Mini Film Review – Gamera vs. Barugon

Yesterday I watched Gamera vs. Barugon; and it was really fascinating! Directed by Shigeo Tanaka, and starring Kôjirô Hongô, Kôji Fujiyama, and Kyôko Enami; Gamera vs. Barugon is a Japanese Monster Movie, and the second film in the Gamera film series. Following the events of Gamera: The Giant Monster, Gamera has escaped his confinement and returned to Earth, meanwhile, a group of greedy opportunists plan to steal a large opal from the island of New Guinea! I have rather been putting off watching Gamera movies from the 1960’s and 70’s, as I know from archive footage and imagery, that the suits used in these films…were terrible. This film though uses quite a nice trick, choosing to showcase the monsters mostly during the night, which is rather effective in hiding the quality issues. Right that’s the suits out the way, moving on!

Gamera vs. Barugon is a very interesting film. It carries all the hallmarks of classic Monster movies from the 1960’s backwards, and the film chooses not to focus entirely on Gamera for a start, who has no more than about three scenes in the entire film (which sort of makes you wonder why on earth he is even in it?). The monster focus is more or less purely on Barugon, who has an interesting backstory, and you don’t expect him to arrive in the way he does, which was rather cool. From then on, it’s down to the military and lead characters, to fix the issue of this monster, by coming up with ingenious plans to stop it. It’s an absorbing film on this point due to the authorities trying to handle the monster themselves, than just wait for the local hero monster to do the work for them. Plus, the film also features a great human story too, with terrific characters, highlighting the wages of greed, and the desperation people will go to, to gain immense wealth, and losing themselves and others in the process. Yes, the suits are an issue, but if you can just look past those for a minute, you may just see the astounding film hidden beyond!