Der Todesking is brilliant. Wish I could catch that screening!
Anyhow I just watched:
Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds/Kyōryū Kaichō no Densetsu - 1977 Japan d:Junji Kurata
This is a very, very strange kaiju effort. Mostly it is a rip-off of Jaws (but with a Nessie-esque plesiosaur instead of a shark) but a rhamphorhynchus turns up late in the day to facilitate the traditional kaiju showdown.
This is a low budget affair and the special effects are simply awful - probably the worst I have seen in such a Japanese monster flick. But, this isn't the problem, long stretches of this are very dull indeed and the plotting and script of frequently incoherent. And the final battle between the monsters is extremely poor and disappointing - the puppets (no men in suits here) are just not up to providing a satisfying bout.
It's not without its charm and is a fair bit bloodier and more violent towards humans than is usual in this kind of thing (there are a fair few dismembered bodies and parts knocking about!) but this is not one for the idly curious. Deffo one for the die-hard Japano-monsterphile.
As such, I did enjoy it a bit, whilst recognising its many, many problems.
An odd film.
Oh, and neither monster is a dinosaur or a bird! They are both reptiles!
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