheated.

  • The Rev.

    I like it as well. Susan Cabot does a fine job. It’s kind of like It Conquered the World and The Killer Shrews: the movie is really rather good, but the crappy monster is what sticks in people’s heads and it kind of taints the whole thing.

    Having said that, seeing the Cinematic Titanic crew riff this live a few years ago was fan-damn-tastic.

  • Flangepart

    Oh, yes. Tis a riff-fest indeed.
    The poster makes me think of paraphrasing THE FLY.
    “Kiss me…kisssss me!”

  • bgbear_rnh

    Agree if we are just referring to the giant woman-headed wasp, however, the pile of bones and panicked city are a bit of exaggeration as well.

  • rtpoeman

    OK, we’ve sold them on the poster. Now let’s make the movie….

  • Beckoning Chasm

    I get the feeling that the guy describing what he wanted on the poster confused the artist. “Body of a wasp, head of a woman–or did I read that backwards? Naahh…”