ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS (1969)

ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS (1969)

Also known as GAMERA VS GUIRON this movie is about two boys and a girl, that come upon a flying saucer. The boys end up on their way to a planet in Earth's orbit but on the exact opposite side of the Sun. It takes them like a few minutes to get there. Gamera has been following them, because that is what giant flying turtles do. Once at the planet the boys are taken by two seemingly super nice brain eating aliens who want them for their knowledge. Apparently little kids possess enough knowledge for any alien race to take over once they get to earth. The planet also happens to be dying because idiot scientists have jacked it up as per freakin usual. On the planet, the aliens have a “watch dog” kaiju with a giant knife for a head, and that thing is not going to stay put once Gamera shows up. They are gonna freakin fight it out and these kids are just going to whine and shout for Gamera to help the entire movie.

Overall the sets in this flick are pretty great. I did notice a few moments of stock footage, but it’s not terrible and they also re-used some of the set pieces from DESTROY ALL PLANETS. Guiron’s design is better than some of the other kaiju in this series, but the costumes for the two alien women really stand out as being amazing and creatively over the top. They pretty much nail the 60’s sci-fi look. What is not great, is a few weird plastic looking shots of Gamera and the under-water scene. Both look low low budget sloppy, and in a film like this, the bar is already pretty damn low. Like, it’s almost on the ground. 

I am not as fond of the kids acting in this one. I almost wish they had gone with the two kids from DESTROY ALL PLANETS instead. Gamera also becomes like a kaiju repair service in one scene. It’s all pretty nuts. I did like the fact that we got a full movie with very little stock footage this time around. It felt like the production team put in more effort than the last outing. The storyline isn’t all over the place. I mean, what can be more simple that “aliens want to eat kids brains”, (sarcasm) and let’s throw in a giant flying fire-breathing space turtle for good measure. 

This movie has several comical lines and overall is just pretty fun. I have to give this one a 4 out of 7. It’s not mind-blowing, but I appreciate the effort. I also liked the innocence of the PSA about peace and learning at the end of the movie, it sounded like something my son would say.

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