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

King Kong Escapes

Today we watch the 1967 classic (?) King Kong Escapes, another kiaju movie co-produced by Toho and Rankin/Bass that once again allows the innovators over at Toho to take a crack at a King Kong movie. As can be expected by now, Ishirō Honda directs and Haruo Nakajima is the main (monster) character: King Kong. Like the previous movie we talked about, Hiroshi Sekita plays the antagonist monsters versus the King Kong that escapes.

I am actually really excited to see this movie because I have owned it for years now but am only watching it for the first time now. Part of the intent of this entire Kaiju '22 project was to finally watch all of the giant monsters movies I owned by hadn't seen (and rewatch the ones I had). This is a known personality flaw of mine, in that I own at least 20 movies I have never seen. I am working on it! Let's talk about King Kong Escapes now instead of my inadequacies.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A submarine crew unexpectedly makes an emergency stop on Mondo Island, apparently the place to find the one and only King Kong. The nurse onboard finds this unlikely, as Kong is but a myth.

- Elsewhere, a mad scientist named Dr. Who has built Mechani-Kong under the orders and financial help of a country with plans for world domination by using the robot to mine Element X.

- Despite the promises that the robot is as good as the real deal King Kong, its first mining endeavor goes poorly when the robots circuits are shorted by the powerful radiation given off by Element X.

- On Mondo Island, the nurse is chased by dinosaur-like Gorosaurus before being saved by King Kong. After the fight, he admires her before reluctantly letting her go. Gorosaurus revives and they continue their epic duel. He also saves the escaping submarine crew from a sea serpent.

- Kong does follow the crew to their submarine and begin to shake it, but the nurse he is infatuated with persuades him to let them go.

- The mad Dr. Who decides that in order to continue his mission to provide his benefactors with the world supply of Element X he needs the real King Kong. The gas King Kong and kidnap him. The submarine crew gets involved in the situation and ends up being taken by Dr. Who's minions as well.

- A strobe light is apparently the secret to controlling King Kong, and Dr. Who is ready to make Kong do his bidding/digging.

- After some initial success, King Kong begins to resist Dr. Who's demands. He is imprisoned again as we shift to the submarine crew and their adventures against the mad scientist.

- As things progress, King Kong escapes. Mechani-Kong is sent to capture him. 

- After making nice with the representative of the country funding Dr. Who's endeavors, she allows them to escape from Who's clutches just in time for a showdown between King and Mechani-Kong in Tokyo.

- King Kong wins, which is not surprising because Mechani-Kong has been established as kind of trash since his first appearance.

- After defeating his robot double, King Kong also destroys Dr. Who's ship as he tries to escape, ending the menace of Dr. Who once and for all.

- King Kong swims away, apparently having "had enough of what we call civilization." End.

Kaiju Notes

- The King Kong suit remains quite bad, though I think they have improved it since it's last appearance. The eyes are still awful and the snout and chest are rubbery.

- Gorosaurus, on the other hand, actually looks pretty good. It's not a complex look by any means, but it's a convincing facsimile of a dinosaur creature and doesn't share the rubbery-ness of Kong. Also I like his little dino tongue and dino claws.

- Mechani-Kong is awesome. What a look, what a boy. His little belt of bombs is great, as well as his always chipper (yet somehow blank) expression.

- Kong throwing a giant rock onto the sea serpent while it chases the submarine crew is one of my favorite shots of all of these movies so far. Somehow I entirely saw it coming because it was telegraphed (like everything in these films) but was also surprised when giant rock met serpent skull. Hilarious.

- King Kong's electricity powers don't come into play here, and he and Mechani-Kong have a traditional punch fight.

- Mechani-Kong's only real ability in a fight appears to be the strobe light on his head which allows him to disorient/control King. It is quickly shot by the humans and destroyed, mattering for all of 60 seconds.

- The fight between the two apes is underwhelming, to say the least. They essentially just climb a tower before King knocks Mechani-Kong off and he explodes into robot bits. The murder of Dr. Who is more exciting, honestly.

First thing: some minor direction notes. With Ebirah, Horror of the Deep being directed by someone who is not Ishirō Honda I paid some attention to the shots made to show the sheer scale of the monsters versus the humans in the film. With Honda back at the helm these are less frequent but there was at least one shot of this, which seems like perhaps a new technique he might have picked up either over time or from the previous director. I am a fan. It really does help to make the kaiju seem like both parts of the world and disconnected from it, too large to notice us and too powerful to care if they do. The death of Dr. Who is also bloodier than we are used to, the only scene before this I can remember showing anymore than a spot of blood being the ripped apart rabbit in Frankenstein Conquers the World. Adding to some of the added realism/gruesomeness, Gorosaurus foams at the mouth as King Kong breaks his jaw by pulling it apart. While the effect itself appears to just be suds from dishwashing soap put into a rubber suit, it is the closest we've gotten thus far to demonstrating how much damage these monsters really do to each other.

I have many questions about Dr. Who. Firstly, after kidnapping King Kong and starting his mind control mining operation he admits that real Kong is way better than Mechani-Kong, so one has to question why he made so many high promises if he knew this? In his very first scene he insists that Mechani-Kong is a as good or better than King, but is quick to change his mind once that plan immediately falls apart. And once King Kong escapes from his lair, why does he bother sending Mechani-Kong to stop him, considering that every comparison between the two has revealed that King Kong is way better in every way. If not for the nurse King is interested in protecting, Mechani-Kong would have been destroyed almost immediately. And given all of this information, some of which Dr. Who had to have known before the films start, why wasn't this the original plan? It's probably way cheaper to kidnap a living ape than build an advanced robot version. The commander of the submarine, who is familiar with the mad scientist, says at one point that Dr. Who would "steal Niagara Falls for a drink of water" so apparently this is a known trait of his. He does wear a cape, so it can't be said he doesn't have a touch of the dramatic.

Overall, this film is underwhelming. The human element of this story is the most interesting bit, but that's not a good thing. The showdown at the end is defined by a struggle by both Kongs for the human nurse, and even the decisive moment of Mechani-Kong falling off the tower is decided by the mysterious country representative pulling some wires which causes Mechani-Kong to no longer function properly. She dies for her trouble in a manner much more interesting than the giant robot. It's a strange choice that these movies often make, giving the human facets more attention in a movie presumably about giant monsters punching each other. I understand this is probably a budgetary restraint, but it doesn't make the movie more interesting to watch to know what held it back from being what the creators probably wanted. That can make an interesting conversation about particular films and even movie-making in general, but if it doesn't translate onto the screen it is ultimately a miss. Just like this movie!

Next: Son of Godzilla!

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Ebirah, a giant lobster, is, apparently, a horror of the deep. At least that is the premise of the movie titled Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. Directed by Jun Fukuda, this is the first film in the mainline Godzilla canon to not be directed by Ishirō Honda so hopefully some distinctions in their direction style will be clear here. Haruo Nakajima is once again Godzilla, with newcomer (?) Hiroshi Sekita playing the titular Ebirah. Writing this without having seen it yet, I am dubbing this current era of Toho releases "the dark times" due to my general underwhelming response to the last couple of movies we have seen. Hopefully Ebirah breaks this streak, but word on the street is this is not one of the beloved films of the Showa era. Crossing fingers!

Also, humorous (or foreboding?) side note: this movie was originally supposed to start King Kong against the dreaded Ebirah. But when the rights owners of Kong rejected the concept Toho gladly took up the task and cast their homegrown monster in the role. Word on the street is that the script was changed very little given this change of concept, so we might see some reverberations of that through this film.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Searching for his missing brother whom he is certain is alive, Ryota steals a boat from a dance marathon competition and goes searching.

- Things do not go well, as he and his companions come across the giant lobster Ebirah and nearly die.

- Stranded on an island, they come across a native woman from Infant Island and make friends. She tells them that the terrorist organization Red Bamboo has kidnapped some of her people and forced them produce a special yellow liquid to help control Ebirah.

- Meanwhile, the people still left at Infant Island pray to Mothra in the hope she will awaken and rescue their kidnapped brethren.

- The gang finds Godzilla sleeping in a cave. They wisely try to avoid waking him up.

- Moving on, they sneak into a Red Bamboo building by hiding behind a movable bush they've made in an effort to defeat Red Bamboo so they can escape.

- When that goes predictably poorly, one of the men accidentally floats away on a giant balloon which takes him to Infant Island.

- Deciding to wake up Godzilla as a weapon against Red Bamboo and their dastardly desires, they make a lightning rod which awakens Godzilla from his resting state just as Ebirah attacks them.

- Still on the run from Red Bamboo, the remaining core cast barely escapes Red Bamboo before Godzilla appears and puts the fear into them. He is distracted/infatuated by the woman the boys met earlier, apparently a plot holdover from when this was a Kong movie.

- Interrupting Godzilla longingly looking at her, a giant bird and then some planes attack Godzilla only to be soundly and easily defeated.

- Godzilla destroys the Red Bamboo base after they empower him using high voltage electricity (not how Godzilla works) and the humans find out that the entire island is going to be completely destroyed in a mere two hours.

- Godzilla and Ebirah rematch, this time taking the fight underwater where Ebirah may have the advantage.

- Godzilla wins anyway, easily.

- With 6 minutes runtime remaining, Mothra finally leaves Infant Island to retrieve her people.

- Godzilla and Mothra fight, briefly, despite being allies in their last meeting, before Mothra runs away with her Infant Island people in tow.

- Godzilla jumps off the island just as Red Bamboo's plan to destroy the island comes to fruition, narrowly escaping the giant explosion and swimming off into the ocean.

Kaiju Notes

- Ebirah's introduction is as nothing more than a giant claw destroying the boat our human leads are on. Outside of the very fake lightning effect, this introduction is very well done. Menace and mystery but without too much uncertainty about what it was: a giant claw.

- Ebirah's screech is one of the more effective roars we've heard so far.

- On his reintroduction, Ebirah literally spears two men floating near him, making it very clear that he's giant and red because of the fiery rage inside him.

- Godzilla is awaken by lightning in this movie, apparently recovered from his injuries by it. This is not a power Godzilla has ever had, and in fact appears to be a holdover from when this movie was Kong-centric.

- Ebirah and Godzilla play giant rock volleyball on multiple occasions when they first fight, it's cute and also ridiculous.

- Godzilla vastly outpowers all of his enemies in this movie except Mothra. Even his Atomic Breath is used only sparingly because it would clearly decimate all of his foes. His fights are much more human than normal, using rocks, his tail, and even kicking objects over either because it's fun or to use as weapons. 

- Godzilla continues to adopt human-like mannerisms: examples being the aforementioned volleyball squence and most notably when he rips off Ebirah's claw and claps it together in a taunting fasion.

- Mothra is perhaps at her most majestic, appearing larger than before and with more realistic colors. The closeup shots allows a better look at the "fur" on her face better than ever before.

First thing to note: this movie is much more comical than almost any of kaiju flicks we've seen thus far. While comedy is not an unexpected element in the series thus far, the first 60 minutes are almost entirely farce. The humans are bumbling even when competent, and the plot comes together almost as a series of unfortunate events, including one man accidentally floating away on a balloon. The humans using a mobile bush to infiltrate the Red Bamboo stronghold is hilarious to watch even if you think it's a good idea. It reminds me of Metal Gear Solid's Ultimate Weapon, even if this movie did come decades before the cardboard box of doom was invented.

Perhaps due to budget cuts, this movie focuses much more on the human story than any kaiju movie we've seen thus far. While I will almost always argue for more monster focus, this movie in particular gets the note as it spends a huge percentage of its time building up to Godzilla's awakening. With Ebirah being a mostly unseen force until he and Godzilla face off, the movie crams all of it's kaiju into the last 3rd or so of runtime, limiting how much they really feel like part of events even when they finally show up. While one argument could be made that the human characters are getting the kaiju tops into place before releasing them and letting them spin toward each other, another argument could be made that a Godzilla movie should have Godzilla wake up from his slumber before the 3rd act.

A few notes on the direction, things I think I noticed being different between Fukuda and Honda. Long, extended shots of the entire kaiju, showing off more detail of the suits than previous entries in the series. Scenes of destruction and the consequences are now back in the series, not truly being focused on since the original Gojira. There are also significantly more shots of human characters interacting in the same space as the kaiju, helping to create a greater sense of scale. This is one of the highlights of this movie, making the giant monsters seem giant and monstrous in a way we haven't really seen before.

Strangely, this movie comes in almost opposite of Invasion of Astro-Monster. While I found it a bit more interesting from a storytelling perspective it ultimately didn't work for me for some intangible reason. This is the opposite: an empty headed comedy that I still somehow enjoy despite the lack of time for my favorite part of any monster movie, the monsters. As you can see by me ending here, this movie isn't exactly the most intriguing (versus the paragraphs I wrote on the previous post), but I somehow enjoyed it nonetheless. Maybe I just like my monster movies stupid and think I like them smart because it makes me feel better about myself.

Next: King Kong Escapes!

Invasion of Astro-Monster

Today is the day for the 1965 movie Invasion of Astro-Monster, the second appearance of one legendary kaiju: King Ghidorah, having another showdown with Godzilla. Rodan also makes an appearance, but they cut out my girl Mothra from this one. Once again directed by Ishirō Honda, Haruo Nakajima and Shoichi Hirose reprise their roles as Godzilla and King Ghidorah, respectively. With Gamera, the Giant Monster in the past, we are now gaining a little perspective on the differences in both suit performance and direction of kaiju movies, and better still the next movie in our series has a different director! We're hitting the big time!

Invasion of Astro-Monster has some significant downsides to it: primarily a lower budget and reusing previous shots. Rodan's scenes are particularly noticeable as rehashed footage. Honda himself reflected on this period with "If we recycled scenes from previous movies, we could cut the effects budget. But then we received complaints from our fans saying, 'It looks weird, it's not fresh.' We could fool the audience for a little while, but eventually they would know the trick and stop coming to see the shows. Then the studio would think that special effects film don't sell anymore. It's no wonder we could not make anything good around that period... It is a sad story."

I am hoping that several good ones are still to come, but if this movie and Honda's own words are to be believed then we may be in for some rocky times while we journey through the history of kaiju movies. Let's talk about the movie first and then possibly revisit some of this.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Two astronauts, Fuji and Glenn, arrive on Planet X.

- They meet aliens, Xiliens, who hide them from a rampaging King Ghidorah and explain that he is the horrible Monster Zero who is destroying their planet.

- In exchange for "borrowing" Godzilla and Rodan to fight Monster Zero, the Xiliens offer humans the cure for cancer. They make the exchange. Big G, Rodan, Glenn, and Fuji all head to Planet X.

- Once on Planet X, Godzill and Rodan succeed in driving away King Ghidorah.

- Glenn and Fuji realize something funky is going on after suspecting the Xiliens of ill-intent for most of the movie so far, and are briefly taken prisoner before being released due to their status as guests of the Xiliens.

- Leaving the monsters behind and with the cure for cancer in hand, the astronauts return to Earth.

- The tape the astronauts were given is revealed to be an ultimatum and not a cure, calling for Earth to surrender to Planet X or be destroyed by all 3 monsters they now have control over.

- Under the control of the Xiliens, Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah begin destroying the world before the invention is broadcast from every available radio on the planet

- Glenn is formally imprisoned by the Xiliens later, and meets another man who apparently has invented a device which interrupts the Xiliens' electronics. They use this to escape prison and also free Rodan and Godzilla from Xilien control.

- After being set free from mind control, Godzilla and Rodan decide to turn their energy toward King Ghidorah in a final, utterly unspectacular battle.

- All three monsters fall off a cliff, into the water. Ghidorah retreats to space while the human propose that Godzilla and Rodan could still be alive.

- Fuji and Glenn are made ambassadors to Planet X. END

Kaiju Notes

- All of the suits for the monsters look pretty much the same as they did for King Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. King Ghidorah's necks may be just a bit shorter, but my memory may be trash. He also appears to be somewhat less golden, the more muted color making him seem perhaps more dangerous but also less SPECTACULAR. Godzilla's eyes are noticeable in this again, after spending some time not being an obvious feature.

- Godzilla is beginning to transition into full "hero" mode. After cross bodying King Ghidorah, knocking him down and making him flee, Godzilla leaps into the air no less than four times doing a victory pose. It's strange, but undeniably entertaining to see the usually lumbering Godzilla doing cheerleader moves.

- The kaiju are much more human in this movie generally. At one point Godzilla, under the control of the Xiliens, even does the "cut throat" gesture when Earth is threatened with total destruction by him and the other two big bois.

- Godzilla does boxing moves in this one! No more Atomic Breath for this guy, he throws some jabs and crosses alongside some fancy foorwork before throwing King Ghidorah off a cliff (alongside himself and Rodan).

Let's start with the bad: I don't enjoy this movie. I find it plodding, a bit strange, and the monster action pretty disappointing. But the strange thing to consider is that there are also some significant highlights: the Xiliens, the inventive plot, the team-up shenanigans. For some odd reason the cohesive movie doesn't come together for me despite enjoying many aspects of the movie itself. It's also nice to compare this to Gamera, the Giant Monster as two films made on a tight budget and indulging their strangest desires. Comparatively, I think Gamera did a better job between the two despite it's obvious disadvantages.

Let's start by talking about the Xiliens: I love these guys. And I do mean guys, as apparently all of the female Xiliens are... clones of each other? It was unclear. But either way, the Xiliens come up with this entirely wild plan to kidnap Godzilla and Rodan so they can turn them against the Earth. But if they had the technology couldn't they simply do this anyway? They could just go grab them, brainwash them, and come back for conquest. But they decide to use subterfuge and deception, I think, because it amuses them. They never seem to have fun or smile as they represent themselves as beings of pure logic, but you look at that plan and tell me what part of it makes any logical sense.

Doubling down here: I think part of this movie is about the value of human emotions over pure logic. While arguing about the Xiliens attempting to take over Earth, one of the lady Xiliens has fallen in love with Glenn and expresses her desire to be a human like him: "A man is immortal. A material machine can be destroyed." Even the kaiju of this movie, still giant animals and monsters, seem a bit more human-like in contrast to the Xilien villains. It's not a necessarily well-developed theme, but one that I found myself unable to shake.

Related: despite their relative humanity compared to previous appearances, when the kaiju conflict with human forces they seem more brutal than normal, wasting little time and just wrecking havoc. Perhaps this is because they are under control of aliens to destroy rather than the more base instincts that typically drive them. Or perhaps it is destruction that is the base instinct, and thus they are now more effective at it? Either way, all 3 kaiju in this movie are forces of utter destruction in a way that hasn't been seen since Godzilla's first appearance. Even in recycled footage, humans take an absolute beating in this movie compared to almost everything since the 1954 original, as in most of the films the kaiju typically try to ignore humans for the sake of their own objectives. But when that objective becomes "destroy all humans," they are shockingly good at it.

In the end, this movie is a bit of a lesson in the importance of all pieces of a piece of art working together. Despite enjoying the wacky plot and human story (a rarity for me when it comes to kaiju movies), something about this just didn't click for me. If I had to guess it would be the relative lack of agency on the part of the kaiju: almost all of their time in this movie is spent being manipulated or controlled by the humanoid characters rather than being themselves forces of nature that humanoids have to operate around. Even the end of the movie doesn't bother to truly establish whether Rodan and Godzilla even lived, instead spending more time on the human elements and making our two main human characters into ambassadors to a planet that tried to conquer them not 20 minutes ago. While I think the human and monster pieces of a good kaiju movie have to work together, something about letting the monsters be subsumed by the other side of things seems counter to the point of the genre. It could work, I am sure, but I don't personally think it did here. I wish I liked this more, but if you're into wild rides and wacky notions, this might still be the kaiju movie for you!

Next: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep!

Gamera, the Giant Monster

Today we discuss Gamera, the Giant Monster. Sometimes considered the sibling (maybe cousin) series to the Godzilla series, the Gamera series began in 1965 under strained circumstances. Let's start there. This film (and many of the movies in the series) was directed by Noriaki Yuasa only after several other directors at the studio refused to make it. Apparently considered a "wash-out" by his bosses at Daiei, Yuasa took to the movie with a surprising fervor. Despite everyone else passing on it because they felt the genre was beneath them, Yuasa did everything he could to make Gamera, the Giant Monster happen. This man took special effects courses, endured criticism and belittlement from his own staff, made the entire movie on a shoestring budget, and dealt with power outages, outdated equipment, tight scheduling, and faulty props. At one point the studio considered handing the project to someone else to finish but Yuasa refused to let his new baby Gamera go and somehow finished the movie using the crap resources he was given.

To shed some further light on these crap resources: when Daiei decided to make a kaiju movie they initially settled on a film featuring giant rats. Ignoring how fortunate we are to not have to endure a giant rat movie, they built sets and apparently found REAL RATS to be their main actors. But the project was shut down by the health department due to the uncooperative, wild rats being infested with fleas. Yuasa, and Gamera, inherited the scraps left over from the abandoned production of this rat movie. Due to the tiny budget, Yuasa was forced to shoot Gamera, the Giant Monster in black and white. On a certain level it's a testament to Yuasa's inhuman willpower that this movie even exists. So, given all of that, how did the movie turn out?

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- In the Arctic, a ship arrives (to trade with the locals? unsure). An unmarked nuclear armed plane is also there, and it is attacked by another. It goes down, setting off a nuclear weapon.

- From the ice emerges Gamera, a Giant Turtle Monster from Atlantis!

- A man sees a UFO in the sky, a spinning disc which approaches him before shooting off in another direction. Reports of UFOs spread around Japan. This seems irrelevant, but we'll be back.

- After destroying the home of a turtle loving child named Toshio, Gamera saves him from falling to his death. Does that make them even?

- The military tries to take Gamera down with electricity and bombs before realizing he literally eats fire and is growing stronger from both efforts.

- They do succeed in using a special weapon to freeze Gamera, flipping him onto his back so he will be helpless (as all turtles are, apparently) and starve to death. 

- Gamera's ultimate technique is revealed: he has rockets in his legs. He pulls inside his shell and takes flight, spinning through the air like a UFO (see above).

- Raiding anywhere where fossil fuel or nuclear energy can be found and eating it, Gamera becomes a menace and so the government decides to utilize the "Z Plan."

- After an absolutely wild series of coincidences including a typhoon and a volcanic eruption, Gamera is lured onto a space ship and shot to Mars.

- Yes, I am serious.

Kaiju Notes

- Gamera has lovely tusks. It's probably his strongest design point, for me at least. I think the tusks are entirely rad. Combined with his eyes which appear to reflect light and you have the makings of a creature which could easily range between adorable or horrifying, depending on the message you try to send.

- On the other hand something about a turtle, giant or otherwise, is inherently non-threatening. Lil dude doesn't even have the thick shell one might associate with some turtles, going with the sleeker and spinier version which doesn't exactly make him look like a powerhouse even if it's the more "aggressive" choice.

- Instead of the made up weapons of his cousin Godzilla (Atomic Breath), Gamera simply breathes fire. It may not sound as cool, but it's a much easier effect to make and the fire actually looks pretty good. Likely because they just made a mini flamethrower and threw it in a puppet. But hey, the shit works.

- Gamera spends much more of his time on four legs, which does make him seem a bit more bestial than the creatures that clearly inspired him. It's a strong choice as far as differentiating factors go.

- The leg rockets. It is impossible to put into words how brilliant and yet idiotic this is. It is primo "kaiju flick" nonsense that doesn't even look particularly bad. I hate it and love it at the same time. Dude doesn't even flip over on screen! He flies away while still upside down!

- We don't talk about roars enough in this section. Mostly because many of them are pretty bad. Gamera's is definitely in the top level of roars we've seen thus far. Inspired by Godzilla, for sure, but unique enough that it's got some character of its own. I give it a 7/10.

Let's talk about the child, Toshio. He is relevant to the story because he thinks his pet turtle, Chibi, has turned into Gamera. He also believes that Gamera isn't evil or angry, just lonely. This is likely related to him being forced to release his pet turtle into the wild right before Gamera appears, destroys his home, and saves his life. Toshio is wrong, of course, as Gamera very explicitly tears down buildings with people in them and it doesn't look like he's trying to shake hands or hug when he lights them on fire using his breath. Like Godzilla in the original film, Gamera directly uses his main weapon to murder people. A scientist does suggest that Gamera is so destructive because he's seeking food, but I'm not sure that explains it. Bears don't destroy shit that's not related to finding food, even if they will absolutely wreck your life if you try to stop them. They don't tear down all the trees near your campsite, chase you down specifically, murder you half a mile up the road before turning back to go get the jerky you forgot to lock up. Worse still, being remarkably naive, Toshio insists that he will come visit Gamera on Mars at the end of the movie. First off, Gamera will starve to death on Mars and secondly he would eat you in a second. Basically: kids are the worst. He doesn't really cause any harm in particular but watching him think he's friends with a kaiju that has murdered hundreds of people is just wild.

Time to discuss the Z Plan. Unfortunately, nothing can be said because this movie does not explain at all. Who developed the Z Plan? Why? How? What was its purpose, in this world which apparently has not experienced kaiju problems before? Was the Z Plan intended to send people to Mars? Why? If so, why was the ship so large that it could fit Gamera's huge ass? Of all the various solutions to kaiju that we have seen so far, the Z Plan is easily the wildest. Both Godzilla and Gamera have been immobilized/felled by extreme cold, but the Zilla-verse humans have never thought to simply launch him into space. Probably because they don't just have a random giant rocket sitting around, but it's been 10+ years so maybe they should!

Ultimately Gamera, the Giant Monster lacks a lot of the weight of the first Godzilla movie, mimicking it in plot and premise but missing the mark in metaphor. A giant monster rampages through Japan and murders people, but Gamera is not a metaphor for nuclear destruction or anything else but simply a pissed off turtle (who took it easy on one child). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, not every movie has to have a hefty message, but it does reflect on the general hollowness of Gamera, the Giant Monster's conception. It's intended to capitalize on a movement in Japanese cinema, not to speak to any particular sentiment. That said, the movie itself is a lot of fun. When Gamera takes flight for the first time on screen it's perhaps the most fun I've had with a single scene since the beginning of this project, just so absurd that I almost jumped for joy. When the Z Plan is revealed to be a giant rocket to Mars I nearly cried laughing. Gamera himself is a strange combination of cute and creepy, as many turtles are, so the design is there. When it comes to raw buckwild fun, Gamera, the Giant Monster is honestly one of the top tier films in the history of kaiju flicks (so far).

Also, yes, Gamera is probably a tortoise rather than a turtle. Shut up.

Next: Invasion of Astro-Monster!