The Cliff Monster ( 1960 ) And Filmland Monsters ( 1960 )

[vayapues]

Monolith, thank you for so generously sharing all this good stuff -- I've wanted to have both films forever. Really hope it's true that Bob plans to put them out himself. A facsimile edition (hey Bob!) would be quite a keepsake.

No great insight to say that both films are (let's face it) overwhelmingly primitive by 2017 standards. But much more important is their status as relics of that early baby-boom monster era: Paul was doing something pretty unique then by straddling professional & fan worlds thru his work in the genre. It's become utterly commonplace by now -- Lucas & Spielberg sort of marked the late 70s borderline when fan ardor went pro & became accepted as a mainstay of the industry, & digital film making has since helped narrow the technical gap between fan & pro -- but that gap was still cavernous in 1962, & in that light we can see Paul's efforts as downright evolutionary.

Not least, it was also Paul's way of having fun, I'm sure!

P.S. The actors in that film sure aren't Paul & Jackie (or Bob & Kathy Burns, for that matter).

P.P.S. It looks like "Filmland Monsters" contains not just trailer materials but also either outtake shots or home movie footage Paul made to show off more details of his work that went unused or cut in the released films -- like the rotating eye on the saucer man paw.

[vayapues]

Belated update: I just read in Randy Palmer's excellent bio of Paul B (highly recommended) that CLIFF's checkered leading man was, in fact, Bob Burns's old friend -- frequent make-up subject & general partner in crime -- Lionel Comport. Who the lady in distress was is anyone's guess, maybe Lionel's wife or girlfriend sharing in the weekend home-movie fun.

Speaking of Bob & Lionel's great adventures, there's a fun article from Bob & Paul's Fantastic Monsters #2, 1962, describing when Bob donned the SHE CREATURE costume for a local LA TV appearance plugging the film on its 1956 release. Sez that Bob wrote the piece, but the puckish sense of humor sounds a lot like Paul to me. You be the judge. (Article begins on pg 14.) https://archive.org/details/Fantastic_Monsters_of_the_Films_v01n02_1962/mode/2up