Cheap Matango:Attack of the Mushroom People (DVD) (Akira Kubo) Price

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Customer Reviews of Matango:Attack of the Mushroom People

Connections to Gilligan in terms of inspiration
Actually as stated on this DVD's actor commentary Matango premiered in Japanese theaters in and around mid 1963. The Gilligan's Island first pilot (with different actors as The Professor and Ginger)was made in late 1963 thus the Japanese film does not predate Gilligan by a few years as another poster here thinks.Schwartz could have heard about a Japanese film made with seven castaways (as Hollywood and Tokoyo's Toho were in communication). But he definitely didn't see the Japanese film before he pitched gI to the networks in early 63. As for Matango itself it definitely is the creepiest Japanese monster film ever. But why do only some mushroom monsters go down when getting hit by bullets from the protagonist's rifle and others stay standing.. Loved the Tokoyo showgirl delusion scene best.

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Curse of the Mushroom People
I think most people have a film that they saw when they were younger, one that stayed with them, perhaps even haunted them, into their adult years. For example, one of my friends can't watch the film Trilogy of Terror (1975), specifically the scenes with that little Zuni doll, without having a full blown freakout ...my youthful cinematic scarring occurred at the hands of Mantango: Attack of the Mushroom People (1963) aka Curse of the Mushroom People, Fungus of Terror, Matango the Fungus of Terror, Matango: Fungus of Terror...I remember seeing it on WFLD in Chicago (before it got co-opted by FOX) on the Son of Svengoolie show in the early 80's, and while I didn't remember much of it prior to watching it last night, certain visuals from the film have been stuck clearly in my mind for the past 20 years. Funny thing is I've hesitated watching this film, as I purchased it back in January of this year, but, there comes a time when one must face his or her demons...looking back, I can see how this could have warped me at a tender young age, given the strength of some of the scenes, but since having learned the true horrors of life (working for a living and such), the film seems more bizarre than frightening now, so many years later. Directed by the legendary Ishirô Honda (The Mysterians, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mothra), appearing in the film is Akira Kubo (Gorath), Kumi Mizuno (Frankenstein Conquers the World), Hiroshi Koizumi (Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster), Yoshio Tsuchiya (The Monster Varan), Kenji Sahara (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla), Hiroshi Tachikawa (Gorath), Miki Yashiro (Godzilla vs. Mothra), along with Eisei Amamoto (King Kong Escapes), credited as `Skulking Transitional Matango'. <
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>The story begins at the psych ward at Tokyo Medical Center as we listen to what appears to be an internal monologue from a patient, but it's hard to tell as his back is to the camera. This segues into a flashback with some very peppy pop music and 7 people (5 men and 2 women) crusing the ocean on the sailing yacht Aho Dori, which, I think, means short-tailed albatross. Aboard the yacht is Mami (Mizuno), Akiko (Yashiro), Etsuro (Tachikawa), Kenji (Kubo), Fumio (Tsuchiya), Naoyuki (Koizumi), and Senzo (Sahara). Anyway, night falls, a storm hits, one that features giant waves pounding a miniature boat, and the next day we see a very damaged yacht adrift in foggy, unknown waters. Hope arrives in the form of an island, and the group makes their way to shore, and begin searching for food and water, noticing an unusually large amount of mushrooms growing throughout the area. While traversing the seemingly deserted island, they find a derelict, beached, research ship grounded on the beach, one covered with fungus. After finding some canned goods on the ship, they decide to take up residence, and begin making plans to fix their yacht. Tensions build as the food runs out, and it appears they may not be alone on the island as shadowy, lumpy figures visit the ship during the night. What happened to the crew of the research vessel? There weren't any corpses on the ship, and the captain's log offers little in the form of answers...perhaps their disappearance had something to do with the fungus that populates the island (you bet your mold covered bippy it does)... <
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>Someone else mentioned this, and it occurred to me as well, in as far as at times I got a sense I was watching an episode of Gilligan's Island, if David Lynch had directed it. We have a small ship that runs afoul of some adverse weather, and the seven castaways are stranded on a deserted isle. As far as characters go, there's Mami, a professional singer/part time strumpet, who would be the Ginger character, Akiko, the student, is Mary Ann, Naoyuki is the Skipper, Etsuro, the goofball writer, is Gilligan, Kenji, a university professor, is obviously the Professor, Fumio, the rich businessman (who's also the dork dressed in full sea captain gear including the hat), is Mr. Howell, and Senzo, the deckhand would have to be Mrs. Howell only because there's no one else left (sorry Senzo). But seriously, this has to have been one of the strangest films I've seen in awhile. The story was pretty slow throughout, but I found it really interesting as director Honda does an amazing job creating a moody, oppressive, nightmarish atmosphere that permeates the film much like the fog on the island. Looking at the title, one would get the impression of a silly B type movie, but the tone is pretty serious, about as serious as one can get given the antagonistic fungi factor involved. The performances and characters were decent, but what really sells the film is the overall direction, extensive sets, and appropriately creepy musical score, along with some fairly sophisticated special effects (for the time). There were some scenes near the end where I felt like I was watching a Sid and Marty Krofft (the pair responsible for such wiggy 70's television fare as H.R. Pufnstuf, The Bugaloos, and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters), particularly when the giant fungus creatures become more active, but the overall production worked well to overcome any minor silliness attributed to limitations on the visual effects regarding the giant shrooms. Is there a moral implication present with regards to the consumption of the mushrooms (they induce psychedelic hallucinations, among other things) and their harmful after effects? There sure is, and it worked on me...I've never eaten a mushroom I've found in the woods. I think my favorite scene in the film was when we saw Etsuro Yoshida, the goofy writer character (the Gilligan character), sitting in a patch of mushrooms, consuming them with a silly grin on his face. Oh, and by the way, I'd rather eat my left foot than any food I might have found on that wreck of a vessel, especially if I thought the ship was involved in some sort of nuclear research. <
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>Media Blasters presents a superior anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) picture, along with three audio tracks including English 5.1 Surround, English mono, and Japanese Mono (I'd recommend the Japanese mono with English subtitles, but to each his own). There are some worthwhile extras including a commentary track by star Akira Kubo, an interview with chief assistant director of special effects Teruyoshi Nakano, a spoken word piece with scenes and stills from the movie by writer Masami Fukushima, and an original theatrical trailer. There are also previews for other Media Blasters releases including Dagora, the Space Monster (1964), Gappa, the Triphibian Monster (1967), The Mysterians (1957), and Varan the Unbelievable (1962). <
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It Grows On You!!!
I happen to suffer a severe financial disability, I have this incredible urge to purchase almost every 1930's thru 60's classic and not so classic Sci-fi and horror title that hits the market. Last month, I purchased an excellent Toho movie from Tokyo Shock entitled MYSTERIANS which I had always heard good things about but had never seen. I was pleasantly surprized how truly good this movie was when I watched it. After the movie, I watched the trailers and noticed that a movie (which I had always figured in the past MUST be just the cheesiest and worst Japanese sci-fi movie ever made due to the stupid title) entitled "Attack of the Mushroom People" was due for release. Well, being a fan of the genre, I was now excited to have this "screen gem" in my collection which I figured would be filed away with my Ed Wood collection alongside Phil Tucker's ROBOT MONSTER. I never had the chance to see this movie shown on TV so I had no basis for my opinion other than it's title. <
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>Last night, I watched this movie for the first time and let me state how absolutely wrong my pre-conception was. Please keep in mind this movie was inappropriately re-titled for the American audience and that MIS-titling of the movie lowers it's viewer's expectations to the ranks of such Toho "classics" as SON OF GODZILLA. There are many amazing, classic movies of this era that suffer from terrible titles (such as the awesome I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE) but this is a movie whose title suffers from Americanization. <
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>Anyway, let's get back to the movie. Others who have reviewed this seem to have wonderful childhood memories of this movie, something I lacked while viewing it. The nostalgia would have been nice but the absolute freshness of this movie to me was what truly sold me. There is nothing like seeing a movie that you have dismissed as cheesy fodder (don't get me wrong, I do LOVE cheesy fodder) only to discover a brilliantly executed tale. This is a well-acted, well-directed story that really caught me off guard. The actors tensions continue to build realistically throughout the movie as they find less and less to eat. The sequences in the abandoned "ghost" ship are truly gripping but what grabbed me the most were the psycedelic scenes shot in the mushroom fields. As demetia and insanity saturate the minds of the castaways, the wonderful cinematography captures the kaliedoscopic fungal phantasms amazingly well with it's unnatural lighting and frenzied sequencing. These scenes near the end of the movie are actually mildly disturbing. The musical score seems to reflect human voices screaming in agony and torment. What a great added touch. And the surprize ending...I didn't see it coming so I won't ruin it for to those of you who have never seen this hidden treasure. <
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>This morning I sat down to a breakfast of sugar-coated vowels and consonants and ate my words with gusto. Don't be fooled like I had been by this movie's American title. From this day forth, this movie will now be placed in the top rank of my sci-fi collection with the best of the best and it will be filed under "M" for MATANGO!!