The X from Outer Space

The X from Outer Space (宇宙大怪獣ギララ, Uchū Daikaijū Girara, lit. 'Giant Space Monster Guilala') is a 1967 Japanese science fiction kaiju film that was directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu and stars Eiji Okada and Toshiya Wazaki.[1]

The X from Outer Space
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKazui Nihonmatsu
Produced byWataru Nakajima[1]
Screenplay by
Starring
  • Toshiya Wazaki
  • Itoko Harada
  • Shinichi Yanagisawa
  • Eiji Okada
Music byTaku Izumi[1]
Cinematography
  • Shizuo Hirase
  • Sentura Okoshi[1]
Edited byYoshi Sugihara[1]
Production
company
Release date
  • March 25, 1967 (1967-03-25) (Japan)
Running time
89 minutes[3]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

The spaceship AAB Gamma is dispatched from Japan to the planet Mars to investigate reports of UFOs seen near the Red Planet. When the spaceship arrives, it comes across a mysterious alien vessel that suddenly sprays the AAB Gamma with spores. Samples are returned to Earth, where one of them begins to develop.

The spore grows into a giant, lizard-like creature that is named "Guilala". The monster begins a reign of destruction through Tokyo. It spits fireballs, feeds on nuclear fuel, turns into a flying, burning sphere, and destroys all aircraft and tanks in its path. Guilala is finally defeated by fighter jets laden with bombs, which coat it in a substance called "Guilalalium". This causes Guilala to shrink down to its original spore form. The government promptly launches it back into space, where it will circle the Sun in an endless orbit.

Cast
  • Toshiya Wazaki as Captain K. Sano
  • Itoko Harada as Michiko Taki
  • Shinichi Yanagisawa as H. Miyamoto
  • Eiji Okada as Dr. Kato
  • Peggy Neal as Lisa Schneider (Japanese voice actor: Reiko Mutō)[4]
  • Franz Gruber as Dr. Berman (Japanese voice actor: Tamio Ōki)[4]
  • Mike Daneen as Dr. Stein (Japanese voice actor: Teiji Ōmiya)[4]
  • Keisuke Sonoi as Dr. M. Shioda
  • Torahiko Hamada as Mr. Kimura
  • Hiroshi Fujioka as Moon base worker

Release

The X From Outer Space was released in Japan on 25 March 1967.[5] The film was never released theatrically in the United States, but instead was released directly to television in 1968 by American International Television.[2]

The Criterion Collection released The X from Outer Space on DVD through their Eclipse label under the title When Horror Came to Shochiku.[6] This DVD set offers both an English subtitled and a dubbed version of the film.[7][8] This boxed set was released on November 20, 2012.[9]

Reception

Film historian Chuck Stephens described the film as having "a well-deserved reputation as one of the silliest and, as a consequence, most beloved rubber-suit monster movies ever made".[10] Sight & Sound described the film as a "harebrained kaiju epic" that was "Cheesy, rich in comic non sequiturs and scored with an unpredictable mishmash of 1960s pop and bossa nova. X fits comfortably into one's stoned best-bad-movie rental evening".[11]

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. "The X from Outer Space". Criterion Collection. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  2. Galbraith IV 1994, p. 325.
  3. Galbraith, Stuart (1994). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. McFarland. p. 325.
  4. JTNEWS. "宇宙大怪獣ギララのシネマレビュー、評価、クチコミ、感想です。". みんなのシネマレビュー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-04-28.
  5. Galbraith IV 1996, p. 445.
  6. "Eclipse Series 37: When Horror Came to Shochiku". Criterion Collection. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  7. Cashill, Robert (2013). "When Horror Came to Shochiku". Cineaste. Vol. 38 no. 2. p. 67. ISSN 0009-7004.
  8. Galbraith IV, Stuart (18 December 2012). "When Horror Came to Shochiku (The X from Outer Space / Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell / The Living Skeleton / Genocide)". DVDTalk. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  9. "The X From Outer Space (1967)". AllMovie. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  10. Stephens, Chuck. "Eclipse Series 37: When Horror Came to Shochiku". Criterion Collection. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  11. Atkinson, Michael (January 2013). "Shochiku's Schlock Wave". Sight & Sound. Vol. 23 no. 1. British Film Institute. p. 118.

Sources
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-853-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0032-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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