Daimajin

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for the giant monster on a rampage flicks that came out of Japan in the late 60's/70's, and picked this up expecting more of that. After the opening scene, showing just how powerful Daimajin actually is (let's just say, he's more a force of nature than a giant monster), I was completely hooked. The entire series is fairly grim, and I loved the fact that Daimajin isn't necessarily a good or bad guy. He does what he does because he wants to, for whatever reason, be it that the villain offended him, or he felt sorry for one of the people who suffered over the course of the movie. They're not exactly art films, but they're not quite the kitsch of the later Godzilla movies, either. Highly recommended.

I picked up this movie because I like giant monster films and was expecting this to be your average monster smash up. Often with giant monster films the bits with humans in are nothing more than padding and have little or nothing to do with the plot. I'm thinking of Godzilla vs King Kong with the pointless magic string guys or the awful little poet kid in Godzilla vs The Smog Monster. This film is nothing like that, the story is interesting in its own right.

The real draw is of course the big guy and he's excellent too. His inevitable rampage is well put together with some nice special effects. I was really surprised by this film, it was a lot better than I expected and definitely worth seeing.

In late Edo Japan, a wicked chamberlain betrays his lord, enslaves the local villagers, and desecrates their god, an enormous statue of a warrior, which ultimately comes to life as 'Daimajin' (roughly: 'giant demon'). As Japanese monster movies go, this one is pretty subtle and the titular monster doesn't show up until the final reel, but the sometimes grim 'samurai' story leading up to the tokusatsu climax is actually quite good. The film is very well made (I watched a reasonably well-done subtitled version) with an excellent score by Akira Ifukube (reminiscent of his iconic Godzilla and Mothra themes). Worth tracking down for fans of the fanciful (I found it on YouTube). As a cautionary tale about the dangers of iconoclasm, I only wish something similar had happened when the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

I was expecting a decent film due to the ratings on IMDb, but what I experienced, was much greater than that. This period piece forces us to be an active participant by enveloping us with its desperate atmosphere. It's melodramatic set up brings the pacing down, so don't expect monster mashing anytime soon. It's tone is fierce and foreboding throughout. The tension is wonderful, and the anticipation of a reluctant savior slow to awaken, is as brutal as the wrath it releases! DaiMajin is like a freight train, slow to get going, and hard to stop! 8/10.

**By the way I always recommend the Japanese versions with their acting and English subtitles.**

I saw this at least twice on Channel 56 (Boston) Creature Double Feature when I was a kid- and it's the kind of movie you remember but can't believe existed. It was pretty amazing! This giant ancient Japanese warrior statue comes out of the sea and starts kicking ass. I had to wait for the internet and the debut of Google to find that I was right---it does exist. Now I am psyched and want to get the DVD if it exists. Right on !

Other films on Channel 56 were the original War of the Worlds, which scared the hell out of me (it's really scary for a bad old sci fi flick---its the tentacles which I could psyche myself could be outside my window) and also the X from outer space and some other weird stuff that I will no doubt find out about someday, but this is really hallucinatory and amazing.