Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

My third year of college has begun and I’ve been busy as hell lately. Haven’t had much time to waste at the computer, but I did recently purchase Sony’s Icons of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection DVD set, along with Classic Media’s Rodan and War of the Gargantuas release and the second season of The Venture Bros. Yay me.

Not only had I never seen The H-Man before, I really didn’t know much about it. Unlike the other Golden Era flicks that I either saw years ago as a kid or pretty much knew everything about from reading online, The H-Man was uniquely “newâ€

Here is my take on Beauty and The Liquid People, as the original Japanese title roughly translates (a snicker-inducing title, if you ask me, which makes you wonder whether or not the film was intended as a black comedy of some sort). Ishiro Honda directed giant monster movies, and epic space operas. Those types of films were his specialty. Plain and simple. So, to see him do a straight sci-fi/horror film is always intriguing, because there are no space ships or daikaiju anywhere in sight. Movies like The H-Man and Matango are made to exist on the merits of the acting, the story, cinematography, etc. These are the movies that showcase Honda's talents as a director (along with Gorath, but that's another discussion entirely). Being his first such genre film, The H-Man succeeds in my eyes as a first-rate, entertaining sci-fi thriller. It's well directed, well-written, acted, etc. I wasn't drawn into the story as fully as Benjamin was, rather what stimulated me was the pure filmmaking aspects. The verdict here is that Ishiro Honda was a very good director. Not an artist, per say, but he was a professional at telling a story, visually. The "ghost ship" sequence is a tour de force by Honda, and it showcases what was to come with Matango.

The H-Man is far from perfect though. Did anyone else feel that the car-chase sequence was one of the worst you have ever seen in a movie? It was shot and scored with an urgency that is inappropriate for two cars that seem to be going AT THE MOST, twenty miles an hour! It's totally unlike a similar sequence in Terror of Mechagodzilla, where rather than shooting a car-chase, Honda was simply filming two cars chasing each other (in case you're wondering, it's when Ichinose goes to Dr. Mafune's house the second time, and is dodged by a speeding car, presumably containing Katsura and Mugar's No. 2 henchman). Honda was a careful craftsman, but he often wasn't very cinematic, as is evident here. His documentary-style approach didn't always work to the betterment of a film.

All things considered, I like The H-Man. It's well-made, and a lot of fun. Nothing groundbreaking, but then again, had anyone other than Honda made it, you can rest-assured that it would have been pretty forgettable. Ishiro Honda's films and his filmmaking style are very subtle. He wasn't the riskiest of auteurs, but there was always something unique about the films he directed (and co-wrote, for that matter). Despite all of its flaws, The H-Man is a good movie, and entertaining as hell. To some, those two aspects are one-and-the same.

I always thought that they combined and became one but many, driven by their (albeit twisted) memories, which lead them back to Japan...

This feels like a very different kind of film from Ishiro Honda. It's spooky, atmospheric and adult, very much a precursor to Matango (I've not seen The Human Vapor or Jun Fukuda's Secret of the Telegian...). The ‘ghost ship’ sequence is a standout and Masaru Sato's score fits the police story and racy nightclub scenes perfectly.

I thought for a long time H-Man was directed by Jun Fukuda...o_o

USELESS FACT: many moons ago I thought vs Gigan was directed by Honda.

Live and learn.