GODZILLA VS THE SEA MONSTER (1966)

GODZILLA VS THE SEA MONSTER (1966)

Man this thing had about a bajillion titles, but I am going with this one to make it easier to find, because Godzilla is in the title. It’s also widely known in the USA as “Ebirah, Horror Of The Deep”, but that to me sounds like a 1950’s back and white B-Movie. Speaking of B-movies though, this one was pretty low budget, being shot for an estimated 1.2 million. That will get you about 4 Whoppers and a cup of coffee these days.

This movie is about some teenagers that need a boat to try and find their brother whom they believe is still alive on Letchi Island. How he got there is mentioned but almost completely irrelevant. On the island it looks like King Kong lost some extra’s that were playing natives from King Kong vs Godzilla, (they also all look like the escaped from Party City), and now they are all being forced to make a juice that wards off a giant lobster named Ebirah (like I mentioned before) by the Red Bamboo. The Red Bamboo is like a one of those groups you get at the “rent a villain” store, but they do have a few awesome leaders and one of them bought the coolest eye patch in cinematic history. They use the juice the natives make to travel to and from the island because they have some super shady stuff going on.

Overall the plot in this one is super rough and vaguely involved Mothra who sleeps during most of this freakin thing. I mean, come on Mothra wake up, it’s lobster fest! Then Godzilla who sleeps a lot of it inside a mountain, and finally Ebirah who looks actually pretty great suit wise. When I was a kid, I thought they were literally just flopping a real lobster all over the place. This movie also includes a classic volleyball game between Godzilla and Ebirah, so you better not miss that. 

This movie is made 4 years after King Kong vs Godzilla, but somehow manages to employ a much goofier looking Godzilla suit. Godzilla also acts suspiciously like King Kong in this, because I think this script was originally written with King Kong in mind. I would not have hired the American voice actor for the one really annoying dude in the American dubbed version, also it’s plagued with effects issues like visible strings holding up Mothra etc, however, this thing is pleasantly campy throughout and actually a really fun watch. 

To be fair, knowing they can and did make better Godzilla movies before it, the best I can do is a 4 out of 7 on this thing. Lots of nostalgia, but the rough spots keep it from being higher rating wise. That is not to say that it shouldn’t hold a special place in the heart of pretty much every Godzilla fan.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF TOHO COMPANY AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.  

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