DAIMAJIN (1966)
(a.k.a. MAJIN, MONSTER OF TERROR)
Article #1563 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-25-2005
Posting Date: 11-22-2005
Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Featuring Miwa Takada, Yoshihiko Aoyana, Jun Fujimaki

When a warlord stages a coup and takes over a small town, the children of the original lord escape and take refuge in a mountain housing the spirit of the god Majin.

While Daiei was putting out the most juvenile series of kaiju movies featuring Gamera, they also put out a series of more adult monster movies with the Majin series. I consider the monsters in kaiju movies to be gods of a sort, and it’s interesting to find one that is actually meant to be a god; he is worshiped, prayed to and pleaded with. He is also slow to take action; he really doesn’t get moving until the last quarter of the movie, so fans of monster mayhem will need to exercise a little patience. This really isn’t a problem, though; the first three-quarters of the movie is exciting, full of action, and interesting in its own right. The rampage of Majin (who manifests himself as a big stone statue) is definitely the highlight of the movie, especially when he figures out to do with that spike stuck in his head. This was the first of the series; it would be followed by two sequels.