Varan the Unbelievable (1958) Review

aka Daikaiju Baran

When Toho Studios was approached by an Americans network to make a giant monster TV movie, they turned to the crew who made Gojira and Rodan for the debut of a new kaiju. With a lower budget than the previous monster movies, Varan was meant to combine all the aspects of all the previous kaiju into one monster. That was either going to be biggest success yet or an epic failure. What do you mean you’ve never heard of Varan? He’s unbelievable! That much I’ll agree on…

If you have even heard of Varan, you are probably thinking of the U.S. version that came out four years after the Japanese version. According to what I’ve read, it only has fifteen minutes of footage from this release and is a mess. After watching the origininal three times in a row, I want to say that might be an improvement. Buckle up, this review is going to be a bumpy ride.

See that above? You’ll never see that on another Toho film. That was a one off marketing gimmick before they settled on Tohoscope for their widescreen movies. It was the fact that Varan the Unbelievable was the first kaiju film to take advantage of the new format that made me want to own it.

Whereas Rodan was the first in color, this lower budget film was commissioned to be in B&W by the U.S. network. A good chunk of the movie was filmed in standard 4:3 before the decision was made by Toho changing over to anamorphic widescreen for a theatrical release domestically. They ended up cropping the early footage to match the anamorphic. So if you think some of the shots vary in quality, your eyes aren’t fooling you.

Alright, enough with the background, let’s get to the story!

The best part of the movie occurs at the start, which consists of the main title flashing by in front of a scary looking statue before fading into credits scrolling over a matte painting. What’s so great about that, you wonder? The theme. Composed by Akira Ifukube it combines his typically dark sound with chanting to create a sinister sense of urgency that would have fit in a serious horror movie of the period.

Sadly that ends and the movie really begins. Since this is a story about a giant monster, we get treated to the sight of a rocket blasting off. What does it have to do with the story? Absolutely nothing. It’s there just to look cool and take advantage of the space race hoopla beginning.

Next we meet a scientist, the dramatically coiffed Professor Sugimoto (Koreya Senda), lecturing some of his assistants and the audience directly. This partial breaking of the fourth wall does not happen again, just like the rocket launch. Oh and before I forget, the subject was butterflies, I think.

After the disjointed introduction, the stars of the film show up in the form of two butterfly hunters sent to a remote village in the mountains. Iswaya is way off the beaten path and comes complete with suspicious villagers and an ominous stele to their local goad, Baradagi. Feckless and reckless, the pair go off into the forbidden forest to find butterflies.

They do and die in ignominious fashion.

I guess they weren’t the stars after all, despite a good amount of time wasted on them. Enter the real stars from stage right looking to find out what happened to the two idiots. Frankly, I’m not detecting more brain waves out of the newcomers who number three.

Kenji (Kozo Nomura) is the rakish assistant to the Professor and might as well have “leading man” tattooed on his forehead. Reporter Yuriko (Ayumi Sonoda) is the rather plain sister of one of the deceased butterfly hunters. Rounding out the trio is Horiguchi (Fumito Matsuo) who doubles as photographer and perpetually frightened comic relief.

All right, that’s it for the character development. No, seriously. There is no character development whatsoever in this movie. It’s a bit of a rude shock after the prior 1950’s Toho kaiju movies that all featured plenty of good moments for the human members of the casts. It’s a hint of things to come in later Godzilla installments when the target audience shifted mainly to children.

Showing up in Iswaya, the group promptly offends the locals and meet a Ken, a kid wearing an oni mask. The first is always a bad idea when dealing with backwoods folk and the second is something that can strike terror into B-movie fans. Kid characters have a way of taking over kaiju movies with mixed results at best.

Kenji is deliberately belittling of the local beliefs which does not endear him to them or the audience. While he’s doing that, Horiguchi gets nervous, since that’s the only reason he’s in the movie. Yuriko is just… there.

At least we get to see the statue of Baradagi more clearly during a ceremony by the frightened villagers. If this is a hint of what the monster is going to look like, it’s going to be pretty sweet and genuinely scary. Is that a bear skull on the right hand?

Abruptly the movie shifts gears, becoming a Lassie episode complete with a lost boy and a dog with a message under its collar. I really did not see this coming. Then again, who would? Wait a second, Lassie was huge at the time on TV and this was funded by an American network. Suddenly it does make sense, in a cynical way.

While the subplot is contrived, it does reveal that Kenji is the kind of guy who loses his potential girlfriend out in the forest. Yeah, yeah, it was foggy, right? For a heroic lead, he’s coming off as a total jerk.

It takes a village to rescue a child, or something like that, so the locals get over their superstitious fears to go find Yuriko and the boy. You know what that means. At long last Varan makes his appearance, rising from the lake like Godzilla. In a case of false advertising the statue was not an accurate representation. Oh well.

Bearing a resemblance to Asian dragons but with a blunter snout, Varan towers over the terrified villagers and trio of outsiders. Disturbing his territory is not taken lightly so he collapses two hilltops onto the frantically apologetic priest of Baradagi. The poor old guy was right about everything and what does he get for a reward? Death. At least he’s out of the film and doesn’t have to suffer anymore.

Unlike me, the reviewer. That lucky…

One priest is not enough penance, so Varan goes on all fours in a rampage through the very small village. This goes on at length to the point of being boring, since there aren’t that many buildings to smash. At least we get a good, long look at the costume.

Well, maybe that isn’t a good thing.

The design is not bad, but the execution left a lot to be desired. A too thin layer of latex rubber made the costume flexible which was great for movement. However, that same flexibility caused the costume to deform and dimple way too much, making it look fake.

Also, the design only looks good from certain angles with it looking much more convincing when the suit actor was on all fours. Well, as long as the hind legs were hidden by the set. Watch for flashes of the flat bottoms! The miniature village looked pretty good, especially the eroded Buddha statues carved into the hillside.

At this point in Toho’s kaiju films, no continuity existed between the different monsters. But with Varan there is a hint that the Japanese government was not surprised by a giant beast being found. In fact, they have an “oh no, not again” resigned attitude about the whole affair.

Of course this means war. Once again cooperation from the JSDF brings forth real tanks (Sherman’s!”) alternating with model versions of them. But the real thrill is seeing mortar and recoilless rifle teams set up to do combat with the living fossil.

Did I mention the good Professor Sugimoto has identified the creature as a dinosaur called a varanopode from the Triassic period? Fake science for the win. Or not. Your mileage may vary.

I do feel compelled to warn you that this film has a watch fetish. Lingering close-ups of watch faces are supposed to invoke tension, but they instead made me wonder how much longer the scenes would go on for. But hey, if you are into vintage watches, this film is for you.

Things go about as well as one expects in this type of film once the military decides to wipe out the sole remaining varanopode on the planet. Lots of shouting, finger pointing, explosions, and angry monsterings follow. Yes, I know ‘monsterings’ isn’t a word, but it should be.

One third of the movie has passed and it feels like an eternity.

During all the confusion, Kenji again manages to lose track of Yuriko while saving his own hide. Arriving at the makeshift military HQ, he’s stunned that she hasn’t made it to safety on her own. Yeah, this guy is real boyfriend material for the reporter, isn’t he? Just look at the intelligent expression on his face as the comic relief gives him the news.

Okay, I’m rooting for him to die. Yuriko may be dull, but she doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Pinned under a tree, she once again is a damsel in distress. It’s an unrewarding role waiting for a jerk to rescue you.

So far Varan hasn’t been any more unbelievable than any other giant monster.

Oh wait, is he sprouting gliding membranes? Okay… Well, that was special. The giant shows no method of propulsion, yet manages to soar off into the sky complete with the jet engine sound Rodan made.

So the critter can live underwater, walk on land, and fly. He’s a one monster armed forces, I tell you! Yeah, I’m not buying it either. It’s such an out of nowhere ability that it dumbfounds rather than excites, though little kids will no doubt find it very cool.

The failure of all the weaponry to so much as scratch Varan leads to the considered scientific conclusion that he is invulnerable. But not everyone believes that and Dr. Fujimora (Akihiko Hirata) has an experimental explosive that might make a difference. Heck, if you put an eye patch on him he might come up with the Oxygen Destroyer too.

Speaking of destroyers, it’s time for toy boats since Varan has gone to the ocean. Once again, Tokyo is under threat. Why the creature would zero in on the city? PLOT!

Besides, it’s becoming tradition by this point.

So begins a protracted naval engagement including P2V Neptune’s rocketing the monster. A long serving sub hunter that first flew in 1945, this is a rare appearance in a movie. Alas, the models look very fake even compared to the very blurry stock footage used of the real aircraft.

Oh and before you complain about the jet engine noise for these prop planes, they really did have jet engines! Two of them were added to the design to give better performance taking off and at low level. Just what is needed to fly dangerously close to a giant monster, right?

Yeah, that’ll go well.

After the planes comes the ships and this drags on for a good long time. Can Varan be stopped before arriving at Tokyo? Will we stay awake long enough to find out?

Thoughts

Varan the Unbelievable is unbelievable alright. Unbelievably boring, which is amazing given Ishiro Honda directed this. Of course this was commissioned by an American television network, but it is hard to reconcile the story quality with the previous Toho kaiju movies.

I’m still coming to grips with the fact that this movie is only an hour and a half long. Somehow it manages to feel like a much longer movie. Part of the problem with the film is that it feels like an extended special effects demo reel without a real story. As I mentioned before, there is no character development with a direct result being an inability to care about the characters.

Or in Kenji’s case, causing me to actively dislike him. Not a good reaction to the lead actor, though it could be argued that the monster is the true lead.

Varan himself isn’t particularly exciting. The Beast from 20,0000 Fathoms is an obvious inspiration for the design if not the plot. Most of the time the suit looks cheap and ugly, but it does have its moments. The flying sequence is not one of them partially due to the tail shortening radically compared all the other scenes. That tail is one of the better effects whenever Varan is on all fours and lashes around much like a real animal’s would.

Of course the movie wasn’t a smash success or we would have seen more of the monster in later films. As it is, he had a brief cameo in Destroy All Monsters and is an unknown to all but the most rabid kaiju fans.

Little kids will enjoy this, since plot doesn’t mean much to them. But anyone older will get bored pretty easily thanks to so many action scenes being drawn out to interminable length. While not rated, there is nothing other than monster violence and a few scary scenes to object to, so I’d say eight year olds on up will like it. A soft PG rating would be accurate.

I recommend Varan to die hard fans of kaiju films, those suffering insomnia, and the very few who wondered who that strange monster briefly glimpsed in Destroy All Monsters is. Most people will want to pass on this one.

Technical

Media Blasters put out the DVD I have under the Tokyo Shock label. Since Media Blasters is a low end operation, you never know what quality you’re getting until you see it. Often shortcuts in production will have been taken and that’s the case here.

Ostensibly in 2.35:1 anamorphic presentation, the actual video is letterboxed in a strange way. Rather than being 4:3, it has black bars on all sides. This means a reduction in video quality that drops it between true anamorphic and letterboxed 4:3.

It doesn’t help that the restored version of the Japanese cut has been over filtered to remove film grain and defects. It looks slightly posterized to those who are familiar with that graphics filter. Contrast is good, but not great.

Audio is another mixed bag. All audio is Japanese, but there are three different versions and a commentary for a total of four choices. 5.1 Dolby Digital is the fanciest and worst of the tracks. It is a very synthetic mix that sounds like it is coming from deep out of a barrel. The DD 2.0 stereo surround is better and the original film claimed to be stereophonic, but the clearest is the Mono track. Don’t bother with the 5.1, it is truly terrible.

The extras under the Special Features weren’t skimped on, thankfully:

Restored Television Broadcast Version – This is from Japanese TV, not U.S., and runs 54 minutes long, which is pretty much an improvement despite missing pieces of video. Placeholder text lets you know that they are missing and the movie condenses the beginning into a short montage with narration. It starts with Kenji and Yuriko investigating the death of her brother in shortened form. It is letterboxed 4:3 format, so image quality takes another hit plus most of the scratches were not removed.

Lecture from Keizo Murase, Creature Sculptor – A half hour “how to” video recreating how Varan’s skin was made and features the original artist himself. Imagine a film made to be shown in schools and you’ll be dead on, because this was aimed at high school students. This is from 4:3 videotape, so it looks like VHS.

This is a fascinating look at the actual process of making part of a rubber monster suit, rather than a look at old stills. Even the type of modeling clay used is gone into along with the kind of materials used back in the late 1950’s.

Of particular interest is how the unusual spikes were made. They’re sections of clear vinyl hosing! Check out the sculpture by Murase, it looks better than his original effort to my eyes.

Promotional Trailers – Four minutes of theatrical trailers from Japan are presented in the odd letterboxed widescreen format. They really give away all the good bits so if you watch them, you’ve just about watched the movie.

Audio Commentary from Keizo Murase – Part running interview and part commentary, Murase shows an enthusiasm for the first kaiju movie he worked on. In fact, he’s so lively and passionate about it that I felt bad writing the review. Lots of information about the production is revealed including what daily life at Toho Studios was like for the effects artists.

Tidbits include the suit starting to catch on fire from being too close to a light, horse meat being a luxury for the crew due to their poverty, and why the suit was made the way it was. By the way, Varan was sepia colored, or closer to ochre according to Murase.

I should note that the commentary is in Japanese and the subtitles for it replace the dialogue subtitles.

BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!

 

 

 

 

Tokyo Airport in miniature didn’t look that great, mainly due to the airliner looking even more fake than the Neptune’s earlier. What surprised me is that it alone is the final place to be destroyed, not Tokyo proper. I guess that’s all a television budget can afford to destroy.

I thought the drivers delivering the explosives taking one look at Varan and refusing to drive out to him was one of the best moments in the movie. This was not what they were paid to do!

Kenji can’t find his would be love interest during an emergency, but is willing to drive a truck laden with explosives more powerful than dynamite right up to a gigantic monster. It is supposed to be heroic, but man he comes off as brick stupid.

I was hoping for a noble sacrifice, but he runs back (at a trot!) to the others so the truck can be detonated. It goes off and delivers the most powerful shot to the crotch in cinema history. If I remember my trivia right, it really did injure the actor in the suit.

One of the most effective shots is the one on the left. It’s almost spectacular and looks convincing compared to what’s been shown before.

Recycled footage from the first two Godzilla films shows up in the movie and the model F-86F firing rockets was cropped from one of them.

A continuity gaffe occurs during the finale when the scientists reference watching Varan eat flares back at the lake. That may have been in the script and even filmed, but was not in the movie. So the big solution to kill him comes out of the blue due to that omission.

The hand puppet used for the flare eating is not very impressive and looks off compared to the suit head.

Tying high explosives to flares dropped by hand from a helicopter is something only a B-movie would use to kill a menace. It succeeds in delivering the mother of all heart burns to the dumb beast.

Mortally wounded, Varan staggers to the sea in a rare moment where they try to make you feel something for the monster. Again, the scene lasts too long.

The humans line up to watch the demise, just like in Gojira and Rodan. Unlike the other movies, there isn’t an ounce of emotion to it.

Somehow the movie ending in poor quality stock footage of a depth charge or bomb going off underwater seems appropriate. It’s a low budget ending to a low budget flick.