Review: EBIRAH, HORROR OF THE DEEP (1966)

Next up on the big list of movies to watch before the new Godzilla is Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (aka Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster; 1966).

I'll go first:

The Shōwackiness continues ... We've got goofy characters, offbeat music and more. 

It was originally written for King Kong and you can tell.  He barely uses his atomic breath, for one.  For another, lightning energizes Godzilla, like it did for Kong a few movies back, whereas electricity usually hurts big G.  He also takes a liking to the lovely leading lady, a la Kong.   

We start with a group of characters at a dance contest to win a boat, they make some stupid and illogical choices and get washed ashore on the main island of the story.  "Illogical choices?"  Yeah, like the thief who lets three strangers stay on the boat despite having just made a big score ... and that it's not his boat, anyway. 

On the island, we meet the Red Bamboo, a bad-guy group that sells nuclear materials to other bad guys and, here's an apparently common Shōwa trope, natives squishing fruit to make a special juice.  I'm not kidding.  Two films earlier on used red fruit; this one uses yellow fruit.  The juice of which keeps Ebirah at bay. 

Ebirah is a giant shrimp.  Not lobster.  I just wanted to point that out.  It looks good and its two fight scenes with Godzilla are decent, but brief.  Gojira's ripping off of his claw and treating it like a clapboard is a particular highlight. 

And back to big G.  He spends a good portion of the film watching over the lovely lady, at one time having to roast a giant condor.  I have no idea where that came from.   

Oh, and Mothra's in it, too.  It's really just a cameo, despite Mothra's name being in the Japanese title.  I mean, we see him several times throughout the movie, but it's just sitting there while dozens of natives dance and prance in front of him. 

"Deus ex Mosura."  I just thought of that.  That's what Mothra's final scene appearance is. 

There's some suit-on-suit action.  Some Godzilla versus model plane action.  Ebirah versus model boat action.  ...  The music is distracting for some; sounding like Dick Dale scored the film.  Certainly lacking in the majesty often present in soundtracks from Akira Ifukube, I kinda like it.  It's different and fits the laid-back tone of the movie. 

Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster ... it's just supposed to be a handful of candy fun.  3 out of five atomic breath blasts.

Now, my son, James:

Agent Double 0 crap is back as a Lobster and he's fighting Godzilla! Will Bond defeat Big G or will his arms come off?!? 

(Trey here ... I asked.  Apparently, the music sounded like James Bond music to him, thus the reference above.) 

And they are starting the Kaiju Olympic (K.O.) Task 1. Table tennis! 

So this guy wants to find his brother and they: 

*Steal a boat
*Guy strands them out on the ocean
*find Godzilla 

And for some reason, they steal the theme from James Bond, and they also play table tennis with a boulder, go diving, and rip sea creature's arms off. 

So I give ........................3.14159 to Godzilla!!!

Here's a collection of highlights from the film's treatment on Mystery Science Theater 3000:



Here's the trailer:



Up next, giant Frankenstein monsters are back in War of the Gargantuas.