The Kaiju Transmissions Podcast

Eko Eko Azarak

In our second October horror episode, Byrd, Matt, and guest host Trev (Days of Future Podcast, If It Bleeds We Can Kill It) dip their toes into the Eko Eko Azarak franchise with a discussion on the first three live action movies. Produced by Gaga Co. and Tsuburaya Films, these were based on the popular manga of the same name. The series follows a young schoolgirl witch who travels from town to town as a protector against demonic activity. We discuss the original manga and review Wizard of Darkness (1995), its prequel followup Birth of the Wizard (1996) and the TV-series spin off Misa the Dark Angel (1998). How do these hold up? Listen and find out!

15 Miles Straight Down: Interview With Actress Linda Haynes!

On another very special episode, Byrd and Matt and joined by actress Linda Haynes for this candid, career spanning interview. Kaiju fans know her best for her role in Ishiro Honda's Latitude Zero. She also starred in many 70s cult favorites such as Coffy, Rolling Thunder, and Human Experiments. We discuss these films, as well as variety of topics such as her work with directors like Ishiro Honda, John Flynn and Jack Hill, stars such as Joseph Cotten, Akira Takarada, Pam Grier, and Robert Redford, her post-acting career, making positive changes in life, the convention circuit, turning down a role from Quentin Tarantino and more! Enjoy! Linda will be attending the Chiller Theatre convention in Parsippany, NJ from 10/27/2017-10/29/2017. If you're in the area, come and give her a visit!

Kwaidan (1964)

Happy October! KT is once again going through Japanese horror films for the entire month and we're kicking it off with the classic anthology film Kwaidan, directed by the great Masaki Kobayashi. This independent feature was produced by Ninjen Club and distributed by Toho in 1964 and features four horror stories based on the Japanese folk stories of author Lafcadio Hearn. We discuss how the film was made, the unique musical score, the struggles that Kobayashi went through to finish the film, and the strange life of author Lafcadio Hearn. Enjoy!

Unmade Kaiju Movies with Author John Lemay!

Byrd and Matt welcome special guest, author John LeMay ("The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monsters" book series) on the podcast to discuss kaiju movies that almost were! It seems almost as if for every Godzilla movie that got made, there are several scripts for other movies that never saw the light of day. John's newest book, "The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monsters: The Lost Films" details that very subject. We talk to John about his book, his beginnings as a writer, the process of writing the book, and why he's so drawn to the topic of unmade films. Then we also talk our favorite unmade Godzila/kaiju projects, and the ones we would have liked to see the most. We talk about infamous lost projects like Mothra vs Bagan, Godzilla vs Batman, and the proposed Toho/Hammer co-production Nessie, as well as obscurities such as Japan SOS, Bride of Godzilla, and Godzilla vs. M. We also debunk some common myths along our way. So listen up, relax and learn about the Godzilla movies we ALMOST had!

King Kong's Muse: Interview With Actress Linda Miller!

On a special episode, Byrd and Matt welcome Linda Miller, best known for her role as Susan Watson in the Toho/Rankin-Bass classic King Kong Escapes! In addition to her starring role in one of Toho's golden age kaiju films, she also made an appearance in Toei's cult favorite, The Green Slime. Linda discusses both films, her modeling career, being directed by the great Ishiro Honda, language barriers on the Japanese sets, working with stars like Akira Takarada, Rhodes Reason, and Richard Jaeckel, her convention experiences, why she stopped acting, and what she's done in her post-acting life. Linda will be attending the Chiller Theatre convention in Parsippany, NJ from 10/27/2017-10/29/2017. If you're in the area, come give her a visit!

The Original Street Fighter: Interview with Action Star Sonny Chiba!

On a very special episode of the podcast, we are ridiculously excited to welcome the legendary and prolific martial arts action star Sonny Chiba! Matt ventured to Fandom Fest in Kentucky to sit down and talk with Mr. Chiba. With nearly 200 acting credits, Sonny Chiba has done it all. He's well known for his roles in cult classics like the Street Fighter series, Golgo 13, Message From Space, the Yakuza Papers and Bodyguard Kiba. He's been in everything from early tokusatsu films like Golden Bat and Invasion of the Neptune Men to work in Hollywood with Kill Bill and Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. He's done dozens of yakuza and martial arts films. He's also done a lot of stunt work, as well as founding the Japan Action Club for stunt/action actors. Listen as Sonny describes a variety of topics including legendary director Kinji Fukusaku, Vic Morrow, being cast by Quentin Tarantino, Fast and the Furious, language barriers on set, early tokusatsu hero film sets, differences between Japanese and Hollywood films, late actors Ken Takakura and Hirkoi Matsukata, advise for future stunt actors and more! Special thanks to Hiro Kitagawa for translating for this interview.

"Jouchaku!" Interview with Actor Kenji Ohba!

On a very special edition of the podcast, we present another celebrity interview with actor/stuntman Kenji Ohba! Kenji is best known for playing the long-running Toei tokusatsu superhero Space Sheriff Gavan, as well as his long career as a stunt man. Matt traveled to Fandom Fest in Kentucky this past July to conduct this interview. Ohba discusses his tokusatsu beginnings as a stuntman/suit actor in shows like Kikaider, being mentored by Sonny Chiba, mentoring Godzilla actor Tom Kitagawa, the difficulties of stunt work, how working on tokusatsu TV shows has changed over the years, and of course, the continued popularity of the Space Sheriff Gavan character (who he still plays to this day). Tune in and enjoy! Special thanks to Hiro Kitagawa for translating for this interview.

Finding Willis O'Brien's Lost World with Nicolas Ciccone

Byrd and Matt are joined by silent film historian and film restorationist Nicolas Ciccone to discuss Willis O'Brien and Harry O. Hoyt's 1925 game-changer The Lost World. Nicolas had the experience of reconstructing the film with newly discovered footage for Lobster Films' upcoming blu-ray release (in addition to providing the audio commentary). This pre-King Kong dino-on-the-loose classic is the very first giant monster run amok film and the true great grandfather of the entire giant monster/kaiju genre. We discuss the making of the film, the differences between the original Arthur Conan Doyle novel and the film, the early career of Willis O'Brien, Obie's falling out with Herbert Dawley on The Ghost of Slumber Mountain, the casual racism in the film, the brand new extended cut, lost footage, the new restoration and more! Much of this film has been lost over the years, only available in truncated versions pieced together from various elements, and the upcoming blu-ray will be the most complete version seen since the 1920's. Flicker Alley will be unleashing Lobster Films restoration on 9/19/2017 with a brand new 2k transfer!

KT Writes a Death Note!

Byrd and Matt are joined by Trev (If It Bleed We Can Kill It and Days of Future Podcast) to take one of our occasional detours outside the giant monster landscape to examine the the Death Note franchise. In the early 2000s, this supernatural thriller became a worldwide phenomenon, starting with the successful manga and anime series. It also spawned multiple live action films from such genre heavyweights as Shusuke Kaneko, Hideo Nakata and Adam Wingard. Our discussion is mostly based on the two 2006 Shusuke Kaneko films and Adam Wingard's American adaptation that just dropped as a Netflix Original. We'll also touch on the manga and anime, the L spin-off film, and the 2016 Japanese sequel Light Up The New World. We also discuss the recent "whitewashing" controversy surrounding the Netflix film. But first, we discuss the Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters teaser and the recent news that Steven Soderbergh was planning a remake of Matango!

LIVE Panel with Haruo Nakajima and Tom Kitagawa at Days of the Dead Con!!

From June 30-July 3 of 2017, Godzilla suit actors Haruo Nakajima and Tom Kitagawa were featured guests at the Days of the Dead convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is the panel Q and A with the two actors from the convention. Unfortunately, this would also become one of Haruo Nakajima's final interviews and his final convention appearance. The two men answer questions about how they got involved in suit acting, working in the suits, working with miniatures, their thoughts on the American Godzilla films and more! With the clearance from the Days of the Dead con, KT is proud to present this panel discussion with two legendary kaiju performers! Listen and enjoy! Special thanks to Nick Adam Poling and Jonathan Crocetti for providing the audio, Christopher Marti for his post production work, and Corey Hannigan for translating at the panel! DISCLAIMER: The audio for this is a little rough, as the convention did not have a proper set up to accommodate some of the recording hardware. After a lot of post-production work, we are presenting it in the absolute best quality we were able to get from the elements available.