If you bemoan the fact that they just don’t make giant monster movies like they used to, MTV may have your fix. Fans of classic ’50s and ’60s B-movie fare and stop-motion animation can look forward to Monster Island, an MTV original movie starring Carmen Electra, Adam West and a fair number of giant bugs and pissed-off monsters. It airs Sunday, March 7, at 7:00 p.m.
The mayhem begins when a broken-hearted teen named Josh (Daniel Letterle) wins an MTV contest that sends his entire class aboard a party ship destined for a tropical island and a night of partying with celebrity guests. Carmen Electra (Scary Movie, the upcoming Starsky and Hutch) shows up to entertain the kids with a concert, which is interrupted when the buxom bombshell is plucked of the stage by a huge flying monster. Determined to rescue her, Josh convinces the group to head into the jungle where they meet up with mad scientist Dr. Harryhausen (wink, wink), played by the iconic Adam West of Batman fame, who holds the secrets to the island’s freakish inhabitants. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Harrison and Chelan Simmons also star.
Not to be confused with Graham Nolan’s comic book of the same name, Monster Island is overseen by Maggie Malina, MTV’s Sr. VP of original movies for television. She comments, "Fun and irreverence have always been two important aspects of MTV Original Movies. Monster Island is a way for us to tweak the conventions of two audience favorites – scary movies and celebrity-studded MTV parties."
Don’t look for any CG in this comedic send up of movies like King Kong and One Million Years B.C. The producers decided instead to make some old-school monster magic with a mix of puppetry and stop-motion animation provided by Vancouver-based Bowes Productions Inc.
Directed by Jack Perez (Wild Things 2, La Cucaracha, TV’s Xena: Warrior Princess, Temptation Island), Monster Island is being produced in partnership with In Sight Film & Video Ltd. Exec. producers are James Shavick, Kirk Shaw and Ilan Briel. Lois Curren is exec. VP of Music Series and Original Movie Development for MTV.
