Friday, March 20, 2009

Gamera vs. Guiron (a.k.a., Attack of the Monsters) (1969).

The Scoop:
This fifth film in the original Gamera cycle takes a strange turn (and for a Gamera movie, that's really saying something), becoming a goofy, psychedelic kids movie.

Two children, who seem inordinately preoccupied with high toll of traffic accidents, discover an abandoned spaceship, so they decide to fly it back to its home planet. There, on the far side of the sun, they meet an alien civilization that consists entirely of two brain-eating women in tight costumes who want to conquer the Earth. Gamera comes along and saves the day by fighting Guiron, the alien girls' pet razor-headed monster. An outer space version of Gaos even puts in an appearance to make it a true kaiju monster mash.

The poor quality of the dubbing in these movies reaches new lows here -- especially ridiculous is the halting delivery by the scientist in the opening scene, which even puts William Shatner to shame. But it's all great, colorful fun that, oddly enough, is actually helped by the raging technical incompetence of the American version. Probably the best of the Gamera films.

Best Line:
"They might be much more civilized up there than we are here on Earth, with no wars or traffic accidents."

Side Note:
Tom, the American kid, is played by Christopher Murphy, who grew up to play supporting roles in "Valley Girl" (1983) and "The Abyss" (1989).

Companion Viewing:
"Godzilla vs. Megalon" (1973) and the other Gamera films.

Links:
IMDb.
Shrine of Gamers.
BadMovies.org.
1,000 Misspent Hours.

Take a Look:
Gamera dishes out a giant turtle sized beatdown. (Note the fine form on the high bar, setting a fight choreography trend that was years ahead of Gymkata.):


Sure, Space-Gaos talks a good game, but just look how easily he's taken out by Guiron:

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