Director: Hajime Tsuburaya
Year: 1966
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: (Alternate DVD Title: The Cries of the Mummy) (ミイラの叫び Miira no Sakebi?)
Genre: Tokusatsu TV
Plot:
After discovering an ancient mummy, a lab accident brings the creature back to life and it runs wild as a result, but when the Science Patrol is called in to contain it they accidentally kill it bringing its gigantic guardian to life and forcing Ultraman to stop it.
Story:
There's a lot of enjoyable work in this story. The first half here plays itself out as a fun horror-centric mystery about the origin of the mummy and the attempts to bring it back to life in the institute. This is logically handled with the intent to study the creatures ability to survive as long as it has which is a truly reasonable motivation for wanting to move it out of the cave where it was discovered with the lack of protection in the area due to the constant threat of rockslides. With the transport to the off-site laboratory and it's accidental awakening from the machinery being left on and the creature coming to life, this allows for the horror segments to come with it stalking through the corridors and confronting the security staff which offers some great atmosphere of the human-size monster interacting with the soldiers. It's not surprising this is the most enjoyable part of the episode and has a lot to like about it.
After it's defeated, though, it reverts to a rather standard episode offering the Science Patrol looking for a weakness to fight off the imposing monster before relying on Ultraman to defeat it for good. This is a pretty routine formula that gets worked over and has some distressing elements about it as it could've explored the connection between the mummy and Dodongo in greater detail. The creature's appearance is a complete mystery and it's only circumstantial evidence that connects the two since the creature literally awakens the second the mummy is struck down by Arashi and the Army nearby as well as the fact that the two are shown to also have the same debilitating eye-lasers. That could've been a big part of the discovery towards utilizing Ito's protective backpack which is a rather loophole they could've killed two birds with this one stone. However, it's not that big of a deal and doesn't distract from the episode as a whole.
Special Effects:
On the whole, the special effects work is truly enjoyable and gets a lot to like here. The main part of that is one of the better two-person costumes in the series in Dodongo, adapting Arabian Dragon elements into a giant horse-like being. With a large body, elongated jaws and plenty of bright blues, greens and yellows into its design, this is a serviceable costume that is perfectly suited to the television format but would look increasingly silly and unimpressive the longer the creature is on-screen. Keeping it relegated to the rampage in the second half is perfect for the style and keeps the more derpy moments to a minimum with the cutaways to the expression-less head model that being about those derpy feelings. The gore from the shot-out eyes looks wet and bulgy, helping to sell the injuries even more.
However, those elements are overlooked significantly with the creatures' rampage through the quarry near its resting place. This is an immaculate set for the whole final half with the various levels of the facility, featuring a ground-level entrance and a second-tier landing up on the side of the mountain for a mining entry. The various buildings shown there look great and highly detailed that manages to look even better when they get blown up at the end. The rest of the set is enjoyable, as the shots of the Science Patrol members fighting Dodongo on the ground is integrated nicely with the prop head interact to launch attacks. It's a thrilling sequence that comes off really well with the two scenes meshed together in a competent manner as the frenzied edits between live-action actors and miniature creature add a special spice.
The other special effects in the episode offer up a lot to like. The shots with the human-sized mummy interacting with the regular forces in the hospital when it wakes up are rather atmospheric, while the later scenes of the police force and Science Patrol teaming up to make it down in the sewers offer up a fun setting. That is helped with the originality of seeing the creature the same size as the Science Patrol members in real locations rather than miniature sets which helps to make the scene feel fresh as well as exciting with the action featured. Alongside the great miniature set of the cave where they find the mummy in its impressively decorated resting spot, there's a lot to really like here.
Acting:
About the only real acting we get this episode is the brief exchange at the end where we get to see Dr. Imamoto's regret that the mummy wasn't able to be saved and thus lost the secret of its immortal life with it. Being a scientific-minded individual, that makes sense for his character and is a realistic touch being that it's a beneficial technique to humanity that was essentially lost. Other than that, we get the usual Science Patrol heroics with Mura being calm and cool in the heat of battle, Arashi ready to shoot first and ask questions later while Ito manages some technological feats that prove useful in combat against Dodongo with the special jetpack that provides a protective shield against the energy bolts it fires.
Other Factors:
For the most part, there isn't much else to be said here. The first half bringing in some more horror-based elements before switching to an action-packed series of monster confrontations that set the stage for the Ultraman fight at the end to finish things off. This might be a slightly unique beginning to get the monster introduced but that's about it as it carries on through more traditional tropes once that's happened which is commendable enough. The pace is fast and there's no real downtime at all moving on from one scene to another. Some might find the humor in the monster fighting somewhat juvenile and silly, but it's happened in the past and has some context in the series so it's a slightly embarrassing scene in an otherwise serious effort that may or may not appeal to some fans.
Overview: ****/5
While this one suffers from mostly small, inconsequential nitpicks for its overall flaws, the episode has enough to really make it stand out with all the other positives holding this one up. As it just misses out on the upper echelon of the series, this is highly recommended to fans of the genre as a whole as a fine example of the style overall since the wide range of influences is quite appealing when presented here.
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