Gamera vs. Monster X

Retromedia's recent double-feature release of Gamera Vs. Monster X (1970) and Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967) is a fun dvd double-bill for fans of vintage monster films. It harkens back to an era in Japan when Toho was making Godzilla films, and Daiei Motion Picture Co. tried to ride on that success by creating their own giant, city-stomping creature in Gamera - a huge turtle that could retract into its shell and then spin about like a flying saucer. Gamera Vs. Monster X was destined to be the sixth title, of eight total, for the giant turtle. A bit earlier, but around the same time, Nikkatsu Studios thought about entering the rubber monster race with Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967), a film that "was originally conceived as a parody, but by the time this feature hit the theaters the genre had become a parody unto itself." (From Japanese Cinema; The Essential Handbook, by Thomas Weisser and Yuko Mihara Weisser - who also note that Nikkatsu Studios "later become known for its unique line of S&M adult films and violent Yakuza pics.") Gamera Vs. Monster X , directed by Noriaki Yuasa (who worked on most of the other Gamera films) and Bret Morrison, puts the future of the 1970's Expo and World's Fair at stake when a stone statue is removed from Wester Island, despite Gamera's fly-by warnings. This stupid human endeavor releases Jiger (aka: Monster X) - a giant Stegosauraus-like creature that can fly and shoot both paralyzing darts and destructive heat-rays. Memorable moments for the film include scenes of scientists studying actual mondo-footage of a swollen elephant trunk being sliced open to reveal writhing and bloated knots of parasites, the use of a mini-sub by children to travel into Gamera's lungs - kind of like Fantastic Voyage (1966) (if said film had been done on the scale of a Gilligan's Island episode rather than a star-vehicle for Raquel Welch.), and a shot of Gamera using telephone poles as earplugs. The pyramid of intelligence is pretty clear and panders to its main demographic; children are much smarter than the hapless adults that unleash the monsters and then do their best to destroy them. Unlike Gamera Vs. Monster X, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet is thankfully bereft the cloyingly repetitive scenes of precocious children yelling out instructions to the giant turtle (telephone pole earplugs or not). In fact, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet , by comparison, is refreshingly more exotic and it even features some briefly inspired dialogue, such as this exchange between two intrepid explorers checking out an underground lake below an active volcano on a remote tropical island: She: "I'm scared! I don't like places like this!" He: "Don't be silly. You're supposed to be a news photographer." She: "But.." He: (interrupts) "Then go back to Tokyo and learn to cook. Marry some little office worker. Have babies. Stay home and wash diapers." She: "Alright, I'm not quitting." Would-be feminists are warned against rushing to include this exchange in future dissertations because, by the end of the film, the woman does decide to quit her job, marry an office worker, and wash diapers - thus upholding the status quo "happy ending" and relinquishing any claim it might have had toward a more radical message. Not that too many people will be looking for a radical message in a 1960's Japanese rubber-monster film that includes a Japanese kid in blackface (as a representative of the tropical island people) or prehistoric bird-lizards that look, occasionally, like giant chickens. Despite (or because of) these things, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet is actually a fun torch-bearer to the King Kong (1933) theme and precludes further ideas seen in the Jurassic Park (1993) series. The Retromedia Entertainment, Inc. dvd double-feature of Gamera Vs. Monster X plus Monster from a Prehistoric Planet kicks things off with an eye-catching F.B.I. Warning, featuring the usual scrawl ("Federal law provides civil...etc.), but amend things by tossing in a scantily clad island dancer amidst swirling flames and the added text that says "penalties may include death, dismemberment and/or public humiliation. So don't even think about copying this movie!" Both films are featured in dubbed and cropped format, along with a plug for the retromedia website that features a color still of a well-endowed "Miss Kim" in a studded dominatrix outfit that will surely stoke the imaginations of unsupervised children. For more information about Gamera vs. Monster X, visit Image Entertainment. To order Gamera vs. Monster X, go to TCM Shopping. by Pablo Kjolseth