Review: THE X FROM OUTER SPACE (1967)

Next up from the big list (HERE) is the hard-to-find The X from Outer Space (aka Giant Space Monster Guilala; 1967).

I'll go first:

Boy, 1967 was the year of the monster movie, huh? 

Again, not from either Toho or Daiei, X from Outer Space begins like several tokusatsu films from the former studio.  Astronauts and rocket ships, cool model work, forced humor and interaction between the characters ... 

It all goes rather predictably, especially if you've been watching these movies with us, though the details sound unique enough.  Astronauts go up, find UFOs near Mars, something attaches to the rocket ship and then one of the spores grows into a giant monster once they get back to Earth. 

The astronaut stuff is tedious, though the UFO looks like a glowing pie (minus the whipped cream).  When the spore grows, though, things take off.  Guilala himself looks very interesting and, compared to many other kaiju we've seen so far, he's very powerful.  He spits fireballs, and that's neat.  Most interestingly, he can transform into a glowing sphere for quick movement while destroying everything around the ball as it goes.  Also, he can absorb nuclear energy ... something that reminded me of the Hesei Godzilla films to come.  In the end, the scientists shrink it back into spore form by coating it with the tongue-twisting element guilalalium.
Musically speaking, the score is very jazzy.  I liked it quite a bit. 

The X from Outer Space ... Swingin' score, cool monster, but they can't combat the majority of the movie, which is just plain boring.  3 out of five atomic breath blasts.

Here's my son's review:

I thought it was horrible.  Boring, super cheesy effects, a cookie flying saucer.  So yeah,there's a monster who eats steel and whatever it touches, the object explodes! 

so,rating wise, i'll say 1.00000000909 out of 5!!!

The trailer:



Up next, the South Korean monster movie attempt Yongary: Monster from the Deep.