The X from Outer Space

The X from Outer Space (Uchu Daikaiju Girara) (1967)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Kazui Nihonmatsu

Starring: Shun’ya Wazaki, Itoko Harada, Shin’ichi Yanagisawa, Keisuke Sonoi, Peggy Neal

From: Shochiku

A movie more sexist than an episode of Mad Men. To be frank, I’ve never watched an episode of Mad Men; my opinion is solely based on conjecture. As for X, it was a product of the Shochiku Studio back in the late 60’s when they focused on genre fare, including the then-popular kaiju movies. This was part of a collection that the Criterion Collection released on DVD. It’s on the Criterion Channel—in DVD quality. Thus, instead a streaming rental was made elsewhere, thankfully w/ a better picture.

Plenty of time is spent in outer space. A ship is launched from the FAFC (not FAFO) to investigate why ships are vanishing on missions to Mars before getting their asses to Mars. After a mysterious encounter, a spore is found on their ship. Naturally, once it’s brought to Earth, it grows to kaiju size as Guilala, which is… called a giant chicken and it’s not the worst comparison?! The creature is rather daffy-looking and that is unfortunate.

Although, to me arguably worse is the story itself. Most of the action isn’t bad and the effects are charming in various aspects. But, the plot is for the birds… or rather, the giant space chicken. You see, Guilala does not appear until more than halfway through; this is an issue when the plot is dominated by a rather wishy-washy love triangle between one of the Japanese men on the ship, a Japanese woman back at base and an American woman on the ship. Not only is it a limp dishrag of a subplot, the women are not portrayed positively-rather, they typically are shrill, jealous, emotional creatures. The first half especially is a slog.

There can be fun while experiencing The X from Outer Space—the goofy monster, the kaiju action, the jazzy soundtrack. Be that as it may, there are plenty of genre efforts which have better stories, including the human drama.