Monster of the Day #3146

Updated on December 11, 2020 By Ken Begg 7 Comments

So I’ve been reading Anders Runestad’s I Cannot, Yet I Must: The True Story of the Best Bad Movie of All Time Robot Monster. I put off buying it for a long time, because the paperback is about $30, and the Kindle edition was about $12. However, it lurked on my Amazon Wish List (where I put items so I don’t forget them), and then I got a three dollar digital credit, so I bought the eBook. This was at least partly to reward the author, so I hope he got a couple of bucks out of it. The book is amazing, insanely exhaustive–but not exhausting–relating of the history of the film, its director Phil Tucker, and what making skid row B-movies of the era in general was like. It’s the craziest damn thing that I’ve seen on a movie like this since that self-published book on Reptilicus I bought like 20 years ago.

I know it’s a bit pricey, but I can’t imagine the years and the man hours this guy put into this book, so maybe ask for it for Christmas? I mean, you really have to be interested in the nuts and bolts of making films back in that era, and the weird personalities that made them (almost nobody gets mentioned without a page or two of their history provided).

Also, great poster that truly sums up everything the movie is about.

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  • Beckoning Chasm

    I would buy a lot more ebooks if they were cheaper. I understand an author has to make money, but without the paper and printing, I just don’t understand why some ebooks are more expensive than their printed counterparts.

  • Gamera977

    Congrads Ken! Sounds awesome!!!

    I swear in some cases like the ’90s ‘Island of Doctor Moreau’ the backstory behind the film is far more interesting than the film itself.

  • Ken_Begg

    That’s generally how I feel about it, but I have to say, here’s a guy who obviously spent years researching and writing this book. So his asking $10 or so for it doesn’t seem out of line (minus whatever chunk Amazon takes). That’s how I felt after I got the book anyway. But on the whole, I generally agree with you. I certainly wouldn’t pay anywhere near what a paper copy of a book would cost, that’s for sure.

  • Ken_Begg

    Devil’s Candy, still the go to book on how Hollywood just perennially messes up movie adaptations. It’s about the Bonfire of the Vanities movie.

  • Thank you! I had no idea what to ask for for Christmas this year, so that’s sorted.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Sounds like a great book, for interlibrary loan if nothing else.

  • That’s how I use my Wish Lists, as a place to find things. My brother once complained that they were too long to actually look through. Piffle, I say. 700+ is just a… just a… good… start… yikes, that’s a big number…