THE X FROM OUTER SPACE

THE X FROM OUTER SPACE (1967). Director: Kazui Nihonmatsu.

An expedition to Mars brings back an alien material that burns its way out of the lab and grows into a colossal stupid-looking monster with a beak, two wobbly antennae, and big red pop-out eyes. The creature, which is 200 feet tall and weights 150,000 tons, is called Guilala and could only come from La La Land -- except this time it's actually from, as usual, Japan. In other words this is yet another mostly crappy Japanese monster movie with a man in a suit walking through cardboard buildings. The plot is perfectly acceptable, but the movie features the silliest-looking monster since The Giant Claw (still a much better picture). Some of the model and miniature work is quite good. There is one rather exciting sequence when the monster chases after two men in a jeep, its huge feet nearly coming down on them at any second. If the whole movie had been that well done it might have amounted to something. The musical score is snappy but inappropriate to say the least.

Verdict: Even monster fans can miss it. *1/2.