The Classic Movie Monster Quiz

More than several years ago, when we were about ten, my chum Lenny Z. declared that The Creature From The Black Lagoon was the best movie he’d ever seen. At the time I remember scoffing at the notion. (And the fact that I was already scoffing at anything at the age of ten should help you to understand why I turned out the way I did.)

Search the title of this horror movie today and you’ll read such glowing praise that you’ll think you Googled Gone With The Wind by mistake. I should have listened to Lenny back then. After all, when the rest of us were constructing models of cars and airplanes (Remember those fantastic glue fumes? And only ten cents a tube!) his bedroom shelf held plastic replicas of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and of course the Creature himself. Uh, Itself.

Well, the truth is a lot of monsters have graced the silver screen over the years, from the American-made Creature who swam underwater in a cheap rubber suit to the Japanese legend Godzilla, who kicked the snot out of tiny plastic models of downtown Tokyo. And we loved them all, didn’t we?

But how much do you remember? Well let’s find out! Try your hand at the Classic Movie Monster Quiz below and see if your personal favorite is mentioned. And when I say “classic” I mean just that. You’ll find none of that new-fangled Alien or Freddy Krueger crap in my monster quiz!

1. In the 1941 film, what was the Wolf Man’s real name?

a. William O’Connor

b. Lawrence Talbot

c. Preston Parker

d. It was never given.

2. Who played Frankenstein in the 1931 classic film?

a. Colin Clive

b. Lon Chaney, Jr.

c. Victor Landis

d. Boris Karloff

3. Godzilla’s Japanese name is Gojira. What does it mean?

a. Half gorilla, half whale

b. Half dragon, half elephant

c. Half dinosaur, half emperor

d. Half lizard, half Mel Gibson

4. In the 1932 film, what was the name of The Mummy?

       a. Tut-ep-ho

             b. Em-ho-ut

 c. Im-ho-tep

 d. Yur-a-ho

5. Gamera, who debuted in a 1965 Japanese film, is a giant, flying…?

            a. Snake

            b. Turtle

            c. Alligator

d. Pterodactyl

6. In the 1931 film, Dracula has the power to change into a…?

a. Wolf.

b.  Bat

c.  Snake

            d.  Housedress

7. The Creature From the Black Lagoon is also known as…?

            a. The Fish-Man

b. The Gill-Man

c. The Shark-Man

d. Dick Cheney

8. Mothra, from the Japanese movie of the same name, is actually a giant flying…?

a. Wasp

b. Cockraoch

c. Moth

d. Ladybug

9. Which Hollywood screen legend starred in The Blob?

a. Clint Eastwood

b. Gene Hackman

c. Charles Bronson

d. Steve McQueen

10. Where did King Kong live?

a. Voodoo Island

b. Skull Island

c. Fog Island

d. Lost Island

OK, time’s up, pencils down! How’d you do?

ANSWERS:

1.      LAWRENCE TALBOT. I even knew that one without looking it up.

2.      Gotcha! COLIN CLIVE played Dr. Frankenstein. Boris Karloff played the monster.

3.      HALF GORILLA, HALF WHALE. And what do you mean I shouldn’t kick Gibson when he’s down? What better time?

4.      IM-HO-TEP. One of the slowest-moving monsters of all time. Well, I guess Frankenstein (uh, I mean Frankenstein’s monster, wasn’t much of a sprinter either.)

5.      Yup, Gamera was a giant, flying TURTLE. No kidding. I guess by the 1960’s they were running out of reptiles to use.

6.      BAT. Easy one, even for you.

7.      THE GILL-MAN. We used to tie a rope around my brothers ankle and stake the other end into the ground and play Gill-Man. Well screw you, we didn’t have Game-Boy.

8.      MOTH. Aren’t you paying attention at all?

9.      STEVE MCQUEEN. Also, look for an unimaginably young Clint Eastwood in Revenge of the Creature, his first movie. (Clint’s, not the Creature’s.)

10.  SKULL ISLAND. Hey how about a remake with a giant gorilla called Queen Kong who lives on Fire Island? My, it really is getting late.

OK, did anybody get all ten right? Hey Lenny Z., how’d the old “monster expert” do?