Godzilla Week Movie 3 – Godzilla Vs. Hedorah (1971) – Godzilla Takes Out The Trash!!!
Most people in North America would know this movie as Godzilla Versus the Smog Monster, though it’s original release title is Godzilla Versus Hedorah. That said, they are both the same movie.
In 1971’s Godzilla Vs. Hedorah , Japan has a new enemy: a new creature that has evolved to live on the pollutants of our modern society. Not only that, but it is producing deadly pollution itself, incapacitating and humans that may get close. This is a disaster!!! Oh, and guess what? Godzilla doesn’t like to see other monsters on it’s own turf. Yeah, Godzilla and Hedorah are heading for a showdown. I pity the Japanese that get caught in the middle!
So, this is a time when the Godzilla character was transitioning from a bad guy who seemed to get kicks from beating the crap out of Tokyo and other Japanese cities, to a protector of the Japanese people. That doesn’t mean that you won’t be injured or killed if you get too close: Godzilla is a Big Picture kind of monster, and may stomp the occasional person or building on the sidelines. Heck – you might even get drowned in a big piece of polluted monster if you are not careful – should have stayed away from Godzilla, idiot…
Godzilla Vs Hedorah is actually one of my favourite Godzilla movies, and I really like the three stage design of the Hedorah – pretty cool, and add a neat, cheezy transition effect between the stages and you’ve got gold. Add to that the hippiness of the movie – lots of trippy music and psychedelic gels, and some trippy animated series really reminds you of when this movie was made – and that in my opinion is a very good and neat thing. Without a doubt, I would say that this is the most unique Godzilla movie that I have watched (so far, at least). Should you watch it? You should watch ALL Godzilla movies (with the exception of the Mathew Broderick version), but you should especially watch this Godzilla movie.
Check out the trailer below:
The Bay (2012) – What’s the Matter, Parasite Got Your Tongue?
2012’s The Bay is an environmental horror film with one message: stop polluting the water.
Chesapeake Bay, New England has a water pollution problem that the mayor is ignoring. The town’s chicken processing plant is dumping raw sewage into the bay and that is directly affecting the ecosystem of the bay0 Huge die offs of fish is the first sign that something’s wrong. A team of two divers working for environmental agencies are documenting what they find in the bay. On land, a college reporter, in town to document t he town’s summer festivities gets caught up in the story being one of the only news reporters in town when it gets quarantined.
This town is falling apart fast – It’s eventually determined that what is affecting everyone and everything is a parasite that is growing at an alarmingly fast rate due to the waste that’s been dumped into the bay. People are dying horrible deaths, eaten from the inside out.
Shot as a documentary made up of reports and self shot videos as well as some lost footage, the Bay stays interesting if not amazing. I watched it on the suggestion of a friend, and despite some really bad reviews on the Internet Movie Database, I enjoyed it for the most part.
Worth a watch? Well, it wasn’t terrible but you decide for yourself.
Check out the trailer below:
Swamp Thing (1982) – 80`s Comic Book Cheeziness – But I Love It
I watched 1982’s Swamp Thing back when it was new (and I was young) and I loved it then just as I love it now.
Starring Adrienne Barbeau and Louis Jourdan, this Wes Craven movie is primarily about a scientist that develops some plant/animal hybrid formula that allows super fast regeneration of cells. An evil, bad mad scientist wants the formula and, with his henchmen, heads to the doctor’s laboratory in the swamp to take it. An accident leaves the good guy on fire when the formula gets splashed all over him – he’s assumed killed. The bad guys take the research notes (minus one book that Adrienne hides while feigning unconsciousness.
The good guy scientist, instead of being killed by the formula/fire, is actually transformed into the Swamp Thing: a giant, plant/man hybrid with enormous strength and rapid healing powers.
The rest of the film has Adrienne being captured, saved, captured, escaped…Swamp Thing captured/escaping. It’s really all very silly and low budget… But I just don’t care. This film has charm and is fun… and I got to see Adrienne Barbeau’s boobs when I was a kid and that’s something!
Hey, this is a comic book movie, so realism can be thrown to the wind. Leave your sense of credulity at the door and enjoy this silly film.
Here is the trailer:
