Description: Directed by Ishiro Honda (The Godzilla Series!) After a yacht is damaged in a storm and it’s boarders stranded on a deserted island the passengers; a psychologist and his girlfriend, a wealthy businessman, a famous singer, a writer, a sailor and his skipper take refuge in a mysterious fungus-covered boat. While using the MUSHROOMS for sustenance they find in the ships journal that the mushrooms re poisonous, however some members of the shipwrecked party continue to ingest the mysterious fungi transforming them into hideous ungal monsters. One of the strangest and most horrific TOHO productions to date.
Matango-Giant Mushrooms and Survival Matango is a great drama/survival movie. It is pretty suspenseful at times too. The special effects are great and the acting is very good. The story has a very creepy feeling to it as well.
Personally, it makes my skin crawl. It is a very dark movie. But its a good thing if you like that sort of suspense. Its better than most suspenseful movies that we see today.
Personally, I recommend it to anyone who wants to see a good film for a great price. Its worth the money and the entertainment. So buy it and enjoy it! :)
A GOOD WAY TO START YOUR NON GODZILLA TOHO COLLECTION After seeing the trailer for SPACE AMOEBA on Youtube, I definately wanted to buy the dvd. Space Amoeba was not available at the store, but I saw this Toho Pack. So after a few moments of deliberation I figured three movies for 20 bucks. I'll take a chance. First up THE MYSTERIANS. This is a great old school science fiction "Aliens invade earth" movie. Presented in 2:35.1 Widescreen with choices of English dubbed, Japanese spoken and a few other features I'm too lazy to write about. After sending A wierd looking giant robot to destroy a town the aliens known as Mysterians reveal themselves, stating they meant no harm but only to display their superiority. Then they ask to remain on earth in a small 2 miles radius, and for permission to marry Earth women. As if they would except "NO" for an answer. Despite the corny premise this movie is really cool. Next up is VARAN THE UNBELIEVABLE shown in Black & White but also presented in 2:35.1 widescreen. In fact all three films in this set are 2:35.1 the true widescreen, so that's really cool. Not to be confused with the 1:85.1 phoney widescreen which really isn't widescreen at all just a cropped picture. This is the Japanese Spoken version only. I wish they also included the Myron Healy English dubbed version because I never got to see that and it's so hard to find. For those of you who don't know who Myron Healy is. He was the Bully of Dry Gulch in the 1950s classic Superman tv series. Another thing I found interesting was the music motiff we associate with Rodan was really from this movie. In fact you can hear many well known Akira Ifukube signature themes that have been used in many Toho films. They were rewritten and played in various styles, but their teeth were cut here. Finally we have MATANGO Attack of The Mushroom People. Critically acclaimed and deservedly so because it is a well done movie almost in a Hammer Horror style production. But it's lack of Daikaiju (Giant Monsters) made it a little dull for me. Maybe only roughly a third of TOHO PRODUCTIONS had Giant Monsters, but to me Toho movies with out giant monsters is Toho in name only. Still a good set to buy. I hope Tokyo Shock puts out a second TOHO PACK that will include ATRAGON, DOGORA, and LATITUDE ZERO.
Some lesser known Toho treasures These three offerings are almost always overlooked (or should I say overshadowed) by Gojira and other Toho films. This is a shame for they are all interesting bits of toho History. The Mysterians has one of the most stirring Military (read battle) music compositions . Varan and Matango are also fun films in their own right. This is a worthwhile set to pick up-suitable for the whole family. Turn out the lights, grab some popcorn and reminisce about staying up late as a kid and watching "Creature Features"
mushroom madness Matango is a wonderful japanese horror movie from the early 1960's. The movie was one of the better horror movies from japan during that decade and it even found a strong following accross the world. One of the reasons for this is that the people trapped on the mushroom island have the terrible choice to starve or to eat mushrooms and become a mushroom creature. The spooky scenes of the fully mutated mushroom people who are laughing with glee at the total conformity awaiting the mushrooms victims remains a disturbing vision. It reminded me of some life long stoners I know who have become more like cabbages than people. Of course jaded viewers need not bother with old horror movies as they will just pick apart the lack of modern effects which is a shame because old movies are alot of fun.
Another must-have from Ishirô Honda This is a very mature Japanese monster movie, not at all like the classic and often amusing Saturday afternoon fare of my childhood. With a haunting storyline and images of human nature at it's worst- this is like Gilligan's Island.....on mushrooms.
This version is clean and offers both the dubbed and orig version. A must-have for fans of the genre and one of my personal favorites of all time.
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