Monster Movies

The monster for It Conquered The World, famously described in Zappa's song Cheepnis.

Frank Zappa, dressed as a vampire during a Record Industry party in New York City, 1970.

Frank Zappa had a fondness for monster movies. He watched them on late-night TV, where horror hosts like Maila Nurmi (as Vampira), Bob Guy or John Zacherle would present them in campy, ironic fashions. He also went to see monster movies at film theaters. Among his favorites were Beast From Haunted Cave, Brainiac, Dead Of Night, Freaks, From Hell It Came, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Godzilla, It Conquered The World, The Killer Shrews, King Kong, Mothra, Queen Of Outer Space, Rodan and The Wasp Woman. What particularly appealed to him was the unintentional laughability of the cheap special effects, make-up and campy dialogue.

Zappa also liked musicians with a campy horror persona, like Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Alice Cooper (whom he also produced). One of Zappa's favorite comedy musicians, Spike Jones, also once recorded a parody of My Old Flame, but transported to a horror concept, with the singer imitating Peter Lorre as a hunchbacked assistant.

In the final years of his life, Zappa also enjoyed watching Mystery Science Theater 3000, where the hosts poked fun at horror B-movies.

Zappa's Monster Movie Projects

In 1963, Zappa invited horror TV host Bob Guy to record two singles, Dear Jeepers and Letter From Jeepers, in which he played his horror persona, while Zappa provided musical accompaniment.

In the early 1960s, Zappa wrote his first movie script for a science-fiction/monster film called Captain Beefheart vs. The Grunt People, in which Don Van Vliet played the title role. Even though the movie itself was never finished, Van Vliet would stick with his character's name Captain Beefheart as his stage pseudonym. In 1969, Zappa re-wrote the script for the movie. A copy of that script can be found on The Captain Beefheart Radar Station (external link).

In 1966, Zappa performed drums on the track Space Boy, sang by actress Florence Marly, intended for the sci-fi horror movie Queen of Blood.

In her memoir, Yours, Cruelly, Elvira, Cassandra Peterson (famous for playing horror TV host Elvira in the 1980s), wrote that she met Zappa at age 14 after a festival in Denver, Colorado, in 1968, where he warned her to not hang around rock musicians after concerts at her age.

Don Preston changing into a monster.

Zappa's first film project with The Mothers Of Invention was Uncle Meat (1969). The title character Biff Debris, or Uncle Meat (Don Preston) is an evil scientist that turns himself into a monster. While the actual Uncle Meat film wasn't finished until 1987, Biff Debris made earlier appearances, for example in Zappa's 1968 stage production Progress?. For more information see: The Story Of Uncle Meat

In 1972, Zappa wrote a Broadway science-fiction musical called Hunchentoot, in which an alien queen, Drakma, plots with a Giant Spider to conquer Earth. The film was, however, never produced.

Between 1972 and 1981, Zappa played annual concerts at the New York City Palladium around Halloween. Footage of these concerts is featured in his film Baby Snakes (The Film) (1979). Zappa's final Halloween concert (1981) was introduced by former horror movie host John Zacherle.

The background story of Zappa's 1984 Broadway musical Thing-Fish also shows strong monster movie influences. In it, a group of African American prisoners are exposed to a secret potion developed by an Evil Prince. The potion turns each of them "into a strange, unknown kreetchuh, never befo' seen on Broadway" (namely, a Mammy Nun). In the course of the play, the Evil Prince creates an army of Zombies and eventually mutates into a Mammy Nun himself.

In Henning Lohner's documentary Peefeeyatko (1991) about Frank Zappa, footage of monster movies and a documentary about Bigfoot is intercut with the interviews.

One of Ahmet Zappa's names, "Rodan", is a reference to the pterodactyl Rodan from the Japanese monster movie series.

References to monster Movies (and horror movies) in Frank Zappa's work

• In the list of influences, printed in the sleeve of Freak Out!, Zappa included writer Bram Stoker (author of Dracula), horror TV show host Bob Guy and actor Sonny Tufts (who played in the horror SF movie Cat Women of the Moon).
• On the cover of We're Only In It For The Money, horror actors Max Schreck and Lon Chaney can be seen.
• King Kong was named after the famous monster movie.
• In the 1970s, Zappa would sometimes introduce himself on stage as horror movie actor Rondo Hatton.
• Transylvania Boogie refers to Dracula's home province in Romania.
• Would You Go All The Way? mentions a visit to a monster movie in the first verse ("Where did your brassiere go / When the monster came out, / 'N everybody shout! / People all around you, / Screamin' at the monster; / The Monster From The U.S.O. ").

Frank Zappa as a monster in 200 Motels.

• Frank Zappa is shown as an animated photograph with chattering teeth during Does This Kind Of Life Look Interesting To You.
• Billy The Mountain features a huge mountain and a tree, Ethell, travelling across the country, causing rampage and destruction.
• The song "Cheepnis" is an hommage to the monster movie genre; in his introduction to the song on Roxy & Elsewhere Zappa tells about his experience with a movie called It Conquered The World. The song also introduces the gigantic poodle monster Frunobulax.
• Zomby Woof on Over-Nite Sensation again combines monsters with dogs by having a kind of werewolf (a "zombie wolf") as a narrator.
• The film Brainiac is referenced in Debra Kadabra.
• On the back cover art of One Size Fits All giant ants destroy human society in reference to the film "Them!" (1954).
• The track Manx Needs Women references the film Mars Needs Women.

The Smog Monster on the cover of Sleep Dirt.

• The Smog Monster from the Godzilla franchise can be seen on the cover of Sleep Dirt.
• Ike Willis' imitation of Joe Flaherty (who, as Count Floyd, played a parody of a horror movie TV host in SCTV) was a running gag during Zappa's concerts.
• Horror movie actors Lon Chaney, Vincent Price, the cast of Freaks, imagery from the horror film Häxan, and Claude Rains can be seen on the cover of Tinseltown Rebellion.
• The lyrics of Drowning Witch also take a very monster-movie-like turn at one point, when the witch, due to radiation, mutates into a 15 feet tall monster.
• The Radio Is Broken tells a typical science-fiction "lost in space" story where the crew of a space ship encounters strange alien creatures and also reference to Hunchentoot by mentioning Gigantic Spider from out of space.
• Godzilla is mentioned in Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk.
• Gorgo references a famous British monster movie. Zappa also named of his cats after him.

Song naming conventions

Zappa would often title his songs in the manner of sequels for monster b-movies, adding either "The Return of..." or "The Son of..." or both to the title.

• "Son Of Mr. Green Genes" (re-arranged instrumental version of Mr. Green Genes)
• "Return Of The Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" (third variation of the Inca Roads guitar solo from the series of the same name)
• Return Of The Son Of Kill Ugly Radio (third part of a posthumously released series of compilations)

Sometimes he would follow that convention even if the song in question did not have a first part or an original version in the first place:

• "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet"
• "Son Of Suzy Creamcheese"