FFG INTERVIEW #2 - Raymond Castile
FOREVER FIFTH GRADE INTERVIEWS RAYMOND CASTILE
-Owner & Operator of The Gallery of Monster Toys website-
1) I read the your favorite toy is a version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon doll. I heard rumor that a remake of CBL is going to go into production Summer ‘07. Any insight? Thoughts on best actor to play Creature? New toy possibilities could be nice..
Yes, a remake of the Creature from the Black Lagoon is in the works. There have been many attempts to remake the Creature over the last 25 years, but all have died in development. I will believe this new version when I see it. I hope the Creature is played by an actor in a costume instead of a CGI cartoon. I don't really care who plays him, so long as the design and concept is still recognizable as the classic Gill-man.
2) King Kong toys VS. Yeti toys VS. Big Foot Toys...Thoughts?
Toy makers never get Kong right. I have never seen an American toy that captured the likeness of the 1933 Kong. Most Kong toys just look like a generic gorilla. As for Bigfoot and Yeti, there are so few toys of these beasts that it is hard to compare. My favorites would be the Marx battery operated Yeti from the 1960s, the Tomland Famous Monsters of Filmland Yeti action figure from 1978 and the Kenner Bionic Bigfoot action figure from 1977. I really wish there were more vintage Bigfoot toys. A 1970s rubber jiggler would have been nice, but nothing like that was produced. Strange, considering how popular Bigfoot was in the 70s.
3) In your opinion, why have there been no new monsters in the movies (say in the last 5 years) that can stand up next to the classics? Do you have hopes there will be new monsters? And also, why do most new monster toys look horrible? New King Kong figures, I did not enjoy. Are there new monster toys worth searching for and if so – please tell us.
Why are there no new classic monsters? Maybe we are not living in classic times. Maybe people are no longer classic. They do not dream classic dreams. They do not have classic visions, values, aspirations, so they do not make classic movies. To have classic stories, you must first have classic storytellers. The classic monsters were spawed by classic 19th Century literature, reinvented for the new medium of cinema by film-makers who lived through two World Wars. It was not the same world we are living in today.
Once in awhile, a classic horror movie still manages to get made. I like the Hannibal Lecter films with Anthony Hopkins. I think Hannibal is the closest thing to a "new classic monster." I also like The Blair Witch Project, The Sixth Sense, Signs, Ringu, Audition, Buba Ho-Tep, Rob Zombie's two "Corpses" films and most of Tim Burton's films.
Are there new monster toys worth searching for? I liked the cheesy monster figurines sold last Halloween at Dollar Tree stores. They were just little unarticulated plastic statues, but they were cute and unexpected. On the other end of the quality spectrum, there are the Sideshow 12-inch dolls. Those are pricey, but the quality is certainly there. Classic TV Toys makes a line of Mego-inspired "Mad Monsters" that includes a Grim Reaper, Ghost, Witch and Devil. I have those figures sitting around my computer.
4) On the topic of Mr. Zombie, what are your thoughts on his first two films and the style in which he works? Will he help revive the classic feel of horror films?
On Rob Zombie, he is trying to revive the spirit of 70s grindhouse/drive-in exploitation cinema. I think it is an uphill battle, but he is fighting the good fight. Today's entertainment is very corporate, conformist and designed for mass consumption. Grindhouse cinema was aimed at a narrow market. It was cheap to make, so it didn't have to break any box office records. Today, every movie has to make $300 million and appeal to every man, woman and child around the globe. So all we get are McMovies with no individuality or rough edges.
5) Do you have any stories that may relate to monster toys & you that took place when you were in or around fifth grade?
I used to stage ridiculously elaborate games with my monster toys. I would dig a big hole in the garden and turn it into the Black Lagoon. The Adventure People would be the "humans," searching the Amazon. I had lots of Adventure People figures and vehicles. My AHI Creature Bend Ems rubber figure would swim in the "lagoon," tipping over their boats, coming ashore to attack, etc. Sometimes I'd throw in an Avon brontosaurus shampoo container so I could add the Loch Ness Monster to the Adventure Peoples' woes. I would turn the backyard into Skull Island with my Mego plush King Kong, the big Aurora T-Rex, other Aurora dinos, the Shogun Godzilla and Rodan, and that reliable Avon bronto. We had a wooden privacy fence which could double as the Skull Island Wall and the Empire State Building
The Gallery of Monster Toys
-Owner & Operator of The Gallery of Monster Toys website-
1) I read the your favorite toy is a version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon doll. I heard rumor that a remake of CBL is going to go into production Summer ‘07. Any insight? Thoughts on best actor to play Creature? New toy possibilities could be nice..
Yes, a remake of the Creature from the Black Lagoon is in the works. There have been many attempts to remake the Creature over the last 25 years, but all have died in development. I will believe this new version when I see it. I hope the Creature is played by an actor in a costume instead of a CGI cartoon. I don't really care who plays him, so long as the design and concept is still recognizable as the classic Gill-man.
2) King Kong toys VS. Yeti toys VS. Big Foot Toys...Thoughts?
Toy makers never get Kong right. I have never seen an American toy that captured the likeness of the 1933 Kong. Most Kong toys just look like a generic gorilla. As for Bigfoot and Yeti, there are so few toys of these beasts that it is hard to compare. My favorites would be the Marx battery operated Yeti from the 1960s, the Tomland Famous Monsters of Filmland Yeti action figure from 1978 and the Kenner Bionic Bigfoot action figure from 1977. I really wish there were more vintage Bigfoot toys. A 1970s rubber jiggler would have been nice, but nothing like that was produced. Strange, considering how popular Bigfoot was in the 70s.
3) In your opinion, why have there been no new monsters in the movies (say in the last 5 years) that can stand up next to the classics? Do you have hopes there will be new monsters? And also, why do most new monster toys look horrible? New King Kong figures, I did not enjoy. Are there new monster toys worth searching for and if so – please tell us.
Why are there no new classic monsters? Maybe we are not living in classic times. Maybe people are no longer classic. They do not dream classic dreams. They do not have classic visions, values, aspirations, so they do not make classic movies. To have classic stories, you must first have classic storytellers. The classic monsters were spawed by classic 19th Century literature, reinvented for the new medium of cinema by film-makers who lived through two World Wars. It was not the same world we are living in today.
Once in awhile, a classic horror movie still manages to get made. I like the Hannibal Lecter films with Anthony Hopkins. I think Hannibal is the closest thing to a "new classic monster." I also like The Blair Witch Project, The Sixth Sense, Signs, Ringu, Audition, Buba Ho-Tep, Rob Zombie's two "Corpses" films and most of Tim Burton's films.
Are there new monster toys worth searching for? I liked the cheesy monster figurines sold last Halloween at Dollar Tree stores. They were just little unarticulated plastic statues, but they were cute and unexpected. On the other end of the quality spectrum, there are the Sideshow 12-inch dolls. Those are pricey, but the quality is certainly there. Classic TV Toys makes a line of Mego-inspired "Mad Monsters" that includes a Grim Reaper, Ghost, Witch and Devil. I have those figures sitting around my computer.
4) On the topic of Mr. Zombie, what are your thoughts on his first two films and the style in which he works? Will he help revive the classic feel of horror films?
On Rob Zombie, he is trying to revive the spirit of 70s grindhouse/drive-in exploitation cinema. I think it is an uphill battle, but he is fighting the good fight. Today's entertainment is very corporate, conformist and designed for mass consumption. Grindhouse cinema was aimed at a narrow market. It was cheap to make, so it didn't have to break any box office records. Today, every movie has to make $300 million and appeal to every man, woman and child around the globe. So all we get are McMovies with no individuality or rough edges.
5) Do you have any stories that may relate to monster toys & you that took place when you were in or around fifth grade?
I used to stage ridiculously elaborate games with my monster toys. I would dig a big hole in the garden and turn it into the Black Lagoon. The Adventure People would be the "humans," searching the Amazon. I had lots of Adventure People figures and vehicles. My AHI Creature Bend Ems rubber figure would swim in the "lagoon," tipping over their boats, coming ashore to attack, etc. Sometimes I'd throw in an Avon brontosaurus shampoo container so I could add the Loch Ness Monster to the Adventure Peoples' woes. I would turn the backyard into Skull Island with my Mego plush King Kong, the big Aurora T-Rex, other Aurora dinos, the Shogun Godzilla and Rodan, and that reliable Avon bronto. We had a wooden privacy fence which could double as the Skull Island Wall and the Empire State Building
The Gallery of Monster Toys
posted by FOREVER FIFTH GRADE at 8:13 PM
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