Week 20: 'Ebirah, Horror of the Deep' AKA 'Godzilla versus the Sea Monster' [1966]
Is Godzilla in it? Yes.
Sub or Dub? Sub
Sshhh! The Monsters are sleeping...
In a bizarre series of coincidences and unbelievable outcomes (including a three-day dance marathon!), a group of 4 men find themselves washed ashore an island after being attacked by a giant lobster. The island is home to James-Bond-type villains called the Red Bamboo who are manufacturing heavy water for reasons unknown but probably nefarious. They have also enslaved natives from Infant Island to concoct a yellow liquid to keep Ebirah (the afore-mentioned giant lobster) at bay. However, unknown to Red Bamboo, Godzilla has also chosen the same island for his naptime. Can our heroes awaken the snoring behemoth, or will Daiyo (Kumi Mizuno), the beautiful native girl, be able to summon the similarly slumbering Mothra to save the slaves, defeat the bad guys and rescue all?
This was Jun Fukuda's first Godzilla film, and it's... OK. Like 'Dogora', it's as though he didn't really want to make a Godzilla film, but wanted to make a hip 60s action-spy-thriller instead. Yes, there are kaiju here, with more screen time than 'Dogora' allowed, but they almost seem to be afterthoughts. Godzilla is pretty sedentary and barely active. The battles are part comic, with a strange football match occurring between him & Ebirah (1966, as every Brit knows, was a World Cup year).
Mothra returns, as do two new twin fairies, less creepy than their counterparts. There's also a giant condor, who could be some relation to Rodan, or could just be, you know, a giant condor. Either way it doesn't matter, as it's swiftly dealt with, leaving me to wonder why it was there at all. In fact, a lot of this film left me wondering, as the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense, even by Toho standards. And, again, they try to stop Godzilla with electrical cables! Have you people never seen a Godzilla film before? Come on.
Is it entertaining? Yeah, I suppose. Some of the models are excellent, notably Ebirah's attack on the yacht. The acting is fine, no one really coming out on top, and Kumi Mizuno is lovely to look at. The hip 60s vibe added a lot to any fun I obtained from this viewing, but I was hoping for more.