Matango (1963)

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Takeshi Kimura (screenplay)
Shinichi Hoshi (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

11 August 1963 (Japan)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Shipwrecked survivors slowly transform into mushrooms.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Mushroom | Yacht | Radiation | Author

Cast

Akira Kubo	...	Kenji Murai - Professor
Kumi Mizuno	...	Mami Sekiguchi - Singer
Hiroshi Koizumi	...	Naoyuki Sakuta - Skipper
Kenji Sahara	...	Senzô Koyama - Sailor
Hiroshi Tachikawa	...	Etsurô Yoshida - Writer
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Masafumi Kasai - Owner
Miki Yashiro	...	Akiko Sôma - Murai's Lover
Eisei Amamoto	...	Skulking Transitional Matango
Takuzo Kumagaya	...	Doctor (as Jirô Kumagai)
Akio Kusama	...	Police Personnel
Yutaka Oka	...	Doctor
Keisuke Yamada	...	Doctor
Kazuo Higata	...	Police Personnel
Katsumi Tezuka	...	Police Personnel
Haruo Nakajima	...	Matango

Also Known As:

Attack of the Mushroom People (USA) (TV title)
Curse of the Mushroom People
Fungus of Terror
Matango the Fungus of Terror
Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People (USA) (DVD box title)
Matango: Fungus of Terror

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Hachijôjima, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

The giant mushrooms that the characters eat were created by the special effects crew from rice pastry. The rice pastry would be picked up from a nearby shop that specialized in it, and taken to the studio where it was shaped and cooked. Because Kumi Mizuno was so well liked, they would add sugar and other flavors.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Kasai shoots at Yoshida and Mami as he chases them off the boat, you can see the bullets ricochet off the ground before he fires a shot.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Suspicion: The Voice in the Night (#1.24)" (1958)

A moldy oldie brought to new life

Yay to Media Blasters for releasing this classic Japanese horror movie from the early 60's, but boo for the $19.99 price tag. At any rate I have had an old bootleg VHS copy of this for years & it's nice to see it as it was probably meant to be seen with all the colors not washed out and in Japanese with subtitles, instead of dubbed. I've seen this movie many times on TV and as a child it scared the hell out of me, and it still has the power to give me the creeps. A group of mostly privileged people are on a yacht sailing to somewhere when a huge storm comes up and they eventually find a deserted island (or so they think) when their disabled boat drifts close enough. Obviously others have met their fate as the island is a virtual ship's graveyard, but they can find no bodies. They have a limited amount of food but there seem to be mushrooms growing everywhere, that they are cautioned not to eat by one of the more educated of group, after reading in one of the ship's journals that they find. Of course hunger wins out with nasty results. After all the times I've seen this I still find it to be very enjoyable in a cheesy kind of way, and if you like Japanese horror, even the old kind, it's well worth seeing. One of the few from Inoshiro Honda that doesn't include rubber-suited monsters. 9 out of 10 stars.