This must be the pinnacle of cheesy Japanese monster movies. I'm not even sure I saw this when I was a child. I remember picking up a review on the internet after googling for reviews of other Kaiju films.
The plot follows the lines of JAWS (or any other man-eating monster is loose movie), so it's not really a Kaiju like Gojira or Gamera.
*****may contain Spoilers**** Basically its centres around one of the lakes or mount Fuji, where legend has it a red-eyed dragon lives; hence the red-eyed dragon boat festival.
A lot of strange geo-related activities occurs prior to this festival. Earthquakes, temperatures rising, old caves suddenly exposed ... get where this is going?
Our protagonist has a history with this lake, or actually his father had. he claimed a living pleisiosaur lived in the lake -kind of like the Loch Ness Monster. Why else would there be a red-eyed water dragon legend? Of course nobody believed him. Not even his son. His son, however, as more inexplicable things happen, starts to wonder whether he should have doubted his farther.
he meets a former flame of his who's diving in the lake because of some project.
Then people start to disappear...
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Unfortunately, the plot is full of holes. Of course, any good monster flick should be, but still... -The protagonist is a silent, closed man up to the point of being grumpy. Why does the lead lady fall in love with him again? Or...why should we, the audience, like him? But that may be Japanese cinematography for you... -The legend of the red-eyed water dragon is underused. -The female lead does ...well only get in trouble so our protagonist can be the hero. Nothing new here, but I found it a bit too much. -where in h#ll does the flying monster come from? The pleisiosaur - the red-eyed dragon I understand, but the rhamphornycus?? It it was a flying red-eyed water dragon I could understand people mistaking two creatures for one... -strange adult-movie-music during the first graphical attic. Some of it should have made the scenes look artistic, but a bombastic the monster is here to eat you music instead of the if you close your eyes you'd think John Holmes is at it music. Not to mention the 70's disco-tune when the rhamphornycus and pleisiosaur make their appearance and start attacking people independent -and eventually each other. But that may be Japanese cinematography for you... -the plot builds up to an all out monster fest, but the monsters appear too late in the movie -for my taste. This was the biggest downer for me.
These things do not make it a worse movie than it already is, but it could have made it better. A better cheesy monster flick.
This movie is still a must see for fans of cheesy monster flicks! The monster effects are fantastic...ally cheesy. The monster fights are ... over the top cheesy ... What else can I say, I enjoyed it. BIG TIME!
And if you like cheesy Japanese monster movies, I know you will too...
The plot follows the lines of JAWS (or any other man-eating monster is loose movie), so it's not really a Kaiju like Gojira or Gamera.
*****may contain Spoilers**** Basically its centres around one of the lakes or mount Fuji, where legend has it a red-eyed dragon lives; hence the red-eyed dragon boat festival.
A lot of strange geo-related activities occurs prior to this festival. Earthquakes, temperatures rising, old caves suddenly exposed ... get where this is going?
Our protagonist has a history with this lake, or actually his father had. he claimed a living pleisiosaur lived in the lake -kind of like the Loch Ness Monster. Why else would there be a red-eyed water dragon legend? Of course nobody believed him. Not even his son. His son, however, as more inexplicable things happen, starts to wonder whether he should have doubted his farther.
he meets a former flame of his who's diving in the lake because of some project.
Then people start to disappear...
*********************************************************************
Unfortunately, the plot is full of holes. Of course, any good monster flick should be, but still... -The protagonist is a silent, closed man up to the point of being grumpy. Why does the lead lady fall in love with him again? Or...why should we, the audience, like him? But that may be Japanese cinematography for you... -The legend of the red-eyed water dragon is underused. -The female lead does ...well only get in trouble so our protagonist can be the hero. Nothing new here, but I found it a bit too much. -where in h#ll does the flying monster come from? The pleisiosaur - the red-eyed dragon I understand, but the rhamphornycus?? It it was a flying red-eyed water dragon I could understand people mistaking two creatures for one... -strange adult-movie-music during the first graphical attic. Some of it should have made the scenes look artistic, but a bombastic the monster is here to eat you music instead of the if you close your eyes you'd think John Holmes is at it music. Not to mention the 70's disco-tune when the rhamphornycus and pleisiosaur make their appearance and start attacking people independent -and eventually each other. But that may be Japanese cinematography for you... -the plot builds up to an all out monster fest, but the monsters appear too late in the movie -for my taste. This was the biggest downer for me.
These things do not make it a worse movie than it already is, but it could have made it better. A better cheesy monster flick.
This movie is still a must see for fans of cheesy monster flicks! The monster effects are fantastic...ally cheesy. The monster fights are ... over the top cheesy ... What else can I say, I enjoyed it. BIG TIME!
And if you like cheesy Japanese monster movies, I know you will too...