FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD
This one doesn't get as much love as other Japaneses giant monster flicks but it should, if nothing else for the weird plot and unique monster. FCTW, along with KING KONG VS GODZILLA seems to have come about as a result of the never filmed KING KONG VS FRANKENSTEIN idea that Willis O'Brien had tried to make. Near the end of W.W. II the Nazis ship the still beating heart of the monster of Frankenstein to Japan for research into developing a super soldier. Fortunately for the Allies it arrives in Hiroshima just in time for the bomb. Years go by, Nick Adams comes to Japan as a doctor to help something or another and a freaky looking kid is lurking around. Turns out the kid is Frankenstein who apparently regenerated out of the heart that vanished in the bombing. He's a pretty feral, thick- browed geek running around eating cats and shit, causing trouble. He's taken in by Adams and his cute Japanese scientist girlfriend, whom he takes a liking to. But Frankie keeps growing and creeps everybody out with his snaggle teeth, squarish head and tendency to throw TV's out of windows. While Nick and company are studying him, another monster, Baragon, is attacking the countryside. Some dumb-ass photographers pull the "King Kong" stunt which is "the flashbulbs are disturbing him, use bigger, louder ones" and he breaks out by severing his hand from his chains. The hand crawls around on it's own afterwards, probably on its way to the sequel. Earlier Nick had gone to Germany to try to prove this kid was in fact the Frankenstein Monster. The chief Nazi scientist told Nick that if it was Frankenstein, any severed appendage would live on its own and he would regrow any thing he lost. And he does. He keeps growing and hides out until his big fight with Baragon. Baragon is a pretty goofy burrowing lizard/armadillo monster with a horn and the ability to shoot lightning bolts. If you watch the international version there is a monster octopus that comes out of the lake right after he kills Baragon and their fight has them falling into the lake and vanishing. I assume the octopus won. I had only seen stills of this scene, probably in Famous Monsters Magazine, and it is cool but does seem a bit awkward coming where it does. Plus nobody seems too surprised that a big fucking octopus crawled out of a lake. But still it's very cool and where else are you gonna see a giant octopus fight a giant Frankenstein? No where.
I really like the opening in Germany with the cool lab, Nazis and the crazed doctor but I'm a sucker for any weird Nazi/occult war plots. I've read that some people assumed that Frankie was a Japanese orphan who found and ate the Frankenstein heart but it seems to make more sense that he just grew from it. It's also pointed out that he is caucasian so that would seem to point to this as well. The newish disc from the excellent Media Blasters has the Japanese, International and US versions and is great. One version I watched was a tape from St. Petersburg, Florida WTOG 44 and featured their local horror host Dr. Paul Bearer on his "Horrible Movies" show and was pretty fun if you like that kind of thing. There never was much in the way of "world conquering", actually none, but he sure as hell did take that son of a bitch d-list lizard Baragon down.
