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The X From Outer Space

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gugon	The X From Outer Space	#21	[-]
Oct 19 06 7:56 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I finally watched this off the DVR and I gotta say this is one of my new favorite bad movies. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this. If Ed Wood was Japanese and had a budget to throw around, he might have come out with something like this. The dialog was priceless: "Research is fun and all but you gotta take a break some time." "Great idea! Let's go have a party at my place." And all the abrupt laughter at "jokes" that aren't the least bit funny (and yet all the funnier because of that). And the music! I loved it. Every time the space ship showed up you got the jazzy lounge music. Monster shows up, cue the discordant jazzy lounge music. The monster was a demented work of art. Every time I looked at it I saw some new detail. Like the crab claw at the end of the tail. And the throat bulge (in one shot it looked like they had an inflatable bladder in there). The antennae and the spines on the back and the weird ridges on the arms. So much to look at! And forget about slow motion for this monster! Guilala was just running around, smashing buildings and flapping its arms full speed ahead. He was in non-stop rampage mode - maybe the most hyperactive giant monster ever! I thought even the space scenes were entertaining. The dialog and the "science". That UFO that kept showing up making a "nuisance" of itself. I think they actually used a pie for this thing (I was going to say a Hot Pocket but those weren't invented yet). And both of those women were really HOT. I'm just saying. You just don't see entertainment like this any more. Oh - and that closing scene! So, what valuable lesson did we learn from the monster Guilala? Oh! Oh! I know! Was it to use proper quarrantine procedures when bringing alien organisms back to Earth? No, silly! We learned that there are two people who care deeply for Captain Sano! http://www.necromerica.blogspot.com
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MBarnum	Re: The X From Outer Space	#22	[-]
Oct 19 06 1:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Gugon, that was a perfect description of this movie....and I have loved it since I was a kid! I wish I had known that the version that TCM was showing was the subtitled one. Darn!
Bill Warren	Re: The X From Outer Space	#23	[-]
Oct 19 06 5:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* And the throat bulge (in one shot it looked like they had an inflatable bladder in there). A monster with a goiter. Now I know I've gotta see this someday.
SAM33		#24	[-]
Feb 27 10 11:31 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I hadn't seen this since I was a kid on TV, over 40 years ago - just watched it last night in the beautiful widescreen transfer. Yeah it's "bad" but lots of fun I thought. The goofy music, acting, and effects are all charming to me. True it's a bit of a wait for the monster, but the space stuff was entertaining too I thought, and when Girara/Guilala comes, he's there a lot. And yes, the effects aren't quite Toho, but they're plentiful and ambitious, with lots of unusual extreme angles (the scene where he picks up a large ship and throws it is a hoot). I find these "lesser" kaiju to have a lot of entertainment value, and this one is in such good shape that I really enjoyed it. SAM33 Last Edited By: SAM33 Mar 17 10 10:00 AM. Edited 2 times.
Uchujin65		#25	[-]
Feb 27 10 1:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The film is the Plan 9 from Outer Space of kaiju films to me: so awful I can't believe that THREE PEOPLE wrote it but hysterically fun. Guilala looks like he belongs on a children's program, the space scenes are hilariously quaint (it's almost impossible to believe that this was made a mere year before 2001), the jazzy moonbase scenes are to die for and the film in a very political incorrect, Japanese nationalistic fashion depicts space travel as a co-op between Japan and Germany. I love the finale where Peggy Neal comes to the enlightened conclusion that Caucasians like herself shouldn't intermarry with the Japanese. At least that leaves her for me. But Peggy Neal is lovely and practically worth watching the whole damn film for and it's depiction of space faring is very akin to a later episode of Lost in Space in kitsch factor. The music is terrible, from the lounge music that space embodies to the monster's theme which is literally one note repeated again and again like Chinese water torture. Some of the FX shots themselves are actually quite effective, though if Guilala didn't look like he belonged on a freaky Japanese kids show. But overall it's a very similar experience to Robot Monster or Plan 9 From Outer Space: poor in quality, superb in ironic entertainment value. The rest of Shochiku's horror output: Goke, Living Skeleton and Genocide are fantastic though, 60s pulp horror at its finest. I wish they had made more films like those in the 60s and 70s. Here! Last Edited By: Uchujin65 Feb 27 10 1:26 PM. Edited 1 times.
todmichel		#26	[-]
Feb 27 10 1:59 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	What about MONSTER X STRIKES BACK ??? http://www.scifijapan.com...ck-attack-the-g8-summit/
Kongu is Kingu		#27	[-]
Feb 27 10 3:14 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I keep hoping to see this and the other films from the studio get those rumoured Criterion/Eclipse titles. I do have Living Skeleton, but it has no subs.
Hachigatsu		#28	[-]
Feb 27 10 3:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	As music, I really like the score for THE X FROM OUTER SPACE, but I think that most of it is inappropriate for the film, itself. Even American films, like MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE (1965) and European films like WILD WILD PLANET (1965), portrayed space as a fanciful place with silver spaceships, which was the standard at time, culminating in THE GREEN SLIME (1968). 2001 did set all-new precedents for portraying space and space travel in films, but also set the gold standard for science fiction cinema (and made it palatable for adults again). So, immediately, the entire space movie output of the 1960s was rendered obsolete by Stanley Kubrick. After the huge "Monster Boom" in 1966, where Eiji Tsuburaya's teleseries, ULTRA Q, became a gargantuan hit right out of the gate on January 1st, everyone wanted a piece of the action. Toho released GAMERA VS. BARUGON and DAIMAJIN in April; Toei released TERROR BENEATH THE SEA and WATARI: THE NINJA BOY and Toho released THE WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS in July; Daiei released THE WRATH OF DAIMAIJIN in August; Daiei released DAIMAJIN STRIKES AGAIN and Toho released GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER in December (and any foreign monster films released in Japan that year). Not to mention that ULTRAMAN and THE SPACE GIANTS began broadcasting in April (including American shows like THE OUTER LIMITS, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA and LOST IN SPACE). So, it was a big year for monsters in Japan, and 1967 was going to be even bigger. Much of the publicity for these films and television series were pushed in Boys' magazines, and suddenly, children became the biggest audience for these films (counted among them was Prince Akihiko, who would go on to become Emperor of Japan). So, films such as GAMERA VS. GYAOS, GAPPA THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTER, and THE X FROM OUTER SPACE, were produced directly for adolescents (one of the popular children's magazines ran a contest to name Guilala. The winning entry was a girl!). So, yes, THE X FROM OUTER SPACE is wacky, because Shochiku went right for the kiddie market, and just gave a little drama for the parents to endure the film (the love triangle). So, remember, we can be friends with everyone on Earth, but keep within your own race! Still, I hope to be able to purchase a Criterion/Eclipse box set of the Shochiku-produced fantasy films one day soon. The delirious GENOCIDE, in particular, needs a much wider audience... August Ragone Author EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS Blog THE GOOD, THE BAD AND GODZILLA Last Edited By: Hachigatsu Feb 27 10 3:45 PM. Edited 2 times.
Kongu is Kingu		#29	[-]
Feb 27 10 3:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I think late 60s sci-fi in general went for far-out goofiness. Hammer's Moon Zero Two is an example. It often seems that they were trying to make sci-fi have the atmosphere of the way out music scene. 'X' certainly suggests the makers were getting rather mellow yellow...
Uchujin65		#30	[-]
Feb 27 10 6:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hachigatsu wrote: The delirious GENOCIDE, in particular, needs a much wider audience... Yessiree! That film and Goke are wonderful, angry as hell Vietnam era anti-war sci-fi progammers. Interesting that Nihonmatsu (the director of X) also made Genocide. X is so happy and giddy and upbeat and Genocide's tone is far more akin to Goke's. I think screenwriter Susumu Takahisa has as much credit owed for Goke and Genocide. He and Takeshi Kimura had a similarly cynical view of the world. Here!
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vayapues		#31	[-]
Feb 27 10 9:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm another fan who's been Guila-less to this very day & all your descriptions make it a "gilt-edged priority to take that brain boost" (quoting Warren Stevens in FORBIDDEN PLANET). Stan Hyde has a wonderful dual appreciation of both this film & GAPPA in a back issue (can't recall specific number) of G-Fan. Finally, you wanna talk about miniature action sans hi-speed photography (& yet often still quite effective, perhaps because of accomplished B/W lighting), how about Mario Bava's effects for CALTIKI, IL MOSTRO IMMORTALE? At one point Caltiki crash through brick fence that go plop!
Chris Koenig		#32	[-]
Feb 27 10 11:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hachigatsu wrote: Still, I hope to be able to purchase a Criterion/Eclipse box set of the Shochiku-produced fantasy films one day soon. The delirious GENOCIDE, in particular, needs a much wider audience... You and me both, August. Everytime I get a chance to e-mail them if it's happening, it's usually the standard "We're looking into it" answer. I realize that Criterion has a lot on their plate, but if they can finally release "Hausu" in a theatrical re-release I think it's possible for them to start releasing the Shochiku titles. Oh, and ditto for those Nobuo Nakagawa films as well. And yes, "Genocide" needs to be seen on a wider level: even since I first saw it on DVD-R of the Japanese version, and then eventually the English International dub that was provided by Sinister Cinema, it's a real sleazy piece of Japanese sci-fi/horror that remains my fave because of it's extremely downbeat ending! Really, it set the bar for me in terms of a movie in which nobody will escape alive.
Uchujin65		#33	[-]
Feb 27 10 11:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Goke and Genocide have a similar same set-up. They open with a plane crash and end with total annihilation. I know what you mean about Criterion. It's not like the four Shochiku films would require extensive special features either. The Japanese R2s of the latter three all have commentary tracks by Shinji Higuchi (Lorelei, Gamera's SFX), I'd love if they could just port all that over and include the international dubs of Goke and Genocide and that would take far less effort than giving House a new theatrical run. Here! Last Edited By: Uchujin65 Feb 27 10 11:49 PM. Edited 1 times.
pringly		#34	[-]
Mar 16 10 6:20 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I really liked this movie when I first saw it as a kid and later on when I got it on VHS. Its goofy but engageing. I can still remember some of the better lines eventhough I haven't seen it in years. My favorite was how you couldn't enjoy the water on the moon because its fake. Dr. Stein was great too. I don't know much about him but I think he was in two other Japanese monster movies: Terror beneath the Sea and Gappa the triphibian Monster. Does anyone know anything about him? Also, I can't remember why there was a UFO? It didn't seem to have any direct impact on the story except that they kept chasing it. Did the spore come from the UFO? Also, when did Criteria get the rites for this film. The video tape I got was from Orion and is the AIP-Television Pan and Scan version. I'd really like to see the letterboxed version. Does anybody know its release status?
Chris Koenig		#35	[-]
Mar 16 10 8:58 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	As far as I know, Criterion is still sitting on this one, so us fans must keep on waiting for it to show up on Region 1 DVD.
Uchujin65		#36	[-]
Mar 16 10 11:18 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Shochiku R2 is English dubbed. And there are other, dirtier means of obtaining the film subtitled. Here!
Edkkakumon		#37	[-]
Mar 16 10 11:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The film says that previous missions to Mars never returned. The UFO served as an explanation for that. Secondly, the UFO probably placed the spore on the ship. In an episode of Ultra Q, martians send back a probe with eggs. One egg turned into the monster Namegon. It was theorized by the scientist that Namegon was a warning to stay away. Guilala seems to fit that bill as well.
pringly		#38	[-]
Mar 17 10 4:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm going to have to dig out my VHS copy tonight (I hope I can find it). If someone can direct me to some place where I can get the letterboxed version I'd appreciate it. Hows the dubbing on the R2 version? I usually like the dubbing done by the company that did them for AIP and not those done on the international versions. I was also wondering if anyone heard of the sequel to this film (Guilala Raids Again). I did a very brief search on the net, but only found sites which said it was in the process of being made.
Hachigatsu		#39	[-]
Mar 17 10 8:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The "sequel", which is a poorman's AIRPLANE-like comedy, is called MONSTER X STRIKES BACK. was released in the US on DVD by Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock: http://www.amazon.com/Mon...shi-Kitano/dp/B0021BSOFY August Ragone Author EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS Blog THE GOOD, THE BAD AND GODZILLA
Edkkakumon		#40	[-]
Mar 19 10 12:25 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have the dvd, and it's quite silly.
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