First, read the spoiler-free BAIT : a weird and wonderful pick from any time in film . Then, come back for the BITE : a breakdown of all the spoiler-y bits you’d want to unpack when exiting a theater. As a horror and sci-fi subgenre, Kaiju was built on the promise of towering monsters threatening to squish entire cities on a whim.
From North Korea’s bonkers “Pulgasari” (1995) to the global phenomenon that is Godzilla and the MonsterVerse , you’d be hard-pressed to find a Kaiju flick that doesn’t classify as midnight in some way. But measured against the vast category and even the rest of Ishirō Honda’s legendary filmography, the writer/director’s “ The War of the Gargantuas ” (1966) is without question a cult classic. Also known as “Frankenstein’s Monsters: Sanda vs.
Gaira” — more on that later! — this very loose sequel pits two hulking and hairy humanoids against each other in a brutish battle for the safety of Tokyo. “West Side Story” star Russ Tamblyn is here (replacing Tab Hunter during pre-production) playing scientist Dr. Paul Stewart.
He’s flanked by the dreamy Kaiju regular Kimi Mizuno as Dr. Akemi Togawa — who played a different but similar character in the movie this one in technically following up. Paul and Akemi are joined by the dry-as-sawdust Kenji Sahara as Dr.
Yuzo Majida at their lab. A heavy military presence is desperate for the trio’s help after a strange evil arrives on the island’s shores. When a massive killer.
