Monsters are all the rage over here at Top 5 Scary Videos--especially ones that grace
the silver screen with their terrifying-monstrous presence.
And guess what?!
We’re coming at you with a special KAIJU MONSTER ATTACK EDITION!
Or--well, that’s a working title, so just roll with it.
The thing is, whilst we’ve recently covered GIANT monsters of a different variety--there
is no doubt that ever since 1953’s The Beast from 20’000 Fathoms inspired global cinema
with the thought of terrifying monstrosities rising from the depths of the ocean--Kaiju
Cinema took that concept and ran with it.
The truth it, there is nothing *quite* like this style of science fiction horror--so let’s
take a look at some of the best of the best.
Hello horror fans, what’s going on--and once again welcome back to the scariest channel
on YouTube--Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch, as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Scariest GIANT Kaiju Monster Movies!
Roll the clip!
Alright, okay, maybe not quite what you were expecting--but for the curious amongst you,
that clip was from 2009’s Big Man Japan--perhaps one of the strangest yet brilliant films to
have recently emerged from the home of the Kaiju Movie.
And yeah, if you’re in the mood for some giant monsters but aren’t quite sure what
version you’d like… yeah, Big Man Japan is probably the movie for you.
Believe me, it’s weird--but brilliant--and it’s a hodgepodge of pretty much every trope
that we know and love in giant monster cinema.
Anyway, on with the show.
Kicking off at Number 5--Destroy All Monsters, 1968
Alright, probably the best place to start if you’re not sure what Kaiju Cinema is,
is by ramming together pretty much every single Kaiju ever and making them throw down in a
titanic battle to the death.
And I mean, it’s probably important to note that this movie features perhaps the most
Kaiju in any Giant Monster Movie ever--we’re talking Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah,
Anguiris--Minilla.
It goes without saying, but they’re pretty big players, and obviously, any time Godzilla,
Mothra and Rodan get together--you know that some pretty big stuff is gonna go down.
Directed by Ishiro Honda--one of the biggest players in the Showa Era of Kaiju Cinema and
one of Toho Studios best and brightest assets--Destroy All Humans takes place in a time of pure utopia--where
world peace has been achieved by the year 1999--and all of the giant monsters that have
previously tried to destroy the planet have instead been captured and confined to an area
known as Monsterland.
However--just when all seems well, all of these monsters are broken out of metaphorical
giant prison and instead mind-controlled by an alien species known as Kilaaks--who then
send the Kaiju to attack major cities across the planet.
We’re talking--Godzilla tearing apart New York City.
Rodan invading Moscow--and Mothra and her Larval Offspring laying waste to the cities
of Beijing.
Thankfully--Earth’s defences, spear-headed by the United Nations Science Committee--eventually
wrestle back control of the poor mind-controlled Kaiju--but that’s when the Kilaaks send
their biggest and baddest nasty of all time--King Ghidorah himself, and then stuff really gets
blown to smithereens.
The thing is, although not quite campy enough to be mid 70’s kaiju brilliance--and not
quite gritty enough to be mid 80s and 90s kaiju raw action--Destroy All Monsters sits
somewhere between the two--and yet most importantly, it’s just pure fun.
Destroy All Monsters is insane--and it’s a time where Toho Studios figured--what the
heck, we’ve got all these monsters… we may as well put them through their paces.
Although not a highlight of Kaiju History--it set the precedent for many more to come.
Swinging in at Number 4--Giant Monsters All Out Attack, 2001
And if you’re looking for a real mouthful--then why don’t you try--Godzilla, Mothra and
King Ghidorah--Giant Monsters All Out Attack.
Yeah, because who cares about film titles any more, right?
Thankfully for us though, although colloquially dubbed GMK by Kaiju Monster Movie Fans--2001’s
Giant Monsters All Out Attack is perhaps one of the most accessible kaiju movies ever made.
The thing is, whilst it certainly embraces the unabashed cheesiness that earlier showa
era and Heisei era kaiju movies were so famed for--this one was made during the short period
known as the Millennium Era.
And strangely enough, much like the zeitgeist captured in that period of cinema--GMK is
surprisingly… dark.
For a kaiju movie--it’s gritty as all hell--and although not perfect in any sense, there are
moments in this movie that really turn the franchise on its head.
And to address the kaiju elephant in the room--yes, Giant Monsters All Out Attack *is* hated by
certain portions of the fanbase--given the fact that King Ghidorah--the ultimate adversary
of all time--is instead the good guy in this story.
And that means only one thing.
Our beloved Godzilla--is the villain.
Written and directed by Shusuke Kaneko, GMK features Godzilla as a ravenous returning
force--during a time where the world, and the brave and noble JSDF are nervous about
where and when Godzilla will strike.
Unbeknownst to them though, Godzilla is actually possessed by the souls of the dead that were
lost during the events of World War Two.
And the only thing left to do is for an unlikely alliance to be forged between Mothra, King
Ghidorah and Baragon.
Although the themes aren’t always clear in this movie--and although they miss more
often than they hit--GMK is one of the most complete giant monster movies of recent times.
Although the unconventional Godzilla is kind of hated--start to finish, GMK is entertaining--and
that's the most important thing.
Next up at Number 3--King Kong vs Godzilla, 1962
I’ll be damned if this isn’t one of the finest moments in Kaiju cinema--of all time.
Really, to be a fan of this type of cinema, you have to adhere to a certain set of disbelief.
When there’s a guy in a lizard suit rolling around a fake background--yeah, sometimes
it doesn’t always work.
And whilst that is *CERTAINLY* the case in 1962’s King Kong vs Godzilla--holy moly,
if there aren’t some absolutely astounding moments of cinema found here.
It’s crazy, because what’s so great about this genre, is that Toho Studios just didn’t
care.
Not in the sense that they didn’t put their heart and soul into these movies, because
that’s exactly what they did.
They just didn’t do things by a certain playbook.
Hollywood be damned as far as they were concerned, because they wanted to put one guy in a lizard
suit and one guy in a gorilla outfit and then make the best damn movie they could.
This is the culmination of that spirit.
King Kong vs Godzilla--and whilst next year there’s a remake coming our way--if you’ve
got a spare 90 minutes, give this movie a watch.
Really, this is one of the finest examples of kaiju cinema going, and it’s certainly
worth your attention.
Again, directed by Ishiro Honda and written by Shinichi Sekizawa, the story behind King
Kong vs Godzilla originally began with the giant lord of the apes throwing down with
some version of a giant Frankenstein Monster--which, let’s not beat about the bush--would have
been absolutely awesome--but thankfully for us, Toho snapped out of it and realised that
the giant lizard king would be a far greater adversary.
Obviously, the narrative behind this movie is pretty self explanatory--but the cultural
impact that this movie has had on science fiction cinema is kind of staggering.
There are so many urban myths and legends about this movie that it’s worth experiencing
just for that fact--and whilst most of them aren’t exactly true, the ending to King
Kong vs Godzilla is one of the most epic conclusions of 20th century cinema.
This movie is brilliant, and it’s historical significance shouldn’t be forgotten.
Coming in at Number 2--Gamera, Guardian of the Universe, 1995
Finally!
We have a place to put this movie--and yeah, whatever, this movie isn’t scary in the
slightest, but my word if this movie isn’t all kinds of marvelous then I don’t know
what is.
The thing is, we get it--we love Godzilla.
We love King Kong.
They’re the greatest--but until this movie, Gamera was one of the most overlooked kaiju
monsters of all time.
Put it this way.
Guardian of the Universe was both a reboot of the franchise, and also the NINTH movie
featuring the turtle-shelled monster hero.
Gamera is persistent--and the pay off, surprisingly--was one of the greatest kaiju movies of all time.
Gamera is a Kaiju like no other.
He’s a massive, fire-breathing prehistoric turtle, and much like his Godzilla brethren--he
was mutated via exposure to nuclear weapons.
At the start of the Kaiju franchise--Gamera was an all consuming--aggressive force--but
slowly, as the franchise evolved, Gamera taking a back seat to his other, more famous Kaiju
co-stars--eventually forced himself into a niche, to say the least.
You see, eventually--Gamera took on a less malevolent force--and instead, he became a
defender of humanity--particularly human children--and a guardian of our planet against extraterrestrial
alien forces.
All of this finally culminated in his reinvention of a reinvention--in 1995’s Gamera, Guardian
of the Universe--and this movie is astounding because of it.
Written by Kazunori Ito and directed by Shusuke Kaneko, again, Gamera Guardian of the Universe
embodies that same spirit that Toho Studies had perfected over the decades.
This movie is just freakin’ fun!
It’s so fantastically bizarre that you can’t help but be entertained.
Gyaos flying through the skies attacking people left right and centre, and the Giant Fire
Breathing turtle who is a Friend to All Human Children saving the day.
In many ways, this entry embodies everything that we love about Kaiju Cinema--and as a
side note, the following Gamera-centric movies are also worth a watch.
Again, if you’re looking for some 90-minutes of entertainment--you really can’t go wrong
with Gamera.
And finally, coming in at our Number 1 spot--Gojira, 1954
It just has to be, doesn’t it.
And whilst over here at Top 5 Scary Videos we do indeed favour doing things a little
differently when it comes to picking our particular movie entries--we don’t need that here.
You see, kaiju monster movies already speak for themselves in that regard--or, well, roar
for themselves, I guess.
And 1954’s Gojira, the most important giant monster movie that has ever emerged from Japan--exemplifies
that fact entirely.
This *is* the definitive Godzilla movie--and still to this day, over 60 years later--1954’s
Gojira is unrivaled.
It is astounding how well this movie has held up--and much like some of the suit work seen
in King Kong vs Godzilla--some of the scenes that were captured in this movie were hallmark
moments in science fiction cinema.
Following its release, Ishiro Honda--the man behind 1954’s Gojira and one of Toho Studios
most legendary kaiju contributions, said--
If Godzilla had been a dinosaur, or some other animal--he would have been killed with just
one cannonball.
But if he were equal to an atomic bomb, we wouldn’t know what to do.
So, I took the characteristics of an atomic bomb--and then I applied them to Godzilla.
You see, this is exactly why kaiju monster movies captured something so special.
They exemplified an era--a period of Japanese history that was still trying to recover from
the horrors of the second world war.
In fact, the destruction seen throughout this black and white B-Movie, metaphorically speaking,
still can rival some of the most expensive and well produced giant monster movies.
1954’s Gojira is a masterclass in how to make a giant monster truly terrifying.
Low angles--ample pacing on the reveal--high angle shots of the ant-like human survivors
fleeing in terror.
Gojira is sci-fi-horror 101.
Whilst this genre isn’t exactly for everyone--the influence it has had on the horror genre is
undeniable.
This movie cemented Godzilla as the definitive, unrivaled giant monster--and since it’s
release way back when in 1954--few films have come close to toppling it.
Well, there we have it folks--our list for the Top 5 Scariest GIANT Kaiju Monster Movies.
What do you guys think?
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Have any more to add to this list?
Then let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below.
Before we depart from today's video though, let’s first take a quick look at some of
your more creative comments from over the past few days.
First up, Vicarious Gamer says--
After getting my girlfriend to watch the greasy strangler with me, she refuses to watch movies
with me.
-- yeah, what can I say dude?
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
It’s one of the strangest movies ever made for a reason.
And finally, Matthew Adams says--
Ugggh, dude, put a sock in it and just play some clips with the movie titles edited in.
--- Well, I’m afraid to break it to you Matthew Adams, but I think you’d perhaps
find more entertainment in watching some movie trailers.
It’s great fun.
Well, on that note--unfortunately, that’s all we’ve got time for in today's video,
cheers for sticking around all the way until the end.