Derek M. Koch has been a key part of my pandemic plan, not only because he’s a good friend, not only because of his long-running Monster Kid Radio, but also because in 2020 he started the Monster Kid Movie Club — which, as you may remember, helped boost my movie watching numbers into the stratosphere last year.
One of the side benefits of having the Monster Kid Movie Club streaming films (and shorts and shows) on both Saturday and Tuesday every week is that I often get to see some public domain work that I wasn’t previously familiar with. Another is that, once in a while, I can introduce Derek to one I really like that he doesn’t know.
Amazing, Derek had never seen UNKNOWN ISLAND, a minor SF-Adventure classic. Happily, he rectified that on a recent Monster Kid Astronomy Club (the SF version of Monster Kid Movie Club — which shares the same URL.) And having done that, he wanted to discuss the film on Monster Kid Radio. I was more than happy to oblige!
So, here’s the link to Episode #508 of Monster Kid Radio, with Derek and me discussing UNKNOWN ISLAND.
For those unfamiliar with the film, it’s the first dinosaur movie ever shot in color (at least in the US). It features a great cast including Richard Denning (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Black Scorpion, etc.) and Barton MacLean (Torchy series, I Dream of Jeanie, and many more). It has brontosaurs, a dimetrodon, and a pack of ceratosauruses (like T-rexes, but with a horn on their noses), as well as a huge ape (which, probably to avoid trouble with Kong, they call a “sloth”)!
Yes, the certatosaurs and the ape are guys in somewhat cheesy monster costumes (and the other creatures are models/props), but you know what? I prefer guys in suits — no matter how flimsy — to hapless reptiles of various types with fins and horns glued to them, which are then forced to battle each other for the camera (One Million BC, etc.). And honestly, the guys-in-suits thing adds a certain homemade charm, in my opinion.
In any case, listen to the show, via the link above, and the watch the film — or maybe give it a re-watch, if you’ve already seen it.
Derek and I love its low-budget awesomeness! Maybe you will, too.
Remember, you can support this and all my other work, including Frost Harrow, Dr. Cushing’s Chamber of Horrors, and more, by joining my Patreon for a buck or two a month. Thanks!
