And The Oscar Goes To ….. How Well Do You Know Your Eco-Monster Movie Trivia? (Part I)

Science fiction movies have come a long way from the 1950’s when “mutant monsters” terrorized the island of Manhattan and Japan and blighted the desert of New Mexico.  Rather today’s big screen monsters tend to be 3-D “space aliens” and “virile vampires” with complex feelings, unorthodox powers, and shrouded origins whose shadowy actions often make us wonder what they are really after…  In contrast, “eco-terrestrial-monsters” are simpler characters to understand – for the most part, they are the meddlesome by-products of toxic human activities, radioactive fallouts, biological contamination (or manipulation) and habitat destruction – – earth-bound monsters whose motivations are at once recognizable – -revenge on all humans!  Other memorable “eco-terrestrial-monsters” are the meddlesome byproducts of legendary gods found in Greek mythology and Scandinavian folklore.  Still others, are the mythical reincarnations of fossilized animals.  Let’s see then how well you know your “eco-monster” movie trivia?

1- What 1954 eco-monster movie classic featured an amphibious-looking half-fish, half-human creature living along the Amazon River?

2- Released three months later in 1954, what is the name of the American eco-monster movie that featured gigantic man-eating irradiated ants?

3- 1954 was a good year indeed!  What Japanese monster movie introduced the world to a pop culture icon known for its mutant lizard appearance and its starring role in a series of 28 sequels?

4- What American-made 1957 science fiction film featured a scientific expedition trapped in the Bikini Atoll of the Pacific Ocean by intelligent, brain-eating monsters that mutated as a result of nuclear testing on the island’s plant and sea life?

5- Filmed near Dallas, Texas, what low-budget 1959 monster film, considered to be a cult classic, featured a gargantuan 70 foot poisonous lizard attacking a train and then a town dance hall packed with teenagers before being blown up by a rigged ‘hot rod’ filled with nitroglycerin?

6- What 1963 fantasy feature film based on a mythical Greek hero and his quest for the Golden Fleece, featured half-human winged monsters on the island of Thrace and a seven-headed serpent whose sown teeth begot an army of skeletons?  What are the names of both of these legendary creatures?

7- What 1965 Japanese monster movie introduced the world to another pop culture icon – a titanic, flying turtle monster with fire-breathing capabilities, a shell strong enough to withstand missiles and other weaponry and a pair of claws and large tusks brought to life after a Soviet plane carrying nuclear bombs crashes into the arctic ice?

8- Set in Arizona, what 1972 American sci-fi horror film featured large fluffy carnivorous killer monsters that mutated as a result of an experimental hormonal serum being injected into one of these small domesticated mammals?

9- What notorious star-studded 1978 disaster film bombed at the box office but not before a killer invasion of African bees spread terror in Texas?

10- Filmed in San Marcos, Texas, what is the name of the other 1978 horror movie which featured a scientifically engineered swarm of flesh-eating monsters that were accidently released from an abandoned military research center from the Vietnam War era and escaped into the riverways feeding a children’s camp and summer resort?

11- Filmed in British Columbia, Canada, what is the name of the 1979 monster movie which featured the calamitous effects of mercury-tainted waste from a local lumber mill company in Maine and the creation of a giant man-eating bear-monster?

12- Set in an isolated ex-mining town in Nevada, what 1990 sci-fi horror comedy film featured worm-like creatures that swim under the desert sands like underground monster sharks finding and grabbing up people based on vibrations?

13- What is the name of the 1993 movie that featured a theme park populated by monster dinosaurs cloned from  DNA extracts of insects preserved in prehistoric amber?

14- What is the name of the pirate movie series and the legendary sea monster whose leviathan tentacles preyed upon specific ships at the command of Davy Jones, captain of the Flying Dutchman?

15- In what 2001 boy wizard movie does Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, give up his baby monster to be taken to a sanctuary in Romania?  What is the name and classification type of this baby monster?

Answers: (1) The Creature from the Black Lagoon (2) Them! (3) Godzilla (4) Attack of the Crab Monsters (5) The Giant Gila Monster (6) Jason and the Argonauts; Harpies; Hydra (7) Gamera (8) Night of the Lepus aka Rabbits (9) The Swarm (10) Piranha (11) Prophecy (12) Tremors (13) Jurassic Park (14)  Pirates of the Caribbean; the “Kraken” (15)  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone; Norbert; Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon