OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/6 - 10/8)

Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 3
Total Movies Watched: 9
First Time Views: 2
Amount raised: $43.65

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charities:

GRAMEEN FOUNDATION, sponsored by Alan Ball

AND

THE FRIENDS OF CHILDREN, sponsored by Jeff Cummings

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!

 

10/6

None

10/7

None

10/8

7.
Gamera vs. Guiron (aka Attack of the Monsters) (1969) d. Yuasa, Noriaki (Japan) (3rd viewing) 82 min

More giant turtle and irreverent youth silliness, although I think this may have been the first time I’d seen the uncut Japanese version which features the knife-headed alien nemesis slicing a random “Space Gyaos” in half, then dicing him into pieces. Made my jaw drop, I can tell you that. I do like how sinister this one is, with two sexy space women chatting eagerly about eating kids’ brains after feeding them doctored-up doughnuts and milk. This is also the one where Gamera does his high bar gymnast act and dismount. Loooopy.

8.
Gamera vs. Jiger (aka Gamera vs. Monster X) (1970) d. Yuasa, Noriaki (Japan) (1st viewing) 82 min

I was genuinely surprised to realize that I had never seen this one, and even more surprised at how kind of awesome our hero-on-the-half-shell’s opponent is. Resembling a scaled down triceratops, African guardian Jiger has death rays, telekinesis, dart guns, rocket thrusters… I mean, this guy kicks ass. He even injects Gamera with a needle, implanting one of his own zygotes to combat from within! I mean, come on! Plus, the mythology regarding an ancient African statue, Death Flutes, timely references to Expo ’70 in Osaka, and a kaiju version of Fantastic Voyage are all pretty cool, and the kids aren’t too obnoxious.

9.
Gamera vs. Zigra (1971) d. Yuasa, Noriaki (Japan) (2nd viewing) 88 min

The final installment in the Gamera franchise (before 1980’s hastily assembled stock footage fest, Gamera: Super Monster) is neck and scaly neck with GvViras for the silliest cast and monster, with a single female space alien (funny to watch them go from several to two to one as the budgets dwindled) launching an attack on Earth at the behest of the silver fish/bird creature running the show. The kids (a pudgy-cheeked Caucasian girl paired opposite a Japanese boy) are pretty insufferable and barely anything is done with the Sea World setting. Juvenile to say the least, and that’s pretty much where you need to dial your brain. The brief kaiju fight scenes are fun, as Gamera is super lively in his flappy-armed way.