The horror of the Nuclear Age and Horror films

I bugged out when I found out that matter is simply condensed energy…energy that has been contained. I basically came to the conclusion that even us feeble creatures have more power in us than we give ourselves credit for. Without sounding too much like a nerd (too late….) the concept of the atom and the energy it contains is not even a century old. The atom and it’s parts were discovered in the early decades of the 20th century. But the realness of its full potential was realized during the Second World War when the United States, along with the most brilliant minds of science at the time, created the first nuclear weapon. It was this weapon that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, officially ending World War II with the Japanese surrendering and having to deal with the horrors of what this weapon has done. 

For the first time in history the human species has been able to harness and use the power that before was reserved for nature only…in the insides of the stars…yep….billions of nuclear explosions per second is what’s keeping all the stars…including our sun…shining. It’s the radiation that messes us up. It brought about malformed children and diseases that a human being would have normally not contracted. The survivors of the blasts in Japan can testify to the power of such a weapon.

It wasn’t even over yet. In 1954 the first Hydrogen Bomb was tested in the Pacific ocean. Unfortunately, The Lucky Dragon, a Japanese fishing boat, was within range of the blast. Within seven months, crew members died of radiation poisoning. The nuclear age had begun and thus started the Cold War.

What’s this history lesson about Ralph? What does this have to do with horror movies? Everything! If it weren’t for the atomic age we would not have had the pleasure of seeing incredible horror films about radiation contaminated animals which we would have considered harmless. They end up growing thousands of times their original size and before you know it, there are people running around in any given city trying to get away from these oversized pests! Consider THEM! Its a story about giant ants, the result of nuclear bomb testing in New Mexico. We can look back and laugh at such films, but back in 1954, it scared the pants out of everybody! What about attack of the Crab Monsters? (1957)… it involved nuclear tests too. This was the advent of the Cold War…a time period when everyone feared nuclear annihilation.


But nothing is comparable to the ultimate version of nature run amok due to nuclear fallout….Godzilla, made by Toho studios in Japan of all places, bred a fan base that continues to this day. Sure, it got stupid over time when the giant reptile, born of nuclear radiation, began a run as being a savior of the planet and every boy’s superhero, but try telling this (pointing at myself) boy that when he was 7 years old. I was enthralled. I loved it. I still do. They spent the 90’s trying to make Godzilla more primitive and destructive again which was cool, but then Tri Star raped the name by introducing this over sized Iguana ala Jurassic Park laying eggs in Madison Square Garden. It was just straight up terrible. How do you take such an iconic force of destruction and try to downgrade it to that?????

`
When I saw the leaked trailer a few weeks back of 2014’s Godzilla, I was happy, elated and the bad taste of TriStar’s 1998 finally left me. Godzilla is back…and it’s going to be hardcore! The cold war may be over but this film may just be the film that will bring back the horror and threat of nuclear destruction in the form of a mutant dinosaur of the likes by which it has never been seen before. I for one am looking forward to May to find out.