On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.
In October 2024, we’re doing the Midnight Movie Monster Mash with films that challenge our understanding of evil characters and creatures just in time for Halloween.
First, read the spoiler-free BAIT: a weird and wonderful pick from any time in film. Then, come back for the BITE: a breakdown of all the spoiler-y bits you’d want to unpack when exiting a theater.
The Bait: Kaiju Cain and Abel Take Tokyo
As a horror and sci-fi subgenre, Kaiju was built on the promise of towering monsters threatening to squish entire cities on a whim. From North Korea’s bonkers “Pulgasari” (1995) to the global phenomenon that is Godzilla and the MonsterVerse, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Kaiju flick that doesn’t classify as midnight in some way.
But measured against the vast category and even the rest of Ishirō Honda’s legendary filmography, the writer/director’s “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) is without question a cult classic. Also known as “Frankenstein’s Monsters: Sanda vs. Gaira” — more on that later! — this very loose sequel pits two hulking and hairy humanoids against each other in a brutish battle for the safety of Tokyo.
“West Side Story” star Russ Tamblyn is here (replacing Tab Hunter during pre-production) playing scientist Dr. Paul Stewart. He’s flanked by the dreamy Kaiju regular Kimi Mizuno as Dr. Akemi Togawa — who played a different but similar character in the movie this one in technically following up. Paul and Akemi are joined by the dry-as-sawdust Kenji Sahara as Dr. Yuzo Majida at their lab.
A heavy military presence is desperate for the trio’s help after a strange evil arrives on the island’s shores. When a massive killer octopus erupts from the sea, attacks a commercial fishing boat, and eats its crew, a strange green giant appears alongside it and decides to fight back. It seems like the day is saved… but after the two did battle and the squid lost, the wreck’s soul survivor says, the apex predator turned its attention back to the almost toy-like fishing vessel and tried shaking more human snacks from his prize.
The researchers are questioned about an old specimen of theirs that might be related to the incident. Could this…THING be none other than their old pal Frankenstein? In 1995’s “Frankenstein vs. Baragon” (also known as “Frankenstein Conquers the World”), the Imperial Japanese Navy suffered the wrath of Frankenstein’s obliterated heart when their post-World War II experiments on the mythical organ collided with the Americans bombing Hiroshima. They’re sure that creature is long dead, but could his offspring still carry on?
It’s certainly possible considering the original Frankenstein disappeared near Mount Fuji and his body was never found. Still, Akemi and Paul aren’t so sure. Like that blind hermit from “The Bride of Frankenstein” (you know, the one who just wanted to smoke weed and party with his new friend?), they knew the monster to be gentle. Revisionist flashbacks — which mimic scenes from “Frankenstein vs. Baragon” but replace the Frankenstein creature from that with a young brown and fuzzy version of the green Gargantua now wanted by the military — confirms what the scientists knew: a monkey-ish and even child-like being who loved them back then.
Modern audiences wanted a giant lizard and equally giant gorilla to kiss in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” for a reason. Much like Mary Shelley’s famously misunderstood collection of corpse parts, Kaiju monsters are easy to root for and remarkably sympathetic in the right circumstances. “The War of the Gargantuas” title spoils that another monster will emerge in Tokyo, but it’s not until two of these behemoths meet face-to-face that the brilliance of Honda’s shaggy script becomes clear.
Named Gaira (the green one) and Sanda (the brown one) by a government with truly baffling priorities, the two massive figures are revealed as brothers — who, yes, were born from the decaying flesh of their infamous monster father. The sweet Sanda could try to teach Gaira to be good. But in a subgenre that regularly tasks characters with battling for sheer physical supremacy, a slow-burn rehabilitation arc feels almost too outrageous for Honda to attempt.
As far hare-brained ideas go, “Frankenstein vs. Baragon” is the more obviously entertaining film. (Among other things, it’s got the aforementioned nuclear bombing, the perilous threat of a self-amputation, and an impressive sinkhole to bring the curtain down.) But Honda’s commitment to the complex and ultimately tragic story he tells with the “The War of the Gargantuas” demonstrates a quiet soulfulness that’s boundary-breaking not just for Kaiju but monster movies writ large. Its campy fun comes with a haunting essence — portraying its frustrated and confused villain like a young trick-or-treater stuck in a costume that they’re still too far from home to take off.
Plucked from the golden age of action-centric Toho films, this surprisingly thoughtful affair marked the end of an era for collaborations between the Japanese entertainment company and American producer Henry G. Saperstein. The landing on the final leg of their partnership was bumpy, but it also reunited Honda with special effects master Eiji Tsuburaya and composer Akira Ifukube for a project that still reflects their talents as a team. (Admittedly, the music can leave something to be desired as an almost endless readying-for-battle dirge, but it’s classic for the setting — and the miniatures and monster suits never fail to charm.)
With a rocky production history and multiple versions available internationally, “The War of the Gargantuas” is dense with history and lore, but lasts because it’s simple and pure in conceit. Are you Team Sanda or Team Gaira? It’s a philosophical question as much as a cinematic one: the kind of quandary you can only ever really know your answer to when you have a brother to love — and the power to destroy his puny city.
“The War of the Gargantuas” is streaming Max, Freevee with Prime Video, Tube, and more.
The Bite: To Frankenstein or Not to Frankenstein?
Check back in a feature-length beat… Are you watching “The War of the Gargantuas”?
IndieWire After Dark publishes midnight movie recommendations every Friday night at 9:30 p.m. ET. Read more of our deranged suggestions…
- How Ant Timpson and Tim League Made a Midnight Masterclass With 26 Horror Shorts in “The ABCs of Death”
- “Saturday the 14th”: It’s Jason vs. Julie Corman in New World Pictures’ Horror Spoof from 1981
- Teen Josh Hartnett Leads a Stacked Cast When Aliens Invade High School in “The Faculty”
- Want an Even Worse “Carrie”? Sean Byrne’s “The Loved Ones” Belongs on Your Dance Card
