Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)

Movie Info

I love my human children!

Tom (Christopher Murphy) and Akio (Nobuhiro Kajima) see a UFO land near their home and are accidentally spirited away by it when they activate it.  Followed by Gamera, the boys find themselves on an alien planet Terra where women Barbella and Florbella (Hiroko Kai and Reiko Kasahara) live menaced by Space Gyaos.  Their weapon is a knife-headed monster named Guiron which can kill the Gyaos.  While Tom and Akio find Barbella and Florbella welcoming, they soon learn that they have evil plans of their own…and only Gamera can save them!  Meanwhile back on Earth, Akio’s sister Tomoko (Miyuki Akiyama) tries to alert the adults to the danger that Tom and Akio are in, but who will believe the stories of a young girl and UFOs?

Directed by Noriaki Yuasa, Gamera vs. Guiron (ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン or Gamera tai Daiakujū Giron aka Gamera vs. Giant Evil Beast Guiron) is a Japanese kaiju movie.  Following Gamera vs. Viras in 1968, it is the fifth entry in the Gamera series.  It was originally released in the United States as Attack of the Monsters.  The movie was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 in its original run (MST3K #1-08) at KTMA and re-riffed in season 4 (MST3K #4-12).

After a long day, I like to come home to a nice thick slice of Space Gyaos

While I knew of Gamera, it felt like Gamera largely didn’t air much in the US when I was growing up.  I actually learned to know Gamera better through the MST3K broadcasts than the original, unedited (or even US edited) movies.  Going back to watch the Gamera films, they have a lot of similarities to the Toho Godzilla movies, but are even more kid based.

This movie has the children off on an adventure in outer space with Gamera tagging along.  The movie (like most Gamera films) is rather short, but even with a short runtime, the movie feels kind of long.  The plot is unnecessarily complex with radio waves coming to Earth, a counter-Earth on the opposite side of the sun, a dying race of cannibals, and a sharp-nosed kaiju that chops up other kaiju.  It is expanded even more with the younger sister trying to convince adults on Earth about the danger facing them…leading the story moral to be that adults should trust kids more often.

Gamera movies seem to largely involve kids yelling “Gamera” over and over again.  This is true of this film as well with Nobuhiro Kajima, Christopher Murphy, and Miyuki Akiyama calling for Gamera over and over again.  I like Hiroko Kai and Reiko Kasahara as the over-the-top cannibal aliens.  On Earth, Kon Ômura kind of plays a comical bridge between the children and adults, and Yûko Hamada and Edith Hanson play the worst moms.

Dang. They got the drop on us

The movie is what you’d expect from a Gamera movie and it is a step down from even the designs of something like a Godzilla movie.  Despite this, I like the knife kaiju Guiron and particularly like when he chops up the Space Gyaos (which was probably used again for recycling).

Gamera vs. Guiron is good escapism.  It isn’t a good movie, but I don’t necessarily watch kaiju movies for their gripping plots or even realistic action sequences.  Monster movies like Gamera and Godzilla get a bit of a pass because they are good childhood memories and literally feel like they are “just for fun”.  Gamera vs. Guiron was followed by Gamera vs. Jiger in 1970.

Preceded By:

Gamera vs. Viras (1968)

Followed By:

Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)