OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/9 - 10/10)

Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 4
Total Movies Watched: 13
Total First Time Views: 2
Amount raised: $64.35

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity:

MO MONEY FOR PIGS, sponsored by April Atwood

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

10/9

10.
Gamera: Super Monster (1980) d. Yuasa, Noriaki Japan (2nd viewing) 92 min

The heroic flying flamethrower on the half-shell is subjected to an ignominious resurrection with this cash-grab revival, one in which 95% of the monster action comes courtesy of footage swiped from the previous seven features.  

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

11.
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) d. Kaneko, Shuseke (Japan) (2nd viewing) 95 min

After Toho wrapped its Heisei series of Godzilla films (1984-1994), Daiei Studios roared back with an impressive reboot of their successful kaiju that left jaws aplenty on the floor. After picking them up, the masses collectively murmured, “That was a Gamera film? But, it was actually, um, good.” It’s clear that Kaneko & Co. had picked up a few tips from their elders, elevating production values across the board, as well as introducing a recurring character along the lines of Godzilla’s Miki Saegusa, in this case Asagi Kusanagi (as played by Ayako Fujitani) who reveals an unexplained psychic connection to everyone's favorite fire-spewing chelonian as he battles a new and improved strain of Gyaos.




10/10

12.
Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion (1996) d. Kaneko, Shuseke (Japan) (2nd viewing) 99 min

Nasty little crab little creatures (as well as a jumbo-sized one for the requisite final rumble) are our twenty-ton tusked tortoise's foes. Even darker and more technologically impressive than the first, with an eyebrow-raising deus ex machina conclusion that will either have popcorn flying at the screen or double-fisted salutes to the heavens. Didn’t care for it the first time; the second, it just felt right.

13.
Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999) d. Kaneko, Shuseke (Japan) (2nd viewing) 108 min

This somewhat belated third chapter intertwines the events and characters of the preceding two films (consistency in a monster series??? What will they think of next?) to introduce a young lady grieving the accidental death of her parents when Gamera toppled into their house during his struggle against Gyaos in 1995. This issue of collateral damage is given great weight, both in the aforementioned storyline as well as Kaneko’s explicit death toll as we see the human victims blown about in the wake of the giant monsters given much greater weight. A fine conclusion to a worthy second chapter, effectively throwing the gauntlet back at Toho (as if the Touchstone 1998 Godzilla wasn’t cause enough) to launch their Millennium series of features.