Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

8) GODZILLA vs. THE SEA MONSTER – ORIGINAL SHOWA SERIES 1954-1974. Fukuda's first Godzilla directorial credit, which brings typical elements of his: mainly, poor special effects and bizarre plot twists, where the filmmaker, believing that the audience will eat everything up, throws whatever comes to mind at the screen. And so we have a bunch of castaways who discover on a deserted island the base of a terrorist group called "Red Bamboo", which produces a yellow mush in its nuclear facility to eliminate Ebirah, the giant crab that keeps the island in isolation. As if by sheer coincidence, the island is still home to Godzilla, buried under a pile of rocks, and Mothra, who’s awakened from her slumber by the natives to help them against the Red Bamboo, etc., etc. The typical Godzilla fights (wrestling-style grappling between monsters) are almost absent, Ebirah the wimp packs it after Godzilla bites off his claw, and Mothra – the saviour of humanity – is goodness itself. This title was included in the program of the the legendary Mystery Science Theater 3000, which I understand, but there are much more bizarre and, more importantly, entertaining Godzilla movies. (09/12/2010)

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep belongs to the more average offerings in kaiju films made in the 1960s, primarily because Godzilla is portrayed here again as a very poorly executed monster. There's a lot of waiting for a creature to appear, and most of the film is quite static and action-oriented. There's no innovation here, and most shots give you the feeling that you've seen them somewhere else before. I don't think it's because the experienced Honda didn't handle it well, but simply because Toho studio tried to churn out too many films without giving them the necessary care and attention they deserved. (23/11/2014)