The X From Outer Space (1967), Dir: Kazui Nihonmatsu, Starring: Shun'ya Wazaki and Peggy Neal

If you ever wondered what would happen if you smashed together a UFO film with a Kaiju feature and add a dash of space exploration, you end up with the delightfully goofy Uchû daikaijû Girara!

Since Gojira, the Kaiju genre was a staple of Japanese cinema. It was a worldwide phenomenon - there was the British Gorgo, the Korean Yonggary, the American King Kong, Canada's Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century, the Chinese Mighty Peking Man, the Italian Giant Octopus from Tentacles, and the Danish Reptilicus. You couldn't escape it. Japan's Toho and Daiei studios swiftly took the lead with a bevy of beasts including; the Gojira, Gamera, Mothra, and...Guilala.

Well, Guilala was the product of Shochiku. If you aren't familiar with Shochiku's films, they produced the works of Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Keisuke Kinoshita. These are names mainly known for family dramas and light romance films not Kaiju. In a sense, Kinoshita's Yotsuda Phantom Parts 1 and 2 or Mizoguchi's Sansho the Bailiff could be considered monster movies. That's a discussion for another time and another place.

In the mid-1960s during the monstrous height of Kaiju fever, Shochiku decided to throw their hat...er monster in the ring. They hired veteran second unit director Kazui Nihonmatsu to make a couple of horror themed monster movies. The first was Uchû daikaijû Girara/Giant Space Monster Guilala or The X From Outer Space. After his second feature, Genocide (which will be covered at some point), he seemingly stopped working in the film industry completely. Shochiku gave up on horror and monster movies to focus on their family-centered films and eventually played a huge role in producing and distributing Anime.

With some out of this world constellation background, the credits pop off the screen with help from a fun jazzy tune. Mid-song, a man and woman ponder playfully on the wonders of the universe.

"Look how it goes forever," the woman excitedly exclaims.

The man retorts, "It's everybody's future!"

"Come on, let's embrace it!"

The fiction proper starts as a helicopter lands near Mt. Fuji's space base. Several men carry away a dangerous new radioactive element...from Outer Space! A poorly bearded white man exits. He's in command (?) and wants to see off the new Mars crew before their launch. That team consists of: Capt. Sano, Lisa, Miyamoto, and Dr. Shioda. No one has ever come back from this mission.

During the mission they encounter a UFO that leaves a strange egg with several space rocks made of this space element that causes space radiation poisoning in humans. Dr. Shioda is down. They continue with Dr. Stein, who wasn't supposed to be there today. With more of the rare element in hand something happens. That egg hatches. A giant poultry lizard hybrid is born and rampages through Japan. That monster is Guilala. It feeds on Guilalarium. The military launches an assault with Guilalarium-lined weapons to OD it. As it dies/reverts back it's egg form, whipped cream exudes from it's pores. They launch it back into space so it can't harm the earth again.

If this sounds silly, it's far sillier than you think. Clearly, it's using the old trope of the social fear of radiation and nuclear technology. That's what Gojira is. This cultural anxiety is the backbone of the Kaiju genre. Many of them use this same old plots but the only noticeable difference here is space. A common thread of science fiction in general is the fear of the unknown. The UFO and Guilala are the biggest embodiment of this fear. Space is fun but we don't know what is up there. It presents space as both wonderful and scary, heavier on the wonderful side of the coin.

Nihonmatsu really doubles, neigh, triples down on the universe in the fictional world. There is even a moon base where it's more of a jazzy officer's club with some groovin' dance clubs. Everyone has proper nightclub attire, the women packed heels and Academy Award gowns and the men have a full tuxedo. This is no free-for-all. There are rules for participating in the club's activities.

The moon base serves giant watermelon-sized space apples because there is much more sunlight than on earth. Where does the water come from? Great question, the movie answers that quandary. The staff synthesizes the oxygen and hydrogen from space, er, moon rocks to make artificial space water. It's 100% pure. We are so accustomed to space life that Lisa, the token blonde woman on the crew, is a space biologist with a space master's degree in space biology. Although, she never does any science unleash mixing drinks and yearning for Capt. Sano's love count as utilizing the scientific method. She does always have perfectly done and maintained makeup the whole time, so maybe that counts.

The kooky sensibility is complimentary to Barbarella (which came a year later) minus the gratuitous sexuality oozing off every pore of that film. This is the more family-friendly alternative with a Kaiju and Lisa instead of Duran Duran and Pygar. You got crazy spaceships, great costumes, and wacky creatures galore in each. It definitely fits into a certain subgenre of a subgenre that some people love.

At this point the space race was in full effect, the Soviets and USA were at each other's throats trying to walk on the moon. X is the only Kaiju film that I'm aware of that really digs into this. Using space not as the mysterious last frontier fro humanity, it's the polar opposite. Space is the place. It's hip, cool, and seemingly everyone is working together on trying to utilize space for the benefit of humanity. Among the majority Japanese cast, there are several white and black people mixed throughout each location. Dr. Behrman (white guy with an awful fake beard) is German, Lisa is American, etc. It posits that the exploration of space is for all of humanity, not solely the USA or the Soviets. In the 1960s, it was a competition. X is a window into what could be our future, if we work together.

The portrayal of women is  a problem but I've seen much worse from the same time. The only 2 female characters are both in love Capt. Sano. They only discuss Capt. Sano. They need his help in the third act. They could have easily been much active but this comes with the territory.

It's a goofy, silly, and delightful romp. However, if you hate this...I'd understand. This is not for everyone's tastes.