JM Cozzoli

Intended as a sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965), but re-edited to a point where it lost that connection, The War of the Gargantuas (La Guerra de los Gorillas) was rated a “bomb” by Leonard Maltin in his Movie and Video Guide. Remember those paper movie reference guides? But Stuart Galbraith IV in his Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films book disagrees. He says “despite a much less interesting storyline [than Frankenstein], War of the Gargantuas is silly fun and underserving of the “BOMB” rating…War of the Gargantuas may not be very good but it’s never boring…while hardly one of Toho’s best efforts, War of the Gargantuas is entertaining, and holds up well today.”

You be the judge. He goes on to mention how the monster suits were more mobile than the rubber reptiles and that the actors “could see and express themselves with their own eyes, rather than electronically controlled ping pong balls.” Russ Tamblyn had hit the skids in his career by the time he did this movie. Galbraith mentions that Bill Warren told him that, according to Tamblyn, the dialog track went missing so Tamblyn had to redub his lines without the benefit of the script.

Even Godzilla had to deal with pollution. This Mexican lobby card for Godzilla contra Monstruos del Smog shows how big the problem was, even back then; today it would be more like Godzilla vs. plastics, global warming, and stupid people. Now that’s a smackdown I’d pay good money to see. Especially in IMAX.

The Girl Hunters. Here’s a good visual summary of the Mike Hammer detective method: dames, duking it out, and dirty job assignments. Oh, and Betsy, his gun, always ready to socialize loudly. Mickey Spillane plays his own trench-coated, rough and downbeat, and boozing detective pining after Velda after she goes missing. Stacy Keach played “the new” Mike Hammer in the 1984 to ’87 television series and a few TV movies. For Keach, he played Hammer with more heart and a soul, but Spillane made sure he still wore his .45 Colt.