MONSTER MONDAYS #9: WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS and EBIRAH, HORROR OF THE DEEP
I’m watching every Godzilla and Godzilla-adjacent film, from the original to 2004’s Final Wars. This week, we meet two fucking Frankensteins and yes it’s Tuesday again again
The War of the Gargantuas
1966 - directed by Ishirō Honda
The War of the Gargantuas is a loose sequel to Frankenstein vs Baragon. There was once a Frankenstein, though now he looks more like a Bigfoot than a Neanderthal, and he was cared for by scientists, but not the same scientists.
But they maintained two of the most important factors from Frankenstein vs Baragon: one scene with a giant octopus, and eating people.
There are two Frankensteins this time around, as the movie's "Frankenstein expert" eventually learns. At first, we only see one, the ratty, soggy, green-furred Gaira. We meet him during a dark and stormy night at sea, where a lonely ship is assailed first by the wandering tentacle of an octopus, this time a grand one with glowing red eyes and not a real octopus. But then the octopus is distracted by needing to fight a FRANKENSTEIN. Fortunately, Frankenstein beats the octopus. Unfortunately, he picks up the boat and kills all but one of its crew.
Gargantuas is a film very much concerned with its monsters more than its people (hell, during the climax one says "there's nothing we can do but sit and wait it out!" and then the humans do nothing the rest of the film), and that's wise. This film has some of the best kaiju fights yet - and hell, what more do you need from a film about warring Frankenstein brothers?
How about a musical interlude? It may not shill for Tivoli Gardens like Reptilicus, but "the words get stuck in my throat" sings a singer before she's picked up and nearly eaten by Green Frankenstein.
Okay, let's discuss that element. One key difference between the kaiju movie and the American monster movie is that in the monster movie, our monsters tend to be smaller, but also they tend to be more explicitly carnivorous. In kaiju movies, the monsters often seem to not even notice the humans, with most of the destruction and death being incidental to their existence as giant monsters. They're not seeking humans out.
Green Frankenstein is. He is seeking out people to eat. We see him eat people and spit out their clothes. The conflict between him and Brown Frankenstein (Sanda), the original he's cloned from, is over him eating people. When Sanda finds out, he beats his clone-brother with a tree.
Oh, right: Brown Frankenstein rushes in to save Green Frankenstein when the crazy energy weapons they use on the monster actually work. Sanda is as gentle as the original Frankenstein, saving people instead of helping them. But then this sets up a final conflict in the streets of Tokyo...
The War of the Gargantuas moves quickly from setpiece to setpiece, and wisely foregrounds its (darker than normal thematically, but still goofy by dint of being furry Frankensteins) monsters. It's apparently Guillermo del Toro's favorite kaiju movie, a huge influence on Pacific Rim, and the movie that made Brad Pitt want to be an actor (???).
His heart yearns to play Green Frankenstein
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
1966 - directed by Jun Fukuda
Ebirah is the first film in this series directed by someone other than Honda since Raids Again; there's also someone new in charge of visual effects, Sadamasa Arikawa, albeit unofficially. Honda's contract with Toho was not renewed, but he would return to direct future films on a film-by-film basis; Arikawa would take over officially from the next film due to Eiji Tsuburaya's unfortunately declining health.
Fukuda does give the film a different vibe: with more comedy up front (complete with wacky comedy music), some more flash, and more of a preference for monster close-ups. But what is an Ebirah?
Ryota (Toru Watanabe) is looking for his brother Yuta, who went missing at sea. No one wants to give him a boat, so he considers joining a...24/7 dance-off? At last, from Toho: They Shoot Baragons, Don't They? He can't join, but two contestants help him board a random yacht whose seeming owner tells them at shotgun-point they can stay the night. Unfortunately, in the morning, they're at sea. Oh, and the guy who owns the boat is actually a thief who stole it.
Then a giant lobster claw appears in the rain and fog! Ah! It destroys their yacht, but they survive.
Ebirah is a giant lobster monster haunting Devil Island, an island that is itself being haunted by our human villains (yes, no alien invasion this time), the terrorist group Red Bamboo. They're using the island to make heavy water for atomic weapons; and they've enslaved the people of Infant Island to create a yellow fluid that their boats spray to keep Ebirah at bay. But when one of the slaves tries to escape, if they're not shot, Ebirah kills them when they get out to sea.
At this point, Godzilla has faced escalating threats in every film. This film takes a step back. Ebirah is just a giant lobster. He doesn't have any special powers, he's just a big lobster whose appearance is heralded by surf rock. Godzilla defeats him without much trouble both times; even tearing off Ebirah's claw and taunting him with it.
Godzilla, too, just wants to sleep. He's asleep in a cave the first two acts, until our heroes awaken him with lightning. Later, he stares down an escaped Infant Islander...and then just sits down. And tries to go to sleep. Looks out over the ridge like one of those bears contemplating beauty.
But a giant condor won't let him.
So Godzilla sets the condor on fire and watches it careen into the sea, before trying to get some rest again.
Only for planes to start shooting him. Can't a giant lizard get some shut-eye around here?
Unfortunately, though the tropical setting could be fun (this is basically a Godzilla beach episode!) much of the middle is running around in caves and bases. But it comes alive when Godzilla does. Because since nothing really poses a threat to Godzilla this time around, we just get to revel in Godzilla effortlessly trampling all over Red Bamboo and Ebirah.
We don't even see Ebirah die! He just leaves!
Mothra and Godzilla clash, but, ultimately, you can tell this is in the hero!Godzilla era, because after the protagonists escape, they yell to Godzilla to run off the island too before it blows up. And he does get the "jumps off before it blows" shot. "It shows us that we must never use the atomic bomb again," one of the escapees says; "thanks for the lecture, professor!" comes the sarcastic reply.
Next Week: King Kong escapes, but Godzilla can't escape fatherhood.
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