Frankenstein Conquers the World:

The heart of the legendary beast Frankenstein is found in war ravaged Germany and smuggled to Japan for various experiments. However just as Japanese scientists start their experiments the atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima and the heart is exposed to massive amounts of radiation causing Frankenstein to regenerate and this time he grows and grows! Of course, he then has to fact the Godzilla-like monster Baragon who just happens to show up at the same time.

This is one of Toho's weirder movies but it's also one of the most fun. The Frankenstein monster isn't really the same as what we are used to and a giant monster version seems a bit ludicrous at best. Baragon isn't too inspired as a monster, but he looks cool enough on his own. On the flip side the special effects are typical for Toho and Eiji Tsuburaya in that period and finally seeing the infamous devilfish scene was quite a treat.

The biggest strength here is the cast. We have many Toho regulars including Tadao Takahima and Kumi Mizuno with many of the regular Toho actors in minor roles. Of course the notable addition to the cast is Nick Adams, whom I refer to as the most underutilized actor in history. Watching him and Kumi Mizuno together here (and in Monster Zero) it's no wonder the Japanese tabloids had a field day speculating on the two of them.

I really am glad that I can see the day that many of Toho's kaiju and tokusatsu (special effects) films can be found so freely in America. I remember back when people were buying bootlegged VHS tapes or, like me, buying raw Japanese copies on laserdisc or settling for English dubbed versions. Back then we would have killed for releases such as this. Big props to Media Blasters for giving us what we've wanted for so long.

Highly Recommended!

Labels: Japanese, Kaiju, sci-fi