WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: All Monsters Attack 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:05.400 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:15.440 Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Weird House Cinema. This 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:18.960 is Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick. And today 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:22.200 we are going to be covering a film based on 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:25.080 a listener recommendation. So to all of you out there 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:27.320 who would like to write in with suggestions for us 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.000 this this may give you some hope. I wonder Rob, 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.760 should we kick this episode off by reading the message 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.800 that that suggested this movie? Sure? Yeah, go for it. Okay, 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:39.080 I'll take it. This is from Jordan. Jordan wrote in 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:41.600 to say hello, Stuff to Blow Your Mind team. I 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.720 don't always watch every Weird House Cinema movie before listening 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:47.560 to the episodes, but my partner and I certainly had 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:52.360 a blast watching Robot Monster. Our streaming service then recommended 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:56.360 us an equally short and hilarious movie with its own 0:00:56.480 --> 0:01:02.040 unrelated dinosaur fights, the nineteen nine film All Monsters Attack. 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:03.920 If you ever had the chance to see it, I'll 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:07.200 give you a short pitch. Uh. This Japanese bank heist 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:10.720 meets home alone sci fi action mystery movie is filled 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:13.400 with giant monster fights that show kids how to overcome 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:17.120 their school bullies. Certainly qualifies as a weird house film, 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:19.560 to say the least. I don't think it's been covered yet, 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:21.360 and if not, I know my partner and I would 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:23.440 love to hear your take on it. Love the show, 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.040 Jordan's well, Jordan's I hope you were excited for today's episode. 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:31.480 We are indeed covering All Monsters Attack. Yeah, And listeners 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:34.520 keep the recommendations coming, because sometimes listeners let us know 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:36.840 about a film that's not on our radar, such as 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:41.000 this one. Other times, like last week's episode, let Sleeping 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:44.600 Corpses lie. That was a case where a listener requested 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:46.360 it and that kind of bumped it back up on 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:48.000 our list. It was on the list, but it wasn't 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.920 at the top. But yeah, so so so let us 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.880 know anytime something catches your eye, if there's anything near 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:55.600 and dear to your heart that you think fits the 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:59.440 weird house cinema template. So I think All Monsters Attack 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:05.080 is a very interesting film, especially for its place in 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:09.680 the history of the Godzilla franchise and for its varied 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.720 reception history. And I think it's also a little bit 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.680 it's interesting in the very different notes it hits. This 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.560 is a movie that is both quite funny for schlock reasons, 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.200 as as alluded to in the email, but also I 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:25.880 think strangely sweet and even a little bit moving. Yeah, 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:27.880 it has it has a good heart. It is a 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:31.240 It is a monster film about children, like this is 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:33.680 not a it's It's pretty common to see these various 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:36.400 Kaiju films where there is a child involved, and we 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:38.840 all know that's like Gamera is a friend to all 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.400 children and so forth. But this movie especially, is a 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:44.640 film where the child is not just a character like 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.079 the the the the childhood view of the world. It 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:50.359 is kind of the centerpiece of the whole picture. Uh 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.399 like that. The film doesn't make sense unless you realize 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.400 that it is from the viewpoint of a child and 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:58.480 not just from the view viewpoint of a child is 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.680 in it has a child protagonist, but literally the monster 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.440 drama in it is a dream in the mind of 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.840 a child. Yeah. Yeah, this is a film in which 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:12.680 none of the monsters are real. Um Like, none of 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:14.680 the monsters that we that we see, none of these 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:18.000 fights are actually taking place. They're all in the child's head. 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.200 They're all in his dreams. But at the same time, 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:24.480 it's not like those battles. It's not that they don't matter, 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.320 like it's ultimately well presented. We talked in our Robot 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.480 Monster episode about films that have the it's it was 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:34.320 all a dream trope in them, And this is certainly 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.040 a film where a lot of the action is taking 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.880 place within the dream. But also there is this it's 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.440 not presented in kind of a gut punchy, twisty way. 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:43.400 We know from the get go that this is a 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.000 dreamscape we're entering into, and yet at the same time 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.160 there's also, uh, there's also the real world plot that 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:51.320 is a that is taking place as well, and there 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:53.680 are steaks in it as well. So it's not like 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:55.640 all the steaks are in the dream world and nothing's 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:57.680 going on in the real world. Right. It is a 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:00.960 movie about a child who has dreams about monsters, and 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:05.080 those dreams about monsters teach him how to solve problems 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.960 in real life. Now, whether these are good lessons or not, 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:13.080 I mean, yes, that's there may be some generational divide 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:17.200 on that and there and this is all open for discussion. Yes, 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:19.440 So I thought it might be useful here to do 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:23.000 a brief digression on the history of the Godzilla franchise 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:27.279 and the place all monsters attack has within it. Uh so. 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:31.240 The first Godzilla movie was released in nineteen fifty four. 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.680 It was directed by Ishiro Honda, the same director as 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:38.800 today's movie, and it was about a giant, prehistoric reptilian 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:43.200 monster with radiation breath who appears from under the ocean 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.880 as a consequence of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific. 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:52.039 Godzilla attacks Japan and is eventually defeated by the ingenuity 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:55.240 of human scientists. Now, I think it's really important to 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:58.880 note that if you have only seen later Godzilla movies, 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:01.760 you may be shocked if you go back and watch 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:07.359 the original, shocked to discover it's much darker tone, the 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:11.240 heavy themes treated in a very solemn manner, and the 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:14.360 fact that there is no Kaiju meet Slam. The monsters 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.200 do not suplex each other. There In fact, there's only 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:21.239 one monster. Godzilla is a pure antagonist in the first movie. 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:25.200 He doesn't wrestle other monsters, and it is not light 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:32.600 camp entertainment. The original Godzilla is a bleak, doomy movie. Yeah, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:35.240 it's kind of grimy, it's useful black and light is 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:39.360 very stark. H It is a It is a serious 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.360 film about dread and horror in the modern world. However, 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.479 in the film that would follow, which was called Godzilla 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.920 Raids Again in nineteen fifty five, Godzilla once again emerges 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:55.400 to threaten humankind, but this time there's another element. Godzilla 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:59.839 is fighting another monster, so fighting this ancient fire breathing dinosaur. 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.880 To me, he's sort of based on the design of 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.480 an Ankleosaurus um and this would set off a kind 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:09.080 of pattern of monster on monster violence that would continue 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:13.880 into the following films, including movies like King Kong versus Godzilla, 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:18.599 that's the nineteen sixty two mothro versus Godzilla and sixty four, 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:23.080 various battles with monsters from outer space and with three heads, 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.600 other things coming up from the deep and rob I 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.039 wonder if you would disagree with anything here or have 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:31.200 anything to add to this, but I would argue a 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:35.520 few general trends in the Godzilla movies as they go on. 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:39.320 One is the trend of the moral valence of Godzilla, 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:43.360 who I think goes initially from hard heel to kind 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:47.040 of anti hero to full face. What would you agree 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:49.719 with that? Oh, yeah, yeah, he's definitely a baby face. 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:53.080 And then the most of the films, people are really 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.360 familiar with. Yeah, it's often like Godzilla has to show 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:00.000 up to fight a bad monster in order to protect 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:02.840 humanity from that monster, and he's kind of like a 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:07.960 dangerous ally, but ultimately it's he who is defending human 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:12.760 civilization from from this really wicked creature. Yeah. Yeah, I 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:16.200 think that that trajectory tends to hold true occasionally with 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:20.280 You'll see some some new Godzilla pictures that come about 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:22.560 in which they kind of go back to basics and 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.520 go for like the solo monster threat sort of plot. 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:27.560 And I guess one of the main examples of that 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:31.480 is um Shin Godzilla from Yeah. Well, a lot of 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:33.320 times when they do a reboot, it's like that shin 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:38.160 Godzilla is like that Godzilla, that horrible American Godzilla from 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.000 the nineties is like that yeah, or wait is it 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.320 now I'm trying to remember. I think it is. Yeah, Yeah, 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.400 I believe so, though I think the more recent American 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.080 Godzilla remake that had some extra monsters in it, as 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.520 I recall, so that would had bad ones that Godzilla 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:53.680 had to fight. Yeah, let them fight, Yes, some sort 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:58.480 of radiation eating dinosaur creatures. Yeah. Okay, So there's that trajectory. 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.640 Another thing is the tone. The tone changes. It goes 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:07.360 from the bleak, just doom laden horror of the first 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:12.520 movie to a much lighter, campier, sillier kind of entertainment, 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:16.360 even when it sometimes still has commentary. A lot of times, 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:21.679 these sillier, campier Godzilla movies will be satirical about, say 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:27.400 pollution or politics or the entertainment industry, even like I 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.040 think there's one where there's like, you know, somebody's trying 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:32.800 to boost TV ratings by capturing King Kong and then 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:34.920 he gets out and has to fight Godzilla and so forth. 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:39.560 Uh So they often satirize real elements in the world, 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:42.040 but they're not as dark as the first one. I 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.920 would also say, as it goes on, um, you know, 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.200 I think some people would be tempted to say that 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:53.080 the quality of production in the films goes down, but 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.040 I don't think that's exactly right. I would say the 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:59.520 quality of production becomes more variable. It's not like there's 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:02.680 a steady decline in the quality of Godzilla movies, but 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.400 instead we see a sort of all over the place 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.480 quality pattern. Would you agree with that? I think so, 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:10.439 and I do wonder how much. And this is maybe 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:14.360 something that Godzilla scholars may have thoughts on and indeed 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.560 it is worth pointing out that Godzilla movies are definitely 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.480 an area where there is a People have written whole 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:21.959 books on this, There have been agonimic papers on this. 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:26.160 This is this is a well explored region of weird cinema. 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.720 But I do wonder at times they get into the 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.640 sillier zone and the kid friendly zone, and I wonder 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:34.760 what are the different forces involved. I mean, part of 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:38.160 it is clearly like the reception to Godzilla by young viewers, 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:40.840 but then also I wonder how much of it is 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:45.320 the filmmakers realizing like not only the limitations of rubber 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:50.360 suit um monster effects, but also the potential for humor 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.880 with those suits. You know, like if you're going for 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:57.360 just hard um uh you know, sci fi or really 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.720 serious grim horror with it, it feels maybe you've got 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.360 to be a little, you know, a little more careful 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:05.640 about how you use the suit and how you show 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.480 the suit, where if you open that up a little bit, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.240 and there's all this potential for like the goofier stuff 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:13.920 to take place. Yes, I fully agree with that, though 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:17.200 there are some films that have managed to do both 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:19.640 actually and that's one thing I love about shin Godzilla. 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:23.679 I think it succeeds fully in real grim horror and 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:27.120 funny camp in the same movie. Yeah, it's a it's 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:29.960 a careful tightrope to walk though. But anyway, back to 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.040 the film we're going to talk about today. It arrives 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:36.560 in nineteen sixty nine, and it has long been regarded 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.680 as one of the worst Godzilla films. It seems recently though, 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:43.480 a lot of critics have kind of softened on it. 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:47.120 They've kind of started to come around a little bit. Uh, 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:49.880 And you can see the reasons for both both of 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.240 the for the for the initial harsh reaction and the 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:55.520 softening and warming up to this movie. There are certainly 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.800 elements that are not as impressive as other films in 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.880 the franchise. The stakes are less all encompassing. I mean, 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.959 this is not a world, you know, world defining conflict 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.240 to save the planet from a three headed monster from 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:11.080 outer space or whatever. Instead, it is a child dealing 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:14.680 with loneliness and bullying who has dreams about monsters that 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:17.760 that inspire him to stand up for himself. It's hard 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.160 for that to feel as epic as as the other 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:23.240 Godzilla movies in either in either an awe inspiring and 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:26.080 scary way or in a funny way. And I think 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:28.800 one thing that has to be acknowledged is that the 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.559 original special effects and production values in this film are 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:36.000 very limited compared to some other films in the franchise, 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:38.480 and a lot of the special effects sequences that do 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.960 appear are recycled from previous movies. We'll talk more about 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.679 that as we go on. But on the other hand, 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:46.960 I think a lot of people have kind of come 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:50.560 around on this movie today as simply a different kind 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:53.760 of creature than most other films in the Godzilla series. 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:58.679 It is a sweeter, more modest, more intimate meditation on 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:02.000 what Godzilla had come to mean for the children of 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:05.120 Japan and of the world. Having just watched this film 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.200 this morning for the first time, it's hard to imagine 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.120 people hating it. I mean, it's seventy minutes. It's sixty 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.240 nine minutes long for crying out loud. You mean you 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.360 don't you don't spend too much time in this picture, 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:18.800 um and uh. And it has a lot of monsters 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:20.520 in it. I have to come back to the sort 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:24.960 of the the Glenn Danzig school of filmmaking. I believe 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.960 he was asking an interview what makes a great vampire film? 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:32.320 And he said, well, a lot of vampires and and 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:34.320 and so this film takes kind of that impart, like 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.280 what makes a great monster film? A lot of great 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:38.760 great kaiju film? Well, a lot of kaiju. There are 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:40.920 a lot of Kaiju in this picture. I don't know 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.080 if all of them are present, as the title would suggest, 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:46.480 but a lot of them are present. And Okay, once 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.120 you've checked that box off, once you're definitely giving the 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:52.160 audience all the monsters, what else are you going to 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:53.840 give them? And what can you give them? This a 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.800 little different? What? What? What can you do that would 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:00.640 maybe be a satisfying and different story while still delivering 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.600 all of the things that this picture has to deliver 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:07.880 for for the the audience that they're expecting. I think 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:10.080 that's a great point. And I think you could also 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:15.000 argue that given the general trends in the Godzilla series 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:18.199 up to this point, increasingly kind of sillier and campier 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:23.200 type movies and uh increasing use of Godzilla as a 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.040 face rather than a hell, I think you could argue 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.440 it was inevitable that these movies would end up including 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.720 movies that were explicitly meant for kids, not not just 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:37.800 movies that kids happened to love. Uh So, just before 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.080 All Monsters Attack came out a couple of years before, 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:44.120 in nine seven, we get Son of Godzilla, which, true 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:47.440 to title, introduced a new character to the Kaiju pantheon, 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:52.240 that is Manila, who is yes, Godzilla's son, and the 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:56.199 movie deals with parenting themes, showing Godzilla teaching his child 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:59.600 how to roar and how to blast out his atomic breadth. 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:01.840 In fact, we see some scenes from that movie of 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.280 this type taken whole cloth and shown again in All 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.960 Monsters Attack. And I have read that the introduction of 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:12.000 Manila in this movie was the result of a desire 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:16.400 at studio at Toho to introduce a cute character and 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:19.640 acute relationship to create a movie that would not just 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:22.840 appeal to kids, but also to the young parents who 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:26.400 would be taking kids to see movies. It makes sense, yeah, 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:28.880 I mean, if you want to introduce your your children 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.320 to these monster movies that by this point you know, 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:35.240 you've you've you've grown up on. Uh, it helps if 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:37.040 there's some sort of cute element. I mean, I've I've 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:39.360 encountered that myself with my my own son. You know, 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.280 is there is there a baby Yoda in there, a 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:44.760 grow goo that can you know get I mean Star 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:46.880 Wars has tons of stuff like that obviously, but you know, 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:49.360 is there some sort of like cute element that will 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:53.480 definitely catch their attention that they can latch onto and 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.280 then perhaps they'll they'll latch onto the rest of a 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.160 V and franchise as well. Oh yeah, I mean just 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:02.800 watch the term and like, you know, your your your harsh, 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:06.640 cynical twentysomething Star Wars geeks hate the e Walks until 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:08.640 they have kids, and then they watch Return with their 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:12.640 kids and then they're like, oh, they're actually kind of great. Yeah, 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:14.880 it will describe me a lie in a in a 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:17.920 little bit here. He is cute. He is, in fact, 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:20.440 more than once we noticed mental It in this movie 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:24.480 doing specific sort of sounds and postures reminiscent of our baby. 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:29.520 Uh so, like a donkey sound that he keeps making. Oh, 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:32.960 of course the donkey sound, but no, he does. At 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:34.920 one point he does it kind of I don't know, 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:37.240 like a pose where he's like wiggling his arms and 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:41.120 legs and he just looks like a human baby but anyway, 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:43.920 so h A lot of footage from Son of Godzilla 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:46.960 would end up being reused in All Monsters Attack, and 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:50.320 in fact, not just footage from Son, but also from 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.800 recent uh kaiju movies like Everira Horror of the Deep 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:56.760 that came out in nineteen sixty six. That's more of 0:15:56.760 --> 0:16:00.280 your classic meat Slam that's where Godzilla battles a giant 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:05.160 shrimp crayfish type monster, but also it used footage from 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.640 King Kong Escapes from sixty seven and from Destroy All 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:12.360 Monsters from sixty eight. Yeah, Destroy All Monsters also has 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:15.760 man Ala in it. M hm. So why so much 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.960 recycled footage from other Toho movies? Well, the answer appears 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:23.080 to be extreme constraints on time and budget. I've read 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:26.560 that this was in part due to cost overruns from 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:30.560 other movies Tohoa was making in nineteen nine, as well 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:33.240 as just general money problems at the studio. These were 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.200 hard times at Toho, but for whatever reason, the edict 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:38.440 came down that this movie had to be made fast 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.920 and cheap, and I think you can say that when 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:45.560 it comes to special effects sequences, it kind of shows, 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:48.880 especially to the original ones, and how much footage is reused, 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:52.440 but at the same time, I don't think this movie 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:56.360 is hack work. All Monsters Attack was directed by Ishiro Honda, 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.560 the the A list Toho director who had made the 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:01.760 Origin in Old Godzilla, as well as most of the 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:05.280 Big movies and the series since then, and despite all 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:09.440 the limitations on the production, Honda apparently cited All Monsters 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.960 Attack as one of his personal favorites from the entire series. 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:15.640 I was wondering a bit why this was, and so 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:18.800 I was reading from Godzilla the Official Guide to the 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:21.840 King of the Monsters. This was the the official Toho 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:28.280 licensed book on the series, written by Graham Skipper, and 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.720 uh Skipper writes quote All Monsters Attack was truly a 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.120 labor of love for Honda, a small film that focused 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:37.440 less on the big monster fights and more on one 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:40.600 young child learning how to stand up for himself. While 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.639 Honda loved the spectacle and undeniable artistry of orchestrating giant 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:48.600 monsters rampaging through cities, he also loved the emotional core 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.400 of the people at the heart of these stories. Here 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:53.800 he was mostly left to do as he pleased within 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.600 the constraints, and thus we get what today feels like 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:01.560 a small indie film rather than a Kaiju blockbuster. Uh 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:03.760 And I think that's right on the money. We're we're 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.560 kind of left in the end with a cozy little 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:11.679 film about childhood struggles, bullying, courage, and the inspiration that 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:14.320 we take from our myths. Uh. And it's also a 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:17.639 film in which all the monster slamming is relegated to 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:22.240 dream sequences. But there is something very charming about it. Yeah. Again, 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.040 it checks off the box of all the monsters, lots 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:28.159 of monster stuff happening on screen, but then it figures 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:30.800 out something very interesting to do with the rest of 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.399 the picture, and in that it has a lot in 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.679 common I think with a rather different Kaiju movie, a 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.400 rather different Godzilla movie that we previously covered on Weird House. 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:46.280 That's Godzilla versus Hetera, which which which I would say 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.680 is not as memorable from a character standpoint. I think 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.680 this movie has a has more heart, but that one 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:56.560 definitely had a lot of style, a lot of like 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:59.560 in a hip message at the core of it. Uh 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:03.960 while also giving us monsters. Yes, Hetera is I think 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:06.160 a better movie from the point of view of just 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:11.359 like weird imagery and having lots of crazy visual flair 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.840 and stuff that stands out like that, but all monsters 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.200 attack has it has a soul and hetera. I don't know, 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:24.560 maybe yeah, alright, Well, when we were thinking about elevator 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.720 pitches for this one, I instantly thought The never Ending 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:32.040 Story but with Kaiju. Oh yeah, and it really does 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:35.639 remind me quite a bit of the film adaptation of 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:39.880 Michael DA's nine novel The never Ending Story. I love 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:42.160 both of these, by the way, um. I know Michael 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:46.119 Linda did not like the film adaptation, but I have 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:48.840 removed my heart for both of them. But in um, 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:50.679 in the film adaptation to The Never Ending Story, we 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:52.840 have a kind of lonely child in the city with 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:55.800 a disrupted home life who finds courage in the realm 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.800 of fantasy. And in the film anyway, at any rate, 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.560 he eventually unleashed is a luck dragon on his bullies. 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.359 In this film, we have a lonely latchkey kid in 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:09.239 late sixties Japan living in a heavily industrialized area, and 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:12.480 he finds courage through his dream jaunts to Monster Island. 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:15.480 Instead of actually summoning a Kaiju to defeat his bullies 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:20.240 and bank robbers, he home alones them as listener mail, 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:24.119 uh suggested, Yeah, he like he lays traps essentially and 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:26.800 gets them to fall through holes in the floor. Yeah, 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:28.679 all right, Well let's go ahead and listen to the 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:31.359 trailer audio on this one. Uh. This is the English 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:34.440 dub trailer, which I think works best for the podcast 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:36.639 format here, though this is not the cut of the 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:39.840 film I ended up watching. Um. Usually I'm all for 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:42.120 the English dub on a film like this, that lets 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:44.359 me focus more on the monsters and you know, and 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:48.159 the human performances are generally less important in a picture 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:51.720 like this, But HBO Max only offered subtitles, so I 0:20:51.760 --> 0:21:00.000 watched it as if I were viewing a Kurasawa film. 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:18.480 Mm hmmmmmmmmmmm. Where is the island? Computer? Go on? Yes, yes, 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:22.120 do you take a jet? Take a jet to get there? 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:38.640 M m m. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome board 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:42.280 Pan American Flight one Director Monster Island. We'll be flying 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:45.040 in thirty five thousand eight and we'll arrive on schedule. 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:57.960 We hope you have a pleasant flight. Thank you. M 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:04.120 are you watched the island over? What's ther island over? 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:26.680 We're ready to land, Scott Zuma and come back on 0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:08.080 m all right, it sounds like a party, huh. I mean, 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:11.119 if I hadn't already watched it, I would bid the is. 0:23:11.280 --> 0:23:14.639 Speaking of advertising for this film, I haven't confirmed this, 0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:19.520 but the Internet alleges that the tagline was see prehistoric 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:22.320 monsters crawl out of the hidden depths of the Earth 0:23:22.400 --> 0:23:26.200 and take revenge against the living. That's not even closed. 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:30.360 Doesn't not even remotely describing this movie, not at all 0:23:38.760 --> 0:23:41.880 all Right, if you're wondering where you can watch this picture, well, 0:23:41.920 --> 0:23:44.520 as of this recording, you can watch it on HBO Max, 0:23:44.600 --> 0:23:48.000 but all streaming is subject to change, especially HBO Max 0:23:48.160 --> 0:23:51.480 as of late. Um, so watch it while you can there, 0:23:51.520 --> 0:23:54.360 I guess. But it's also available on Blu Ray from 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:58.560 the Criterion collection on They're just absolutely worshipful Godzilla the 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:02.679