King Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster (1964)

"Is Jupiter in Africa?"

 This film is, of course, completely bonkers- the mere fact that it ends with Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra teaming up to defeat three headed alien beast King Ghidorah tells you that. But it never ceases to be entertaining, the model work is if anything better than ever and Ishiro Honda's usual cast of actors do a sterling job as ever.

The plot ain't half bizarre, though. They squeeze in a sub-plot about a princess from a fictional country chased by agent of the new tyrannical government (possible influence on Star Wars...?!), only for said princess to survive an exploding plane and have her body temporarily inhabited by the consciousness of one of the long dead precognitive inhabitants of Jupiter who were wiped out five millennia ago by the terrifying King Ghidorah. As you do.

Oh, and loads of meteorites land, one of which later hatches King Ghidorah himself. Was Quatermass II (presumably the film) an influence here?

We also have more stuff with Infant Island, more (thankfully no longer blacked up) "natives and those little fairy women, except that this culture that was so proud of its religion and culture in Mothra is now happy to be used to provide content for a Japanese light entertainment programme. Well then.

Arguably, perhaps, the four(!) monsters we have here don't get enough screen time, but the monster set pieces we do see are utterly splendid, and King Ghidorah himself is, relatively speaking, a triumph of both design and execution. This film is utterly, utterly B movie but, provided you're in the mood, it's fast moving and enormous fun.

Mothra vs Godzilla (1964)

"We feel that we cannot trust humans..."

Another Godzilla film, methinks. And, while we're at it, lets do a sequel to Mothra. And let's make an obviously cheesy B movie notably better than it's expected to be, or needs to be. Even if the cast is starting to look awfully familiar- didn't Japan in the '50s and '60s have a wider group of B movie star actors than this?

Because this film is, indeed, better than it needs to be. Oh, it's more of a sequel to Mothra with Godzilla, despite his screen time, just a prominent guest star, but this simply reflects Mothra's deeper backstory, being goddess of an island in the Pacific whose inhabitants, thankfully, are not blacked up this time.

But there's a proper plot, with story beats in the right places. A giant egg is found; human greed leads to its usual silliness; and then those two miniature ladies from Mothra turn up to provide some much-needed exposition, and for some reason seem to know what a hydrogen bomb is.

But it all works, plot-wise, and masterfully builds both tension and interest. Godzilla arrives and wreaks the usual havoc to an unnamed city that we shall call, well, "Tokyo" which looks, suspiciously, to be entirely made of models. Our heroes- the by-now familiar combo of male journalist with social conscience, klutzy but moral female photographer and obligatory generic scientist- are forced to go to that island from the last Mothra film to beg for help. Fortunately, to a degree, the "natives" are presented with a little more dignity this time. And so Mothra heads to Japan to battle Godzilla and an epic battle ensues after which she, er, dies of old age.

The film concludes as we wait for the egg to hatch in order for a baby Mothra (or two) to give Godzilla the spanking that the short remaining running time demands. It all commands the attention rather strongly, weird though it is to have Iwo Jima mentioned in a film which doesn't star John Wayne. And yes, Ishiro Honda gives s the usual splendid set pieces. A magnificently entertaining film.