1967's "The X from Outer Space" ("Uchu Daikaiju Girara" or Giant Space Monster Guilala) was a rare kaiju entry from Shochiku, one of Japan's oldest film companies, actually founded for kabuki in 1895 before getting into films by 1920. This was the year when everybody tried to grab some of that kaiju cash once Daiei's Gamera literally took off, and this creation does have its own style, a grab bag of cliches mixed together into a messy stew, our human cast led by blonde Peggy Neal, coming off her starring debut in Toei's "Terror Beneath the Sea." It begins like an ordinary space opera with a blast off toward Mars, dinner, dancing, and drinks on a moonbase, then an encounter with a UFO that leaves spongy spores on the outside of their ship. Once returned to Earth, a small sample of the substance vanishes from the lab, but not before leaving behind a hole and a single footprint: "it looks like the claw of a big chicken!" These geniuses turn out to be sadly correct, as Girara finally makes its smashing debut halfway through, the remainder of the picture a typical race against time trying to rid themselves of this nuisance, sounding not unlike an asthmatic bullhorn! Perhaps the supreme highlight is watching a jeep outrun the monster in hot pursuit, something no other kaiju ever dared attempt. From the flat, tinny face, puny antennas, fire spitballs, and awkward build in limbs, Girara ranks high on the embarrassing list but does give the actors something besides each other to talk about. There may be something to amuse everyone as events move from outer space to a more conventional earthbound menace, but the entire enterprise lacks the kind of innovation shown by Shochiku's next feature, "Goke Body Snatcher from Hell," a surprise shocker demonstrating the disintegration of social mores in the event of alien invasion.
Review of The X from Outer Space
