The X from Outer Space (1967)

The X from Outer Space (Uchu daikaiju Girara)
Directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu
Written by Moriyoshi Ishida, Eibi Motomochi, and Kazui Nihonmatsu
1967/Japan
Shochiku
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel

[box] Tagline: What is This Monstrous THING (1967)?[/box]

Some days nothing will do but inane, cheesy, unintentionally hilarious Japanese sci-fi with stupid scientists and a ridiculous monster.

Some time in the near future, Japan’s space agency repeatedly launches missions to Mars despite the fact all mysteriously disappear before arrival.  Of course, they keep at it.  Eventually, our heroes find a way to defeat the mysterious force but not before retrieving a glowing, blinking egg like object that they feel compelled to take home.  On the space flight the object is kept in a vacuum jar but back on earth the scientists just have to remove it from the container.  An interracial love triangle and irritating Japanese comic relief are thrown in for good measure.  The picture below explains exactly what happens next. With Eiji Okada (Woman in the Dunes, Hiroshima Mon Amour) praying he won’t be recognized.

Stupid story?  Check.  Monster who looks like a chicken-lizard hybrid? Check.   Inane dialogue? Check.  Godawful miniature effects?  Check.  In short, a good time was had by me.  Perfection would have been if the monster had appeared before the last ten or 15 minutes.

This was the first film I watched on the Criterion Channel.  I was an early adopter but took my sweet time upgrading to the most current version of Amazon Fire as required by the service.

Montage of clips set to a song of the same name