"Daimajin (MAJIN, MONSTER OF TERROR)"

by Jules Carrozza

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The film opens with an evil person, Samanosuke, attacking and murdering the good lord, Hanabusa. Samanosuke then becomes the lord. However, the prince and princess, Tadafumi and Kozasa, are smuggled away by the old priestess Shinobu and her nephew, Kogenta to a mountain far away where dwells a statue of a god known as Majin. Ten years later, evil lord Samanosuke forces all the men in the town into slavery. Disturbing scenes of brutal abuse are shown. When Shinobu tells them about this, Kogenta and Tadafumi decide to go to town to fight. First Kogenta goes, Gunjuro (the evil lord's chamber lain) recognizes him. Samanosuke tortures him with a hot pokerstick. Then he him. Tadafumi goes out to find him and is caught too. Shinobu warns Samanosuke to stop this torture and to let the men go or else he will see the wraith of Majin. He kills her. He decides to execute Kogenta and Tadafumi the next day and sends troops to destroy the Majin statue. They try to drive a steak through it's head but they see blood ooze out of it. Terrified, they run away. Suddenly, all of them are sucked into a fissure in the ground. Kozasa prays to Majin to save her brother and friend. When she cries and her tears him the statue, it comes to life and walks to the town. It massacres thousands of the evil lord's men, destroys his fort, and kills Samanosuke by impaling him with the very spike he dared to try to destroy it. Then it attacks the townspeople. When Kozasa cries and the tears strike him, he falls apart. Tadafumi and Kozasa can now rule over the land as rightful rulers. I enjoyed this one. The monster scenes are truly spectacular (except for some problems with size) and by the people who did the Gamera films. I also admit a strong attraction towards Miwa Takada.

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