Chuckle at the Ludicrous Trailer for Asylum Godzilla vs. Kong Mockbuster Ape vs. Monster

As far as clashes between giant monsters go, The Asylum has been pumping out movies fitting that description for longer than most major Hollywood studios. The masters of the low-budget mockbuster have long been associated with films in the vein of Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus or Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, but in actuality they haven’t been producing many CGI monster clashes in the last half decade, focusing instead on big-budget Hollywood parodies. The “vs” films had gone silent, until this most obvious of times to revive them: In the wake of Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong. With the two most iconic movie monsters once again coming to blows, it was inevitable that The Asylum wouldn’t be able to resist trying to snag a piece of the action. And now we have a trailer for their effort, the hilarious looking Ape vs. Monster, which you can view below.

First of all, what a title. There’s a certain purity of intent that the best/worst Asylum films showcase in their titles, willing to sacrifice something that “sounds compelling” in order for a title that closely enough evokes the property being ripped off. Ape vs. Monster, on its own, is an incredibly generic, non-specific title for your film. But as a Godzilla vs. Kong rip-off? Hilarious. Only Monke vs. Lizard would have been better. Add a sprinkle of ubiquitous Eric Roberts, who was probably on set for half a day to film his scenes, and you’re most of the way to a trash classic.

In all actuality, though, the trailer for Ape vs. Monster looks a few steps above your typical Asylum fare, particularly in the CGI department. Perhaps this simply reflects the continued development of the visual effects industry as a whole, but this CGI is on a different level from the monster footage that the company was putting out a decade ago. This is Asylum bringing its A-game, whether it’s the “monster” (which appears to be a radioactive Gila Monster) grabbing a train off the tracks, or the “ape” knocking down the Washington Monument in D.C. Another highlight: The army guy who screams something about “intergalactic combat,” despite there being nothing even remotely fitting that description in the trailer.

Oddly, we don’t have a release date for Ape vs. Monster yet, but we’d be expecting it to arrive sooner rather than later, while memory of Godzilla vs. Kong is still fresh. Check out the full trailer for The Asylum’s latest masterpiece below.