60's Asian Horror Part Fourteen

YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP

(1967)

Dir - Kim Ki-duk

Overall: MEH

 

A South Korean/Japanese co-production kaiju film from the genre's heyday, Yongary, Monster from the Deep, (Daekoesu Yonggari), is unique due to the fact that it never spawned a franchise as well as being a rare collaboration between the two countries.  The original version is considered lost, with the American International Pictures edit still being available and featuring the usual dopey English dubbing, some of which manages to give everyone a generic Asian accent.  Though Japan's Toei company handled most of the special effects, this is a South Korean film in every other respect and can be seen as a metaphoric answer to the Korean War, just as Godzilla mirrored post-World Wart II and atomic bomb trauma.  That is being generous here though since the story is formulaic to a fault, relying on a snore-inducing first act, absurd comic relief like a little kid and the title monster dancing to rock music, and a plot that is nothing more than military people trying to come up with ways to stop the giant creature with bullets and missiles that do absolutely nothing.  The suitmation and miniature work is dated and unconvincing of course, but it is also given plenty of screen time once we are a half-hour in, so this still provides some fun silliness if not any suspense or human characters to remember.

 

I, THE EXECUTIONER

(1968)
Dir - Tai Kato
Overall: MEH

Stylistically adventurous, Tai Kato's I, the Executioner, (Minagoroshi no Reika, Requiem for a Massacre), suffers from a ludicrous plot and wretched pacing.  A revenge story based on flimsy logic, it concerns five women who are systemically picked off by a brooding Makoto Satō; a man with no sense of humor who rapes and murders said ladies for reasons that are head-scratching once they are explained in the closing moments.  Right from the opening scene though, director Kato and cinematographer Keiji Maruyama put the viewer on edge by showing Satō's viscous acts with no context or dialog.  This and many of the sequences that follow are filmed in a bold manner, bouncing between claustrophobic close-ups, wide-shots done in lingering takes, the camera placed ridiculously low to the ground, and various other unorthodox visual tactics.  Sadly, the movie is better to look at than it is to endure since the story meanders endlessly, growing repetitive and frustrating before both the poorly-thought out instigating moment and Satō's motivation is spelled out.  The tone is relentlessly dour, which would be tolerable with a more engaging and focused story, but instead, this is a flashy experiment that drops the ball.

 

A THOUSAND YEAR-OLD FOX

(1969)

Dir - Shin Sang-ok

Overall: MEH

Ace South Korean director Shin Sang-ok and screenwriter Il-ro Kwak deliver another work in supernatural fairytale horror with A Thousand Year-Old Fox, (Cheonnyeon ho, Thousand Years Old Fox); a film that unfortunately suffers from a start-and-stop plot that never delivers enough on its lush, atmospheric potential.  Utilizing the kumiho creature from Korean folklore as its female-possessing adversary, said entity resides in a haunted pond here and possesses a woman whose husband has been courted by the local Queen, exiling the nuisance wife only for her and her baby to get attacked by bandits.  This ushers in the revenge spirit angle and the rest of the movie plays out where Kim Ji-su turns into the floating ghost lady with a wicked make-up job at night, arising in the morning with no memory of her vengeful doings.  These wire-work moments are fun and the production takes its mystical subject matter seriously, but the melodramatic love triangle tragedy plays out in a talky fashion and despite some hysterical crying and scenery-chewing from the cast, the characters remain bland and forgettable.