Godzilla vs. Hedorah

John Chard

There's no place else to go and pretty soon we'll all be dead, so forget it! Enjoy yourself! Let's sing and dance while we can! Come on, blow your mind! The 11th of the Godzilla franchise is easily the most trippy, and most divisive. Hedorah (AKA: The Smog Monster) is spawned from pollution and begins to destroy Japan. It spews poison, shoots acidic mud, tokes on smoking chimney stacks and can shape shift into the bargain. Enter the atomic lizard, Godzilla, who takes up the challenge to hopefully rescue mankind, he can even fly in this one... There's some psychedelic animation inserted into proceedings, which couples up with the whole hippy vibe and LSD infused musical interludes. It's really a hard film to recommend with confidence, with director Yoshimitsu Banno doing an appalling job of staging action and pacing the narrative for cohesive viewing - a first line director he was not. However, it's just nutty enough to understand why some Zilla fans love it, kind of like it's a fun off-shoot of the more potent pics of the series. Certainly the eco message is worthy, but really I'd personally have to be under the influence of strong liquor to ever watch it again. 5/10