Gamera contre Gyaos

The dubbing for this one is pretty decent, but for some reason everyone pronounces Gamera like Gomorrah. Anyways, it's 1967 and this year "Son of Godzilla" and "Gamera vs. Gyaos" go head to head. Like "Gamera vs. Barugon", the story's focus is on everyday characters in the wake of a crisis. A child does get involved, but not in the overly-campy-pain-in-the-ass way, unlike the next one "Gamera vs. Viras". Now "Son of Godzilla" isn't all bad and I actually enjoy that G-film, but it is one of the more child-friendly ones. This Gamera movie however is for the most part darker than most 60s or 70s Gamera. It's this one where Gamera really becomes the "friend to all children", but he has an awesome opponent: Gyaos. Probably inspired by Rodan, but with a different, sleeker design. Gyaos is a classic kaiju, the only one to reappear in more recent films the 90s and even in the latest movie, "Gamera the Brave".

Gyaos spends a lot of the movie eating innocent people, regenerating lost body parts and blowing up cities, awesome. There's even a scene where he drinks blood. The battles are bloody and quite fun, and the score is nicely done. This is definitely one of the better vintage kaiju movies and one I recommend to fans of classic sci-fi cinema.

The world of Gamera has seen this flying turtle battling many different types of creatures and Gaos is a very powerful enemy. Gaos flies and has a supersonic beam of sound that can slice any substance in the world. Gaos has one very bad habit, he likes to chew and feed on people. Gaos has one big weakness, he cannot stand being in the light of the sun. Gamera, our hero does his best to keep Gaos in the morning sun but sadly for us, fails. What can stop such a powerful enemy? Has Gamera finally met his match?

This third offering in the "Gamera, the Giant Flying Turtle" franchise is one of the better ones. However, by this point the filmmakers started imitating the tone of recent Godzilla films to make the series more kid-friendly, so from here Gamera starts becoming a nice monster who watches out for the welfare of children. There would usually be a little boy or two in the lead parts from now on, but GAMERA VS. GYAOS still emerges as an enjoyable outing, retaining some strong moments for a movie geared to a juvenile audience. Much of that is owed to the truly mean and overpowering nature of Gyaos himself: he's a giant bat who shoots laser beams from his jaws which can cut objects clear in half! Superhero Gamera truly appears to have met his match this time and it seems nearly impossible for him to overcome the threat of his formidable opponent. **1/2 out of ****

SPOILER: This silly but enjoyable film begins with an airplane being sliced in half by a ray. Then the ray is revealed belonging to a ray firing, flying, man-eating super vampire monster named Gyaos. But when Gyaos tries to eat a boy named Eiieechi, it's Gamera to the rescue. Gamera saves the boy, but almost gets his hand sliced of by Gyaos's ray. Gamera heals his wounds again and arrives when Gyaos attacks Tokyo. He manages to bite off Gyaos foot but is again hurt in the process. So the foot floats ashore and scares people. Then it is discovered that Gyaos can be hurt by sunlight and will die if exposed to the sun. So they decide to make a spinning fountain of drugged blood and Gyaos will get dissy and drugged and not be able to return to his cave and will die in the sun when it reaches dawn. However, a malfuntion in the mechanism causes the plan to fail. This is a good Gamera adventure with a zany plot and good effects.

Gaos is my all-time favorite enemy of Gamera. A giant bat from a volcano who can fire lasers from his mouth, this wedge-headed critter can slice through anything but Gamera's carapace. Why do I like Gaos? He's virtually indestructible, mean and he looks great!

Gamera comes spiraling down to earth as a series of devastating volcanic eruptions are occurring. Out in the countryside, near a volcano, a road is being built through a farming village and the farmers are threatening a violent protest. out of the volcano flies Gaos - the biggest, nastiest, laser-firing bat you have ever seen. Almost immediately, Gaos chews up a newspaper reporter (who we didn't like anyway) and abducts a little boy. What is Gamera going to do?

The cinematography and effects are a touch above average for the late 60s, and, as with the classic Destroy All Monsters, the subplots add nicely to the main story. Though this is one of my favorites in the Gamera series, it does drag a bit at times.

Recommended for Kaiju fans. Also recommended for evenings of massive intoxication.