Classic Monsters

Classic Monsters

This collection is mostly Toho Studio's non-Godzilla monster movies. You will NOT find, for example, "Mothra vs Godzilla" here: for that, see my other collection, "Godzilla Complete Boxset". To keep an international flavor, this also includes a number of American, British, and other origin films. Many of these include both dub and sub version.

This does NOT include the "Rebirth of Mothra" movies from the '90s, which will be seeded (eventually) as its own collection.

A synopsis of each included movie follows.

Rodan: A giant pteranodon-like creature appears in the skies over Japan, creating havoc, but incidentally stopping another giant dragonfly-like monster. Then another one appears! Dub and sub.

20 Million Miles To Earth: American spaceship crashes off the coast of Italy, unwittingly releasing an alien life form on the countryside. Featuring the special effects work of Ray Harryhausen

Kronos: A flying saucer releases a giant robotic machine to scavenge all of Earth's power and return it to its dying home world.

The Giant Behemoth: A radioactive plesiosaur invades England, killing fish and coming ashore to wreak havoc.

Varan the Unbelievable: Desalination experiments awake a prehistoric monster from an ancient salt lake. Includes both subbed original and American version, which includes much cut-in footage and omits much of the original, to the point it is nearly a different movie entirely.

Gorgo: A 65 ft tall marine monster is brought ashore and installed in a circus in London's Battersea Park. Scientists determine that despite its size, it is still a juvenile. Sure enough, Mama comes ashore looking for her baby.

Reptilicus: A Danish entry in the marine monster genre. Scientists experiment on a bit of mysterious tissue, regenerating the complete creature. This was filmed in both Danish and English, so although this is in English, it is not a dub. The English version reportedly diverges significantly from the Danish.

Frankenstein* Conquers The World: At the end of WW2, Japan has taken from Germany custody of the still-living heart of the Frankenstein monster. This grisly artifact is lost, but after the war, the streets of Hiroshima carry a legend of a strange, wild, European-looking boy who lives on his own. He grows up . . . and up . . . and UP . . . just in time to defeat kaiju Barugon. Dub and sub.

War of the Gargantuas: The original Japanese version makes clear that this is actually a sequel to the previously listed movie. The Japanese title refers to "Frankenstein's Monsters"; they are spawned from the Frankenstein cells left behind by the title character of said previous movie. (This somewhat prefigures the premise of "Godzilla vs Biolante", where Godzilla cells mingle with a plant to create a monstrous flower.) The American/English language release re-christened these monsters as Gargantuas (from Rabelais' bawdy novel, "Gargantua and Pantagruel"). One is friendly and gentle, the other is much more a monster. Yes, a showdown is inevitable. Dub and sub.

Gappa, The Triphibian Monster aka Monster from a Prehistoric Planet: A baby monster is hatched on a tropical island and brought back to Japan. Naturally, its parents come searching for him. This was evidently intended as a light spoof of the kaiju genre, a detail which was overlooked by the translators and producers of the English version. Both are included here.

King Kong Escapes: A co-production of Toho and Rankin-Bass (best known for their stop-motion Christmas specials of the 60s and 70s), this is a film version of Rankin-Bass' Saturday morning cartoon series "The King Kong Show". Kong himself is pitted against a giant robot King Kong, and rather than the Empire State Buildng, they duke it out on --yes, you guessed it-- poor old Tokyo Tower. Caution: do not confuse this film's villainous "Dr. Who" with that other one from England.

The X From Outer Space: An Earth spaceship investigating reports of flying saucers near Mars is attacked by one and contaminated with spores. Upon return to Earth, a spore grows into a giant monster quite distinct from its counterparts from the other movie studios.

Yongary: South Korea's answer to Godzilla! Strangely enough, the original Korean release has almost disappeared, leaving only the international/American English-dubbed version intact. For the curious, a 48-minute fragment of the original survives, and is included here.

Equinox: Arguably a horror movie more than a monster movie, this American offering tells the tale of four teenagers who discover an ancient spell book. The demon Asmodeus unleashes supernatural terror, including monsters, on them to retrieve the book. A low-budget tour-de-force which was noted for its superior special effects.

Space Amoeba aka Yog, Monster From Space: Amoeba-like aliens highjack an Earth space probe and, after crash landing on a small South pacific atoll, create gigantic monsters from native marine life, with plans of conquering the Earth. Sorry, only the American release here.

King Kong: Produced by the legendary Dino de Laurentis, an American remake of the 1933 classic. A now-poignant note, instead of the Empire State Building, Kong takes to the Twin Towers.

Mighty Peking Man: A Hong Kong made knock-off of King Kong (Hong Kong King Kong!), featuring a wild jungle girl as Mighty Peking Man's romantic interest.

Pulgasari: Greatest kaiju film ever, from greatest studio in greatest country in world, most excellent People's Republic of North Korea!!!! Personally written, filmed, directed, and special effected by Glorious Dear Late Lamented Leader Kim! Seriously, this is considered quite a good movie, despite being made as a propaganda piece by the Norks. Kim Jong Il had South Korean director Shin Sang-ok kidnapped to make this! His wife too, actress Choi Eun-hee. Loosley based on Korean folklore, a fearsome monster, Pulgasari, is the ally of poor, oppressed peasants who revolt to overthrow a cruel king.

Princess From The Moon: Another from Toho, this is a modernized, science fictionalized version of the beloved Japanese folk tale "The Princess From the Moon", or "The Bamboo Princess." In this, the inhabitants of the Moon are actual alien creatures, rather than magical.**

Sakuya, Slayer of Demons: The Vortex Blade is a mighty weapon which exacts the price of draining its wielders life-force. Sakuya, daughter of the samurai who last wielded the Vortex Blade, now inherits his mission of stopping the tide of monsters spewing from Fujiyama. Set in Tokugawa-era Japan, this is an epic which pulls in dozens of legendary Japanese monsters.

Reptilian: aka Yonggary: Reptilian is the American-release name of this remake of the 1967 Korean kaiju movie. For some reason, the transliteration of the original's name and this tend to differ slightly, this one showing 2 "g"s, the original only 1.

Garuda: From Thailand. Thailand's first kaiju! Geologists accidentally exhume an ancient monster of Thai folklore, the garuda, which goes on a rampage after being buried for centuries.

Negadon the Monster From Mars: This is quite a departure from the rest of the offerings here. Less than half an hour long, this is a CGI film which can be considered an anime, but one which intends (and rather succeeds) at recreating the look and feel of classic kaiju fare. Set in 2025, an overpopulated Earth is terraforming Mars for colonization. An odd rock formation is transported back to Earth for study, where it hatches into Negadon. Robotics genius Ryûichi Narasaki must reactivate his masterpiece, "Miroku" to battle Negadon: Miroku, which once cost him an eye . . . and a daughter.

Big Man Japan: A spoof of the genre, done in "mockumentary" style. Masaru Daisato bears the hereditary ability to grow to 30 meters in height, and with that, the hereditary job of Japan's chief monster fighter. However, his bizarre gift is also a curse, as he grows estranged from family, friends, and society.

The Monster X Strikes Back - Attack of the G8 Summit: Another spoof, this re-uses footage from the original Monster X movie to bring the creature into the modern day. Leaders of the G-8 nations resolve to personally take on Monster X, but their motives are wide-ranging and largely selfish.