# 1999 VHS • AMC Monsterfest TV Broadcast 60 FPS

A documentary special hosted by Roger Corman for AMC's Monsterfest programming block, running approximately 55 minutes, tracing the history of giant monster films from the earliest silent era through the late 1990s. The program is framed as a tribute to the giants of the industry and is structured chronologically. The survey begins with French filmmaker George Melies and his 1912 film Conquest of the Pole, moves through the animated dinosaurs of Gertie the Dinosaur and Willis O'Brien's The Lost World in 1925, and identifies O'Brien as the father of stop motion animation. King Kong's 1933 production is covered in depth, with commentary on stop motion technique and Kong's emergence as a cultural icon. The post-war atomic age is framed as the catalyst that brought genuine dread back to the genre, culminating in the 1954 debut of Godzilla, now with over 20 films and 200,000 fan club members. The British Gorgo, notable for its maternal plot twist, and the campy American giant insect films of the 1950s are surveyed before the program addresses the arrival of CGI and its role in reviving the destruction picture. The closing segment asks what new monsters the 21st century will produce and notes that the best monster is always the one the audience does not see coming.

- Kind: Film
- Year: 1999
- By: The Vista Group®
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/TheVistaGroup-AMCMonsterfestTVBroadcast)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/TheVistaGroup-AMCMonsterfestTVBroadcast?play=1)