Godzilla Vs. the Sea Monster Movie Review

A young man and his friends steal aboard a sailboat, hoping to use it to find his brother, who was lost at sea. The “owner” of the boat turns out to be a thief, who happened to be hiding out on board. They all end up on an island guarded by a gigantic monster crustacean. The island is also the secret headquarters of a group of criminals bent on world domination. In a desperate gamble for survival they decide to awaken Godzilla, found sleeping in a cave, and the monster mayhem begins. This engaging adventure film was originally planned as a King Kong film, but Toho Studios substituted Godzilla when rights to the big ape proved too expensive. The first of a trio of cost-cutting Godzilla adventures set on South Pacific islands, where no miniature cities were required. Also the first Godzilla film for director Jun Fukuda, who would go on to helm four others, although none would turn out quite as well as this one. AKA: Nankai No Daiketto; Ebirah, Terror of the Deep; Big Duel in the North Sea.

1966 80m/C JP Akira Takarada, Toru Watanabe, Hideo Sunazuka, Kumi Mizuno, Jun Tazaki; D: Jun Fukuda; W: Shinichi Sekizawa; C: Kazuo Yamada. VHS, Beta DVT, MRV, HHT