Genocide

Genocide (Konchu Daisenso) (1968)

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Kazui Nihonmatsu

Starring: Keisuke Sonoi, Yusuke Kawazu, Emi Shindo, Kathy Horan, Chico Lourant

From: Shochiku

Japanese horror can be pretty bonkers. Now, this isn't the deranged insanity of Hausu... then again, what is? Rather, this movie that I saw on the Criterion Channel as long ago they put out the When Horror Came to Shochiku set—it is a convoluted tale that combines many different elements into what sounds at first like a simple tale of man vs. nature and nature getting revenge on man for polluting the Earth.

Get this: insects attack a United States military plane and result in an H-bomb being lost. That brings in Communist spies to a tropical island that is the main setting of this picture. There's also PTSD, shady American military, a love triangle, someone groping a woman (thankfully that was brief), a not so flattering portrayal of a Black man-from what I understand, this has been a longstanding issue w/ Japanese society-a nihilistic streak and a jaw-dropping reason for a character creating new poisonous insects of their own that is independent of all the other insects going buckwild... it can be found in other Letterboxd reviews so the reveal won't be revealed here, but it was a shocking reason that won't wear well for some I am sure. If that wasn't enough, there's also some psychedelic bits.

All of these wildly different elements combined together into a burgoo stew that isn't a masterpiece but is still good. With all the plotting and the runtime of only 84 minutes, of course there is nary a dull moment. I dare not spoil any other moments-instead I'll note that this dubbed movie has some amazing lines of dialogue. During the Spooky Season this year I'll view at least one other effort from the Japanese Shochiku studio; presumably they'll be more horror and less nutty than this but I hope to enjoy it nevertheless.