Under The Influence - 10

Being an occasional series while the paint is drying, the glue is hardening or waiting for enthusiasm to come back, where i have a waffle on the things, films, books and whatnot that had a direct influence on me, getting me into this hobby or the whole SF/fantasy malarky.

If you're reading this and my age, or older, or younger by about 10 yaers or so, then guessing you'll be the same as me in citing Mr Harryhausen's work as a major part of your childhood. Such fabulous creations, expertly brought to life, they're true classics and even now stand the test of time - and the latest CGI efforts can't hold a candle to them. Okay, the films they were in were a bit plodding, and you sat there through the mushy or boring talky stuff waiting for the next effects sequence to start. Sadly, apart from Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger and Clash Of The Titans, i never saw any of his films up on the Big Screen. As blown away as i was watching them on the telly on a rainy Sunday afternoon, think my mind would've been blown to have been sat there in the dark watching them unfold for the first time. Narrowing down my favourite moments from Ray's films is real difficult and choosing a top one is even harder. Runners up are the pics above and my eventual Number One gets the honour of being in moving images below. I've chosen its not only a masterpiece of animation, but a masterpiece in atmosphere, what with the unsettling music slowly building, the camera angle to accentuate how massive he is from the two fellas perspective but, most of all, that unsettling, calm, SLOW turn of the head. This guy was the boss here and he was going to show these foolish mortals so: