Kaijū Sōshingeki / Destroy All Monsters (1968)

The theory behind Destroy All Monsters is the same theory as lurks behind every great money-spinning scheme; get a bunch of recognisable rubber monsters together and have them beat the ever-loving gravy out of one another. Sadly, this is the film's only real strength, with an extremely long and drawn out plot before we get to the final monster melee. Admittedly seeing all the monsters attack cities is enjoyable, especially featuring the best attack by Godzilla on New York City committed to film, but the story is stock alien invasion, Invasion of the Body Snatchers fare. It's almost not worth sitting through the first chunk of the film to see the goofy rubber beasties lay the smack-down, including some under-rated monsters like Varan and the mighty Baragon. The final fight certainly fulfills the function of providing stock footage for the next few films in the slowly spiraling-downward 70s Godzilla films. All in all, this is memorable mainly for its finale, and as a film it fails to stay engaging enough to justify holding the viewers attention. Disappointing.


All Hail!

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The first thing to strike me about the genitor of the modern zombie movie is the fantastically melodramatic music. The visuals and audio are as grainy as you like, but you can cut the atmosphere with a knife and every one of the characters shows the undeniable marks of a zombie movie archetype. It's the classic structure, beginning from our lone female protagonist who finds a place of sanctuary, is joined by a small group of fellow survivors, and they attempt to find a more permanent place of safety. But, inevitably, there is the pivotal moment of any zombie film, the point at which someone does something incredibly stupid and the whole situation breaks down into chaos. In any other situation I would call this film derivative, but being the first of its kind allows for certain liberties, and if you go into it with the right mindset, this will be as chilling now as it was in the 60s. The only real mis-step of the entire film is the death of the young couple Tom and Judy in a typical "explosive properties of petroleum" movie misconception. Besides that, it still stands up as a claustrophobic and emotive horror film forty years on, and gave rise to a genre that, despite many failures, still enthrals viewers up to the present day.


Co-starring S. William Hinzman as the most lucid-looking zombie in movie history.