1969's "Attack of the Monsters" ("Gamera tai Daikaiju Giron" or Gamera vs. Giant Evil Beast Guiron) was the 5th entry in Daiei's Gamera series, continuing the child friendly focus with few adults present from the previous year's "Destroy All Planets." As stipulated by AIP, we get two boys as protagonists, Japanese Akio (Nobuhiro Kajima) and American Tom (Chrystopher Murphy), each fixated on reports of spaceships as they look to the stars in their telescope every night. Lo and behold, one such craft pops up to land in a nearby field so they promptly investigate, sneak on board, and in pretending to launch it succeed in doing just that, headed for the planet Terra located on the opposite side of the sun. Any thoughts of trepidation are put to rest by the prompt appearance of Gamera, who clears their path through an asteroid shower but is left behind once they land on Terra and meet the sole inhabitants, two beautiful young women named Barbella and Florbella, who they figure would be a hit back on Earth. What the lads don't know is that these comely lasses intend to consume their brains for sustenance during the journey, as the ship can only carry two at a time. The reason for their being the last survivors is the devastation wrought on their planet by the proliferation of monsters, in particular the silver colored 'Space Gyaos,' meeting his match against their exalted watchdog Guiron, whose entire head is shaped like a giant meat cleaver, its amazing leaping ability enough to sever Gyaos in mid flight before completely dismembering the helpless carcass. Gamera shows up just as Akio is about to suffer a bout of serious brain chewing, his protective shell pounded by Guiron's heavy blade attack, his flesh rendered by shurikens fired from what might constitute Guiron's nose. As in previous bouts with Barugon and Gyaos, our titular turtle suffers grievous defeat before titanic triumph, all in a span of 24 minutes as the intimidating Guiron is himself cut in half by an exploding rocket missile, its mistresses both perishing during the fallout. The boys board the repaired spacecraft and return to Earth in style, carried in Gamera's mouth for a heroic reunion with disbelieving mothers and relieved scientists. This was the only entry set on another world, quite a step up from "Destroy All Planets" with its awkward reshuffling of stock footage, of which a mere two minutes are sufficient to fill in the gaps for our flesh eating femmes (Reiko Kasahara as Barbella would return in more revealing costumes for "Gamera vs. Zigra"). These boys are also a bit easier to take, unlike the prankster scouts previously showcased, the monster scenes rendered like a live action cartoon complete with bloodless violence that can still stun a first time viewer. Likely the major bone of contention is AIP's removal of the Gyaos dismemberment by his gleeful, laughing opponent, happily restored in all its gory glory by the late 80s, making Guiron a wicked, formidable foe to be truly feared.
Review of Gamera vs. Guiron
