Gamera Vs. Guiron (Japan 1969)

Rating: **
Review Date: 11/7/10
Alternate Title: Attack Of The Monsters

Never trust a hot alien space chick, as chances are she just wants to eat your brain. Once again, a Japanese boy and his American best friend get into trouble when they discover a flying saucer in an empty field. They go inside, leaving their little sister behind, and soon find themselves whisked off to the planet Terra. Terra is Earth's twin planet which orbits the opposite side of the sun, and is populated by hot alien space chicks. Or two hot alien space chicks, at least. The rest of the population was destroyed by monsters and super computers. The alien space chicks want to go to Earth since Terra is dying, and in order to learn everything they can about Earth, they decide to eat the young boys' brains. But being polite alien space chicks, they have to wait for the boys to fall asleep first. Fortunately, Gamera knows the boys are in trouble and races to Terra to save them. Once there, he has to contend with a guardian monster named Guiron, who looks like Homer Simpson with a giant knife attached to his head. He can also shoot poisonous shurikens out of his knife-head, which is pretty bizarre. Gamera ultimately prevails by showing off his gymnastic talents with a parallel bar. Wow...

Another fun, but overly goofy entry in the Gamera series. The little sister is adorable, and the majority of the film's drama revolves around her trying to convince the adults that her brother was kidnapped by a flying saucer. Naturally, the adults dismiss her story as pure fantasy, but finally have to accept it when Gamera safely returns the kids home. The effects are fair, but a little sparse, and the monster battles are mostly unremarkable. Thankfully, the pacing is brisk and the film moves quickly. The film gets a little preachy, and the awkward ending has Akio staring into the camera saying that we need to make Earth a peaceful place, free of wars and traffic accidents.