In the mid 60’s Toho produced two films, loosely connected, that took the Kaiju world by storm and changed the course of world cinema.
Or not.
In all fairness, the two films “Frankenstein VS Baragon” 1965 (Japanese title)\”Frankenstein Conquers the World” (US title) and “War of the Gargantuas” 1966 probably made little to no impact on the Kaiju universe. They were just another two entries in Toho’s seemingly endless parade of giant monsters attacking Japan, the world, and each other. After the amazing success of the thoughtful and politically charged “Godzilla” 1954, Toho immediately began producing more thoughtful and politically charged films.
Or not.
What they actually did was to change the format from a giant politically charged monster to a rotating parade of politically neutral giant monsters attacking the world and each other. This was essentially professional wrestling on a grand scale. Thus Kaiju was born and we are all the better for it.
These two films represent the few times western actors were actually part of the original production rather than being inserted with newly shot western sequences.
“Frankenstein VS Baragon” 1965 has your standard plot: Nazi’s appropriate the undying heart of Frankenstein (somehow the monster Dr. Frankenstein created is also named Frankenstein) from Dr. Frankenstein, give it to the a Japanese scientist who happens to live in Hiroshima, moments before the US drops the atomic bomb, destroying the lab, but not Frankenstein’s heart which (for some reason) takes 20 years to grow into a wild boy who likes to eat dogs and is captured by a team of scientists studying the long term effects of a nuclear explosion. The boy grows into a giant and as they’ve learned that the boy is almost certainly the result of Frankenstein’s heart exposed to nuclear energy, they study him as one does. He escapes and immediately rushes to the mountain forests. Baragon, the Kaiju that looks like a reptilian puppy with a glowing horn is attacking as stealthily as a 50 foot monster can so that everyone blames Frankenstein. The two giant monsters eventually meet and fight, Frankenstein winning the battle before falling into a live volcano.
This is a fun Kaiju romp, as silly as its characters are earnest. The effects are no better or worse than the other Kaifu films of the time.
“The War of the Gargantuas” 1966 is a direct sequel (sort of) to “Frankenstein VS Baragon” 1965. It was originally to be titled “Frankenstein’s Monsters: Sanda vs. Gaira”. In the original Japanese version the two creatures that grew from pieces left over when the Kaiju Frankenstein (the monster not the doctor, try to keep up) are referred to as Frankensteins. The US cut differs in many ways, including the replacement of all mentions of “Frankenstein” with “Gargantua”. Makes perfect sense to me.
In this film the brown Frankenstein\Gargantua is called Sanda and is the nicest Kaiju one could ever meet. But he’s getting a bad rap as something that looks a lot like Sanda (except it’s green) is doing the usual Kaiju destructive dance with one important difference: this green Frankenstein love to snack on people. In one sequence we see it grab someone, eat them, and spit out the unsavory clothing. This is strong stuff in a film pointed directly at a juvenile audience. Eventually Sanda meets his brother Gaira and is completely successful at teaching it to be a happy and productive vegetarian Frankenstein\Gargantua.
Or not
Sanda does try to redeem evil Gaira but Gaira’s having none of it as humans are just so tasty. They fight and both die.
I love these movies. I still remember seeing trailers for both films on TV and seeing the movies on TV. They are super Kaiju fun.
Not sure what’s next.
See you then.
