December 7th: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) is the first film in this series since Godzilla Raids Again (1955) where Ishiro Honda does not have directing duties, with the role being passed to Jun Fukuda, and boy is that tone change swift. When three stowaways on a boat end up being shipwrecked due to an attack by Ebirah, they find that the island they have landed on is home to a terrorist group who have enslaved the people of Infant Island. In escaping from the terrorists, they find a sleeping Godzilla, and decide to take him up to help them take care of the terrorists.

This is the first time Godzilla goes full good guy mode, and it is accompanied by a very silly and goofy film. Not to say that is bad thing, in fact this is one of the films I have enjoyed the most so far, but it is very silly and it knows it is. I mean there is a scene where Godzilla is fighting off fighter jets and the score over the top is surf rock if that gives you any indication of what kind of film this. That’s also after we see Godzilla sit down and have a little nap, and also after who partakes in his favourite hobby of throwing rocks, which then turns into a tennis match between himself and Ebirah (I’m not joking). And to top it off, at the end of the film who executes a perfect action hero dive into the sea to escape the island that explodes. While the first half drags a little with the focus being solely on our human characters, the final thirty minutes is all monster action, and it is a lot of silly fun.

That is not to say that the film is just a lot of nothing before becoming ridiculous. There are actually some really good elements to this film that raise it above the quality of some of its predecessors. Firstly, while the miniature work can sometimes still be obvious, there are also other times when it is some of the best it has ever been. The best example of this is when Ebirah first appears and we just see one of his claws. The whole scene has a wonderful atmosphere and is genuinely quite unnerving, with the scale being perfect to make you feel how huge Ebirah is compared to our protagonists who are being attacked. It is a really effective use of miniatures, added to by some excellent direction. The other thing I appreciate most about this film is how Godzilla is introduced. In a lot of the previous films, he kind of just appears out of nowhere ready to throw down. But here we are shown him asleep, almost hibernating. Firstly, great visual of him in what looks like a blanket of rocks, but secondly a brilliant idea to get us to wait. It also means that when he does wake up it feels earned rather than a surprise. The way they do it is fun too, as they resurrect him Jason Voorhees style through a lighting bolt, and then we get the classic close up of his eye opening, before he busts through the side of a mountain. Maybe it’s my caveman brain talking but it is a hell of a feast bump moment.

In a lot of ways I feel like people could see this film as going too far in the goofy direction that some of the series predecessors hinted at, and I totally get that. It is extremely silly, and is the first step into this series becoming far more kid friendly. But honestly, at this point I think that it is fine. You don’t need every film to take itself super seriously, especially when it is just a guy in a suit stomping about. Additionally, there is some great filmmaking mixed in to this which makes it really work for me. As long as you go in knowing it is somewhat tongue in cheek you can definitely have a good time it.