The Monster Island Film Vault

Happy Godzilla Day, Kaiju Lovers! To celebrate, Nate (and his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA) sit down and react live to the newest entry in the annual short film series, “Fest Godzilla II: Tokyo Vanishing.” It features a burning version of the Godzilla 2000 suit battling Monster X from Godzilla Final Wars…because reasons…namely Godzilla Minus Zero…because [SPOILERS]. Then Nate discusses the results of Toho’s New Monster General Election results, because, at least in America, it’s also Election Day. And this is one we actually like!

Stay tuned for our coverage of Godzilla Minus Zero!

C...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Nathan Marchand, host of The Monster Island Film Vault, not only does this video "out of character," he talks about Gamera...on Godzilla Day. Gamera fanfiction...he created. Specifically, an audio drama. He might be breaking Omni Viewer's rules for One Monstrous Moment: ZERO SUM EDITION with this shameless self-promotion. Regardless, he connects the Friend to All Children to T.R.R. Tolkien. Because that's how we roll on MIFV!

Watch the original video version: https://youtube.com/live/29unoqAfYq4.

Watch/Listen to “Gamera Saves Christmas”:

-YouTube: https://yout...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In this Patreon-sponsored double feature solo episode, Nate analyzes two completely unrelated movies. Well, sorta related movies. One is animated, and the other was made by a studio famous for animation. Both are TV movies. One features superheroes, and the other was a co-production with a studio that made a famous superhero. These are, of course, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (2006) and The Last Dinosaur (1977). The former features a pair of kaiju and many tokusatsu references. The latter is a co-production between Rankin-Bass (the studio that gave us Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer...

Join Nathan Marchand and some special guests as they celebrate seven years of kaiju podcasting! Featuring Matt Walsh (But Not THAT Matt Walsh), Elijah Thomas, Jake "The Metal Don" Hambrick, and later Neil Riebe.

Watch the original livestream: https://youtube.com/live/fpSGTt19cQ4?feature=share.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d like to give a shout-out to our free MIFV MAX patrons on Patreon: Cordell Stevens, John Pannozzi, Jacob Heron, Cool Cat Videos, Bransbow, Sean Sullivan, Frankie Wolf...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! History repeats itself in both MIFV and the Godzilla franchise, because Nate is once again dedicating an episode to a heavily re-edited Americanization of a G-film “starring” Raymond Burr: the notorious Godzilla 1985. Podcaster/writer Ben Avery and YouTuber Autistic Lizard Pro, who both have nostalgic ties to this movie, join him to discuss whether Roger Corman’s New World Pictures helped or hurt The Return of Godzilla (1984) when they imported it. Spoiler warning: Nate says “hurt,” but his guests disagree! Is “Mr. Martin’s” epic speech enough to overcome the poorly-done Regan-era “joke” about evil Soviets? They ask the Legal A...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Kaiju author Neil Riebe returns to discuss the one Ultraman film he likes: Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace. This entry in the Ultra Series is unique in that it's a TV series tie-in that's arguably a standalone feature. Not only that, it's a surprisingly deep and dark meta story set in the "real world," and the protagonists are actually kids who aren't "Kennys." What a shock! It's a monkey's paw tale that examines the fallibility of human nature to boot! Plus, the main kaiju, King of Mons, is one of the...

Join us tonight for a special livestream reflecting on G-Fest 2026 in Rosemont, Illinois. Was it as great as the epic that was last year's con? Did Nathan survive the nine hours of programming he (foolishly) took on? Did Damon choke on his first panel? Will Omni Viewer explain why Snazzy was missing? All this and more in this fun discussion!

Watch the original livestream here: https://youtube.com/live/Egv1e-dv1Ac.   

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3! We’d like to give a...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In a shockingly (but not shockingly) looooooong episode sponsored by Damon Noyes, Nate and his executive producer make the definitive podcast episode on a kaiju-adjacent film that marks the first Disney project covered on MIFV: Dragonslayer (1981). This co-production between the Mouse and Paramount has the best-named dragon ever--Vermithrax Pejorative--that had a massive impact on fantasy storytelling despite the movie flopping at the box office. The likes of Guillermo del Toro and George R.R. Martin count it as one of the greatest fantasy films of all time. Given that the filmmakers were inspired by Lord of...

Nathan sits down with his longtime friend and now first-time published author, Daniel DiManna, to discuss said first book: G-Cinema: An Exploration and Celebration of Japan's Monster King. Danny is the creator and author of the ambitious Godzilla Novelization Project, but he's also a frequent podcast guest, actor, and full-time goober, as he says. Join us for an exciting (and very nerdy) conversation!

Watch the original livestream here: https://youtube.com/live/bXuNz01G4f8.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3! We’d like to g...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! And happy birthday, Ray Harryhausen! And Nate and Elijah, too. Yes, they’re back for their annual crossover, and this year in their reverse order coverage of Ray’s filmography, they’ve reached an outlier: One Million Years B.C. (1967). While it has a cinematographer and director Ray had worked with, this wasn’t produced by Charles H. Schneer or distributed by Columbia Pictures. No, this is a Hammer Film and a remake of a 1940 movie starring Lon Chaney Jr. It made Raquel Welch an overnight star and sex symbol (much to her chagrin).Not only...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Hello, MIFV MAX members! First-time guest Rob Buck of The Power Chamber Podcast joins Nate for "The Ultra Journey" to discuss the first of its kind in the Ultra Series: Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light. This was the first wholly original tie-in film for a then-current Ultraman show on TV. While the title promises a crossover, behind-the-scenes shenanigans kept it from being as epic as it could've been. That being said, as a "midquel" for Dyna, it's a solid piece of tokusatsu. The film explicitly expresses the...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! It’s been six years since Eric Elliott published issues one and two of his fan comic, Batman Meets Godzilla, but now the epic conclusion is out! He makes good on his promise to return to MIFV in this special interview to discuss the reasons for the delay, the artists who made it possible, and POW-ZAP-ZOOM shenanigans that happen in this comic. Celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Adam West Batman series with this interview—after you read issue three!

NOTE: My apologies to Eric for sitting on this interview for several months. I mean...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! We meet now...at the end of all things. Or at least the end of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2. Nate gushes over what might be the best episode of the series, discussing the Kong vs. Titan X fight, the show's trademark "drama logic," and the unfortunately spoiled surprise at the end. (Hint: It ties to one of MIFV's most popular episodes). Then Nate concludes with his theories about where season 3 could potentially go, if the series is renewed and gives his final thoughts on the season as a whole.

What'd you think of...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In part 2 of the originally Patreon-exclusive weekly coverage of season 2 of AppleTV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the show’s valleys start manifesting—but this stretch episodes also includes Godzilla. For one episode, Nate had to look up a Japanese children’s song he’d never heard, for one thing. There is a character death, an obvious revelation, and a gimmicky “meeting” between Wyatt and Kurt Russell as Lee Shaw. Thankfully, it did get onto an upward trajectory. What’d you think of these episodes? Part 3 will drop Friday.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Hens...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In this compilation of originally Patreon-exclusive weekly coverage, Nate (and Jimmy From NASA) dives into the first four episodes of season two of AppleTV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Nate argues it starts off strong and starts hitting some valleys relatively soon. He ends up a little disappointed that Titan X isn’t quite like H.P. Lovecraft’s Dagon as much as he wanted. What did you think of these episodes? Part 2 will be posted Wednesday.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d l...

Hello Kaiju Lovers! Because Matt Walsh (no, not that Matt Walsh) is a crazy man who just happened to be on the Island to play Super Mario at a kids party, he jumped to the joke tier on our Patreon called “Jimmy’s Intern” (again). This time, it’s to discuss a 1979 movie directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, 1962) that has a pseudo-kaiju bear voiced by Megatron and played by the Predator and stars Rocky Balboa’s girlfriend. (For SEO purposes, that’s Frank Welker, Kevin Peter Hall, and Talia Shire). Jimmy has the day off for this one, which m...

Nate, the secretly resentful host for Ultraman Nu, tries to get back into as normal a life as Monster Island will allow by visiting the Sekizawa Library to conduct research. There, he meets (and is smitten by) Jane, a lovely new librarian, who tells him a notorious T-rex is on display for the library’s “Dinosaur Day.” Nate goes outside to see it, meeting M.A.K.O.’s leader, Captain Darke, just in time for the beast break out of its cage and go on a rampage. Now it’s big dang hero time—even if Nate wishes it wasn’t! <...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Nate (technically) reaches the Heisei Era of "Godzilla Redux" with The Return of Godzilla (aka "Godzilla 1984"). He's joined by kaiju author Neil Riebe (who saw it in the theatre!) and the "unapologetic apologist" for the Heisei series, Andrew Wynja "The Ninja." They get into how this is the only true "Cold War" G-film and offers a uniquely Japanese perspective that was almost completely lost in Roger Corman's heavily re-edited Americanized version, Godzilla 1985. If history isn't your thing, they also discuss the amazing special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano, Kenpachiro Satsuma's first performance as Big G, and the...

The infamous Rito Revolto (or Rito Bandora, depending on who you talk to) and some dude named Wade once again invade the MIFV podcast feed! They bicker and banter as they read all the important news stories from Monster Island, and then they get a phone from the Island’s resident Ultra Hero, Ultraman Nu. Rito hates it, because he’s had…an altercation with Mr. Nu. Is anyone surprised?

Starring:

Written, directed, produced, and edited by Nathan Marchand

MUSIC:

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! You’re not only getting a double feature in this episode of “The Ultra Journey” but also the long-awaited return of one of MIFV’s first guests, Nick Hayden. Nate also returns to one of MIFV’s original conceits: showing a kaiju/tokusatsu movie to someone who hasn’t seen it. This time, it’s the Ultraman Zearth duology. These quirky parodies feature an Ultraman trying to conquer his own trauma and phobias more than the deliciously evil alien supervillains. No, Zearth’s true archenemies are mud and a volleyball. Strap in for Nate having...

Coming soon from MIFV and Moonlighting Ninjas Media: Ultraman Nu: An Unofficial Audio Drama! A 12-episode saga coinciding with MIFV’s season five theme, “The Ultra Journey,” with episodes written by Nathan Marchand and special guest writers. Featuring the voice talents of Shane Cochrane, Jenessah Schlatter, Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins, and more! Coming soon to a podcatcher near you!

Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins as the announcer. (https://www.youtube.com/@omniviewer2115).

Cover art by Jacob Heron (@LycanArtist).

Ultraman Nu theme song by SilvrSage (https://silvrsage.com/).

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcas...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! “Godzilla Redux” kicks off with not one but two “gatekeepers” in the kaiju fandom: Jack “GMan” Hudgens and Elijah Thomas (Kaiju Conversation). They along with Nate spend nearly four hours(!) talking about why they effing love the final Showa series film, Terror of Mechagodzilla. It was Nate and Elijah’s first G-film and is one of Jack’s perennial favorites. While many regard it as Ishiro Honda’s weakest Godzilla film and barely give it more credit than the rest of the 1970s G-films, your hosts unpack a laundry list of deep themes and potent symbols. Th...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers, and welcome season five! It kicks off with the appropriately-titled Ultraman: The Adventure Begins, an animated movie produced in 1987 by Hanna-Barbera. Yes, the studio that brought you Superfriends and Scooby-Doo made the first all-original Ultraman movie! Nate could think of no better guests for this than Drew Dodgen and Jacob Heron (who also created the cover art for this episode) from The Cel Cast. Given that this episode officially marks MIFV’s induction into the Culture Box Network, it’s even more appropriate. While Nate battles weird headaches all episode, he and them Cel Cast boys dive...

The Ultra Series is celebrating its 60th anniversary, and MIFV is throwing a year-long own party! Join Nate Marchand as he gives on friends new and old to discuss the greatest cinematic outings of Japan’s favorite superhero, Ultraman. Not only that, you get more “Godzilla Redux” and an amazing assortment of Patreon-sponsored episodes! Now, if only Nate can figure out what’s giving him such a headache….

Check out the full list of (tentative) season 5 episodes on the MIFV website: https://monsterislandfilmvault.com/index.php/episode-list/season-5-the-ultra-journey-coming-soon/.  

This trailer’s music was “Ultraman Rap” (artist un...

Nate finds himself floating in oblivion. Terror’s teeth tear into his very soul. A bright silhouette reaches for him, and he takes his hand—and wakes up surrounded by Uber-Moguera’s burning wreckage, unscathed. His rescuer, Jet Jaguar, takes him to the Island’s infirmary. Aside from piercing headaches, he has a clean bill of health. But something haunts him. Something that saved him…something that shares his body…something…or someone?

Ultraman Nu theme song by SilvrSage (https://silvrsage.com/).

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V...

Rebecca Reynolds is living the life, as far as I care: she gets to write middle grade books about Japan's favorite superhero, Ultraman. Book 1 of The Ultra Academy, entitled Beware the Baleful Baltan, was published last fall by Sky Turtle Press as part of Tsuburaya Productions push to make the Ultra Series an international brand. I discuss the writing process and why Ultraman is more important than ever with Rebecca and her publisher, the Eisner Award-winning Steve Smith.

Intro music by Kairi (Shun Yogei).

Buy the book: https://a.co/d/4NpSRe1.

Watch...

Jimmy From NASA breaks out of Uber-Moguera's last escape pod, which floats in the Pacific near Monster Island. He is rescued by Kaguya on the HEAT Seeker. She tells Jimmy his mecha crashed on the Beta Site, and he demands to be taken there—to find Nate.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, Wynja...

Nathan sits down with Dr. Jeffrey Angles for a conversation on his next upcoming kaiju novel translation: The Luminous Fairies and Mothra. This short three-part book was the world's introduction to the "Queen of the Monsters," and it has a potent place in Japanese history and literary tradition. Learn about this and more in this interview!

Order the book: https://a.co/d/016Tybg.

Watch the original video version of this interview on the MIFV YouTube (https://youtube.com/live/NPwJ0zTjPGk?feature=share) or The Worlds of Nathan Marchand YouTube channel (https://youtube.com...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers. Jimmy From NASA here. I’m writing the shownotes for this episode, because, as you’ll hear, Nate had a hard time during this broadcast. In fact, he’s been having a hard time all season; he was just good at hiding it on the air. I wanted to let you know before hearing this. Anyway, Nate discusses a Patreon-sponsored double feature from former (and future?) MIFV MAX member Brad “Batman” Eddleman with The Amazing Colossal Man and War of the Colossal Beast (1957 and 1958, respectively). These Bert I. Gordon movies hold a nostalgic place of honor for Nate...

Susan Murphy is dragged by her anthropologist parents to the Arctic so they can study the Eskimo tribe who introduced the world to Gamera. Susan is angry she will miss her last two years of high school while her younger twin siblings, Shawn and Sharon, love that they live closer to the North Pole and Santa Claus. But Susan won’t have any of this “baby stuff” and berates the twins, who run away. Susan is forced by her father to search for them, and she wrecks her snowmobile in a blizzard. When she awakes, she finds herself in the No...

Nate, Jimmy, and Kaguya track down their final quarry on their "world tour": an "Octopus Monster" that escaped back to Mexico. While Nate seethes like a jealous middle schooler at the happy couple, they're ambushed by an even bigger creature, who smashes into Uber-Moguera with a deadly tentacle. But to their surprise, Kaguya takes a stand against it.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Nate and company reach the end of their world tour with a jump across "the Pond" to Mexico, where they cover Gareth Edwards' cult classic indie film, Monsters (2010). Mitch and Hayden from Entertain This! join him for the first time on MIFV to discuss the little-movie-that-could that got Hollywood's attention and led to Edwards later directing movies for not one, not two, but three franchises. Those being Godzilla (2014), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and most recently, Jurassic World: Rebirth. Edwards is hands on in this film, "writing," directing, and even creating the special effects. His...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! To celebrate the end of Big G’s 70th anniversary on Godzilla Day, I’m publishing an episode of the Patreon-exclusive podcast, MIFV MAX, where I ranked all the Godzilla movies and TV series on a tier list. With Godzilla Minus Zero coming soon, it’s a great way to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly in this incredible franchise. Feel free to leave comments on the YouTube version of this bonus episode or hit MIFV up on the socials to share your agreements and disagreements with my list. What does yours look like?

...

Happy Halloween, Monster Children! Your host, Vinnie Kami, returns to introduce another classic monster tale--but not his disgruntled butler, Kappa Joe! No, Joe gave himself the night off and sent his carnivorous Gen Z slang-speaking plant, "Violet," to fill in for him. It's apropos, because this episode's story is "Green Thoughts" by John Collier, which inspired 1960's The Little Shop of Horrors, which led to an off-Broadway musical in the early 1980s, and finally to a 1986 film adaptation of the musical directed by Frank Oz and starring Rick Moranis. The reader is the Monster Island Legal Action Team's very...

Join Nathan, executive producer Damon Noyes, Drew Dodgen (The Cel Cast), and Jake Hambrick (Henshin Power V3) to celebrate six years of kaiju/tokusatsu podcasting! Stay tuned for giveaways to audience members in the chat, and watch as Nathan's guests compete to prove who's the biggest MIFV fan with MIFV Jeopardy!

Watch the original live video: https://youtube.com/live/GaRJBb6EPt4.

Featuring “10 Minutes of Hypothermia” by Metal Man.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d like to give a shout-out...

Nate is confronted by his longtime nemesis WHG3—who just wants to treat him to dinner...with his snooty friends. Nate reluctantly agrees. They meet in one of London’s poshest pubs, the Britannia, and Nate quickly finds himself the target of many insults amid a furious debate over what is England’s greatest kaiju movie.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Damon Noyes, The Cel...

In the second of the new interviews being released to the podcast feed today, Nathan sits down and, for the first time, interviews a Godzilla suit actor—but not the one you’d expect! Today, he chats with Kurt Carley, for a hot second in the infamous Godzilla (1998), directed by Roland Emmerich, played the divisive “G.I.N.O.” (“Godzilla In Name Only”) as a man in a rubber suit. Not CGI. Not mocap. But the conversation won’t stop there. Nathan will ask Mr. Carley about what got him into acting and his many other iconic roles. You’ve probably seen...

In the first of not one but two interviews Nathan has conducted in the last month, he sits down to with James Santana (again), but this time to discuss James's first full-length tokusatsu-inspired comic book, Nebulon: Knight of Justice #1. If you love Power Rangers, Ultraman, and/or Kamen Rider, this comic is for you!

Watch the original video interview: https://youtube.com/live/lCaJs6xlTrE.

Support Nebulon on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1935627238/nebulon-knight-of-justice-1-24-page-tokusatsu-comic.

Read Nathan’s review of the comic for Kaiju United: https://kaijuunited.com/2025/09/15/unleash-a-review-of-the-kickstarter-comic-nebulon-knight-of-justice-1/.

Ch...

Join us Saturday, September 27, 2025, at 7pm EST on MIFV’s YouTube channel, Twitch channel, and Facebook page to celebrate the podcast’s 6th anniversary with a special livestream! Guests will include Damon Noyes, Christopher “Sentai Guy” Riner, and Matt Walsh (But Not That Matt Walsh). There will be giveaways and MIFV Jeopardy! Don’t miss it!

YOUTUBE LINK: https://youtube.com/live/GaRJBb6EPt4.

Featuring “10 Minutes of Hypothermia” by Metal Man.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d like to give a shout-out to...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In this, the penultimate episode of the “Monster Island World Tour,” Nate is joined by MIFV staple (and Jessica's "bestie"), Becky “Bex” Smith, but this time, she brings her “husbando,” Encyclo, along! They discuss arguably the best (or at least most iconic) British kaiju film, Gorgo, the last of the 1961 European kaiju movies. Why? To pay off a joke that goes all the way back to episode 18! This is the third Eugene Lourie monster film Nate has discussed on the show, so he may have to bent the podcast's purview to include the fourth and final one. Bex is...