Squid Row

Here's a monster flick good for a yuck
With a mollusk whose suction cups suck
A sad octopod beast
A mad doctor released
In a movie they shot for a buck.



Tor Johnson wrestles with a rubber cephalopod in Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster (1955), a Z-grade cheapie starring an ailing Béla Lugosi as Dr. Eric Vornoff, who conducts experiments to turn people into super-beings through the use of atomic power and a sub-atomic script. Some trivia from the IMDb: The prop octopus was stolen from Republic Studios and was constructed for the John Wayne film Wake of the Red Witch. The motor which controlled the octopus' tentacles was not stolen with it, as is obvious to the casual viewer.

Its Happen Every Spring

They arrive from the sea and won't quit
(They survive when 3D takes a hit)
Across screens giant critters
Give the teenagers jitters
At the drive-ins big creatures are "IT".

It Came from Beneath the Sea (Robert Gordon; 1955) features the nifty stop-motion work of Ray Harryhausen. Tentacle Week has destroyed seven days and is reaching for a fortnight.

It Came From Beneath the Screen

From the sea comes a beast, today's catch
The police on the beat are no match
Like in gum, they get stuck
And are plumb out of luck
When the thing's giant B-cups attach.

B-movie cups, that is. It Came from Beneath the Sea (Robert Gordon; 1955) features the stop-motion monster work of master animator Ray Harryhausen.

Here's Looking at You, Squid

Be careful exploring much deeper
Beware of a snoring sea-sleeper
When taking a dive
Try staying alive
When it glares from its horrible peeper.

It Came from Beneath the Sea (Robert Gordon; 1955) features stop-motion creature animation by master Ray Harryhausen. Title by David Cairns, always on the lookout.

Little Green Menace

© 2013 Hilary Barta All rights reserved

Hunting prey, they are famously brainy
Plus their alien frames are all veiny
To these maniacs green
You're sustaining cuisine
Grab your ray-gun and aim like Dick Cheyney.

This is a print which I'll be hawking this weekend in Artist Alley at C2E2. It is also available online from Pseudo Press. Color by dāvpunk! Title by green around the gills David Cairns. 

Pitching a Tentacle

In this rousing and crowd-pleasing flick
Harryhausen allowed a few tricks
Like the physical quirk
Which would save him some work
"It"s endowed with not eight legs but six.

David Cairns and Surly Hack

It Came from Beneath the Sea (Robert Gordon; 1955) features an aquatic creature by the great stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen.

On the Trail of the Lonesome Octopus

Like some sloppy and eight-legged snail,
Slimey octo creates quite a trail
With his tentacles gripping
And lamentably dripping,
Bring a mop and a great honking pail.



The 1919 serial Trail of the Octopus. Title by David "Dinner at Eight" Cairns. Over at his blog, Shadowplay, David is posting a serialized appraisal of this wild and woolly entertainment.

Eight Legs to Hold You

The oddity came from beneath
I'd shop for a funeral wreath
This up-from-the-mucker
Will cup with its sucker
Thank god the thing doesn't have teeth.

It Came from Beneath the Sea (Robert Gordon; 1955) features stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen. David Cairns wrote our title, and informs us that the film's creature was given only six tentacles--instead of eight--to save labor when animating.

Gangsters Mollusc

Like a squiggly thing from the id
Comes this wriggling wrinkly squid
Its appendages' suction
Ends in tendril destruction
Do not giggle -- no, heaven forbid.

David Cairns

A frame from Bride of the Monster (Ed Wood; 1955).

Giving Up The Ghost of Frankenstein

He's beleaguered, by demons pursued,
He's fatigued, in an evil bad mood
His frame shoddy and failing,
From his body he's bailing
Beaten Ygor is clearly unglued.

Béla Lugosi as the one and only Ygor in The Ghost of Frankenstein (Erle C. Kenton; 1942). Our chronological limericking through Universal's Frankenstein films will return after a brief intermission.

Minds Over Matter

There's no clue to whose brain he'll be sporting
Through both shrewd and insane ones they're sorting
All this bod and mind swapping
And the odd case of dropping
Tell me who could explain such cavorting!

Lionel Atwill and Cedric Hardwicke eye a supine Lon Chaney Jr in The Ghost of Frankenstein (Erle C. Kenton; 1942).

Dwight Place, Wrong Time

Mister Frye was a credit to crime
When defiling the dead was sublime
On a mad doctor's staff
He did bad for a laugh
With a style way ahead of his time.



Dwight Frye brought a macabre humor to grave situations. Pictured: Ernest Theisinger as Dr. Pretorius, Ted Billings as Ludwig, and Dwight Frye as Karl in Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale; 1935).

Ingrate Minds Think Alike

Ygor clamored, harangued, and he ranted
As the camera angles grew canted
He was only conspiring
To postpone his expiring
So his damnable brain was transplanted.

Doctor Bohmer (Lionel Atwill) considers the crazy scheme of Ygor (Béla Lugosi) in The Ghost of Frankenstein (Erle C. Kenton; 1942).