▶ watchcultGoke, Body Snatcher from Hell
1968 · Japan · 84m
Bleeding skies, a forehead-splitting alien, and an ending with no comfort in it whatsoever.
Kaiju & tokusatsu
1954–1980 · 11 films catalogued
Japanese monster and effects cinema. Suits, miniatures, and a postwar wound underneath.
Kaiju means strange beast. Tokusatsu means special filming. Together they cover Japanese monster films and the practical effects tradition that produced them.
Where it starts
Godzilla (1954) does not belong on this site's usual shelf. It is a sober film about nuclear annihilation, released nine years after Hiroshima and eight months after American testing at Bikini irradiated the crew of the Lucky Dragon 5. Ishirō Honda meant every frame of it.
What followed
Sequels aimed at children, Toho's expanding monster roster, Daiei's cut-price Gamera films, and the hero shows that turned tokusatsu into a television industry.
Eiji Tsuburaya's suit-and-miniature work is the through line. It looks handmade now, which is much more appealing than the CGI that replaced it.
Where to start
Godzilla (1954), in Japanese, not the recut American version with Raymond Burr. Then Matango for how dark Honda could go.
Where to start
All 11 →▶ watchcult
▶ watchcultMatango
1963 · Japan · 89m
Honda's mushroom-people film. Far bleaker than anything else Toho made.
▶ watchknownGamera, the Giant Monster
1965 · Japan · 79m
Daiei's cut-price answer to Godzilla. A flying turtle. Children loved it.
▶ watchknownWar of the Gargantuas
1966 · Japan · 88m
Two giant humanoid brothers, one good, one savage, tear up Japan. Weirdly beloved, and Brad Pitt's favourite.
▶ watchknownRodan
1956 · Japan · 72m
Toho's first colour kaiju. A supersonic pterosaur levels a city with its wingblasts.
▶ watchknownMothra
1961 · Japan · 101m
The most charming of Toho's roster, and openly anti-colonial about it.
▶ watchknownDestroy All Monsters
1968 · Japan · 89m
Eleven monsters, no restraint. Honda cashing every chip at once.
▶ watchknownGodzilla vs. Hedorah
1971 · Japan · 85m
The psychedelic pollution one. Godzilla fights a smog monster, and the film goes completely strange.
▶ watchknownGhidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
1964 · Japan · 92m
The film where Godzilla becomes a hero. Three of Toho's monsters team up against a golden space dragon.
▶ watchcanonKing Kong vs. Godzilla
1962 · Japan/USA · 97m
The most-watched Godzilla film in Japan, and essentially an ad-industry farce with two giant monsters.
▶ watchcanonGodzilla
1954 · Japan · 96m
Not a monster romp. A sober film about nuclear annihilation, made nine years after.