Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)

Director: Yoshimitsu Banno

Written by: Yoshimitsu Banno, Takeshi Kimura, Tomoyuki Tanaka

This psychedelic nightmare stands out as one of the most stylistically unique Godzilla movies and also one of the most frightening.

Here, humanity is threatened by a sentient creature formed entirely of pollution. Hedorah is a vile ball of acidic sludge that can transform freely between aquatic, aerial, and land-based forms.

Consisting of jarring animations, blaring 70’s tunes, and bizarre musical numbers lamenting mankind's harsh effect on the planet, this is Godzilla unlike any other.

When a marine scientist discovers a strange tadpole-like creature, he is attacked and disfigured by Hedorah, who then unleashes its fury upon the mainland. Be it huffing smoke chimneys, oozing down the steps of a busy nightclub, or killing tens of thousands with its toxic gasses, it seems there is no refuge from the walking blob of evil.

Thankfully Godzilla arrives to save the day, but this is by no means a guaranteed respite for humanity. The King of the Monsters takes an unprecedented amount of punishment here and it is only with mankind's help that Hedorah is finally vanquished.

Despite Godzilla’s heroic nature in this film, it is easily the most horrific adventure we’ve seen so far in the Showa Era. Hedorah’s toxic ooze melts the unwary into steaming skeletal remains and its noxious gas suffocates countless on-screen victims. Even in victory Godzilla tears into the mass of living goo and rips out its eyes, before roasting them with his atomic breath.

Despite the horrors, it also gave us this gem.

The message here is clear, mankind is killing the earth and if we don’t stop, we may well doom ourselves. Sadly the message here was overlooked as one has only to turn on the news to see.

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