Director: Kim Ki-duk
Year: 1967
Country: South Korea/Japan
Alternate Titles: Taekoesu Yonggary; Godzillas Hand of Death
Genre: Tokusatsu; Kaiju
Plot:
After a series of devastating Earthquakes, a scientist finds that the cause is a giant underground dinosaur supposedly revived from a nuclear test in the area which soon rampages across South Korea and forces him to get the authorities to put his stepson's plan in motion to stop it.
Story:
This here is an overall quite fun effort if featuring a somewhat simplistic story. The idea here is essentially strange occurrences in the countryside which are revealed to be caused by a giant monster, it rampages across the city destroying things while the military prove to be ineffectual as a little kid is shown to know how to actually stop it and allows the authorities to put it into motion which stop the monster. That's the basic outline of just about every kind of genre effort featured in the scene which is admittedly serviceable due to the frequency of it's use although there's no real surprise generated by the monster story. That also means that not a whole lot else really gets known about Yongary himself, with just a passing reference to it's backstory and nothing else from why it needs to drink oil to how it got trapped under the Earth. There's no reason to expect the film to offer such elements but it' more just indicative of the simple, formulaic nature of the film.
As for the human drama, this is quite lame. The fact that the newlywed couple don't seem all that interested in getting to know each other what with her desire for attention and him being more preoccupied with work to the point of leaving her on their honeymoon in order to undertake a mission from his bosses means they don't have any special connection at all to each other and they don't really come off with any kind of impressive story. Beyond them, it's all pretty much just the expected military figures trying to come up with a plan of action against the creature and there's not much story there with it being divided into two pieces. After initially trying to discover the source behind the earthquakes, it's soon going into how to stop the creature so not much really happens here in this simplified setup.
Special Effects:
Like most of the film, this is a mixed bag but has some solid moments within here. Starting with the monster costume, it's a workable and certainly distinctive creature, as the overall design is a reptilian design that has some nice dinosaurian elements included. The use of the horn on it's nose, a small sail-like fin on its back and a pair of tail spikes make for some unique design features, but it's still pretty clear that the overall intention was to rip off the big kaiju films in the genre, Godzilla and Gamera. Elements of both creatures make their way into his overall design, and he looks close enough to appeal to that crowd while not being a total clone. The costume is certainly serviceable, hiding the actor within although the cheap-jack nature of the construction is obvious with the suit plainly and continuously folding up in bunches around the chest whenever he has his arms extended in front of him. As well, the numerous times where the nozzle at the back of the throat to put the flamethrower for it's fire-breath are somewhat comical and cheesy-looking which just adds to it's low-budget charm for some yet still contribute to the films' overall appeal.
After the kaiju work, there's a lot to like here. Done in miniature, the model rocket-work here, from it firing off the launchpad and being shown in flight, look solid enough for the time-period with their realistic flames and steady guide in flight. The best work here is the sets for the earthquake-rattling countryside which are truly impressive, ranging from the shifting mountains, the heaving smoke and cracks in the ground giving way to the tumbling dirt and buildings for some solid action-packed sequences. The second appearance at the mountain resort where it gets attacked by the military offers up some rather solid miniature equipment firing at it, and once it gets Yongary loose there's plenty more to like here with the cheap-if-effective miniature city that offers some fine action as the creatures' rampage is given plenty of solid creature feature action in a brief if still fun rampage containing the creature engaging in the typical monster movie fun as it smashes through the cityscape.
However, what must be mentioned here is the fact that, for as much good as it does in the special effects work some incredibly sloppy work slips through here. As discussed earlier, there is some sloppiness in the suit construction that gives the beast a derpy look at times as well as the few other suit issues with the technical elements, which is only the start of problems here. For every shot where the miniature city comes off great, there's scenes of Yongary knocking over obviously hollow shells or dumping shoeboxes onto fleeing citizenry disguised as rubble. Another notable example of this include the famous sequence of the creature using a one-shot horn blast to slice open a transport vehicle into several pieces and the stunt-piece goes straight for the camera giving off a clear view of the guide-wheel underneath that would ensure the safety of the performers. It's a feature that sticks out where the filmmaking quality enhances the flaw and makes this look far cheaper than it really should be remembered for.
Actors:
By and large, it's hard to really rate the acting mainly because it's impossible to distinguish who's who in the dub. The astronaut in the lead is quite bland and unappealing, coming off as a workaholic who does nothing of importance here as he tries to work on his assignment which means he neglects his newlywed wife for the majority of the film. He's a bit better in the second half where he's a bit more proactive in trying to come up with the chemical solution to stop the rampage but there's still not much else to the guy. His wife is a perpetual worrywart who basically exists to be put into peril by the beasts' rampage or look concerned by the lack of attention paid to her before just completely disappearing in the final half for no real reason.
However bland these characters are, they're nothing compared to the bratty kid who's either the wife's younger brother or cousin or something like that which is never explained and its' all for the better since this is the stereotypical younger kid from these films. Basically doing whatever he wants to simply because he's the young child so all his antics are ignored and laughed off without discipline, he has to be the one who discovers the monsters' weakness and is given a free pass to do anything and everything again without discipline which is infuriating and unrealistic. Given an annoyingly smug dub that hams up his performance more than anything else, he's the worst thing about this one and is what really harms this one considerably.
Other Factors:
One of the few additional elements worth mentioning is the means of the monsters' demise, which is quite a distressing and somewhat demeaning to the creature. Whether intentionally or not, the sight of the helpless, twitching creature laying on the beach as a pool of blood seeps into the water around it from what appears to be the back or hind-legs of the creature comes off as mercilessly cruel and unwarranted due to our connection to the beast. Due to the scene of it shown to be actively dancing and grooving to the tune of surf-rock being played over the radio and the sense of sympathy shown to it because of that scene, to see the creature get disposed of in the manner depicted here in such a heartless method, especially with the cutaways to show the group spraying it to be laughing and enjoying the fact that their plan is working which just adds even more to the cruelty shown to the creature during this part of the film. As well, some might find that dancing and surf-rock music to be quite irritating which might have a negative effect as well.
Overview: **1/2/5
While it has some of the biggest detriments possible for these kind of genre efforts possible, there are more than enough positives to be had that it becomes quite fun in the interim. Give this a chance if you're into these kinds of cheesy kaiju efforts or are curious about genre product from outside Japan, while those who are incapable of looking beyond the flaws should definitely heed caution if not outright avoid it.
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