Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People)

Title: Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People)
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Horror, Sci-fi, Fantasy
Starring: Akira Kubo, Hiroshi Koizumi, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Miki Yashiro
Director: Ishiro Honda
Lanuage: Japanese (English dubbed)
Duration: 89 mins

I've noticed that Japanese films are quite popular in this thread, so I think I'll give a shot at one, and also because from a young age I've been a big fan of Japanese cult films. Of course, when I say "Japanese cult films," I really mean Godzilla and Toho films. Director Ishiro Honda is a big name in the kaiju film industry, helming such monster movies as Gojira, Rodan, Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster, and War of the Gargantuas. But with Matango, he directs a unique kind of monster movie for Toho. A movie with a look and feel that had been lost once Godzilla and Gamera were marketed more for children towards the 70's.

A yacht containing high society types and a couple crew members gets tossed about in a violent storm and ends up at a mysterious island. Once the Gilligan-like beginning is over, the people explore the island and a shipwreck not far offshore. They gather food and decide to take shelter in the shipwreck's cabin. They find a crate that reads "MATANGO" on the side. Matango is the name of magic mushroom that grows on the island, which they learn the former, and missing, passengers ate. They all agree not to touch the mushrooms on the island, but temptation and dwindling rations cause infighting and a few of our heroes to succumb to the appealing fungi. Soon after, goody-goody couple Kenji and Akiko learn first hand "you are what you eat."

Surprisingly enough, Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People is a very effective, atmospheric, and decently acted film, which, in my opinion, is one of the best Toho or Honda have ever done. The film's biggest plus is the tension the story builds without the presence of the monsters. The cast also helps accomplish this tension by emphasizing the suspiciousness of every character and the claustrophobia of them living in tight quarters in a time of desperation. The character of Etsuro, the writer, has a very eerie and mad quality about him that may send shivers down one's spine. On top of this, we have a hallucinatory, alien landscape of the island as a backdrop to the retelling of the old "forbidden fruit" story. If uncaptivated by the atmosphere and Alice in Wonderland nature of the film, you may find the mushroom people in question cheesy looking and dumb. But I find that they fit in perfectly with the mind-altering mushroom trips of the characters.

The cast is full of recognizable faces in kaiju classics. They include: Hiroshi Koizumi who also appears in such films as Godzilla Raids Again, Mothra, Dagora, and Godzilla vs. Mothra; Akira Kubo who appears in Invasion of Astro-Monster, Destroy All Monsters, Yog: Monster from Space, and Gamera: Guardian of the Universe; Kenji Sahara from Mothra, All Monsters Attack, Frankenstein Conquers the World, and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla... etc etc etc. Point being, and fanboism aside, Matango has a great cast. The cinematography is very effective in creating an other-worldly atmosphere (this is the buzzword of my review) and the story and characters are fairly developed for such a film.

If this review seems lacking, it's because I'm doing this from memory and out of boredom. Once again this is one of the best Toho films out there, second to Gojira, and is recommended viewing for those interested or those already fans of these types of motion pictures. Technically this is not a "kaiju" film like I've been implying, but it is a fantastic horror film from the golden age of Japanese genre cinema.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVyRYjJoZfc

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