The Kaiju Transmissions Podcast

Byrd, Matt, Lux and Kevin keep the Halloween spirit by looking at Hideo Nakata's J-horror classic, 2002's Dark Water, as well as the 2005 Hollywood remake starring Jennifer Connelly.  After the success of Ring and the global explosion of Japanese horror, Kadokawa tried to replicate their previous success by hiring Hideo Nakata (Ring) to direct another film based on a story by Koji Suzuki (Ring, Sp...

Byrd, Lux, Matt and Kevin kick off our October Halloween episodes with a discussion about Nobuo Nakagawa's classic Jigoku (aka Japanese Hell, aka Inferno, aka Sinners of Hell) from 1960.  The film follows two friends who accidentally kill a yakuza in a hit and run.  It just so happens that they're also surrounded by other horrible people and when they all die, they meet in the afterlife and have t...

Byrd, Tom, Lux and Kevin discuss Brush of the God, the first and only film directed by late kaiju suit maker Keizo Murase.  The semi-biographical film tells of a recently deceased tokusatsu suit maker whose granddaughter is sucked into a fantasy world of fantastical creatures and has to fend off the fearsome Yamata no Orochi, all while learning more about her departed grandfather.  Originally conc...

Byrd, Matt and Trev discuss the recent dinosaur film The End of Oak Street from writer/director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows).  The film stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as parents who have to protect their family from rampaging dinosaurs when their suburban neighborhood is inexplicably transported into the prehistoric age.  We give our spoiler review of the movie (including unpacking th...

Byrd, Tom and Kevin discuss their experience at this past month's G-Fest convention.  We discuss the guests, the panels, cosplay, the film festival (including our thoughts on Yoshikazu Ishii's new kaiju film Gladio).  As always, we talk about our highlights from the weekend, some of the new things G-Fest introduced this year, and more!  Relax and join the discussion!

Byrd, Kevin and Lux return to discuss the recent Netflix mini series, Human Vapor, a reimagining of Toho's classic 1960 "mutant" film from director Shinzo Katayama (Gannibal, Missing) and writer/producer/showrunner Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan, Parasyte: The Grey).  This version opts for a brand new story, although it still follows a man who has gained the ability to transform into gas and uses hi...

Byrd, Kevin and Lux discuss Toho's live action adaptation of 20th Century Boys, the beloved manga by Naoki Urasawa (Monster, Pluto).  It tells a story over several decades of a group of childhood friends that reunite when they realize a doomsday cult led by a masked leader named Friend is using elements from a story they wrote as children to carry out mass murder and position himself as a false sa...

Byrd, Matt and Kevin discuss the recently concluded second season of Apple TV's Monsterverse series, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.  This season follows Monarch as they track the new monster, Titan X, deal with interference from the tech corporation Apex, and reckon with personal conflicts along the way.  Godzilla and King Kong make their requisite appearances, and we also discover new things about...

Byrd and Kevin welcome back returning guest and author Ray Morton to the show to talk about the newly revised and expanded second edition of his monumental book King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon! Originally published in 2005, the book covered all things Kong up to just before the release of Peter Jackson’s remake. More than 20 years later, the great ape is more popular than he’s been in decad...

After a lengthy hiatus, we return as Byrd, Lux, and Tom talk about the recent Norweigan film Troll 2!  No, not THAT Troll 2, but the sequel to Netflix's 2022 film Troll.  The film picks up with the characters from the prior film returning to research another giant troll that has been captured by the government.  When that troll escapes, another troll appears, setting up for a climactic battle betw...

Byrd, Kevin, Tom, and Lux (with a cameo from Trev) follow up our Ju-On mega-pod with the film that pitted Kayako against J-Horror's other top star, the Ring's very own Sadako.  While the film was originally announced as an April Fool's joke, the online excitement over the possibility left Kadakawa-Daiei Studio no choice but to bring the monster fantasy match to life.  They recruited J-horror veter...

If you just aren't ready for Halloween season to be over, join Byrd, Tom, Kevin, Lux, (and Trev, kind of) for a talk about one of Japan's biggest horror franchises, Ju-On (also known as the Grudge)! This introduced the vengeful ghost Kayako and her son Toshio to the horror world and they have since become some of Japan's biggest horror icons. The series by Takashi Shimizu originally started with t...

Happy Halloween!  Byrd, Lux, Tom and Kevin get together to discuss Rankin-Bass' stop motion Halloween feature, Mad Monster Party.  Dr. Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff) is about to retire and invites the classic monsters to his castle for a party where he will announce his successor.  Among the guests are the Frankenstein Monster and his bride, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Wolf Man,...

Byrd, Tom and Lux discuss three classic horror films from Daiei Studios (recently released in the excellent Daiei Gothic blu-ray set from Radiance Films).  Ghost of Yotsuya, Snow Woman, and Bride From Hades are all based on famous folk horror stories that have been adapted many times over the years (and would influence much of the J-horror movement later on).  These three films take those stories...

Byrd, Lux, Tom and Kevin take a look at another entry in the prolific yokai franchise, GeGeGe No Kitaro franchise.  This time we talk about 2008's Hakaba Kitaro, which was a darker take on the material.  This changes Kitaro from a good natured yokai ambassador to a mischievous anti hero starring in downbeat morality tales.  How did we feel it compared to other versions of Kitaro?  Listen and find...

We kick off another spooky October at KT with Byrd, Kevin, Tom and Lux having a discussion of several films featuring murderous gill-men.  Ever since 1954's classic Creature From The Black Lagoon, the trope of a murderous half man/half fish has been entertaining filmgoers on a semi regular basis.  We take the opportunity to discuss three such films; Roger Corman's schlockfest Humanoids From The De...

Byrd, Matt, Kevin and Lux come together again to talk about the recent anime film Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League.  The sequel to 2018's Batman Ninja sees the Caped Crusader and his allies in an another dimension in which Japan is ruled by a Yakuza consisting of evil versions of his Justice League allies.  The film sees director Junpei Mizusaki return, with new co-director Shinji Takagi (Ranma 1/2,...

Another year, another G-Fest in the books.  Byrd, Kevin and returning guest Connor recount their experience at this years G-Fest convention.  G-Fest XXX (!) was the thirtieth in the convention's long running history and as always we talk about the panels, the guests, and our overall opinions of how the show fared this year. We also touch on the film festival lineup including the recent Ishiro Hond...

Byrd, Matt and Kevin discuss and review the recent comic book crossover Godzilla vs. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers II (written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Baldemar Rivas).  The follow up to IDW and Boom!'s 2022 crossover once again sees the Power Rangers in a multiversal adventure as they once again cross paths with Godzilla and other Toho monsters as they go up against Rita Repulsa as she threate...

Live from G-Fest 2025, Byrd moderates this in depth discussion with authors Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski (Ishiro Honda: A Life In Film) to discuss the stories behind the researching, writing, and publishing of their new book Godzilla: The First 70 Years: The Official Illustrated History of the Japanese Productions, a brand new Toho commissioned book dedicated to the history of the King of the M...

After a Spring hiatus, Byrd and Matt come back to discuss Jurassic World Rebirth, the newest entry in the Jurassic Park franchise directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla 2014, Monsters, Star Wars: Rogue One).  This entry follows a group of mercenaries (led by Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali) tasked with gathering dino DNA for medical research by going to an island used for genetic experimentati...

Byrd, Tom, Kevin and Trev discuss a trio of tokusatsu superhero films from acclaimed director Takashi Miike (Great Yokai War, Ultraman Max, Audition, Ichi the Killer).  First we have 2004's Zebraman, a parody of Japanese superhero shows that sees a father in a mid life crisis take up the mantle of the titular character to fight crime and fend off an alien invasion.  We then move onto 2010's gonzo...

Byrd, Matt, Lux and Kevin discuss Shinji Higuchi's recent Netflix film Bullet Train Explosion.  Higuchi's latest revamp of an old tokusatsu IP is a remake/sequel to Toei's 1975 classic disaster film The Bullet Train.  Like its predecessor, the story revolves around a bomb on a bullet train, which will explode if the train slows down under 100kph.  Show how does Higuchi's latest fare in comparison...

Byrd, Lux and Matt reach back down into the bottom of the barrell to discuss three obscure recent King Kong knock-offs from China, made to cash in on the recent Monsterverse films.  In recent years, China has been churning out dozens and dozens of low budget straight to TV/streaming cheapie creature features.  For this episode we'll discuss 2021's Monster Island, 2023's King Kong vs Giant Serpent...

Back from the holiday break, Byrd and Matt set their sights on Ray Harryhausen's classic series of Sinbad films; the 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1957), the Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) are still among the most celebrated fantasy films of all time.  After getting tired of monsters tearing down landmarks, stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen decided to make a d...