When I was a kid my parents bought me a book titled “Monsters & Vampires.” I don’t remember exactly when they gave it to me, but it’s copyright 1976 so I’m guessing I was pretty young. Its late-70s publishing date puts it just before the slasher films of the 80s, and instead focuses heavily on Universal monsters and the Hammer films. The inside cover of the book is covered with a two-page, full color spread of two dinosaurs fighting as a cowboy on a horse jabs a spear into one of them. I didn’t know it at the time, but the scene was from 1969’s The Valley of Gwangi<\/i>, one of dozens of films that featured the special effects wizardry of Ray Harryhausen. To say that book had an affect on me is an understatement; it’s sitting here in my lap as I type these words.<\/p>\n

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As a kid I remember loving all the Sinbad<\/i> and Jason and the Argonaut<\/i> films which is where I first became aware of Ray Harryhausen’s work. The skeleton battle made a particularly strong impression on me. It seems to me like I’ve posted this clip before, but if so who cares — watch it again. And while watching it, remember that each of those little skeleton figures had to be moved and photographed 24 times per second. Think about that the next time you’re complaining about a web page taking too long to load.<\/p>\n