Saturday, July 1, 2017

X From Japan (not porno)


THE X FROM OUTER SPACE-In Japan, a four person crew: Capt. Sano (Shinya Wazaki), Dr. Shioda (Kensuki Sonoi), Signal officier Miyamoto (Shinichi Yanagawa) and biologist Lisa (Peggy Neal), takeoff for Mars after several other expeditions have disappeared. The ground crew led by Dr. Kato (Eiji Okada) blame UFOs. After the group does encounter a alien craft, the doc falls ill and they have to stop at a moon base where they meet Michiko (Itoko Harada) and Shioda's replacement Dr. Stein (Mike Daneen). They almost crash but return to Earth safely with some spoors that turn into a giant monster (Guilala).The rubbery creature is one of the worst “Kaiju” ever! Sano, Miyamoto, Lisa and Michiko go to the moon in an effort to create a substance that will destroy the out of control, outer space being. This dumb sci-fi space opera , directed and written by Kazui Hihonmatsu, is full of talk, running around and has sugary happy ending.

In his only giant monster movie star Eiji Okada was better known for as the star of Alain Resnais' HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR and Hiroshi Teshigahara's WOMAN IN THE DUNES. He's also in THE UGLY AMERICAN (with Marlon Brando) and the excellent but often overlooked THE FACE OF ANOTHER.

In 2008 a comedy “sequel” THE MONSTER X STRIKES BACK was produced.


Thanks for reading and Happy 4th of July!

No comments: