The Monster Island Film Vault

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In our second Patreon pick of season 4, Nate is joined by Drew Dodgen of The Cel Cast (his co-host, Jacob, was too busy planning a wedding to come) to discuss kaiju in Star Wars! Specifically, the Zillo Beast, who appeared in two episodes of The Clone Wars  and three episodes (sorta) of its spin-off, The Bad Batch. This was an episode that grew since it was requested, going fr...

No sooner is the broadcast finished does what seems like the entire North Korean military bombard Uber-Moguera in retaliation for Nate's sarcasm. When that fails, they lure a very hungry Pulgasari to the airfield, and seeing the mecha as a huge piece of exotic metal food, he attacks. Unable to fight him off, Nate suggests one last desperate measure—that requires the metal minotaur to eat Kaguya! L...

Henshin Power V3: Where three friends have three minutes to talk about tokusatsu! Nathan (aka “The TsuBro”) has finished both Henshin Men and The Power Trip, but his friends Chris (aka “Sentai Guy”) and Jake (aka “The Metal Don”) won’t let him stop discussing henshin heroes just yet! A new tokusatsu journey begins July 10, 2024 (Ultraman Day)! Podcast Social Media: MIFV Linktree: https://linktr.ee...

In Nate and Elijah’s epic triple birthday celebration with Ray Harryhausen (“Yours, Mine, and Ray’s”), they continue their annual crossover with The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973). While they’re going in reverse chronological order, they agree with this is a “step up” from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, which they discussed last year . It helps that it has the incredible Tom Baker (of Doctor Who...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Nate and Jimmy venture across the 38th parallel into North Korea to cover the most infamous kaiju film ever made and recapture its star monster: Pulgasari. Tomi Trembath of the Giant-Sized Violence podcast, who grew up with its strange American remake, The Adventures of Galgameth, joins Nate via video call (for obvious reasons) to discuss this "North Korean Godzilla," which is...

Uber-Moguera lands in North Korea, and Nate meets a squad of soldiers on the airfield. He gives their Commander documents showing they have authorization to be in the country--but with one sarcastic comment, Nate finds himself on their “most wanted” list and dodging bullets! Can he survive this international incident? Featuring Nate Chen as the NK Commander. Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, Th...

Nathan is joined by the CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, Jeff Gomez, an “ultra-fan” who presides over the website Ultraman Connection, to discuss Netflix’s new animated Ultraman movie. Is it truly one of the best animated films of the year? We get into that and more! Watch the video version here: https://youtube.com/live/B_pBsvH7CeE . Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! The South Korean leg of The Monster Island World Tour comes to an end in this bonus episode with a movie that exemplifies what Korean kaiju cinema did wrong before The Host: War of the God Monsters (aka The Flying Monster). This movie, which was released stateside by SRS Cinema , floundered in obscure infamy for years, and with good reason—it stole all of its monster footage f...

Nate finishes his broadcast, but instantly learns it was all a hallucination (what a twist!) perpetrated by a rogue Bug Lady named Psychodelia. She takes him hostage to lure Crystal Lady and Mimo to their location—not to kill her, but to kill Nate! Why? To make Crystal Lady suffer for the death of her sister, the first Bug Lady, Peppermoth! Will Crystal Lady see through Psychodelia's illusions to...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! It's a full house (“full mecha”?) in today's Godzilla Redux episode on the infamous but now-popular-to-like G-film, Godzilla vs. Hedorah (aka Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster). Daniel DiManna (Godzilla Novelization Project), Ben Avery (Strangers and Aliens; Welcome to Level 7), and Matt and Gratton of Giant Monster BS all return to discuss the strangest yet arguably most auteur f...

Nate's cloned “pseudo-sister,” Jessica Shaw (aka Crystal Lady) takes some specially-selected tourists on a, well, tour of Monster Island, and on their last stop at the Denham Theater, a smelly, frumpy girl literally bumps into her. She is Fausta Bevan, a missing member of Jessica’s tour group. She's annoying but also kind. Unfortunately, she's also a Bug Lady—who isn't here at the behest of the Na...

Having been “military volunteered” during the broadcast, the Omni Viewer's neat-freak of a dinosaur-lizard-thing sidekick, Snazzy Chapeau, accompanies Jimmy From NASA into the Seoul sewers to bag-and-tag Gwoemul. Shenanigans ensue. Meanwhile, Omni tries to get Nate to open up about what’s got him down in the dumps. It goes about as well as you’d expect. Listen to the main episode: http://monsteris...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! After several months in Seoul, Nate finally reaches the point where Korean kaiju cinema comes into its own: Bong Joon-ho's The Host (2006). He's joined by YouTuber and author Omni Viewer and his "kaiju" sidekick, Snazzy Chapeau, to discuss this momentous film. While it arguably has more in common with Jaws than Godzilla (1954), its effect on Korean culture was as significant a...

A tired Nate returns to Uber-Moguera from a film curation trip in Seoul and overhears a conversation between Jimmy and Kaguya. Jimmy sounds uncharacteristically nervous, but not because things have been a little tense between him and his girlfriend the last few months. No, it’s because he pops the question. Introducing, in her MIFV debut, Rebecca Olivia Hodges as Kaguya. Check out Nathan’s spinoff...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! This film was popular to hate and now it’s popular to “reevaluate” it: All Monsters Attack (aka Godzilla's Revenge). Nate is joined by not one but two fellow kaiju authors to unpack this grossly misunderstood G-film: Neil Riebe (who's practically Nate’s new co-host) and the most-cited man on MIFV, John LeMay. They get into the cultural contexts that birthed this strange kids’...

Jimmy may have secretly recaptured Yonggary (aka “Double G”) by his sheer awesomeness, but that victory is short-lived. The nefarious (and rubbery) Galaxions return and unleash an upgraded Cykor protected by an energy shield projected by their ship. Now, only the combined might of Jimmy with a jetpack and Elijah’s powers of argumentation can save Seoul and the world! Check out Nathan’s spinoff pod...

In this excerpt from a Patreon-exclusive livestream, Nathan interviews James Santana, a comic nerd and tokusatsu fan who combined his passions by starting his own comic book label, TokUSA Studios. His goal is to bridge the gap between tokusatsu/manga fans and comic readers by offering them books inspired by the likes of Super Sentai and Ultraman, among others. He's currently spearheading a Kicksta...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In what might be the most subversive and inspirational episode of MIFV yet, Elijah Thomas ( Kaiju Conversation ) joins Nate to discuss the infamous South Korean “kaiju” (notice the air quotes?) movie, Reptilian. This is, in fact, a “remake” of Yongary, Monster from the Deep , and it's often called “The Room of kaiju films.” But Elijah says it’s more than that. He even goes so...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! It’s time to unpack the biggest kaiju release of 2024—Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire! For such a momentous occasion, Nate called upon YouTuber Donny Winter (Growing Up with Godzilla) and a “mystery guest”…who didn’t make it. Darn. So, he got the next best option: The Omni Viewer and his monster sidekick, Snazzy! They dive deep into the fifth entry of Legendary Pictures’ Monst...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In yet another impromptu “bonus” episode, Nate is joined by Daniel DiManna ( Godzilla Novelization Project ) to discuss a film that was finally unleashed upon the world by SRS Cinema: Space Monster Wangmagwi. As you can see, this one actually fits the season theme of The Monster Island World Tour. As mentioned in the Yongary episode , this was also released in the “Year of the...

Ever wonder what would happen if Rito Revolto and Deadpool had a radio show? No? Well, you're gonna find out, whether you want to or not! The Board replaces Nate’s radio show in his absence—without telling him—with a new one hosted by Nate’s hated old roommate...and some dude named Wade. They report some local Monster Island news, take a music request from Bonnie Lass, and get into all kinds of sh...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Our first Patreon episode of season four—courtesy of executive producer Damon Noyes—is also MIFV’s first double feature and includes our first Roger Corman movie! First, we tackle Corman’s 1957 “classic,” Attack of the Crab Monsters, which could be called a “B-movie to a B-movie.” While it starts off as a typical atomic age creature feature, to Nate’s surprise, it goes full-ti...

With Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire upon us, friend of the podcast Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins is holding another “One Monstrous Moment” series, the “Year of the Dragon Edition.” I'm going about as “on brand” with it as you can with a discussion of the ending of Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). I was struck by it when I first saw it, and I’m struck by it now. It’s exemplifies pacifism, the so-called...

Nate and Jimmy fly Uber-Moguera to Panmunjom intent to recapture Yongary, but the Korean kaiju scores a couple lucky hits that disable the mecha’s weapons system. Desperate to find a new tactic, they get unlikely help from an unlikely source: Neil Riebe! His solution: a dance-off! Shenanigans ensue. Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip. We’d like to give a shout-...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! The South Korea leg of the Monster Island World Tour begins with arguably the first true Korean kaiju film: Yongary, Monster from the Deep. Author Neil Riebe, who might very well be this film's biggest fan, pays yet another visit to MIFV's mobile studio in Uber-Moguera to enlighten us with his copious research on the movie. Released in the “Year of the Kaiju,” 1967, it borrows...