From Shochiku Productions comes the the scratchings from the lowest shelf in the fridge: The X From Outer Space, or considering its main protagonist is a rubber chicken monster, the Eggs from Outer Space.
The latest Mars mission to launch from Mount Fuji discovers a UFO has been blocking previous spaceships from reaching the Red Planet. An onboard cabal of German and Japanese scientists - and isn't it heartwarming to see the Germans and Japanese collaborate on something again! - aren't exactly the most confidence-inspiring bunch, although Lisa, the Aryan ubernaut, manages to wear a cocktail dress under her spacesuit AND manages to keep every hair in place in zero gravity. Hurrah! After a quick cointreau and trampolining on the Moon, the Mars mission continues until the flying saucer ("It looks like the world's largest fried egg!" remarks one of the crew) coats the ship in what looks like bird poo, but on closer inspection looks like crystal eggs. Safely back on Earth, the egg hatches, the lab is trashed, and the chicken prints lead to a bloody big hole in the floor.
If the crew doesn't fill you with confidence, the earthbound scientists are less likely to. As always, the logic of scientists is impeccable: this chicken print looks remarkably like THIS chicken print... The trail of broken egg shells leads all the way to Tokyo, where it is being crushed underfoot - or under claw - by a huge glowing monster the scientists name "Gilala" - part chicken, part dinosaur with colossal drumsticks, a bar-b-q for a mouth, a staggering array of tubes and antennae out of a head framed with just one expression: of startled, open-mouthed hostility.
And so it goes, zipping along agreeably and loaded with miniature sets and effects that can only be described as "cute" or "dinky". Compared to its much bigger budgeted contemporaries like Godzilla or, God help it, Gamera, this chicken monster may be a turkey, but in the best possible sense of the word, and in retrospect the sight of a toy car being chased by a rubber claw is priceless.
This is easily one of my favourite Z-grade Japanese monster fests, not just because there's no annoying little monsters screaming "the giant chicken monster is our FRIEND!" No, it goes so much deeper than that; this is classic BAD movie terrain that will absolutely scramble your brain: ladies and gentlemen, The Eggs From Outer Space.
The latest Mars mission to launch from Mount Fuji discovers a UFO has been blocking previous spaceships from reaching the Red Planet. An onboard cabal of German and Japanese scientists - and isn't it heartwarming to see the Germans and Japanese collaborate on something again! - aren't exactly the most confidence-inspiring bunch, although Lisa, the Aryan ubernaut, manages to wear a cocktail dress under her spacesuit AND manages to keep every hair in place in zero gravity. Hurrah! After a quick cointreau and trampolining on the Moon, the Mars mission continues until the flying saucer ("It looks like the world's largest fried egg!" remarks one of the crew) coats the ship in what looks like bird poo, but on closer inspection looks like crystal eggs. Safely back on Earth, the egg hatches, the lab is trashed, and the chicken prints lead to a bloody big hole in the floor.
If the crew doesn't fill you with confidence, the earthbound scientists are less likely to. As always, the logic of scientists is impeccable: this chicken print looks remarkably like THIS chicken print... The trail of broken egg shells leads all the way to Tokyo, where it is being crushed underfoot - or under claw - by a huge glowing monster the scientists name "Gilala" - part chicken, part dinosaur with colossal drumsticks, a bar-b-q for a mouth, a staggering array of tubes and antennae out of a head framed with just one expression: of startled, open-mouthed hostility.
And so it goes, zipping along agreeably and loaded with miniature sets and effects that can only be described as "cute" or "dinky". Compared to its much bigger budgeted contemporaries like Godzilla or, God help it, Gamera, this chicken monster may be a turkey, but in the best possible sense of the word, and in retrospect the sight of a toy car being chased by a rubber claw is priceless.
This is easily one of my favourite Z-grade Japanese monster fests, not just because there's no annoying little monsters screaming "the giant chicken monster is our FRIEND!" No, it goes so much deeper than that; this is classic BAD movie terrain that will absolutely scramble your brain: ladies and gentlemen, The Eggs From Outer Space.