Know Your Monster: 18
Mechagodzilla
Just when the Godzilla franchise was running out of steam, Toho Studios devised an ingenious ruse to pump some fresh blood into the series. In 1974’s Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla, the Big G battles himself. Actually, this clone is a mechanical robot made up to masquerade as Godzilla by an alien race of apes (the Simians) intent upon conquering the world.
As the film opens, the residents of Japan are in shock as their protector, Godzilla, appears to have turned against them, once again demolishing the country. Little do they realize their nemesis isn’t Godzilla but his Outer Space doppelganger. They get a true sense of horror, though, when Anguirus arises to defend them, and gets his lower jaw broken. After the real Godzilla joins the fray, confusion mounts until it becomes clear he’s tangling with an impostor. As the Mechagodzilla’s flesh gets ripped and his true self emerges, he is exposed as a metallic killing machine.
He can fire missiles from every one of his appendages, even from his toes and knee caps. He shoots a high-powered laser from his eyes and can twist his head around 360 degrees to decimate enemies approaching him from behind. Also, if he spins his head fast enough, he generates a force field. Mechagodzilla uses rocket propulsion to fly. His fully armored body, made from an alloy called Space Titanium, deflects most attacks. While Mechagodzilla appears to be an invincible fortress, he has met his match in the resourceful Godzilla.
Here’s a funny review of the picture from Cinemassacre. There’s some salty language, so skip it if you’re easily offended by cuss words.
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Tomorrow’s featured monster: Megalon
The atomic mutant spider Kumonga appears to have been inspired by the giant arachnid that ravaged the Arizona desert in the 1955 sci-fi thriller Tarantula (our March 8 Trillion Dollar Movie, see 
This is one of the few female movie monsters from Japan. She’s a prehistoric throwback, quarantined on Wester Island until a team of archaeologists removes a statue that’s kept her safely entombed for centuries. Released from captivity, Jiger wastes no time in attacking Japan, leveling Osaka and easily defeating the Japanese army. Nothing stands in her way except one determined, giant terrapin — Gamera.
Hedorah is the Japanese word for sludge or slime. Thus, it’s easy to understand why this kaiju is also known as “the Smog Monster.” An alien from Outer Space, the Hedorah feeds on pollution, the nastier the better. It whiffs the fumes straight off smokestacks and can swallow sulfuric acid without a chaser, spraying out a lethal mist that instantly destroys whole towns, factories, anything within its reach.
This monster is a ferocious flying fortress — part-bat and part-Pterodactyl. Much like the bat, the Gyaos (pronounced Gao-ess) is nocturnal and usually avoids daylight. But when forced to duel before dark, it can emit a fog-like gas to block out the sun. The Gyaos is a ghastly red hue, differing from most other Japanese movie monsters that are green, gray or brown. He’s also quite a screecher, capable of delivering a supersonic scream at three million hertz. Now, that hurts thinking about it!
Guiron is named after the Japanese word for “guillotine.” It’s a reference to his most lethal weapon — a giant blade attached to his forehead that’s nearly as long as his body. The blade is razor-sharp. In the 1969 movie Gamera Vs. Guiron, also known as Attack of the Monsters, he cuts right through the big turtle’s shell. He can also use the blade as a shield.
This monster from Outer Space is an energy hog. It will ingest any form of energy around — oil, coal and especially nuclear power. The more energy it ingests, the stronger it becomes. So do not attack it with atomic weapons or else you’ll only be increasing its ferocity. In fact, it’s hinted that if it soaks up enough energy, the Guilala might spin off hundreds, if not thousands of clone Guilala. We never see this happening in any of the Guilala movies, no doubt owing to the prohibitive costs associated with suiting up multiple Guilala.
Gorosaurus is probably the most straightforward of the Japanese movie monsters. He doesn’t shoot out atomic spitballs or fly using jet propulsion. He doesn’t have any fallback gimmicks. He’s just a big, lumbering dinosaur, but one with a vicious bite and a nasty leg kick, belonging to the same ferocious theropod group that includes Tyrannosaurus rex.
Godzilla was not only the first, but also the most enduring of all the Kaiju, or Japanese movie monsters. In truth, he wasn’t the first. The Japanese did create a King Kong knock-off way back in the 1930s. But the difference is Godzilla had staying power. He has appeared in nearly 30 features since ripping down his first electrical transmission wires and hurling his first cars in 1954.
