The Kaiju Transmissions Podcast

Byrd, Matt, Kevin and Lux come together to talk about the long awaited return of everyone's favorite flying turtle, Gamera!  Gamera is back, this time on Netflix with the new anime mini-series, Gamera: Rebirth.  Directed by Hiroyuki Seshita (Polygon's Godzilla trilogy), the show follows a group of kids in the summer of 1989 as they get wrapped up in kaiju attacks, conspiracies, and other wacky hij...

Byrd and Matt are joined again by author John LeMay  (The Lost Films, Kong Unmade, Lost Films of the Lost World) to discuss two nostalgic stop motion dinosaur films, Dinosaurus (1960) and Planet of Dinosaurs (1977).  1960's Dinosaurus was directed by Irvin Yeaworth (The Blob, the 4D Man) and tells of a construction crew that awakens a brontosaurus, a t-rex, and a caveman.  Planet of Dinosaurs is a...

Byrd and Matt are joined by author John LeMay (The Lost Films, Kong Unmade, Lost Films of the Lost World) to discuss Denmark's entry in the giant monster genre, 1961's Reptilicus!  This co-production between Denmark's Saga Studios and America's AIP has a strange history, having filmed two versions with (mostly) the same cast for both countries.  We discuss both versions, trouble behind the scenes,...

Byrd and Matt talk about Ray Harryhausen's classic dinosaur Western, the Valley of Gwangi!  It tells the story of some showmen and a scientist who go on an expedition into a valley in Mexico to find a prehistoric miniature horse.  What they also find is a flesh craving Allosaurus.  They bring it back to put it on display for the public and well... things don't go so well.  We'll discuss the histor...

Byrd, Matt and returning guest host Trev take the dive into the trench to talk about Meg 2!  In this sequel, we not only have a giant Megalodon, but also a bunch of other hungry prehistoric beasties trying to eat Jason Statham and friends.  It is also the first big blockbuster from British indie horror darling Ben Wheatley.  We'll give our thoughts on the film, the career of Ben Wheatley, the tepi...

Shin Kamenheimer!  We are joined by Kevin and Lux to discuss Hideaki Anno's new film Shin Kamen Rider, the latest entry in the "Shin" series of reboot films.  The film works as a retelling of the classic story of Takeshi Hongo's transformation into everyone's favorite Karate Bugman, Kamen Rider!  We discuss the trouble behind the scenes of the film, how we feel it works as a reboot of the classic...

Byrd and Kevin (with bystander Lux Edwards and sort of Matt) give a rundown of this year's G-Fest convention (which took place this past July 14-16).  We talk about the panels we both held and witnessed, the guests, and other highlights.  We also review the films we saw at the film festival, including Yoshikazu Ishii's Yuzo the Biggest Battle in Tokyo, Mike Cheslik's Hundreds of Beavers, Kiyotaka...

We're joined once again by special guest Bob Johnson (SciFi Japan, Planet 8 Podcast, Bay Area Film Events) for another interview, this time discussing not one but two weekend long tokusatsu film festivals happening this summer in San Francisco.  Bob has organized UltraFest coming to the 4 Star Theater from July 21-23rd and GodzillaFest, coming to the Balboa Theater from August 18-20th.  Bob talks...

Byrd, Matt and Kevin discuss the brand new Skull Island animated series.  Made for Netflix by Legendary and Powerhouse Animation Studios (Castlevania) and developed by writer Brian Duffield (Underwater, Love and Monsters), the series follows a group of shipwreck survivors trying to survive on King Kong's home island.  How does the series fare as the first animated series and television venture for...

Byrd, Matt and Kevin discuss the South Korean obscurity, 1967's Space Monster Wangmagwi!  Made (cheaply) to compete with the same year's Yongary, Wangmagwi has been a rarity up until 2023 when it got its first home video release (in any country!) via SRS Cinema in The United States.  The film was thought lost until the Korean Film Archive started doing rare showings at festivals in the 2000s, whic...

We are joined once again by our Kaiju Masterclass co-conspirator, writer Patrick Galvan (SyFy, Our Culture, Ruan Lingyu: Her Life and Career), this time for a full audio commentary for 1991's Godzilla vs King Ghidorah! This 90s rematch between Godzilla and his arch-nemesis has plenty of fans, but it's often considered one of the more confusing and sloppy films in the franchise. However, we believe...

We finally take our first step into the vast "giant bug" subgenre with the granddaddy of them all, 1954's classic Them!  Along with the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms and Godzilla, this film helped kick off a new era of atomic monster film, warning the public about the threat of nuclear weapons.  Written by Ted Sherdeman (Latitude Zero) and directed by Gordon Douglas (Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye), it tells t...

Byrd, Matt, and guest host Trev (Days of Future Podcast, Failure To Franchise) run through a superhero double feature.  First up is the recent Power Rangers reunion special from Netflix, which sees many of the original Power Rangers team return to face a robotic reincarnation of their arch enemy, Rita Repulsa.  We'll talk about how nostalgia drives the narrative, the lack of certain prominent cast...

For our first comic book review, we are joined by Trev and Tom to talk about IDW/Boom Studio's crossover comic miniseries, Godzilla vs The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, written by Cullen Bunn (Deadpool, The Sixth Gun, Godzilla: Cataclysm) and drawn by Freddie E Williams II (Batman/TMNT).  When Rita Repulsa decides to go to a universe without the Power Rangers, she gets more than she bargained for...

We are joined by Tom and Trev to tackle another Asylum movie, this time with the sequel to 2021's Ape vs Monster.  Ape vs. Mecha Ape brings the giant ape Abraham face to face with a mechanical doppelgänger that is carrying nuclear weapons.  Can an ape stop a mecha ape?!  Can Tom Arnold help from the comfort of his desk?  We answer these riveting questions and more.  But first, we have discuss the...

We are joined by our Kaiju Masterclass partner, writer Patrick Galvan (SyFy, Our Culture, Ruan Lingyu: Her Life and Career) to discuss Ishiro Honda's banned 1955 film Half Human (aka The Beastman Snowman).  Made immediately after the original Godzilla, the film tells the story of a mountain expedition to search for the abominable snowman (and a sleazy promoter looking to kidnap the creature).  The...

We look at not one but TWO recent giant monster films from Thailand.  Although not known for giant monster cinema, last year saw two giant monster movies come from the Land of Smiles.  The Lake is the story of a giant creature terrorizing the rural countryside in search of its missing young.  The Beast Below is a more light hearted fare about a giant lizard under the desert that starts picking off...

We are joined all the way from Thailand by a very special guest, film director Lee Thongkham!  Lee takes us behind the scenes of his new independent giant monster film THE LAKE, a Thai/Chinese co-production about a giant creature rampaging the Thai countryside in search of its offspring.  We get the details on Lee's inspirations for the film, the mythical and religious symbolism, working the film...

Byrd, Matt, Tom and Trev are back in the Asylum, this time reviewing their 25th anniversary film, 2025 Armageddon!  Aliens invade our world by sending the Asylum's giant monsters to attack Earth.  We have Mega Piranha, Mega Shark, Crocosaurus, Megaboa, Sharknado, Transmorphers, zoombies, and more causing mayhem.  Does this live up to the hype?  Listen and find out!  But first we play a bit of Asyl...

Byrd and Matt are joined by guest hosts Tom (Final Forum - A Dragonball Podcast), Kevin (Maser Patrol), Lux (of metal bands Soulmass and Wraithstorm), Connor (Easter's Kaiju Kompendium blog) for a giant round table discussion on Tsuburaya's recent reboot, Shin Ultraman!  The film was directed by Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno, following up their massively successful Shin Godzilla (2016).  We'll g...

Byrd, Matt, and Kevin are joined by Lux Edwards (of metal bands Wraithstorm and Soulmass) to discuss 2022's Norwegian giant monster film, Troll.  Directed by Roar Uthaug (Tomb Raider 2018) and released by Netflix, the movie follows a giant troll that is awakened from his ancient slumber by a drilling operation in the mountains.  What did the gang think?  Tune in and find out!

Byrd and Kevin sit down with Eric McEver, director of the new independent film Iké Boys to talk about the making of the film and how he started making his own short films in Japan.  Eric's journey is a unique one, going from being an American kaiju fan to making his own tokusatsu films in Japan with genre vets such as tokusatsu director Daisuke Sato, Toho pyrotechnician Yasushi Iwata and Showa era...

Byrd, Matt, Kevin and first time guest host Lux Edwards (tokusatsu fan and vocalist for the metal bands Wraithstorm and Soulmass) have a lengthy discussion on the recent Amazon Prime mini series, Kamen Rider: Black Sun!  Conceived to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original Kamen Rider Black (1987), this big budget, adult-oriented reboot has proven divisive for its unsubtle allusions to real...

We welcome film historian and Willis O'Brien biographer Gregory Kulon to the show!  We discuss O'Brien's life and career, including his lost projects and personal tragedies, and we even debunk some common myths about the man.  Gregory also discusses the upcoming exhibit, "King Kong at 90: Visualization in the Art of Stop-Motion Animation," which he helped organize at Eastern Michigan University. ...

For our (kind of) Christmas episode, Byrd, Matt and Kevin gather around the Yule log to discuss the indie fantasy film, Iké Boys!  This homage to tokusatsu and anime follows two high school students who find themselves with super powers after watching a bootleg of a lost anime.  They have to use their new mecha and kaiju forms to thwart a doomsday cult, all the while dealing with the usual teenage...