Earlier this year, Kaiju United reviewed Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films, and completely fell in love with the dark, intense, action-packed world that this mysterious hero inhabits. Perhaps one of the greatest production history books on the market, readers around the world shared in their collective love of The Guyver, spearheaded by UK-based author Dominic O’Brien. Kaiju United got to catch up with Dominic and ask him about creating the book, his love for cinema, and why these two independent films mean so much to its passionate, devoted, and engaged cult audience.
Interview
JL: Greetings, Kaiju United readers! Today we’re here with Dom O’Brien, who wrote an incredible book called Budget Biomorphs: The Making of the Guyver Films. He’s also a film essayist, freelance writer, and a massive Toku fan! Dom, did you want to introduce yourself?
DB: I’m Dom O’Brien. I’m the author of Budget Biomorphs; I stupidly had an idea a couple of years ago to write about two of my favorite American tokusatsu films. And somehow, I managed to do it without completely losing my mind!
JL: What was your introduction to tokusatsu? Tell us about how you discovered the genre.
DB: I think much like everybody else; it would have been like old clips of Godzilla I’d occasionally see on TV and being obsessed with watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers every week, without fail. Then it would be offshoots from that series, like Big Bad Beetleborgs, and Masked Rider. Amusingly, I found that was what Kamen Rider was actually based on, with the latter being the much better version.
In the UK, we didn’t really have a lot of access to any Godzilla films. When the 1998 film with Matthew Broderick come out here, it produced a load of tie-in VHS releases of the old school Godzilla films. I think a lot of it was the Showa era stuff. But my first two Godzilla-related films, that I watched in their entirety, were King Kong Vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes; two of my all-time favorites and staples within my physical media collection.
JL: When I think of genre films in the UK, I think of the Video Nasties. Can you break those down a bit?
DB: There’s a set of documentaries that I recommend called Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape and Video Nasties: Draconian Days by Jake West and Mark Morris, which recounts the history of The Video Recordings Act way better than I ever could. The very basic version is that during 1980’s in the UK, the Conservative Party felt that the general populace, the plebians, were too stupid to distinguish fake gore effects from real graphic violence. Of course, we aren’t complete idiots, but that’s how the government and Mary Whitehouse felt. So, they created a list of stuff that you couldn’t watch; you were no longer allowed to watch Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Driller Killer, or Zombie Flesh Eaters, for instance.
In the aftermath, there was an underground video scene where people would get original copies of it from the United States or other countries. We would have a film, like the aforementioned Texas Chain Saw Massacre, on VHS and then they would copy it a bunch of times, you know, bootlegging. By the time people did see it, inevitably, the 16mm print would end up becoming incredibly fuzzy on this pirated copy that you ended up with. It gave off the vibe of a snuff film in some respects and made you feel guilty by association. It felt dirty.
The censorship in the UK was not just limited to blood & guts, too. For example, you weren’t allowed to see anything with nunchucks in. So, for years, even in the 1990s, The BBFC was pretty harsh on censorship. A rather infamous example is the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action film, the one that Jim Henson helped produce. Any instance where Michelangelo had nunchucks, it was simply not in the film. I didn’t see the uncut version until about 2004 when it came out on DVD in the UK.
JL: I recall reading that they didn’t like the word “ninja,” too. So, in other countries, it was “Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.”
DB: Yeah, that’s right. For the UK cartoon it was “Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles;” they even changed the change the logo in the opening as well.
JL: It’s a wild part of UK History!
Where did you first see The Guyver and Guyver II: Dark Hero? How were those films distributed in the UK? Did they encounter some of the similar issues we have previously discussed?
DB: I mean, it was kind of talked about in school quite a lot. It was around the tail-end of primary school, sort of towards secondary school time. My dad knew that I was obsessed with anything film related (I still am). I was also a big Power Rangers fan at the time. He would go to his local video shop and often pick up random bits of paraphernalia that they would have there – stuff like posters or promotional items. This led to him getting me a poster for this film called Guyver: Dark Hero. I had it above my bed for about a year or so and I had no idea what it was. All I knew was that it was a superhero with a mask on that looked like a Power Ranger, posing heroically, and with lightning striking nearby him.
Several years later, I was at my first convention with my dad and sister. As we were browsing some of the booths selling secondhand physical media, there was this VHS of Guyver: Dark Hero for £3. I said, “That’s the poster you got me years ago!,” and he went “I can remember.”
I asked him if I could purchase it, and he brought up the film’s rating, which was 15 (the US equivalent of an R). I said to him he let me watch Die Hard and Demolition Man within that same period and this was probably not as violent due to the monsters. My dad reluctantly agreed after I suggested having him preview the film to make sure it was okay for me to see. A few weeks later he came back to me and said “Yeah, it’s a bit rubbish. You can watch it.”
I think he got through the first thirty-five minutes or something. So, it was still like one fight and then a lot of talking – he must have got bored! I watched it and fell in love with it. I kept watching the film religiously. It absolutely blew my mind. Like what the hell was I watching? I couldn’t quite believe it. I was like, wow, this is pretty cool. A small group of us would talk about it at school and would jump off tables screaming, “Guyver!.” I should have grown up by that point, but I hadn’t. I still have that original videotape nearly twenty-seven years later. That tape was a constant source of inspiration. Every time I struggled with the book, I’d put the VHS on desk and look at it. I’d often say “remember when you saw that for the first time? Now imagine how it’s going to be when you finish writing something about this?,” and it would often give me the boost I needed.
JL: What was the moment where you decided, I’m going to write a book, not only about that film, but also include the sequel, and make the definitive coverage of Guyver’s production history?
DB: Although some people don’t think I’ve covered enough! (laughs), but I’m pretty proud with how it turned out and the effort I’ve put into it. So, originally, I was writing a retrospective article on the second film with a little bit of historical info on the first film. I wanted to pitch an article somewhere because I was really gagging to write for a couple more sites, see if anybody would take it and hopefully write a few more similar articles.
I tweeted about this article I was writing, and someone got in contact with me. At first, I thought it was a hoax, as they said they knew someone who worked on both films. After quizzing them, it turns out that they were legit, and they put me in contact with one of the Associate Producers. So, I sat down and talked to Wyatt Weed and we ended up chatting for around three and a half hours!
There was so much content from his interview that I knew I’d have to cut lots out of the article. I went downstairs to my wife, and I said I’ve got this amazing stuff that I don’t want to cut any of it. She could see how excited I was about it all and suggested that I don’t just write an article but write a book instead and avoid cutting any of this amazing film history out.
I spoke with Wyatt, and he said that if I’m going to do that, he could put you in contact with someone else. So, he put me into contact with Ted Smith. Then, Ted put me in contact with someone else and the cycle kept going for a few interviews. I was also researching other cast and crew members I could get hold of, so I would reach out to them to secure another interview and then it just ballooned in a very short time.
Going through these interviews, I realized there were a lot of people on the crew, but there were six main people that were the catalyst for both of these films, and I wanted to focus on their story. So, I’d focus on their achievement of going from young upstart filmmakers and makeup effects guys, to making these low budget films that maybe few people saw and weren’t critically acclaimed but became beloved cult films for a generation of fans.
JL: There are over 200 pages of archival photographs, screenplay scans, and just about anything you can think of that can truly visualize everything discussed within the book. Was there a printing cost concern from the publisher regarding that many pages?
DB: No, they didn’t seem to be too fussed about it. Initially I was going to self-publish, even if I couldn’t get a publisher. I wanted to create a making-of book that eight-year-old me would have lapped up and similar to the film history books that I grew up with. They were very picture heavy, but with some really detailed information. Some of the best ones are like the making-of books for Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Last Action Hero, and Jurassic Park, which came out in the 90’s. Although they were very thin books, they had amazing behind the scenes photos and really interesting anecdotes. It blew my mind as a kid. I wanted to make an adult version of that, essentially. It’s what I want to continue to do if I make another book, which I probably will do. I want to take something I loved as a kid and make it more refined, expansive, and detailed.
JL: How long did it take you to write Budget Biomorphs?
DB: It took me just under three years. Honestly, that was mostly because I didn’t know the process. I had never completed a book start to finish. Of course, around that time, COVID hit, and I was like, I need to write something, I need to do something creative. I was lucky enough that a lot of people were at home during the pandemic, so I could do Zoom. I had to wait a year for two interviews – Brian Yuzna and Screaming Mad George – because I couldn’t get hold of them. I can finally say this now – I have been working with Unearthed Films on their new 4K of The Guyver. The guys at Unearthed saw what I was doing with the book, got in contact with me and I ended up helping with the release. They were also gracious enough to get me Brian and George’s contact information, so I could interview them.
The last interview I conducted with Levie Isaacks, the cinematographer for The Guyver, was a particular favorite of mine. We hit it off pretty well because I really enjoy his work, particularly on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. (laughs) I know a ton of people don’t like that movie, but I love it!
After doing all of these interviews, I added further detail to the rough outline of the book which I had complied onto two black artboards that were completely filled with sticky notes. I could see the rough draft of the book starting to take shape, all because of those damn post-its. I had green ones to represent the first film, as that was the color of the suit, and I had blue ones for the sequel, because, as you could probably figure out, that was what they changed the suit’s color to in Dark Hero.
JL: Are these Guyver films your absolute favorite films of all time? If not, what are some of your favorites?
DB: Guyver: Dark Hero is definitely in my top 10, no discussion. It always has been and always will be. The fact of the matter is, I rewatched both films religiously for that three-year period and I was never bored once. No matter how much I dissect those movies, I always come out of it in pure joy. With other films I’ve done that with, I end up absolutely hating them.
The problem is, I don’t have a top 10; I have like a top 300. It’s really hard because the films sort of rotate quite frequently. But there are films that I definitely come back to on a regular basis. I love and adore Midnight Run, for example. I love the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre; that was a defining moment for me. I watched it when it was first shown on TV in the UK. It affected me so much! It was the middle of winter and I overheated because I was stressed watching that film. It was such a tense film that I had to open the windows into the into the room to get some air in. It was such a visceral assault on the senses that I wasn’t ready for. I love anything that Friedkin has done. Believe it or not, I’m not a huge Exorcist fan. I can appreciate it and I respect it, but I’m not a huge fan. I absolutely love To Live and Die in LA, though. It’s so good.
JL: You also publish articles on your blog. Are you looking to shift more into writing books now?
DB: Truthfully, I haven’t really written anything on there for a while. I’m gonna start writing some more posts on there over the next couple of months. I haven’t written anything just for myself in quite some time and I do sporadically get the itch to write articles. The main problem is that I have so many ideas, I would write them down on my phone in my notes section and then I’ll forget about them. I’ll come back to them and then I’ll start half writing something and good idea for the title, but then I’d lose interest.
In all honesty, I do love the process of writing books more. It might be more mentally taxing, but it actually focuses my mind better. With articles, I need to get the idea written in a specific time limit, otherwise I’ll never finish it.
Regarding my site, it’s sort of half blog, half official site. I’m not sure what it is, it’s just a bit like me: it’s a bit jumbled and eclectic. Regarding film journalism and critique, it’s so different to what it used to be, everything’s constantly evolving. Honestly, I think having a mixture of everything on your site is good. Having varied stuff like think pieces, interviews, blog posts, updates on what’s going on with your books or whatever you’re doing as a project. Then, you can tie it into general chitchat stuff if you’re on social media or other online places, which allows you to engage in with others in a completely different way.
JL: One of your first professional credits was We Belong Dead #9 (2013). Can you tell us a little bit about getting to write for a print magazine? How did that happen? What are some of the stark contrasts in writing for a print magazine versus a book?
DB: I suppose there is a bit more autonomy when writing a book. For a print magazine, you have to follow guidelines and a house style, but you also have to make sure it’s in your own voice. Ultimately, it’s about finding the right balance, which can take some practice. It’s funny you mention We Belong Dead #9 as I was just thinking about my late friend, Richard Gladman, the other day. He sadly died quite a few years ago now, but he was always such a great presence to be around. Long ago, he saw that I really liked to write about film and that I interviewed one of his friends on my old site back in the day, which I called The Musings of a Film Fanatic. I spoke to Richard about interviewing him – my style back then was to just sit down in a bar and interview them. We became good friends; in fact, I’d say that Richard was a mentor of sorts to me. Anytime I doubted my writing ability, he’d reassure me that I was good and capable enough.
I felt like I was told I wasn’t very good a lot of the time and I did have a few people tell me that I was a bit of a hack. You try to not let it get to you, but it still does. Full disclosure, I’m Neurodivergent and I struggled a lot reading and writing when I was a kid; I still do now. But, several years ago I let the negativity get to and I really lost my confidence. So, Richard said, “Look, you’re trying to break into things and trying to write. There’s a guy that’s just restarting his old fanzine, which was quite popular back in the 90’s”. He adds, “Do want to interview me about the new film screening club that I’m doing?” And I said, Yeah, that’d be lovely. He trusted who I was, he trusted what I could do and that’s how I broke into writing for the first time on a semi-professional level.
JL: What a lovely story.
Your book exposed me to the world of The Guyver. Why should one of our readers go watch these films? What do you think makes them so special?
DB: A lot of people will go, “Don’t watch the first film, just watch the second film because it’s better.” Granted, yes, the second film is technically better because it’s got more action and is a more effective mix of classic Japanese tokusatsu with Hong Kong wirework.
It’s a giant homage to Showa era Kamen Rider; V3 and Kamen Rider Black both come to mind, particularly regarding the monster action and location work. Most toku fans know that the classic Kamen Rider was filmed in places like countryside hills, on bridges, near rivers, quarries etc. Places which didn’t have many people in, and they could set off explosions with no one knowing. That’s kind of the mentality with Guyver too, because the guys that made Dark Hero are huge fans of Kamen Rider, and you can see it with the action and practical effects.
On the other hand, the first Guyver film, despite its flaws, is very much for people that love creature effects. It [The Guyver] was one of the first Americanized live-action manga adaptations and, for better or worse, paved the way for other adaptations.
Here’s the thing that really gets me – most people will grumble that it’s not like the comics, or it’s not like the anime or the OVA. Honestly, I think it’s good that it isn’t a conventional adaptation. The clue is in the title, it’s an adaptation and its being adapted for a different medium, which has different requirements. I think a lot of people’s problem with The Guyver is because of its budget constraints and the fact that maybe, at the time, some of the story beats were too idiosyncratic for Western audiences.
So long story short, the reason why someone who likes tokusatsu should watch the Guyver films — If you like Kamen Rider, low budget action, violence, and you like creepy weird creatures, and men in suits fighting in small locations with some gnarly gore work, then watch it. Think of it as a more violent version of Kamen Rider in some ways.
JL: On a deeper, more philosophical level, what does kaiju and/or tokusatsu mean to you?
DB: I want to be really deep with this answer – with kaiju, it’s the feeling of being insignificant. It’s so gargantuan. I remember the first time I watched the Heisei Gamera films, and how much I was blown away by the sense of scale with Gamera and being utterly mesmerized by it and the scale miniature photography. The camera was really low to the ground for a lot of the shots. I thought to myself, if that happened, I would feel so small. I would freeze. So, it’s a sense of I’d be in awe of this thing and how is this creature or being existing right now in this in this time and place? I really hope he doesn’t step on me! When I first saw the trailer for when for Godzilla ’98, I had that feeling. It was that one teaser which played before The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The foot comes crashing through the museum and absolutely crushes the T Rex. After I saw that, I thought, I’m absolutely terrified right now. If I saw that in real life, I wouldn’t move out of pure fear!
The deeper level with these kaiju films for me is a sense of wonder and magic. It’s a feeling of shock and awe. These creatures are indestructible, inconceivable, and they will smite you. They are terrifying, while at the same time capturing the imagination.
JL: You’ve been labeled as “The Guyver Guy” right now. How do you feel about that title?
DB: I think I am, to an extent, known as “The Guyver Guy.” There’s also a gentleman on YouTube known as The Guyver Geek and he’s doing a lot of interviews with people from the films and that’s really cool to see. His name is Donovan; he’s a nice guy. He helped promote the book when it came out, which was lovely.
To be honest, I think my train is parked at the station for the moment. I truly love The Guyver, I’ve been a fan for years, mainly for the films and the original OVA series. I’ve only really read a little of the Japanese manga myself, but I haven’t read it in detail.
I’m happy that I got to be known known as The Guyver Guy for a period of time, though, because it gave me that boost of energy I needed – when I had my low periods – to go, oh, I am doing something of value here. People understood what I was trying to do and quite honestly, despite the occasional negative comment – which comes with the creative territory – I’m really proud of what I’ve done. I will probably do some kind of expanded version at some point in the years to come, as I’m having some people come to me now, who I couldn’t or didn’t speak to originally, which is awesome.
There are a number of films that I would love to write about that I grew up with. A lot of the stuff that I want to write about has to do with effects films. I’m thinking practical effects films, not like horror films, not later stuff that that Stan Winston would have done. I want to write about and talk about things that are dear to my heart and made me happy as child. Films that are really bizarre and have small but passionate and devoted cult followings. Something that 10-year-old Dom would devour, like I said earlier.
There’s a story behind everything, in my opinion, but a documentary still has to have a narrative. Yes, its factual information about things which have happened, but there is a narrative through line, right? You’re creating a documentary with a narrative about people. You have a beginning, middle, and end, and possible resolution, which can also be open-ended. And that is what writing a nonfiction book is about – it is an archive document of what took place. Sadly, you can’t always get the complete picture or all the information you require as actors or crew members they’ve passed away, or people are not contactable, or some of the stuff that they might say is libelous. Outside of that, you just make sure you get as much of the the right info as possible.
I love being known as The Guyver Guy, though. I love the fact that people come and spoken to me about the book so far and I continue to get people reaching out to me who want to talk about the book, which is great. So, at this moment in time, this chapter has closed in terms of Guyver coverage. Like I said earlier, I will do an expanded edition in the future, but I do want to do other things. I want to write about new things, mainly because I have such a want and need to absorb information like a sponge. I have done that since I was a kid. I just want to go okay, what’s the next journey? Let’s take what I’ve learned and do this with something else that I love.
JL: What’s next for Dom? The analogy you just used, that this is your last stop for The Guyver, is a great way to put it. Where’s the train going next?
DB: The first part, what’s the next stop? Probably to bed! (laughs) I am so mentally wiped from doing this. If you become engrossed in a project for so long, then you finally stop, you get a strange malaise or melancholy. It’s such a complex feeling. The weirdest thing happened when I put the book out. I went oh, is that it? I was like, oh, okay. I was expecting more. I wasn’t expecting more plaudits and for readers to put me on a throne and throw flowers at me. Not like that. I thought I would go okay; this is amazing. I’ve done this. This is great. I’ve got an endorphin rush. This is brilliant. And I just went, oh, okay, cool. We’re done. Putting things into perspective, I realized this book is evergreen and I will, most likely, continue to hear from people in years to come.
But what is the next thing I want to do? I’ve got like seven ideas, and I just need to try and finalize one. The idea was originally to write two books concurrently, and I think that was just insanity on my part. I can’t do that right now and I’ve realized I don’t do short books; I do in-depth, very deep dive things. And that takes a lot of mental energy. I will probably start, in the middle of the year, looking at the ideas again properly, but I’m trying to give myself a break. I think I learned a little bit during the production of Budget Biomorphs. I want to help promote the book a bit more.
My plan is to get a few more people talking about the book to get more of a discussion going on. I’ve had some lovely reviews. Especially like I said before, yours was really lovely.
JL: Thank you.
DB: I’ve had some great reviews on Amazon, and a few people have reached out to me with how much they’ve enjoyed it. That’s really lovely to hear. The reviews tend to make my day, especially seeing people’s interpretations of the text you’ve written, or what they got out of the read. For instance, Jacob, how you interpreted it was different from someone else who read, reviewed, and interpreted it. I mean, there’s correlations on like, the deep dive, and the information. But everything else was completely different. That’s what I love. People take away different things from it.
Long story short, I want to take a small break, promote Budget Biomorphs a bit, and then come back with something else about a different film. In the meantime, let’s keep the discussion going with this book!
JL: Dom, I wanted to thank you for hopping on and talking to Kaiju United. It’s been quite a lot of fun. Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films is an incredible recount of the production of both independent tokusatsu films The Guyver, and Guyver II: Dark Hero. You can purchase it anywhere books are available.
DB: Thank you, that means a hell of a lot.
