Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People – Shipwrecked survivors on a mysterious island find something they never expected.
Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People (1963) starring Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno
It has to be said that Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People is a different type of horror film. It begins with a person in a hospital, telling the story in flashback. He, along with some friends, were on a pleasure cruise in a rented ship. The wealthy man orders the skipper of the craft to go through a hazardous area. Never a good idea. Soon, they’re all shipwrecked on an unknown island.
While they were on the boat, the young people were talking about how, having left civilization behind, they had left the evil of humanity behind. But no …. Not long after they’re shipwrecked, one of the crew openly talks of raping the beautiful women. Thankfully, the other men stand up for the women, but the point’s clear. Wherever humanity goes, they take the evil within them along. Almost a reference to the sinful nature of Adam and Eve. But the story’s just beginning.
They find another shipwreck, from a previous time. This ship was doing some type of unknown research. But, there’s some canned supplies left, so the survivors have food to last them for a while. And continuing the theme of mankind’s sinful nature, one of them starts hoarding the food, trying to steal more than his share, etc. But when the food runs out, there’s nothing to eat on the island. Except mushrooms.
Continuing the the Garden of Eden theme, the mushrooms are effectively the forbidden fruit. The journal they find on the earlier shipwreck warns them against eating them. But, hunger’s a powerful thing. And eating them leads to disaster.
I won’t say any more, other than to say is a moody, horrific story. I enjoyed it and recommend Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People.
Cast of characters in Attack of the Mushroom People
- Akira Kubo (Destroy All Monsters)… Kenji Murai – Professor
- Kumi Mizuno (Ebirah, Horror of the Deep) … Mami Sekiguchi – Singer
- Hiroshi Koizumi (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla) … Naoyuki Sakuta – Skipper
- Kenji Sahara (Rodan) … Senzô Koyama – Sailor
- Hiroshi Tachikawa (Gorath) … Etsurô Yoshida – Writer
- Yoshio Tsuchiya (Son of Godzilla) … Masafumi Kasai – Owner
- Miki Yashiro (Mothra vs Godzilla) … Akiko Sôma – Student
- Hideyo Amamoto (Message from Space) … Skulking Transitional Matango
- Takuzô Kumagai (King Kong vs Godzilla) … Doctor (as Jirô Kumagai)
- Akio Kusama (King Kong vs Godzilla) … Police Personnel
- Yutaka Oka (Mothra) … Doctor
- Keisuke Yamada (The H-Man) … Doctor
- Kazuo Hinata … Police Personnel
- Katsumi Tezuka (Godzilla Raids Again) … Police Personnel
- Haruo Nakajima (Godzilla vs. Gigan) … Matango
- Tokio Ôkawa (Varan) … Matango
- Kôji Uruki (Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster) … Matango
- Masaki Shinohara … Matango
- Kuniyoshi Kashima … Transitional Matango
- Toku Ihara … Transitional Matango
- Mitsuko Hayashi … Nurse
- Tsurue Ichimanji … Nurse
Product Description
Directed by Ishiro Honda (The Godzilla Series!) After a yacht is damaged in a storm and it’s boarders stranded on a deserted island the passengers; a psychologist and his girlfriend, a wealthy businessman, a famous singer, a writer, a sailor and his skipper take refuge in a mysterious fungus-covered boat. While using the MUSHROOMS for sustenance they find in the ships journal that the mushrooms are poisonous, however some members of the shipwrecked party continue to ingest the mysterious fungi transforming them into hideous ungal monsters. One of the strangest and most horrific TOHO productions to date.