The Alligator People (1959)

Most people wouldn't consider this a good movie.  You've probably noticed by now that the ol' Geekboy isn't most people.  I know 'The Alligator People' left an impression on me when I first saw it, but I forgot just how much I liked it until I re-watched it for review purposes.

What's so great about this movie?  Firstly, it's set in the swamps of Louisiana, and you can't go wrong with the spooky and exotic atmosphere that come with setting your movie in the swamps of Louisiana.  Secondly, for the first half of the movie, the story is equal parts Mystery and Horror.  Thirdly, the one doing all the detective work is our Heroine who has a lot of actual purpose and stake in the story in a genre that usually reduces the female lead to someone who trips, screams, and gets carried off by the monster.

The story starts with a frame story.  The frame beginning and ending is actually my least favorite part, as it strains credibility and doesn't serve much purpose other that to give our heroine some occasional first person detective narration.  We start in a Psychologist's office who has been experimenting with hypnosis and accidentally uncovers repressed memories while performing an experiment with his assistant, Jane Marvin (played by Beverly Garland).  Under hypnosis she reveals that she lived a tragic past life under the name Joyce Webster.

Now that we have that cheesy (and pointless?) intro out of the way, we get to the cool stuff.  Joyce is a newlywed ex-army nurse on her honeymoon.  Her husband, Paul, had been horrifically disfigured in a plane crash, but is now mysteriously as good as new.  However Paul gets an urgent telegram and leaves the train at the next stop is a state of panic, and the train leaves without him.  Paul has disappeared, and Joyce discovers that she doesn't know that much about her new husband.  She does some detective work and follows his trail to a desolate train-station in the middle of the swamps.

She talks a hook-handed local - played by the one and only Lon Chaney Jr. - into driving her to the nearby Plantation house which is also the last know address of her husband.  Chaney is the town drunk with a vendetta against alligators because one took his hand.  He seems like a harmless eccentric at first, but he proves himself dangerous later on.

So she arrives at the Plantation which is owned by the secretive and disagreeable Mrs. Hawthorne.  Mrs. Hawthorne claims to have never heard of Paul and wants Joyce out of her house as soon a possible, but as there won't be another train until the next day, she allows Joyce to stay the night so long as she doesn't leave her room under any circumstances.   After hearing spooky night noises Joyce discovers that she is LOCKED in her room (Southern Hospitality, am-I-right?) but manages to snitch the skeleton key from under the maid's nose.

In the middle of the night she hears the sound of a lonely piano downstairs, and she can't help but investigate.  She discovers a figure in shadows hunched over the keys.  He flees into the night at the sight of her and she is left with just a glimpse of his scale-covered face.

Mrs. Hawthorne is not to happy that Joyce was out of her room that night, and she's even less happy when she discovers that Joyce has no intention of leaving by the morning train.  Joyce needs answers and she's willing to out-stubborn Mrs. Hawthorn to get them.

Mrs. Hawthorn reveals that the piano player was in fact Paul, and that she is secretly his mother.  That's a great way to meat you in-laws.  So, Joyce waits up to see Paul again that night, and once again he flees at the sight of her.  This time she chases him out into the swamps.  It's raining buckets, and she's menaced by alligators and snakes, and she loses her way.  But she's 'rescued' by Lon Chaney's character.  He's drunk, and starts hitting on her.  She is rescued by Paul who barges into the little cabin and attacks Chaney.  Paul carries her off after she is knocked unconscious - so we can have that shot of the monster carrying the pretty girl that all these movies have to have - and Chaney drunkenly swears revenge on the 'two legged alligator'.

It is revealed that Paul is turning into a reptile due to an experimental medical procedure that involves combining human DNA with that of a regenerating reptile.  This is what had saved his life after the plane crash, but an unfortunate side effect is that all the test subjects are turning into - wait for it - ALLIGATOR PEOPLE!  The telegram on the train was from the doctor who did the procedure warning Paul of the side effect, and he left because he didn't want Joyce to see him like this.

The doctor has been working on some sort of death-ray type device that's supposed to reverse the side effects.  Paul insists that they try it out on him so that he and Joyce can be together again.  The doctor warns that they have no way of knowing what will happen if there is an overdose of the radiation.  So they start the procedure, and of course, our hook-handed villain bursts in just then to get his revenge on Paul.  Because of the distraction Paul gets an overdose of the ray, and is transformed into an Alligator person.  Meaning the actor had the pleasure of wearing what looks like an alligator puppet on his head.  Prior to this, we just had the scale makeup on the face and hands, which isn't great, but it's a passable monster movie costume.  The alligator puppet?  Not so much.

Lon Chaney's character is electrocuted when he gets his hook tangled in some wires, Joyce screams at the sight of Paul, and he once again runs off into the swamp.  Joyce runs after him, but after seeing his reflection in the water and realizing how monstrous (or silly) he has become, he wanders into the quicksand and is never seen again.

We cut back to the psychologists' office, and Jane/Joyce has no memory of her past now that she's out of the hypnotic trance.  The doctor decides that this is for the best as she happier this way.  So I guess they tacked on the frame story to make the ending less of a downer?  Still seems a bit silly to me.

If the story of scientists using reptilian DNA to regenerate human tissue and inadvertently creating a monster sounds familiar, you may be thinking of the Spiderman villain Dr. Kurt Connors AKA 'The Lizard'.  The Lizard first appeared in 1963, four years after the release of 'The Alligator People'.  I don't think it's too big of a stretch to say this movie may have influenced the creation of the Spiderman villain.

Most people probably haven't heard of this monster movie, but it's worth watching in my opinion.  The swamp scenes have great atmosphere, Beverly Garland is compelling as the female lead and Lon Chaney Jr. is always fun to watch.  Only things I hold against 'The Alligator People' is the repressed memory plot device and a couple of less than stunning effects, like the alligator costume.  First and foremost I like the way the story unfolds like a mystery.

-Geekboy

Why You Should Read: Magnus Robot Fighter 4000 A.D.

Hey, Happy New Year.  Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.  Personally my Christmas was so merry I spent most of last week recovering.  You may have noticed I took a week off from posting, and I think I needed the break.  I could have easily given myself THIS week off too.  I don't know about you guys, but taking two weeks off from something you do every week can easily turn into three weeks.  You get the picture right?  If I don't post right here and now I'd probably never post again.  So this is me.  Writing a blog post.

Today I'd like to talk about what I think is THE BEST SILVER AGE SCIENCE FICTION COMIC OF ALL TIME.  Now, I'm not really a comic expert or historian.  I can only compare this to the few other silver age books on my shelf.  I'm talking about the original 'Magnus Robot Fighter 4000 A.D.' series created by Russ Manning in 1963 and published by Gold Key Comics.

Welcome to the year 4000 A.D.  The place is the continent sized city North AM.  Humanity has become soft as benevolent Robots do all the work in the future.  These robots take cues from Isaac Asimov's rules of robotics (never harm humans or allow humans to come to harm, and so on).  Unfortunately some of the robots follow the rules of robotics better than others.  Some have been corrupted and reject their programming.  Humanity has grown too weak to fight against these evil robots.  Enter Magnus, an individual who has been raised separately from the rest of society by one of the first and few remaining GOOD robots.  He has trained all his life and has gained a superhuman strength.  In addition he has a cyborg implant in his brain so he listen in to the telepathic speech of the robots.

Magnus is joined on his crusade by Leeja Clane and her father Senator Clane.  Leeja is very much a product of her time, but I feel like she's a bit less of a cardboard cutout than most comic book heroines of the silver age.

Although each issue is basically in the monster of the week format, the people of North AM are all 'Oh look, there's a new robot threat! Who will save us?' and Magnus is like, 'I will! Watch me punch robots in the face!' there is a greater sense of continuity than most comics that I've read from the same time period.  For example: In the first issue of Magnus and Leeja come across a group of people who have been captured by evil robots.  The captives are put in stasis and their brains are used to power a supercomputer.  These individuals reappear in a later issue, and because their brains were all connected for so long they developed powerful telepathic abilities.

As well as having a loose sense of continuity the world building in 'Magnus Robot Fighter' is pretty well thought out.  For example: As North Am is a continent sized city the book answers questions like 'How do these people grow food?'  Answer: They have underwater farms!

One thing 'Magnus' has going for him over other silver age comics like 'Adam Strange' for example, is that the stories take time to breathe.  The average Adam Strange story is only 10 to 15 pages long.  The Magnus comics are all 27 pages in length.  Magnus, although it's a bit cheesy when viewed through a modern lens, is also a much harder science fiction then other silver age comics I've read.  While Magnus is asking what would happen if machines one day became masters over their creators 'Adam Strange' features aliens who suck people up with Vacuum Cleaners.

I've yammered on about the story so long I haven't even touched on the artwork!  You can forget about the story, Magnus is worth reading for the art alone.  It fluctuates between highly detailed and minimalism in style.  One panel you'll have an incredible futuristic city skyline in the background and the next you'll have flat color.  I think this is done strategically.  Russ Manning is guiding your focus, either to the incredible world he's created in the detailed panels or to the characters and the action of the fight scenes in the minimal panels.  And of course, every issue features a ton of retro robots, flying cars, and wacky retro futuristic fashion design.

Dark Horse comics has collected the classic 'Magnus Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. in 3 volumes, in both Hardcover and Trade Paperback.  I recommend that you give it a try if you haven't already.  In a way, the question of 'Do we rely to much on technology?' is just as relevant - if not more so - in this digital age.  'Magnus' may be a little cheesy and a little dated, but I personally think it's a few notches above other comics from the same time period.

-Geekboy.

Manhunt of Mystery Island (1945)

'Manhunt of Mystery Island' is a 15 chapter Republic serial.  I feel like it's a bit of an underdog as far as cliffhangers are concerned.  Odds are good you won't hear about it in the same breathe as 'Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe' or 'The Adventures of Captain Marvel'.  'Manhunt' probably wouldn't make anybody's 'Top Ten favorite cliffhanger serials' list.  Until today.  Because I rank 'Manhunt' in my top 2 right after 'Jungle Girl'.

Linda Stirling, one of the serial queens of the 1940's, plays the female lead.  Ms. Stirling is probably best known for 'The Tiger Woman' and 'Zorro's Black Whip,' but in my opinion 'Manhunt of Mystery Island' is her best work.  In 'Manhunt' she plays Claire Forrest, whose scientist father has been captured by the legendary pirate 'Captain Mephisto'.  Mephisto is trying to force Dr. Forrest to build a 'radio-atomic power transmitter' a device the evil Captain wants for some unclear but nefarious reason.  So Claire teams up with world renowned criminologist Lance Reardon, and the two pick up her father's trail to the titular 'Mystery Island'.

Mystery Island is owned by the four descendants of Captain Mephisto.  Some believe that the ghost of Mephisto still haunts the island, but in reality it is one of the owners masquerading as the pirate with the aid of a transforming ray.  Hopefully you enjoy seeing Mephisto's transformation, because you get to see is over and over again over the course of 15 chapters.

This story uses the fairly common cliffhanger serial plot device of 'One of these guys is secretly the villain but we don't know which one! Is it you? Whoops, you have a knife sticking out of your back. I guess it must be somebody else.'  But usually the villain is a mysterious hooded figure or just a voice heard over the radio rather than somebody with a transforming machine.

Lance Reardon - played by Richard Bailey - is a little flat or deadpan at times (fairly typical of cliffhanger serials) but he holds his own in a fight, and at time his crime solving abilities manage to convince the audience that he really is a brilliant criminologist.  For example, at one point he finds a discarded envelope, turns it inside out, and uses a mirror to read the impressions left by wet ink.

Claire Forrest spends most of her spare time getting kidnapped so she can be used as leverage against her father by Captain Mephisto.  Though often imperiled, she is rarely shown as helpless.  She's quick witted, resourceful, and fast acting.  When she's captured she usually finds a way to leave a trail for Lance to follow, at one point using thread from her sewing basket to show Lance the entrance to a secret passage.  Tying her up won't keep her out of the action either - in a moment of pure awesomeness she pounces on a discarded gun and shoots one of Mephisto's henchmen whilst bound hand and foot.

Lance and Claire are one of my favorite serial couples.  They work so well together as a team and that's what really makes 'Manhunt' stand out so much in my mind.

While Lance and Claire are trying to rescue Dr. Forrest from the evil clutches Captain Mephisto, Dr. Forrest complicates matters by trying to escape from the evil clutches of Captain Mephisto by his-own-self.  Several of the cliffhangers are actually traps that Dr. Forrest sets for Mephisto that our heroes happen to stumble into.

'Manhunt' uses the island setting very well.  The island mansion where the four suspects hang out has some Scooby Doo stuff going on, complete with secret passages and henchmen spying through suits of armor and pictures on the wall. There's dockside action, speedboat chases, and a network of coastal caverns for our heroes to explore.   Lance and Claire return to the mainland for a couple of chapters as well just to shake things up.

One unfortunate aspect of crime-fighting serials is that they tend to have a re-cap chapter.  In this case it's Lance and Claire sitting around stroking their chins in deep thought trying to figure out which of the owners of the island might be Mephisto in-between back-flashes of exciting bits you've already seen.  Each of the suspects is equally suspicious, so they get nowhere.  Serials where the identity of the villain or masked hero are unknown often have one of these chapters - the only difference is if it's a superhero/vigilante story it's the bad guy and his henchmen stroking their chins in deep thought trying to figure out who the hero is.  Whenever a serial uses a re-cap chapter I suspect them of not having quite enough story for a full 15 chapters.

Another common theme of later serials is using stock footage from other chapter-plays for the cliffhanger endings.  If you watch enough serials you'll see the same endings over and over.  'Manhunt' is guilty of borrowing that flooding tunnel scene from 'Jungle Girl'.

This serial does have some notable chapter ending however.  One of my favorites has Lance dangling out a skyscraper window from the end of a fire-hose.  Mephisto's henchman is inside disconnecting the hose from the wall.  What I like best about this chapter ending is that it has a really clever resolution in the beginning of the next chapter.  Another of the best endings takes place inside a winery.  The bad guys use a wine press as a deathtrap.  This makes for an interesting variant on that 'the walls are closing in on us!' cliche.

If you need a serial recommendation, check out 'Manhunt of Mystery Island'.  It's one of the best.

-Geekboy.

Thoughts on: Van Helsing

Happy Monster Month.

Van Helsing is a 2004 monster mashup brought to us by writer/director Stephen Sommers of The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001) fame.  And this movie is too much fun for it's own good.  Or your own good.  So you probably shouldn't watch it.  That's how much fun it is.  It'll give you cavities or something.

If I were to describe Van Helsing to a first time viewer in only one sentence it would go something like this:  Steampunk James Bond dukes it out with Dracula whilst wearing a really cool hat.  Seriously, Van Helsing, I'm jealous of your fashion sense.

In a little more detail: Van Helsing is an ageless being with convenient memory loss who is working for a mysterious organization known as the Knights of the Holy Order.  The Knights of the Holy Order are the only thing standing between us mortal men and the forces of evil.  In his briefing with a grumpy Cardinal (who stands in for M from the James Bond movies) Van Helsing is informed of the Valerious family curse.  Several generations back Granddaddy Valerious made an oath that he and his descendants could not enter Heaven until the Vampire Dracula has been vanquished.  It is up to Van Helsing and the gadget creating friar Carl (Who is the comic relief Q stand-in)  to stop Dracula before he can wipe out the Valerious line.

The line consists of of two gypsies: Prince Velkan and Princess Anna Valerious.  That's right.  This movie had a Princess Anna nine years before Frozen.  Take THAT Disney!

So before they can take out Dracula, Van Helsing Carl and Anna must face a bunch of classic monsters.  Dracula's Brides, Igor, Frankenstein's Monster, and Werewolves - oh my!  And in true James Bond fashion, Dracula has a secret master plan that involves using Frankenstein's science experiments to create and army of vampires.

As a tribute to the Universal classics the film starts in black and white.  The Universal logo fades into the opening shot - a lit torch - and we pan down to see a bunch of angry villagers carrying torches.  That's a cool trick Sommers picked up from the other Stephen and the way the Paramount Mountain is the opening shot in all the Indiana Jones movies.  This story starts where the 1931 Frankenstein ends.  An angry mob is trying to put a stop to Dr. Frankenstein's work, and because nobody ever told them not to play with matches a windmill gets burned down.  Since nobody in the village can mill grain anymore they all starve to death.  Guess they didn't think that one through...

Okay so they don't starve, but that's what would have happened in real life.  Or they'd just go on gluten free diets.

The parts of the movie in Frankenstein's lab are among my favorites.  The set designers went all out.  There are all these Tesla coils are electric arcs and sparks and boiling cauldrons and pretty lights...It's classic mad scientist stuff gone Steampunk.  And this movie's Frankenstein monster is my favorite version of the creature.  He's a Cyborg with partially robotic parts.  A piston in his leg, metal plates welded onto his shoulder, that green glowing thing on his chest...His head is partially transparent so you can see his brain and all these glowing lights inside.  His face pops open at one point and he has to put it back together.  It's pretty crazy.

The characterization of the Frankenstein Monster makes this movie for me.  He's intelligent - like Mary Shelly's original - rather than the mumbling brute from the classic movies.  He's literate as well - he is shown with a Bible.  For the sake of irony they made the Monster religious.  Dracula keeps calling the creation of the Monster 'The triumph of science over God!' and meanwhile the Monster is quoting Psalm 23.  The Monster is also shown as having the moral high ground over Van Helsing.

One of the main themes of Van Helsing's character arc seems to be inspired by the proverb 'Whoever fights monsters must see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.'  Just like a Vigilante Superhero, Van Helsing spends most of his free time brooding about the dark path he must walk.  For Example:

Anna: 'Don't you understand forgiveness?'

Van Helsing: 'Yes.  I ask for it often.'

 And then:

Anna: 'Some say you are a murderer.  Others say you are a Holy man.  Which is it?'

Van Helsing: 'It's a little of both I suppose.'

And of course, by the movie's climax Van Helsing is at risk of becoming a literal monster as well as a figurative one.

For as much as this is a popcorn flick about Van Helsing punching monsters in the face there is a good bit of depth.  There's also this contemplative nugget about mortality:

Van Helsing: 'I'm sorry about your brother.'

Anna: 'I will see him again.  We Transylvanians like to look on the brighter side of death.'

Van Helsing: 'There's a brighter side of death?'

Anna: 'Of course there is.  It's just harder to see.'

Much as I love Van Helsing, I feel a need to acknowledge that it isn't a perfect movie.  A lot of people don't really like it.  They say the special effects are cheesy and dated.  To which I have several responses.

1: This movie is twelve years old now.  Yes there have been advances in CGI in those past twelve years, but movies like this are stepping stones to where we are now.  Where we are now is another stepping stone to where we will be in the future when the movies of the 2010's look cheesy and dated.  We can't be where we are now without the stepping stones.  Respect the stepping stones.

2: Classic monster costumes - with some very rare exceptions - don't look real.  Having werewolves that look cheesy is part of the long and proud cinematic history of cheesy looking werewolves.

3: A special effect that doesn't quite look real REMINDS US TO SUSPEND OUR DISBELIEF.  When you're watching a movie like this you shouldn't take it too seriously.  The filmmakers weren't taking it too seriously.  They were having fun with it.  You should also have fun with it.  If we can be taken out of a story by a cheesy special effect we weren't that invested in the story in the first place.

Speaking of suspension of disbelief - you really need it for some of the plot devices.  There's a full moon whenever one is needed to serve the story.  There are a bunch of werewolf transformations in a story that feels like it takes place over the course of just a couple of days.  The lunar cycle clearly works differently in Transylvania.  Also, the ENTIRE CLIMAX happens at the stroke of midnight.  Yep, a 10 + minute fight scene.  We're clearly working on movie time rather than real time.

The only think I see as a real problem is Dracula's performance.  It's crazy over the top, and takes me out of the story at times.

A major point in favor of this movie is that it doesn't cheat and give us a happy ending.  It gives us the right ending instead.  (The happy ending and the right ending aren't always the same thing).  It's a little melancholy rather than outright tragic, and still triumphant.  But it really pulls together the story's themes of mortality and life after death.

If you're a fan of monster movies I definitely recommend this entertaining tribute to the classics.  Stephen Sommers dedicated this movie 'To the Memory of my Dad'.  I'd like to think that the two of them watched the Universal monster movies together.  It's a sweet mental picture, and it would explain why Sommers made 'Van Helsing' and 'The Mummy'.  I saw this movie for the first time just after the passing of my Dad - we watched a ton of action movies together - and I think Sommers' dedication and the themes of life after death are a big part of why this movie is so special to me.

-Geekboy.

Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/friedrichn124387.html

Thoughts on: The Mecury Men

So, today I'm going to do something a little different.  I'm going to review an independent web series.  Here are some reasons why you should watch 'The Mercury Men'.

#1:  It has an awesome premise.  The Mercury Men is about an invasion in an office building.  Our protagonist is an unlikely every-man hero with a compelling story arc.  It's a claustrophobic thriller that shows us something about human nature.

#2:  It's just wacky enough.  Even though it's set in the 70s it has a real Dieselpunk flavor.  Brains in a jar, ray guns, a Pulp Adventure hero who could give Sky Captain a run for his money...if you like the kinds of stories I like, your interests have already been peaked.

#3:  Quality production values and good story telling.  I don't know what kind of a budget this show had, but the special effects are decent, and it's well shot in black and white.

#4:  It's free. 10 quality 7 to 9 minute episodes that you can watch for free online.  The first story wraps up  by the 9th episode.  Episode 10 was intended to kick off a second season which hasn't gotten off the ground as of yet.  Here's a link to the official Mercury Men Youtube channel.  Go watch it and then come back here, because we're going to spoilerville in this post.

So the story starts off with Edward Borman, a disgruntled office employee.  He is asked by a young woman whom we will come to know as Grace to stamp an important form, but he refuses because it's three minutes to closing time.  As he is leaving the office is attacked by the titular Mercury Men.  After taking out a janitor, the Mercury Men come after Borman.

Borman is rescued by Jack Yaeger, our ray-gun wielding hero.  Jack Yaeger works for an organization known as 'The League' who defend the earth from the sinister Mercury Men.  The League is lead by a mysterious 'Dr. Tomorrow' who no one has ever seen.  Yaeger and Borman discover the true mission of the Mercury Men: to construct a machine powerful enough to pull the Moon into the Earth.  Yaeger tries to recruit a terrified Borman after calling the League for reinforcements who can't possibly arrive in time.

Yaeger and Borman are separated in an attack.  Jack Yeager is captured by the Mercury Men.  A terrified Edward Borman tries to use Jack's radio to call for help.  "Can anyone heart me?  I need help!"  Borman kneels over the radio transmitter, and it almost looks like he's praying.

This little web series does seem to have a good bit of Christian symbolism, which I think is really cool.  We've seen Eastern philosophy in Star Wars, Humanism in Star Trek, a Mormon parable in classic Battlestar Galactica, but science fiction stories that feature Christian allegory are few and far between.  The only other one that comes to mind is the Tron franchise.

Borman is contacted by Dr. Tomorrow, who tells Borman that he must rescue Jack.  Borman tells Dr. Tomorrow that he can't, and that Dr. Tomorrow should send somebody else.  Dr. Tomorrow responds that there isn't anyone else, and that's why he chose Edward Borman for the task, even if he's unwilling or feels inadequate.  As a Christian, I believe that God has a plan for each of us, that we were created for a specific reason.  This story is a really good illustration of that.  Borman show a reluctance to follow the path that's been chosen for him the same way Moses or Jonah show it in the Bible.

So, Borman sets out to save Jack, even though he's shaking in his boots.  After he's successful, Jack drops a third Biblical clue.  He states that the Mercury Men feel threatened by humans because even though they are 'made from the very dirt of the Earth' they're capable of space travel.

So they come up with a plan to deactivate the Gravity Engine that the Mercury Men are using to alter the course of the moon.  Along the way, Edward Borman runs into Grace, who is a) scared out of her wits, and b) still upset that he never stamped her form.  "We have to get you out of here!"  "I'm not going anywhere with you! You're a horrible little man!"  I love that part.

So Jack and Borman have to fight off the Mercury Men and deactivate the Gravity Engine.  Jack is knocked out in the battle and Borman is once again alone.  He has to find a way to defeat the invading aliens all by himself.  It all turns out alright in the end though.  Jack gives Borman his own raygun, and states that "This is only the beginning."  Suppose that makes Borman an official member of the League.

Grace returns to Borman's desk because she 'Really really needs that form stamped."  This is a great way to close the story as it mirrors the beginning in a humorous way AND shows us just how much character growth Borman has gone through over the course of the story.  In some ways I suppose The Mercury Men is a bit like a disaster movie.  We see the best and worst sides of people when they're thrown into an extreme circumstance, and those who wouldn't ordinarily may just have to take charge.  Only this is better than most disaster pictures, because it has more ray guns.

The Mercury Men is probably just about my favorite web series, but be sure to let me know about your favorite web series or independent film project in the comments.  I'd love to hear about them.

-Geekboy.

Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow (Fan Art)

Fan art for the 2004 retro sci fi film 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow' as requested by Chicory. As always, if you have a fan art request, just leave it in the comments.