Godzilla vs. Hedorah

Today we're talking smog. Like... a monstrous amount of smog. A smog so monstrous it is itself a monster. It's called Godzilla vs. Hedorah, also known in the US as Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster. Throwing a new director, Yoshimitsu Banno, into the mix, we have Haruo Nakajima predictably returning as the Big G and newcomer to the series Kenpachiro Satsuma playing the titular Hedorah. Satsuma, in particular, will be a major name in the future of this blog (and series) so let's pay attention to him. This is one of the only Godzilla movies thus far to have an incredibly explicit message, most opting to either go for raw entertainment or keep it subtle, and the first in the series to have a strong emphasis on environmentalism.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah is a cult classic and a bit divisive in the "kaiju community," some people enjoying it and others really really not. It should be fun to experience (again) and see what all the hubbub is about. Let's get to it, because this plot synopsis is long!

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- We get an opening theme song, like in a James Bond movie. It's about the monster of pollution and how we need to give the blue sea back. This phrase, "give it all back," which is repeating throughout the song, sounds uncannily like "God is dead" and I absolutely love it.

- A little kid is playing along the beach waiting for his dad to return from scuba diving from the ocean when he sees a pair of malevolent red eyes emerge from the surface and swim toward him. Having been playing with a knife (what?) he points it toward the monster Hedorah as it jumps over his head and leave his unharmed. The blade passes harmlessly through Hedorah in the process, clearly cutting through it but leaving no damage of sign of Hedorah's existence.

- The father is attacked by Hedorah but survives, his story making the news as the world is warned of the danger of the new monster Hedorah. 

- The father has collected some of the sludge that comprises Hedorah, and combines them in a bowl to reveal that they merge into one entity when they meet. Hedorah is essentially born from pollution and can combine to become even larger, explaining the larger one the child and his father saw earlier but also setting it up to be a major (and massive) threat as more sludge pieces merge.

- Hedorah arrives on land and begins to feed on a smokestack (smogstack?). It's interrupted by Godzilla, who initiates a fight between them. One noticeable moment is when Godzilla pierces Hedorah completely with his claws, with Hedorah being seemingly completely unharmed. In the battle, a piece of Hedorah is separated and bursts through the window of a building, killing everyone inside as it covers the room in the toxic sludge that comprises Hedorah's body. This happens in multiple locations before Godzilla manages to drive Hedorah off.

- Hedorah forms completely, becoming a giant flying ball of pollution and death.

- Godzilla and Hedorah reunite for another showdown, Hedorah now larger than Big G and with the ability to transform into a flight mode or a big pissed off smog monster mode.

- After some human focus and an attempt to stop Hedorah, Godzilla comes back strong. He uses his Atomic Breath alongside the human developed electricity weapon to attack Hedorah in two ways simultaneously, quickly and soundly taking the smog monster down. He rips out pieces of Hedorah and begins to destroy them, trying to finish Hedorah off completely.

- In an attempt to live to eat pollution another day, Hedorah transforms into his flight mode and takes off. Godzilla points his Atomic Breath toward the ground and uses it to take flight after Hedorah, tackling and  truly finishing Hedorah off with some judicious throws, grabbing Hedorah, and flying back toward the electricity weapon. Using the weapon again manages to finally kill Hedorah.

- Godzilla glares at the nearby humans, silently warning against our polluting ways before walking away.

- To reemphasize the point, a song about the horrors of pollution plays as Godzilla returns home and the movie ends.

Kaiju Notes

- I think Hedorah's design is very strong. It's simple, but sometimes simple is the answer. Going from tadpole to bigger tadpole to creepy legged creature that feeds on pollution to flying ball of doom is a fun evolution to follow, and more kaiju should change over the course of their introduction. The red eyes are helpfully distinct, giving the relatively shapeless entity something you can focus on. It is also larger than Godzilla, which is rare and contributes to the impression that he's a true threat.

- Hedorah has the ability to shift from giant legged creature to flying jellyfish looking thing, as well as shoot lasers and smog pellets from it's body. It's a strange combination, but effective in a fight. When he thinks he's in danger he just flies away!

- Hedorah's sound is distinct, but also quite horrible. A bit like a warbling whistle, I can't tell if it's supposed to be intimidating, annoying, alien, or some combination thereof.

- Godzilla behaves a bit more humanlike overall here, seeming to duck, weave, and even taunt like a boxer might. He even launches a sneak attack at one point after causing a distraction. All of this also means that he wastes too much time preparing to fight instead of actually fighting, costing some people their lives.

- In contrast, Hedorah seems to be a being of pure rage. It kills anything and everyone in its path without any hesitation, costing lives every time Godzilla wastes time. It also seems immune to Godzilla's Atomic Breath and very difficult to harm with any type of conventional weapon, making it a threat that has not yet really been realized in one of these films.

- At one point, Hedorah knocks Godzilla out temporarily, picks him up (in flight mode), and throws him down a mountain before trying to drown him in a shallow grave using his sludge. It's a good and remarkably brutal strategy.

- Godzilla using his Atomic Breath to fly after and tackle Hedorah is prime kaiju movie nonsense. I know a lot of people hate it but they're wrong.

First thing, on the direction and story: this movie is dark as shit. People covered in Hedorah's smog are literally reduced to bones, and one man jumps off of the frame of a skyscraper to escape the incoming Hedorah, so we get to watch a silhouette jump from a building. Hedorah passes through the frame, the steel passing through it's body, but melts the steel behind it. It's just one part of an overall morbid film, but left a strong impression. At one point a compilation of scenes shows a literal baby stuck inside (apparently harmless) sludge, unable to escape. Quite honestly it's all just a bit fucked up. Combined with the incredible difficulty everyone has even harming Hedorah and the message seems pretty clear: stopping the threat of Hedorah is something you might have one chance at. On that point:

Godzilla vs. Hedorah pulls no punches in making it clear that it is a warning against pollution. Hedorah is a collection of pollution that is nearly unstoppable, and there are at least 3 different songs about how the earth is being destroyed by our human nonsense. With even the savior of the film being unable to stop the collection of pollution without aid from the humans (and vice versa), the sentiment is very clear: if we have any chance of stopping the earth from being destroyed, we're going to have to work together. Clearly, this did not take and we've clearly learned nothing in the 50 years since the film's release.

Another thing to note is that the humans in this movie are completely bumbling. While the electricity weapon they develop is actually effective against Hedorah, they manage to fuck it up every time they try to use it, leaving it to Godzilla to activate it with his Atomic Breath. While it would have worked had they managed to actually use it, Godzilla ultimately saves the day by being smarter than the military. Good thing he was on their side this one time.

Ultimately, I am on the side of "yes." This movie is good, if not great. Hedorah is an effective and scary villain, the constant focus on the damage done in kaiju battles (including death and injury tolls after each encounter either with Hedorah alone or when he fights Godzilla) makes the world feel more real, and the morbid elements actually make the threat of Hedorah more haunting. Rarely do we actually learn a number of people who were harmed or killed when kaiju are running around, and it sanitizes the carnage of what we are supposes to be feeling. Although Godzilla is the hero of this film, knowing he had a hand in the deaths of hundreds (even if saving thousands) makes the reality of the situation clear in a way that's rarely done in these movies and I wish there were more of. The wild and campy ending, where Godzilla uses his primary weapon to fly after Hedorah, is brilliant and ridiculous in a way that can't be justified: you either like it or don't. I like it, even if I acknowledge that it sucks. It does suffer from being almost entirely unnecessary in the context, as Godzilla had really already won the battle and finished off Hedorah, but they added the extra scene for no clear reason. Still, if the biggest flaw of this movie is that Godzilla does something silly, I'd say that's a win (and that you are watching a movie about a sentient monster made of pollution). Recommend!

Next: Godzilla vs. Gigan!

All Monsters Attack

Yo, Ishirō Honda is back with a movie about Godzilla! Kinda. It's mostly about Minilla and a little kid. But Haruo Nakajima is, of course, back as Godzilla for the few minutes of original monster footage they shot for this movie. Let's just get to it.

 

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- The opening credits are new, showing monsters doing monster stuff before staff are named. It's fun.

- Children walk down the street singing a song about baby Godzilla, Minilla, before being attacked by a bully named Gabara.

- The main character is a little boy named Ichiro who dreams of going to Monster Island. He spends a lot of time alone as his parents work a lot.

- He grabs a toy from his closet and day dreams about going to Monster Island and watching Godzilla fight Kamacuras and Ebirah in reused footage from Son of Godzilla.

- He falls down a hole and meets Minilla, who literally talks to him about the giant monster Gabara, who is bullying Minilla. Godzilla won't take down Gabara for his son because he thinks Minilla needs to learn to fight his own battles.

- We now rewatch one of the battles between Godzilla and Ebirah, as well as G vs giant monster Kumonga.

- After the stock footage finally, mercifully, ends, Minilla is attacked by Gabara again. Before we get the conclusion of this, Ichiro is grabbed by a legitimately surprising man covered in leaves in the forest.

- Back in the real world, Ichiro has been kidnapped by villains because of a convoluted and stupid reason.

- Stuff happens, and we're back on Monster Island where Gabara and Minilla fight.

- Minilla finally outwits Gabara, and Godzilla comes by to congratulate his child before being ambushed by an angry Gabara.

- He soundly destroys Gabara, throwing him right on his head and neck. Gabara is lucky he doesn't break in half. He runs away.

- Back in the real world, Ichiro uses the lessons he imagined to thwart his own attacks and stand up to his own bully: little boy Gabara.

- Fin.

 

Kaiju Notes

- Gabara sucks.

- I do like Gabara's electric hands powers.

- Gabara also fights like a bully, which is kind of fun. At one point he literally places a hand on Minilla's hand while Minilla helplessly swings and that's pretty cute.

 

Overall, this movie blows. I knew going in that this is generally considered one of if not the worst Godzilla movie, but goddamn was I not prepared. This movie actually actively sucks. It does have a message, which I typically enjoy in my kaiju flicks, but it's surrounded by weird, horrible nonsense. All of the monster battles are the literal figment of a child's imagination, and rather than that being a great excuse to do wild shit you might see in the dreamworld of a kaiju fanatic that is also 9 years old, you get stock footage showing battles we saw several movies ago with about 10 minutes of unique monster action. It's... disappointing, to say the least. When I was a child, my dreams about monster fights would've included alongside Godzilla riding a laser-shark into battle against King Ghidorah, each head holding a sword (all different types, of course) and them having a battle on the surface of Venus, complete with acid volcanoes and traveling lightning storms. But apparently little Ichiro is not the creative type so we get Ebirah and Godzilla playing rock volleyball again. I thought that scene was ridiculous but amusing the first time, I hate it this go round.

The message isn't necessarily a bad one. Ichiro did need a confidence boost and the incredibly annoying Minilla did give him the (fantasy) inspiration he needed to stand up to his own Gabara, but just because a movie might be good for a small and impressionable child does not make it amusing, enjoyable, or good. Skip it unless you're showing it to the children in your lives and also hate them.

Next: Godzilla vs. Hedorah!

Destroy All Monsters

It is time to Destroy All Monsters, a star-studded movie about many monsters doing many monstrous things. Ishirō Honda returns to the director's chair with Haruo Nakajima retaining his crown as the King of the Monsters. I have no major facts or news to share on this one, so let's get right to it.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Every monster on Earth has been gathered into one place, a place appropriately called Monsterland. They are trapped by various containment systems and provided with plenty of natural food so they can live relatively peacefully.

- Monsterland is attacked, the human researchers and monster themselves all knocked unconscious with yellow gas.

- The various monster of Monsterland seem to have escaped, causing destruction worldwide!

- The Kilaaks, an alien race, are revealed to be in control of the situation: demanding that humanity surrender to their rule or be destroyed.

- Human story begins here, with resistance to the Kilaaks being critical to the plot. They search for a way to free the monsters (and thus, humanity) from the Kilaaks rule.

- Confident, perhaps too much so, in their strength, the Kilaaks send almost every monster in their control to Tokyo to obliterate it.

- An attack by the humans on the Kilaaks' moon base is successful, breaking their control of the monsters on Earth and switching it to the humans.

- The monsters are sent to Mt. Fuji to finally and fully destroy the Kilaaks' base. As one last defense, King Ghidorah is sent by the Kilaaks to ward off their enemies.

- An epic battle commences, with King Ghidorah fighting Godzilla, Anguirus, Gorosaurus, Rodan, Mothra, and Kumonga while Minilla (baby Godzilla), Manda, and Varan cheer them on. Godzilla stomps one of King Ghidorah's neck near the end and it's actually pretty brutal.

- The Kilaaks' use a final weapon called Fire Dragon to destroy the human's control center so they also have no control over the monsters now. They seem to think this will matter but Godzilla interrupts whatever they were about to say to fuck their base right up just like the humans planned. Everyone dies.

- With the Kilaaks soundly defeated, the monsters return to Monsterland of their own accord so they can be in harmony again.

Kaiju Notes

- Rodan looks goddamn terrible. He always has, but this version is especially bad. Most of the other monsters look pretty much the same but they've brutalized my boy Rodan. King Ghidorah also took a hit in that he is more golden but less magnificent looking. It'll do, but it's not ideal. Your big end scene villain should definitely look as good as your best looking beast, if not better.

- Gorosaurus has an excellent color that they don't emphasize enough. His blue colored back is baller. Just like his first appearance, I think his design is good (basically just a big dinosaur), but I never noticed the super cool colors before.

- Mothra is significantly less moist in this movie, which is great because I have always found larval Mothra quite distressing to look (primarily because she'e so gooey).

- The scene of all of the monsters arriving at the Kilaaks' base to destroy it is actually pretty dope. It's like the Avengers or Justice League assembling, Godzilla leading every other monster. Especially once King Ghidorah arrives, the 1 vs. All aesthetic is very effective.

- Anguirus has a moment where he clamps onto King Ghidorah's neck as Ghidorah takes flight, and it's awesome. He loses this fight, but these little random moments of weirdness are also random moments of greatness.

Quite simply, the movie definitely seems like it was intended to be a culmination or even final film in the series. Many claims exist on the internet and otherwise that this actually was the case, though I've seen no evidence of it. Regardless, Destroy All Monsters is cool to watch because it is like seeing all of the strings pulled together like an Avengers movie. While crossovers between Godzilla and other Toho kaiju have happened before, this film features basically every kaiju at Toho's disposal and it is truly a sight to behold. As stated above, seeing all of the "Earth" monsters gather in one location to take down the villains is honestly quite awesome, and then adding a big fight with King Ghidorah makes it better. The fight could be more spectacular and amazing because it is over very quickly and there's very little use of the kaiju's various abilities, but sadly this movie clearly didn't have the budget it deserved. The monster action is some of the best in the series so far.

While the monster action is top tier, the human story is honestly quite dull. It's quite disappointing to have such a great ending but being in such a boring place beforehand. While we get a tiny amount of kaiju destruction in the 2nd act, the huge majority of the 1st and 2nd acts are dedicated to human's flying around on spaceships and arguing with aliens. It is not a compelling story at all, and my first attempt to watch it had me dozing off about two-thirds of the way into the movie. In its defense I was a bit sleepy anyway, but believe an interesting plot would've helped me get and stay awake and invested. If I had to describe it in any detail I'm honestly not sure I could, except to say that they fight with aliens and take over the monsters in some way that's either not explained or stupid. In the Justice League version of kaiju movies, everything would have been better off with more kaiju involvement.

Incredibly minor nitpick: while on the moon the humans call one of the Kilaak spaceships a "UFO." It's not a UFO if you know exactly what it is (a spaceship) and who it belongs to (the Kilaaks). This is obviously unimportant, but it amused me in the moment.

Conclusion: the last 30 minutes of this movie is pretty much the best 30 minutes in a kaiju movie since 1954. Unlike the original Gojira, however, the human story sucks and must be balanced against the monster fighting. The monster fighting is pretty great, ultimately making this a great addition to the series. If you're at all interested in kaiju movies this is likely an excellent start, as the crap human story will make up for itself when you see a monster stomp on another's neck while it coughs up blood. Other films in the series may be more balanced, but they're not more spectacular.

Next: All Monsters Attack!

War of the Gargantuas

Today we discuss The War of the Gargantuas! A Toho kaiju movie that's not about Godzilla, Ishirō Honda again directs, with Haruo Nakajima starring as the main villain Gaira. For the first time that we've seen so far Gaira is a direct villain! While early appearances of Godzilla could be argued to be villains, I would argue that he was more "force of nature" than evil or villainous. But bad guy Gaira in this movie is a distinctly "bad" character, so it might be fun to see Nakajima be a proper villain.

This movie is extremely popular among film-makers and film-fans. Famous American actor Brad Pitt claims that War of the Gargantuas is the first movie he ever saw and the one that made him want to pursue acting. Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, and Tim Burton (among others) have high praise for it. So hopefully that bodes well for what's coming up!

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A ship is attacked by a giant octopus. When all hope seems lost, a giant green monster attacks the octopus. After driving it away, he goes ahead and attacks the ship and eats the people himself.
- Convinced, partially by the single survivor, that Frankenstein attacked the ship, a separate group of people try to convince the world that Frankenstein is a kind and gentle giant monster.

- More reports of Frankenstein to happen as the green monster (Gaira) attacks a beach. But this time there are two simultaneous sightings, one on a beach (Gaira) and another in the mountains of Japan. Both can't be true!

- Gaira attacks again, in the city this time, and eats a woman before being driven away by the sun. The military conclude that green monster Gaira is sensitive to bright lights.

- Interrupting a fancy party featuring a fancy song by a fancy singer, Gaira almost eats her before some bright lights chase him away just in time.

- With the military now hunting Gaira, he defends himself. One scene in particular is awesome because he straight up picks up tanks and throws them into houses, which is a rad idea no one has used before now. Gaira also demonstrates his hops, grabbing two helicopters out of the sky in fiery balls of death.

- The military eventually manages to use Gaira aggression him to lure him into a trap, destroying an entire forest in the process. Seeing a forest get bisected by lasers as a giant monster jumps around it is honestly a very cool effect.

- Just as Gaira is nearly killed, a yellow monster springs from out of nowhere and protects Gaira from the lasers. It harms no one but does carry Gaira off to safety. This is Sanda, harkening back to the sighting of the "Frankenstein" in the mountains.

- Sanda proves himself to be a good guy when he saves a woman from falling off a cliff to her doom, at moderate cost to himself.

- Apparently unaware of Gaira's habit of eating people, Sanda finds Gaira's stash of human snacks and attacks him. This he cannot abide. Gaira runs away.

The city is evacuated as Gaira returns to attack, either looking for food or wanting to finish off his brother (or both). His previous hatred of bright light is gone now, as he knows bright lights are where he can find delicious people.

- Eventually, Sanda appears to save the city from Gaira's fury. He initially tries to talk sense to Gaira, in monster language, but it predictably devolves into a city-shattering melee.

- As they take the fight into the sea, both monsters appear to die in an underwater volcano explosion.

Kaiju Notes

- The giant octopus from the first scene actually looks very good. If I didn't know better I would assume they actually just filmed an octopus playing with a model ship. Hell, they might have, I don't really know better.

- Gaira is horrible. It's a good look for a kaiju! With just the right amount of humanity with a mix of monster, Gaira's design makes him seem deliberately villainous because he appears to have a thinking brain that he uses to eat people. The teeth in particular are a good, inhuman touch that make him seem both more dangerous and more animalistic than his otherwise humanoid form.

- Sanda, on the other hand, is boring. Perhaps because he's really just "yellow Gaira," he also lacks the distinct teeth and some of the inhumanity of Gaira. While this does make him more sympathetic and relatable looking it also makes him dull, especially by comparison to his counterpart.

- Neither seem to have any powers beyond "big, strong, tough, and occasionally pissed." In their defense, this will usually get you quite far, but most other kaiju would probably beat the brakes off these boys.

- The suit acting is actually quite good in this film, especially compared to most. While we know when Godzilla or the others are triumphant and they've even communicated on screen before, we rarely get a chance to get in their heads. Sanda is clearly a gentle soul who doesn't want to fight at all and this is communicated even through his fighting style. Gaira on the other hand is all id and anger, communicating his intent to harm everything that stands in his way through his grunting and gesturing, and his fighting style is significantly more aggressive (and effective). Were it not for the military helping, Sanda would almost certainly have lost. His ability to be a clear kaiju communicator probably saved him!

Anyone who is an avid reader of this extremely well-read and far-reaching blog will know that I did not care of Frankenstein Conquers the World. BUT this movie is actually pretty enjoyable. Gaira being a mean green machine with Sanda being a relatively boring but generally benevolent lil guy is a tried and true dynamic, and they pull it off relatively well. The human story manages to be supplemental and not too much of the focus, as is often frustrating in kaiju movies. And as mentioned above, the suit acting is actually some of the best that I've seen in the genre so far. Perhaps they leaned into it because the two main monsters were supposed to be human-oid like Frankenstein, but when I see it it really just makes me wish that the suit acting was this good in all of the movies. A great example is the conversation between Rodan, Mothra, and Godzilla in an earlier movie. While the general tenor was clear from the body of each beast in that example, it did leave some confusion about the motivation or intent of the monsters until it was explained by the human characters. In War of the Gargantuas, however, the humans have to explain relatively little. Even Sanda growing enraged on finding the leftovers of Gaira's human feast was done without any aid, and without paying attention to the nearly silent acting of the kaiju in this film you would have no clear idea why the two turned on each other. Sanda's first appearance is similar, he protects Gaira out of what seems like obligation, and the human characters seem both caught off-guard and understanding of this.

Like many of these movies, War of the Gargantuas is not some deep flick about human nature of the consequences of violence or anything, but it is a pretty good time. While I am not yet understanding of why it is such a popular choice among film-makers and actors, the previous paragraph might provide some insight. The conflict is reasonable and understandable, the conclusion relatively satisfying, and the human and monster sides of the plot mesh relatively well. As far as kaiju movies go this is definitely an example of it functionally firing on all cylinders, and especially given it's progeny I was surprised to enjoy this one as much as I did.

Next: Destroy All Monsters!

Daimajin

Today we're going a bit outside the box with the first in the Daimajin series, appropriately titled Daimajin. Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda for Daiei (the makers of Gamera movies), there were 3 Daimajin films released in the same year and no more. Apparently, the titular character was intended to be the first foe of Gamera but was reassigned to be the star if his own brief series. Daiei also produced the legendary Zatoichi series, which is relevant here as the director of Daimajin was a prolific director of Zatoichi films as well.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A village is shaken by what seems like an earthquake. Our characters say this is the majin and they begin a ritual to keep the majin asleep rather than allow it to wake from its slumber.

- At the same time, a fight for power begins. Samurai Kogenta escapes from the wicked Samanosuke's forces with the children of the former Lord of the area.

- The ritual to ward off the Daimajin monster is interrupted by this raid of new Lord Samanosuke. They force the villagers to stop their ritual, which the local priestess warns against and laments.

- Yes, it's all a bit confusing at first.

- The priestess gives Kogenta and the children a hiding place, assuring them they will not be found. Right outside their new living quarters is a massive stone statue resembling a fully armored soldier.

- The bad guys terrorize the villagers, forcing them to labor and beating them when they're too tired to continue. In the infirmary, another is killed after being blamed for the escape of Kogenta.

- To secure his power, Samanosuke first kills the priestess who warns him of the power of Daimajin, and then decides to smash the statue so it can never wake.

- While attempting to destroy Daimajin, blood begins to flow from its forehead. A powerful storm strikes and the earth itself swallows the forces of Samanosuke.

- With Kogenta and the son of the former Lord having been previously captured, the daughter (and a village boy) pray to Daimajin to save them from execution. With their execution happening very soon, Daimajin wakes up just in time

- Daimajin goes to the execution site of Kogenta and the young Lord and kills everyone he can get his hands on besides the two victims.

- After Samanosuke is killed by Daimajin, the remaining human characters try to stop the living statue from continuing its mission to kill every one of Samanosuke's followers.

- With tearing prompting from the former Lord's daughter, Daimajin voluntarily turns back into stone before shattering.

- END

Kaiju Notes

- Daimajin is an intimidating figure, but uninspiring as design. Clearly modeled after stone guardians and/or a statue, he does look like a moving, pissed off, stone statue. It's a dominant look, but doesn't really add anything to the design aspect of kaiju. While the armor is a strong choice to have on a kaiju, which are usually giant animals of some kind, the armor is not particularly unique or impressive. This could be a deliberate choice to make it clear that Daimajin, in common armor, defends the commoners of the village, but it still leaves a lot to be desired from a raw "aesthetic badassness" perspective.

- Daimajin gets very little screen time, waking up just 15 minutes before the movie ends. He makes an impression, however, as he apparently controls the weather and can travel as a ball of light. He also wastes almost no time, stepping through buildings rather than on them and only slowing down at all to kill any loyalist of Samanosuke he can find.

- Daimajin seems to enjoy stomping on people, in particular. While he'll punch a building to destroy it, he then finds the person stuck underneath the rubble and is always sure to stomp them to death.

- One choice of particular note is for Daimajin to make no sounds or facial expressions. He is a being of pure, focused vengeance. He kills everyone who deserves it with no care at all, a calculating and terribly efficient killing machine with no need or desire to roar, taunt, or express anything at all. The only time the movie focuses on his face at all, he is clearly simply looking around for his next target, no wry smile or wiggling eyebrows to get in the way of his rage.

The experience of the director of Daimajin in filming sword fights is relevant almost immediately in this film, as the opening is a large battle between opposing armies. The battle is fierce and effective in a manner that experience helps sell. With the story spending an inordinately long time on human characters facing human problems, it's good to have a director with experience filming such human conflicts, and it pays off in this instance. Even when it comes to Samanosuke's forces abusing the villagers or eventually killing the priestess, there's a certain deft touch to it all that helps bring the details into focus while we wait for the awakening of Daimajin.

The reason this movie is a bit "outside the box" as I said above is because Daimajin himself is the first humanoid kaiju we've come across, and one of the few humanoid kaiju (that isn't a robot) that I'm aware of at all. Most "giant monsters" are just that, giant monsters, but Daimajin is a wrathful spirit in the form of a large and angry man. It is also unique in that this is the first kaiju we have seen which specifically targets certain groups of humans, punishing Samanosuke's forces for their evil deeds. While he does fall into the kaiju trope of becoming a danger to everyone around him, his intent upon waking was to destroy Samanosuke, and he is tremendously successful at this. While Godzilla and Mothra have both been used as punishment against the wicked, neither of their intent was this necessarily. Mothra simply attacks whomever has her Shobijin and Godzilla has destroyed the evil mostly as result of coincidence and their own misdeeds.

This punishment of the wicked is Daimajin's real narrative hook. Despite the titular creature being released from his stony confines a mere 15 minutes before the end of the movie, the entire plot focuses on demonstrating why Samanosuke and his forces deserve to be stepped on and impaled with spikes from an indestructible pissed off green man. It is also one of the relatively few kaiju films in which the human story plays directly into the actions of the kaiju. Many kaiju movies have the human characters only tangentially related to the actions of the monsters, affected by but not really active participants in what happens, whereas Daimajin only awakens after the killing of his priestess and the attempted destruction of himself, and even then requires some extra goading with the tears of the former Lord's daughter Kozasa. But once he's awake, Daimajin is a simple natural progression of the story: the savior army in a different film, concentrated into one entity which doesn't speak, care, or show any mercy.

Anyone who reads this blog probably knows that I am a big fan of kaiju as metaphor, and Daimajin's spirit of vengeance approach is a prime example of why I like it. This approach typically allows the film to be more cohesive, merging the various human characters with the purpose of the kaiju in a manner that is difficult to replicate when the metaphorical basis of kaiju is dropped. While I don't dislike a movie that is pure spectacle (we've seen several and definitely will in the future), the strongest ones from both a quality and enjoyment perspective, for me, are the films which allow the kaiju to mean something. This quality of Daimajin makes me glad that I expanded my list of intended movies to watch for this blog so that I could get an even broader taste of the kaiju flicks that weren't Godzilla. More grounded than most films in its genre and playing more into the supernatural than most of the "force of nature" giant monsters we have seen so far, Daimajin is a worthwhile ride, especially in the context of the history of kaiju film.

Next: War of the Gargantuas!

King Kong (1933)

It simply didn't feel right to make an entire blog (and year) devoted to giant monster movies without including a King Kong movie. And rather than slog through the 3 hour epic that is Peter Jackson's rendition, which I've seen before and didn't care about at all, I figured why not start with the first. Having never seen it before, it's completing yet another piece of the "movie history" puzzle while allowing me to indulge in the true spirit of 2022: Kaiju.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Director Carl Denham needs a leading lady for his new, mysterious film. Finding young Ann Darrow, he casts her and they head off to his shooting location on a boat across the world.

- Eventually revealed to be headed toward Skull Island, the home of the legend Kong, nobody truly understands what awaits them there.

- Upon arrival, the crew finds the natives of the island conducting a ritual to deliver one of the women as the bride of Kong. This is interrupted by the leader wishing to trade several of the island's women for the "golden" Ann.

- Upon being refused, the native people of Skull Island kidnap Ann from the ship and allow Kong to take her as his apparent bride.

- Hoping to recover Ann, the entire crew of the ship outside of Carl and her love interest Jack die while being attacked by the giant creatures of Skull Island.

- Beating several more creatures which want Ann for themselves, Kong protects Ann until Jack manages to finally abscond with her.

- Carl decides to capture Kong with a gas bomb, taking him to exhibit in New York City.

- You know this story. It goes very poorly.

Kaiju Notes

- King Kong is an interesting example of a kaiju looking both really good and really bad. He is, clearly, an effect of some kind. But it's actually a pretty good, expressive effect. Significantly better than Toho's King Kong, and 25 years before they used their suit in one of their own movies.

- The other beasts of Skull Island, including badass dinosaurs, giant arachnids, and angry lizard creatures, suffer from the same problem as Kong. They look pretty good in some shots while being terrible in others, but it's also 1933 so I'm not sure what one can expect. The deaths of several men while in the grasp of horrible creatures is good enough for me to confirm the effects work is not 21st century standard but hella good nonetheless.

- Kong absolutely destroys the jaw of a T-Rex when it attacks Ann. While a bit less mobile than suitmation, the fight is pretty brutal and effective, really showing off the pretty advanced effects at play here.

Kong is perhaps the most explicitly ferocious beast we've yet come across on this journey. Besides literally smashing the jaw of a dinosaur and other kills, Kong also specifically targets humans when they get in his way. After Ann escapes, he rampages through the Skull Island village while literally grabbing humans and eating them and/or tearing them in half alongside smashing their puny bodies. At one point he steps on someone in an attempt to kill them and when they keep moving he steps on them again but this time focused on their head. Kong is a real fucking monster. Even Godzilla, who has previously targeted unarmed humans on purpose, has never looked at any particular one and tried to kill them twice. His lack of ripping them in half may be due to his short arms, however.

The portrayal of the natives of Skull Island is horrendously racist, which isn't terribly surprising for a movies from the 1930's. But I was pleasantly surprised that the actors were not in brown and/or blackface to portray them. There is also an Asian man on the ship who is played by an Asian actor, which was immediately a big relief for me. This is obviously a tremendously low standard and we're not giving it bonus points for being slightly less racist than other films of its time, but it's at least worth acknowledging.

The ending, where Kong escapes, grabs Ann, and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building is surprisingly brief. They steal Kong from Skull Island at about the 80% mark of the movie, and it's a quick 15 minutes from landing in New York City to Kong falling from the skyscraper. This is primarily a good thing, despite being the most well-known part of the movie, because the time on Skull Island is the best part of the movie and it's not close. Not necessarily watching Kong rip apart the native people, though yes that too, but the encounters with dinosaurs and other pissed off giant animals is pretty rad. In a movie about giant monsters doing giant monster things, the movie spends a significant portion of its runtime focused on the giant monsters. Weird concept for some of the movies we've seen, but turns out it pays off.

One would think this movie is really about something, but that's part of the joy: it's really not. Commonly listed as a horror movie, King Kong holds up relatively well as both a horror movie and the effects required, despite being nearly a hundred years old at this point. It is a testament to the appeal of practical effects. Some of the fight sequences with the still motion effects took literal weeks to complete, but it looks infinitely better than "more advanced" effects from the late 90's or early 2000's because it's a real object interacting with other real objects. Even Kong's often goofy expressions are more appealing because of the undeniable substance of the model used.

The transition from here to Gojira seems a bit obvious to me. King Kong is not particularly large, comparatively, but the idea of a giant beast rampaging in (and out of) a city who is eventually brought down isn't a hard line to draw. While Toho added quite a bit more metaphor to their first kaiju film, it's important to note that Gojira was also one of the first tokusatsu movies as well as kaiju. Meaning "special effects," Gojira essentially created two entire genres after being inspired by King Kong. While the subject of a giant monster is clear, the focus on special effects is also a line which can be drawn directly from King Kong, but also unique because the Japanese method of bringing the effects to life was equally innovative and substantial. While the suits they use are not always stellar (looking at you, Toho King Kong), they also create a sense of actual weight that King Kong couldn't fully replicate: the swings and punches being models hitting models rather than people in suits smashing into other people in suits.

Essentially, King Kong is the grandparent of every movie this blog is about so it seemed only fitting to include it on the list. I can see the argument that it is not actually a Kaiju movie, but I'm unconvinced. More on that subject later. Regardless of whether it is or is not a kaiju flick, it's undeniable that the genre essentially started here, and I can see why: it's pretty damn good. I prefer the original Gojira, for my tastes, but King Kong is definitely a movie worth seeing for yourself if for no other reason than the historic place it holds in cinema history.

Next: Daimajin!

Gamera vs. Gyaos

Today, we're discussing the 3rd in the Gamera series. We skipped the second one because I don't have time for literally every kaiju movie, and this one is the introduction of Gamera's most enduring enemy: Gyaos.

Apparently inspired by Frankenstein Conquers the World, Daiei decided to also adapt a classic monster and make it a kaiju: in this case a vampire. Directed once again by Noriaki Yuasa after he was skipped over for the 2nd Gamera film (which apparently did not perform as well as desired), the giant turtle monster also gains himself a credited actor: Teruo Aragaki. 

Intentionally written to appeal to children, it becomes more clear in this film why Gamera is eventually known as "Friend of All Children." With a child being, once again, central to the plot and seemingly the only person able to understand the simplest things about Gamera, they directly interact once but are the best of friends. More on this later. So, let's observe Gyaos' introduction, because we're going to see a lot more of her for the rest of Kaiju '22, so hopefully it starts well.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A series of volcanoes erupt around Japan and Gamera appears near Mount Fuji when it erupts. Predictably, this draws attention from the scientific community.

- While flying above Mount Fuji, a helicopter of researchers is literally split in half from what looks like a laser.

- Exploring the area, the bat-like kaiju Gyaos awakens. Gamera appears and saves the day, but not before nearly losing an arm to Gyaos' laser.

- Humans try to prepare for Gyaos' next awakening but fail. Gyaos attacks, killing many people before being confronted by Gamera once again. They fight until dawn breaks, at which points Gyaos lasers off her own foot to escape Gamera and the rising sun. Badass.

- With Gyaos' foot to study, humans realize that it is weakened by ultraviolet light. They develop a plan to lure Gyaos to be hit by the sun by using fake blood to cause it come out.

- The plan fails because while Gyaos is spinning on the blood deposit, the power station is overwhelmed and the plan to make Gyaos dizzy fails when the deposit stops spinning. It's a...weird plan.

- With no hope of stopping Gyaos, the little boy who has been the crucial intelligence agent for the humans (questionable that this 8 year old or whatever is smarter than all of the adults in this movie) comes up with a plan to attract Gamera by starting a forest fire. Since Gamera loves and eats fire while Gyaos hates it and is weakened by it, Gyaos will be defeated by Gamera.

- The child's plan works almost perfectly, with Gamera rocket legging it over to the fire to feed and deciding the murder Gyaos in the process.

Kaiju Notes

- The first shot of Gyaos is truly awful. Also, she is the most plastic looking kaiju we've seen thus far. Not a bad design by any means, though a little basic. Gyaos seems a bit like an improved Rodan: winged and with more distinct features and abilities.

- Gyaos' laser is ridiculously powerful and actually a lot of fun to watch as it splits things in half. Explained as a supersonic wave produced by Gyaos' throat, it's a good way to lean into the bat-like features while not making it a simple "vampire bat" monster. She also has a special yellow mist that puts out fires, which makes sense for a creature that apparently hates fire.

- While not as innovative as atomic breath, Gamera's fire breath is a very cool effect to see, mostly because flamethrowers are literally always cool and easy enough to make.

- Gamera and Gyaos both get credit for being more of "whole body" monsters than Godzilla. Fire breath, an apparently impenetrable shell that he can retreat into, and rocket legs, Gamera in particular is a force to be reckoned with from any angle or situation.

First off: this movie is significantly less bonkers than the first. That does not mean "not bonkers," but definitely less. And while it may just be a natural inclination to root for the underdog, I feel like Yuasa's passion for making a giant monster movie is obvious while watching. With another tiny budget and even the concept of the movie being a riff on another Toho film, Gamera vs. Gyaos is another project made by studio demand with a director who just wants to make a rad kaiju movie and does his best to do so.

The helicopter getting split in half is a cool effect that I like a lot. The last person onscreen that we see "fall" to his death definitely jumps though, and it's hilarious. There's not enough gifs of all of these movies, for real. Whether it's Kamacuras playing volleyball before smashing Minilla's face or a not-great version of falling from a helicopter, there's great shots in all of these movies. Gyaos also splits a moving car in half and some fighter jets, and they're all equally impressive effects. The car in particular is honestly great: a goofy context, yes, but pretty badass to see half of a car drive away from it's other half.

Another major point: this is much bloodier than most kaiju movies. I mentioned in my Son of Godzilla post that the fights were growing in brutality, but apparently Gamera movies are the place to be for bloody violence. When Gamera nearly loses his arm it spurts blood and later when he's trying to either drown Gyaos or force her into the sun, her foot bleeds quite a bit when he bites it and then even more when she slices it off. We even see Gyaos blood when she grows it back! The final fight also ends with both Gamera and Gyaos covered in each others blood. While the blood is all a color that is not the traditional human red (Gyaos' even changing color from an earlier scene where it was green to purple), it is still notable that the blood level is actually quite high compared to every other kaiju movie we have seen so far. Even Gamera's execution of Gyaos is pretty violent, throwing her into an active volcano. Bloodless, sure, but brutal.

As mentioned above, it's well-known that this (and other Gamera movies) was designed to be more appealing to children: this might explain why a literal child who's obsessed by giant monsters has the only good ideas in the entire movie. There is an entire military intelligence apparatus in this movie dedicated to stopping Gyaos and the child is the only one of all of them who ever has a plan that's not entirely terrible. Not to say that children can't be wise or know something that adults don't, but in this instance it makes every adult look like a complete idiot because the child's plans aren't super innovative or complex. Gamera almost killed Gyaos once... attract him... he'll kill Gyaos. Done. This wild plan to make Gyaos dizzy using a spinning centrifuge of fake blood is like a prime example of supposedly smart people overcomplicating something to the point of ineffectiveness. Maybe that's the real message of the child in this movie: lateral thinking.

Overall, I like this one. It's far from amazing and not particularly innovative in any capacity, but despite Gyaos dumb face and Gamera's still strangely creepy yet friendly appearance I find the whole endeavor entertaining. Even the human scenes are amusing because all of the adults are rank idiots and it's amusing to watch their ridiculous plans come to fruition. Like Plan Z from the first Gamera film, watching humans come up with a plan to spin a giant vampiric monster around really fast until its dizzy is endlessly entertaining. As far as an introduction to Gamera and his enduring foe Gyaos, there are definitely worse films out there, and some of them are Godzilla movies.

Next: King Kong (1933)!

Gorgo

Directed by Eugène Lourié, Gorgo is a co-production of Ireland, the UK, and the US. We're not likely to run across any of these names again in the course of this blog, so let's talked about the movie.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Treasure hunters off the coast of Ireland end up in a nearby village to repair their ship.

- While there, the monster Gorgo appears and does some damage.

- The crew decides to capture the big strong Gorgo, as they could make quite a bit of money off such a creature.

- After a risky but successful monster capture, the crew takes Gorgo on exhibition despite some better informed folks advising against it.

- Whoops! Turns out Gorgo is but a baby of its species, and Mama Gorgo emerges from the sea and heads toward London to retrieve her baby.

- Mama Gorgo is attacked by the military and easily survives, sinking an entire destroyer along the way.

- Once it arrives in London proper, Mama Gorgo tears through everything and everyone trying to stop her until she manages to retrieve her child.

- After getting Baby Gorgo back, they leave peacefully.

Kaiju Notes

- From a design perspective, I think Gorgo's design is top notch (especially for the time period). Not entirely reptilian, amphibian, or marine animal, the red eyes also add a lot to an already solid design.

- Gorgo's roar is uninspiring but suitable. They won't get points for trying anything unique or strange, but it works as a scary sound for a big scary creature.

- The best part of Gorgo's design is their giant hands. It's a small touch, but them hands are gigantic for no apparent reason besides ripping things to shreds and I love it.

- Gorgo's mouth and teeth always make it looks like it has a sinister smile when it's not roaring. Again, it's the small details that work and this is another.

Choosing to make Baby Gorgo quite a bit smaller than most other kaiju could initially be read a underwhelming, but is an interesting bit of foreshadowing. Any kaiju movie fan who saw it might think he's quite small and even weak for being captured by a group of regular human jagoffs, but once Mama Gorgo shows up it all makes sense. It's an interesting trick that I appreciate as a little twist that definitely better explains why they were able to both capture the monster but also not contain it, a problem a lot of kaiju movies run into but opt to ignore instead.

The special effects are something to note here, especially in comparison to its Japanese contemporaries. The destruction of London by Mama Gorgo is on par with Japanese movies for at least another 10 years. It's not clear if this is strictly a budget issue or that western audiences are more interested in the detailed destruction, but either way it is worth mentioning. Rather than the almost clumsy way a lot of Godzilla-series kaiju move, Gorgo seems more intentional and we see a few more graphic details of people falling off of bridges or from pieces of buildings Mama Gorgo is holding.

Mama Gorgo also gets credit for staying on target. While she does destroy a few landmarks, this is mostly because they are large and in her way. When there's simply people running away from her she continues walking without slowing down to eat them or terrorize them. Even the military resources she takes down are only because they're trying to stop her, otherwise she's uninterested in anything but Baby. Also she's clearly one of the strongest kaiju we've seen in any movie yet, shrugging off almost everything the military can throw at her and simply walking away when her mission is accomplished. Godzilla himself has been stopped by some of what was thrown at Mama Gorgo and she just walked through it? Could Mama Gorgo beat down Big Daddy G? At this point, one has to assume.

 

Gorgo is, ultimately, a pretty good kaiju flick. On par with any of the other enjoyable-but-2nd-tier films. It does suffer from being really boring in the first half, but makes up for it with some interesting twists and special effects in the second half. With a monster that honestly seems more durable than Godzilla, some good design, and tricks up its sleeve, Gorgo really is a kaiju movie that proves that Japanese studios did not entirely corner the market. It's not likely to change anyone's opinion on the genre, but for fans it's really worth checking out as a vision outside of the innovators at Toho.

Next: Gamera vs. Gyaos!

Son of Godzilla

Let's talk about Son of Godzilla. It's directed by Jun Fukuda, with Haruo Nakajima of course returning as Godzilla, now a dad. The titular Son of Godzilla is played by newcomer to the franchise Marchan. I'm going to keep this short and sweet and get to talking about the movie as quickly as possible.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Scientists do weather stuff on an island.

- There's a woman here, unexpectedly.

- There's also giant mantis monsters: Kamacuras.

- A giant egg hatches and a baby Godzilla pops out: it's Minilla!

- Godzilla swings by to save his apparent child. This is a monster island!

- Scientists do boring science stuff and there's a light love story between the island woman and one of the guys. Minilla bonds with the woman and her beau.

- Monster Island isn't over: eventually, the giant angry spider Kumonga also wakes.

- Kumonga tries to kill everybody, monsters and humans alike.

- Realizing they're now in a giant monster turf war, the scientists devise a plan to freeze the island using weather science.

- Godzilla and baby Minilla take on Kumonga and another Kamacuras as the island begins to freeze.

- The humans escape the island safely as the surviving father-son pair slowly hibernate, tugging on our heartstrings as they seem to think they are dying.

Kaiju Notes

- Godzilla does full-on wrestling moves now. He's been getting more mobile in each movie, but at this point he's just like Lizard Stone Cold and I am here for it.

- In Minilla's intro scene there is an absolutely awesome shot of a flaming Kamacuras leg flying above the heads of the human characters escaping from the scene and landing in front of them.

- Kamakuras' play soccer to kick a ball into Minilla's face. Hilarious.

- Kumonga is unsettling. I attribute this mostly to him being uncomfortably hairy.

- New Godzilla suit is ugly as hell. You can't tell in this image, but trust me. Also this image plays into my next point:

- Minilla is a terrible hellspawn. Also his weirdly little body reminds me of Frank Reynolds Wanting to be Pure and I hate it.

First things first: this is a comfort movie, almost like a comfort food. It's not interesting or even particularly good, but decidedly comforting. 80% of the run time is just watching ugly ass Minilla run around while we watch a pretty dull human story. But somehow, it's a good time while not being a good time. Very strange experience, watching this, but it's not as though the concept of comfort movie's make no sense. I attribute part of this to the direction. I am ready to say it: I greatly prefer Fukuda to Honda. The shots I've spent several blogs mentioning now are still here, the aforementioned entirely awesome flaming leg throw, and even the fluff is more engaging than it might be under different direction. Also, having looked him up now, I know that he is also the director of my favorite Godzilla movie that I've seen so far. But we'll get to that.

Of note: Godzilla is a bad dad. After saving Minilla he immediately hits him in the head with his tail and walks off while a human actually takes care of him. Later, Minilla is literally just crying and begging for attention while his dad sleeps. Sure, this could be accounted for by them being animals/monsters and having different needs when it comes to child-rearing, but Minilla's actions tell us otherwise. Unlike a super-independent giraffe or something which just gallops off and comes back at feeding time, Minilla clearly wants love and affection from his pops. Daddy G does provide lessons on how to blow Atomic Breath and other steps in how to be a badass, but that's not really the same as giving Minilla the warm fuzzy feelings he's going to need to think he had a nice childhood. How Godzilla became a father is unclear and never touched on, and I honestly don't want to think about it at all because giant monster sexuality is not in the venn diagram of my interests (for now).

Another interesting note, and this applies to both Honda and Fukuda directed films: Kaiju are getting more aggressive as these movies continue. They have always done violence to each other, and Godzilla did literally murder an at-the-time defenseless Anguirus in Godzilla Raids Again, but even then the violence was fairly "tame." For a spell the violence was relatively non-deadly, many monsters escaping on their own or dying by their own hand instead. But recent films seem to trending toward escalation: King Kong breaking Gorosaurus' jaw in King Kong Escapes, and Kamacuras' attempts to murder a freshly born Minilla in this followed by Godzilla ripping off one of their legs, setting it on fire and throwing it across the island. Kumonga is also literally set on fire by Daddy G, just to ensure he stays dead (after faking his death moments before).

The end scene of the two remaining lizards freezing seems almost out of place in this otherwise charming but insubstantial movie. The kaiju seem to think they're going to die but the human characters are quick to remind us that this is not the case. Nonetheless, Godzilla embracing little Minilla as they settle in for a long hibernation is framed and filmed exactly like a parent comforting a child when they expect the bomb to drop, so it's an oddly specific and narratively unnecessary decision to end the movie on this relatively dour note. Not uncompelling, but truly odd, especially considering everything that came before it essentially just being a lovely jaunt through monster island. Then BLAM, a whole family is dying in front of your eyes as the baby cries and the parent tries to comfort him. Then BLAM AGAIN, they're not dying at all but just going into a nice and safe hibernation. What the hell.

Next: Gorgo