The H-Man (1958)

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

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yumi Shirakawa	...	Chikako Arai, singer in the nightclub
Kenji Sahara	...	Dr. Masada
Akihiko Hirata	...	Inspector Tominaga
Eitarô Ozawa	...	Police Sgt. Miyashita
Koreya Senda	...	Dr. Maki
Makoto Satô	...	Uchida, gangstar
Hisaya Itô	...	Misaki, the dissolved gangster
Machiko Kitagawa	...	Hanae, the hostess of nightclub
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Detective Taguchi
Naomi Shiraishi	...	Mineko, Dr.Maki's assistant
Kô Mishima	...	Kishi, gangster in nightclub
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Detective Sakata
Tetsu Nakamura	...	Mr. Chin, gangster
Haruya Katô	...	Mattchan - Fisherman
Ayumi Sonoda	...	Emi, lead exotic dancer

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:

kidnapping a woman | woman in jeopardy | police | ship | disappearance | 

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Taglines:

It's H- on Earth!

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Genres:

Crime | 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

The dissolving effect was created by deflating life-sized inflatable human figures, filming them in fast-motion, and then running the film at normal speed.

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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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Alternate Versions

The Japanese version shows one of the dancers melt to leave nothing but her G-string, but this was cut from the U.S. version, which is missing several other scenes, including an investigation scene at Uchida's house.

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Connections

Spoofed in EarthBound Beginnings (1989)

User Reviews

A good one from Toho.

Although THE H MAN doesn't feature any city stomping monsters, this is one of the best sci fi's from Japan's Toho studios. THE H MAN is an eerie thriller about a mutant blob creature lurking around Tokyo's sewer system and devouring people, leaving only their clothes behind.The blob creature, apparently a mutated human, seems to be out for revenge against a group of Japanese gangsters. It seems to always be lurking around a seedy gangster owned Tokyo strip club and devouring the mobsters. I have heard that the in Japanese version, the H MAN was a gangster exposed to an atomic bomb blast and returns as an H man to get revenge, but this is unclear in the English language version. I also found the films subplot involving Tokyo gangsters interesting in that it shows to westerners the seedier side of Tokyo's night life scene.

The film has one scene that I found pretty rough when I first saw this film as a kid. A scientist explains his theory that atomic radiation can mutate people in H men. In his lab he exposes a frog to radiation and the frog turns into a blob and then proceeds to devour another frog. The process is shown in a clinical and matter-of-fact fashion that I still find disturbing today.

Note: When this film was first released in the USA by Columbia, it was paired with the mostly dull British import THE WOMAN EATER, a film about a woman eating tree. Since both films deal with people being devoured in a rather gross manner, I wonder what effect the films had on the theaters/drive-ins concession stands.