King Kong Escapes

So much of the enjoyment of these kaiju films of the 60s is wrapped in how the third act plays out. If it's generic monster smashy stuff, it can work decently. If it's interesting in a new way, it can help to every so slightly elevate what came before. If it's merely in line with…

Come Marry Me

This is such a weird little film in the middle of science fiction and monster mashes from Ishiro Honda, and it really just seems to have come together because Toho wanted to use Honda's bankable name on the project. It seems like a cheap little romance, something they could throw together pretty quickly, film on…

War of the Gargantuas

A direct sequel (with some small retconning) of Frankenstein vs. Baragon, War of the Gargantuas is mostly a generic Honda kaiju (or kaijin?) movie. There's still the thin characters, the insistence on categorization as a major plot thread, and then Eiji Tsuburaya's great special effects work. There's an extra wrinkle in the final act that…

Invasion of Astro-Monster

Huzzah! A Godzilla movie I actually like! Sure, it's still not great cinema, but it doesn't try to be. Invasion of Astro-Monster still only carries the modest ambition to entertain, but the writing is finally the kind of well-assembled series of events where character arcs and motives have bearings on the plot. It's just about…

Frankenstein vs. Baragon

Toho was always searching for the next monster to add to its pantheon, wasn't it? Taking and modifying the particulars of the Creature birthed from Dr. Frankenstein's work and throwing it together with another giant lizard thing, hidden away from the ravages of time and coming up because coincidence drives all of this stuff. Bringing…