The H-Man (1958)
"Bijo to Ekitainingen" (original title)

When a narcotics deal goes sour and a suspect disappears, leaving only his clothes, Tokyo police question his wife and stake out the nightclub where she works. His disappearance stumps the ... See full summary »

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Takeshi Kimura, Hideo Unagami (story)

Stars:

Yumi Shirakawa, Kenji Sahara, Akihiko Hirata

Cast

Credited cast:
Yumi Shirakawa	...	Chikako Arai, singer in the nightclub
Kenji Sahara	...	Dr. Masada
Akihiko Hirata	...	Inspector Tominaga
Koreya Senda	...	Dr. Maki
Makoto Satô	...	Uchida, gangstar
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Detective Sakata
Eitarô Ozawa	...	Police Sgt. Miyashita
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Detective Taguchi
Kamayuki Tsubono	...	Detective Ogawa
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Detective Seki
Nadao Kirino	...	Shimazaki, the waiter-thug
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hiroshi Akitsu	...	Fisherman
Ryûtarô Amami	...	Detective
Ichirô Chiba	...	GSDF Officer
Kenzô Echigo	...	Taxi driver - Traffic accident

Storyline

When a narcotics deal goes sour and a suspect disappears, leaving only his clothes, Tokyo police question his wife and stake out the nightclub where she works. His disappearance stumps the police - until a young scientist appears who claims that H-Bomb tests in the Pacific, evidenced by a "ghost ship" that has turned up in the harbor, have created radioactive creatures - "H-Men" - who ooze like slime and dissolve anyone they touch.

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Plot Keywords:

police | ship | ghost ship | h bomb | disappearance | 

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Taglines:

Molecular Man Terrorizes the World!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

28 May 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

The H-Man

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Haruo Nakajima had two roles. One was "second dissolved sailor", another was "Liquid Human Being".

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Goofs

In the English subtitled version prepared for the 2009 U.S. DVD release, the subtitles give Kenji Sahara's character's name as "Asada" through most of the film. In the final fourth of the film, the subtitles properly give his name as "Masada."

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Quotes

Dr. Maki: [voice-over] If man perishes from the face of the Earth, due to the effects of hydrogen bombing, it is possible that the next ruler of our planet may be The H-Man.

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Crazy Credits

In an unusual move, Columbia Pictures did not matte the English "The End" over the final shot. It appears in Japanese as it did in the original Japanese version.

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Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! (2005)

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Soundtracks

"The Magic Begins"
Performed by Martha Miyake

User Reviews

Childhood nightmares

Like many other posters, I saw this film as a young boy and it gave me nightmares for weeks (maybe even months)! Luckily, my older brother finally convinced me that the "liquid creature" would not survive a swim from Japan to the United States and I was able to sleep again.

I suspect that the modern age's Freddies, Jasons and Leatherfaces would not hold a candle to the effect that this film had on an impressionable youth back then. Perhaps the very fact that the monster had no tangible qualities and could theoretically be any puddle of water you came across was what gave it its fright value.

It would certainly be interesting to see how a remake of this would play today.