Today was the day of the Toho Kaiju movie marathon. Charles and Felicity came by to watch The Mysterians (1957), Varan the Unbelievable (1958), and Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People) (1963).

These are nowhere near the best that Toho had to offer but we thought we'd watch 'em anyway. Mysterians featured color-coded aliens that weren't really all that mysterious and were defeated by a device called a "Markalite Farp," whatever the heck that means. There was also a giant robot monster that didn't do much except fall off bridges and get crushed by a falling farp.

Varan, I really hate to say it, wasn't all that terribly unbelievable. Mostly he just seemed tired, agitated that a bunch of butterfly-loving scientists and a kid with a dog wouldn't let him nap in peace. The military intervenes when Varan is continuously driven towards Tokyo and is eventually defeated by the Toho scientist/reporter/recluse trio. Works every time. Still, too bad for sleepy ole Varan.

Matango was the best of the lot but even then took forever to get to the mushroom people. The whole thing strikes me as a Reefer Madness-type film for the sixties youth culture. It's all about people who eat mushrooms, get buzzy, and turn into walking mushroom creatures. Although the movie doesn't come out and act as a warning, there seems to be the idea that mushrooms, though a relief for stress and starvation, will ultimately turn you into something terrible and nobody can ever love you. Or maybe I'm just viewing it with sterner eyes than the producers intended for this light-hearted horror flick.

Still, it was a lot of fun and I'd like to have a Toho Kaiju Day Redux, this time watching movies that we actually know are good. Today's three films were sort of scraping the barrel but plenty of decent movies came from Toho during this period. It's just a matter of sitting down to watch 'em.

Sorry this is kind of short notice. The plans didn't get finalized until this morning.

Toho Kaiju Movie Day : Saturday, July 19 at 4:00 PM

Life’s too short to take it too seriously. That’s why we have Japan to thank for their abundant supply of campy and ridiculous monster flicks. For this marathon we plan to watch three of Toho’s sillier releases while basking in the free-for-all attitude of summer. This isn't a marathon for thinking too hard and taking seriously. This is a marathon for kicking back and realizing that the world doesn't have to be so stressful.

Like the majority of Toho’s Kaiju films of this era, all three of these are directed by Ishiro Honda, are produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, and feature special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, all of Godzilla fame. As a bonus, the late Akihiko Hirata (Gojira's Dr. Serizawa) is in two of the movies!

The lineup:
The Mysterians. 1957. 88 minutes.
Varan the Unbelievable. 1958. 87 minutes.
Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People). 1963. 89 minutes.

Total running time: 264 minutes / 4.4 hours
All movies are in Japanese with English subtitles

As always, anyone who wants to join us is totally invited to stop by.

We'll watch The Mysterians (1957), Varan the Unbelievable (1958), and Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People) (1963) for sure. Maybe some of the Godzilla series. Corny, campy, Japanese cinema.