Brandon's Cult Movie Reviews: MATANGO

It's a fungus frenzy with the 1963 Japanese monster movie "Matango", AKA "Attack Of The Mushroom People".
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[@iguanaboi3921]

Fun fact: the matango hive was a sort of mini-boss in the NES tittle, Godzilla: Monster of Monsters.

[@thedust0622]

Cool I was thinking that thing looks similar to the nes godzilla game mini boss

[@anonymousgoji]

it was so annoying in nes godzilla

[@dinoduelist2219]

Oooooohhhh thats what that was. Neat

[@johnbockelie3899]

" Gilligan , The Skipper too........." You know how the song goes.

[@HydraSpectre1138]

Matango confirmed part of the Godzilla Showa timeline. The only Showa era Toho film confirmed not part of the Godzilla Showa timeline is All Monsters Attack (aka. Godzilla’s Revenge) which takes place in the real world, or rather, a world where Godzilla and friends are all fictional movie characters. Hell, I think Gabara is still part of the Showa timeline but he appeared offscreen. Gabara in Godzilla’s Revenge means that Gabara only existed in an in-universe movie that we in the real real world didn’t get to see. Or Gabara is just some kid’s fanfic OC kaiju meant to represent his bullies.

[@joelmacha2104]

At 3:43: "Ah, a giant claw!" That looks nothing like a battleship.

[@nicholaslienandjaja1815]

Fun fact: The Matango's laughter was later used as Alien Baltan's evil laugh in the original Ultraman

[@nicholaslienandjaja1815]

Matango: "HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO!" Alien Baltan: "HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO!"

[@Raptors2.o]

When I first heard matago’s laugh I thought of alien balton.#ONLYGODZILLA

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

Night of the laughing Myconids.

[@masondax7818]

Honda is such an underrated director. He and Kurosawa were best friends and Kurosawa greatly respected Honda's craft.

[@ConstantineFurman]

Honda partially directed everything Kurosawa did from "Kagemusha" on, but refused any credit for it. It's said in Japan that when Honda died, he took Kurosawa's career with him.

[@Drforrester31]

And as I'm sure you know, Honda helped Kurosawa with the filming of Stray Dog by walking through Tokyo's black market as a stand-in for Toshiro Mifune as someone followed behind him with a hidden camera. I want to say it's a shame that Honda stayed loyal to Toho and only made the movies they gave to him, but those movies we love wouldn't have been nearly as good without him

[@JackieFuckingChan]

What else did Honda direct? Gorath?

[@Drforrester31]

@@JackieFuckingChan He directed everything. Rodan, Mothra, Mysterians, Varan, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Gargantuas, Dogora, H-Man, Human Vapor, Atragon, King Kong Escapes, and yes, Gorath

[@whataburgerchocolatechunk5659]

@@Drforrester31 honda also was a assistant director for akira kurosawa's dreams and madadayo was both kurosawa and Hondas last film

[@robertfolkner9253]

One of the actors said many years later that the point was not that the mushroom people were the threat, but that the threat was indeed because, under stress, the humans turn on each other instead of looking out for one another as they should have.

[@aidanfarnan4683]

"A giant claw!" is it as big as a battleship?

[@varanid9]

Actually a pretty good horror film for the time, it was based off of the William Hope Hodgeson short story "A Voice in the Night". Hodgeson wrote sea stories, many of them horror. Admired by H.P. Lovecraft, Hodgeson was sadly killed in WW1. One of the most memorable short stories I've ever read is his "the Stone Ship".

[@EricHeidenAuthor]

'Stone Ship' is probably my favorite of his short fiction too. My favorite of his novels was 'The Boats of the Glen Carrig'

[@GRasputin91]

He was admired by Lovecraft? That makes sense. This story has a very Lovecraftian feel to it

[@Stormscythe378]

This explains the shadow over innsmoth vibe I got from the beginning of the film.

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

He also wrote a story with evil pig men.

[@roringusanda2837]

@@MinscFromBaldursGate92 "pigmen, Jerry! Pigmen!!" -Kramer

[@salud7432]

Its...its like Lovecraft meets Benny Hill meets Godzilla. Its.... Its... awesome....

[@quelltech]

And now I want a movie where Benny Hill has to save the world from a cult whose attempts to rouse their dark lord from his aeons-long slumber beneath the waves have accidentally awakened Godzilla.

[@salud7432]

quelltech that would be THE MOVIE to end all Movies 😂

[@thrashpondopons2776]

More like The Lotus Eaters meets Gilligan's Island!

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

This movie was based on a story by William Hope Hogson, who was one of the inspirations for Lovecraft.

[@Setnja92]

​@@MinscFromBaldursGate92 Nice to see here someone, who knows The voice in the night. This is really good adaptation for "japanese moster movie".

[@UltimateCarl]

Okay, when the movie does the cut away from the first mushroom-infected person we see to everyone having breakfast (the part marked in this vid as having not been edited), I can't be the only one whose mind first jumped to, "holy shit, did they just kill and eat the mushroom dude that casually?!"

[@tsubakiofmelancholy6297]

I mean, I would. If stranded on an Island and starving...anything can end up on my dinner table.

[@marhawkman303]

@@tsubakiofmelancholy6297 well, it's a BAD idea, but you COULD.

[@tsubakiofmelancholy6297]

@@marhawkman303 The only thing I won't do is eat a person. Other than that, all bets are off. I shall consume. LOL

[@marhawkman303]

@@tsubakiofmelancholy6297 Well in this scenario... eating the mushroom might infect you... and well....

[@thatgamingkiwi1630]

I was under the assumption that the first mushroom dude was a hallucination considering how quickly the characters brush his existence off after the fact.

[@swite989]

Man, if this ever is remade, could really make a perfect mix of Night of the dead + Prometheus. Start of with making relatable characters, then take them into mystical madness, with some body horror from the deformations cause by fungus. How it turned old survivors into symbiote of human and fungus

[@Rosesarered35]

They could get James Gunn to direct it.

[@ryanangelastro504]

Joan Pasley or Guillermo Del Toro.

[@youthoughtaboutit6946]

Could be a less comedic sort of equivalent to slither.

[@marhawkman303]

@@youthoughtaboutit6946 Heck, make it R rated and throw in some nudity and violence...

[@ZankuRedmoon]

monster girl encyclopedia. good taste my friend.

[@jaydugger3291]

Fun fact: The Monster Musume manga did a two-issue parody of Matango.

[@JCLegendary]

The Toad makeup for the Mario movie was a lot better than I remember.

[@Nestalgba92023]

You mean the 1993 blockbuster movie got better makeup than this?

[@fatdogtavern]

First watched Matango 50 years ago. A-W-E-S-O-M-E movie! I've watched it 50+ times since. How can you not love it?

[@TupocalypseShakur]

"This is the inspiration behind the last of us" Ophiocordyceps: It's like don't even exist

[@tyrantgregcagkaiju71]

Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka both played mushroom people in this movie. And the mushroom man at 8:13 was played by Eisei Amamoto, who also played Dr. Who in King Kong Escapes.

[@iguanaboi3921]

Who?

[@iguanaboi3921]

KaijuDirectorOO7 WHOOOSH

[@morningcoffeecat2271]

Tyrant Gregcag Doctor Who....in a Japanese King Kong movie....wat😧

[@Tenebrio-Morio]

Liam Cahill I think it was actually dr. huu, he was a mad scientist that built a mechanical king Kong to mine for rare minerals.

[@morningcoffeecat2271]

Oh that's cool...I guess XD

[@dallasdandigitalproduction393]

"Tokyo: youd rather be on an island full of mushroom monsters than here"- lol. :P

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

In other words ''humans are douchebags''

[@Watcher-qz6jk]

Kumi Mizuno recieved Kinuyo Tanaka(Japanese legendary actress) award last month.

[@hebneh]

I watched this repeatedly on TV starting in about 1967. I made an audio tape of parts of the soundtrack (home videotape didn't exist yet) and thus I can still recite parts of the dialogue, and sing along / whistle along with the songs.

[@adiraiju9336]

Oh I remember this movie. "Lost" meets "Reefer Madness" meets "Shutter Island".

[@thrashpondopons2776]

Actually... It's Gilligan's Island meets The Lotus Eaters! (If it was Directed by David Cronenberg!)

[@asalways1504]

More like The Andromeda Strain meets The Mysterious Island, and then got eaten by Salvador Dali.

[@iguanaboi3921]

As Always plus the last of us

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

A voice in the night by William Hope Hogson meets Lotus Eaters.

[@Tareltonlives]

Only good

[@meesalikeu]

Based on the story "Voice in the Night" by William Hope Hodgson, which was also adapted for the 24th episode of the 1958 anthology series Suspicion. the short story is excellent and all hodgsin stories are similarly creepy seafaring tales. he was a contemporary of lovecraft.

[@misterprickly]

I wonder if the creators of the last of us saw this and went "Hmmmmm... Killer mushroom people!"

[@juliovictormanuelschaeffer8370]

Misterprickly Aren't those actually zombies created by mushrooms?

[@meavor]

The Last of Us zombies are based on real fungi called Cordyceps. Specifically the species that zombify ants in order to get them to reach a high place so that fungus can better spread it's spores on other ants.

[@brandonteppelin6353]

Kumi Mizuno was pretty much the sexiest thing the 1960s-70s Japan had. In fact I'd say the whole world had honestly.

[@Drforrester31]

Pretty much. Ishiro Honda liked her as a femme fatale because she seemed very westernized compared to other Japanese actresses

[@Tareltonlives]

There's also Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama, who are part of the Bond Girl pantheon. Mind you, Mizuno is the best actress of them all

[@JoeyJ0J0]

Can't forget Tura Santana

[@dbsommers1]

I stumbled on this on Prime. Stunned that I liked it as much as I did. Good character study.

[@mtvandamme]

guillermo del Toro would make an amazing remake of this.

[@kevincola3184]

The beginning does sound exactly like the start to a good H.P. Lovecraft story, lol.

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

I think the Carlos Castaneda version would be called ''attack of the peyote people''.

[@hysterical5408]

@@kevincola3184 Well, that is because it's based on one of Lovecraft's short stories if I remember right.

[@Deverud]

"The Voice in the Night" is by William Hope Hodgson, published in 1907. There are audio versions of it on KZbin, by Horrorbabble for example, and worth a listen

[@hysterical5408]

@@Deverud Oh! My mistake then. I'll see if I can find an audio version to listen to. Thank you for correcting me.

[@victorhernandez8723]

The inspiration for “The Last of Us”.

[@randomguy2518]

Nope, there is an actual Cordyceps fungus that affects insects and arachnids.... Hopefully it never makes the jump to mammals/Primates

[@SharedACc-wb4bi]

The inspiration for freedom planet

[@nicholaslienandjaja1815]

And Alien Baltan's evil laugh

[@prehistorichero2755]

@@randomguy2518 It won't because parasites are host-specific, and even it contact humans and other vertebrate animals, they would become extinct due to a lower population compared to insects. The reason why this movie exists because, while Godzilla is a metaphor for the overuse of nuclear weapons, Mantangos are a metaphor for the consequences of drug addictions, and shrooms are real drugs you need to avoid.

[@louisduarte8763]

One of them, anyway. The others being Children of Men and EVERY ZOMBIE MOVIE EVER.

[@shujin12345678]

I can't believe I found this ... I've been describing this movie to all my friends and nobody but me has ever heard of it, much less seen it . . One of my all time favorite movies .. thanks for putting this up .. love it

[@thishandleisntavailable42069]

1963 Japanese monster movie? All I need to hear.

[@mrthewubbie]

Wow, I just learned why the mushroom enemies in Shining the Holy Ark for Sega Saturn are called Matango, lol!!

[@Firewing227]

Yo, finally a toho film that ain't friggin Godzilla. Love your video, dude.

[@commonwriternext]

He has reviewed at least 4 non Godzilla Toho movies already

[@Oldguitar57]

This is one of the first monster movies I ever saw! It scared me when I was four...

[@BasementDweller_]

I like how the Godzilla anime series references these fungi.

[@WebGhost69]

I'm still impressed how fast you are making quality content

[@jamcalx]

So many missed opportunities to reference The Green Slime !

[@Sutterjack]

I remember seeing this as a kid and it freaked me out - especially at the end when you think the last guy remaining has made a clean escape -and he turns!!

[@danstiver9135]

Boy, these old Japanese monster movies sure do have a lot of Asian people in them.

[@mosshivenetwork117]

I w0nD3R wHY

[@lordinquisitor6233]

Derkman96 I hope your being sarcastic

[@jayk1203]

Lol

[@varanid9]

Watch "The Green Slime" or "The Last Dinosaur", then.

[@darkcoeficient]

What baffles me is that they speak English

[@murdermusprime7065]

He wears his sunglasses at night!

[@thrashpondopons2776]

So He Can, So He Can... Well! You see where this is going.

[@tyrantgregcagkaiju71]

I did something like that once. Turned out to be quite the weird combination.

[@SwiftNimblefoot]

He is japanese Johnny Bravo! :D "I cannot be seen without my glasses!"

[@gutspuck721]

He did it to avoid the flashlight harming his eyes :P

[@KraigFang]

Great lyrics to another song that “Cops Theme Song” was made by... “I wear my sunglasses at night, so no one can see in my eyes”... lol

[@a_life_painted_with_color]

Brandon Tenold this more than likely was the Japanese propaganda equivalent of Refer Madness. I lived in Japan for three years and you could buy magic mushrooms over the counter in their head/smoke shops.

[@AverageAwesomeDude]

You sure you weren’t too high on shrooms and thought Japan was Amsterdam? Jokes aside I thought Japan was actually really harsh with drugs

[@ChristopherElli-cc1ly]

Watch Mantago with my mom. She was a psychologist professor, she thought that they were going insane from isolation and strange terrain. And they just thought they were turning into mushroom people

[@tyrantgregcagkaiju71]

Will we ever get a review of Varan: the Unbelievable?

[@PrivatePikachu1]

I think it's rather unbelievable we will. Sorry I'll go now.

[@lordinquisitor6233]

KaijuDirectorOO7 oh god yes

[@NodDisciple1]

Or Pulgasari?

[@metaldad1967]

@@NodDisciple1 Careful...the last time I mentioned Pulgasari, a butt hurt troll went on the offensive about former dicktaster, kim jong il and how he kidnapped the director and forced hum to make the film and blah blag l butthurt...kind of like what Niagra Falls did to Moe and Larry only political:"PUL GA SA RI!!!! Slowly we turned and step by step, inch by inch..." Sorry. Still in shock from the internet lambasting. But still an interesting, decent film.....watch out for trolls....political North Korean Kaiju hating trolls..beware the groove!

[@UltimateThanos]

You want a review of Varan? Here it goes; The monster is awesome, but the rest of the movie is boring as shit.

[@lipstickzombie4981]

So apparently the Baltan Laugh isn't the only one recycled and used in other franchises but isn't this Ebirah's claw as well? kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5e8eqJ8a9J3btEm42s

[@ooeygooeygoodra3068]

Lipstick Zombie I was honestly shocked when I heard Baltan’s laugh and genuinely thought some sort of reference was added in.

[@psykodactyle]

*Baltan laugh intensifies*

[@doom7ish]

Yeah!

[@ConstantineFurman]

Well this came out, first, but yeah.

[@Platapart]

That's what I thought

[@gorillawhale1046]

ULTRAMAN!!!

[@GodzillaProductionsTV]

Wait so the best villain laugh ever... *WAS STOLEN?!?!*

[@StoriesFablesandGhostlyTales]

I love all the older poster artwork, that opening poster looks brilliant...even if the films are awful. They make everything look so bad ass. Cheers for the review Brandon!

[@bromodragone8405]

You should do Varan, Dogora, Gorath, The H-Man, The Mysterians, Secret of the Telegian, The Human Vapor and Toho's The Invisible Man. Some of the lesser known Toho monster movies.

[@bytemevv-4616]

...You've been eating our babies now be prepared to get the Shiitaké get kicked out of you!

[@AverageAwesomeDude]

Underrated pun there

[@bytemevv-4616]

@@AverageAwesomeDude 😁👍

[@wstine79]

I'd like to see more reviews of other Non-Godzilla Toho movies.

[@unclelou4839]

SPACE AMOEBA !

[@goufr3540]

Prince of Space.

[@sjdrifter72]

War of the Gargantuas

[@unclelou4839]

Another favorite. They used to show it alongside 'Godzilla on Monster Island' (G vs. Gigan) in the theater when I was a kid.

[@jonathanjaffe7674]

The H-Man!

[@Laserbeak316]

“Silence fills the empty grave, now that I have gone. But my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on.”

[@CoryTheRaven]

Matango is so good, but it's also SO bleak that I can't say I enjoy it. It's not just the horror version of Gilligan's Island... It's the turtleneck-wearing nihilistic version of Gilligan's Island.

[@nerdsman567]

That mushroom waifu, though . . .

[@burntgrahamcracker2866]

Just understand she'd grow anywhere damp and hot you don't want women growing in your walls

[@maxace1078]

Jack Brearley lol

[@gerardmourits8709]

Kenkou cross

[@FlyAVersatran]

I just watched the Japanese language print as part of the Criterion Monster Category celebrating Hallowe'en. (The music/effects choices are a little different here than what I saw.) I'm a big Honda fan, but had never seen anything about this particular movie, aside from occasional call outs in listings of actors and films. Is never seen any of YOUR work before, but this review is ABSOLUTELY top notch. Funny. Insightful. Rightfully goofy. Etc. Thanks for taking the time to put it all together... ... And for giving me the laugh I needed to cap off my evening.

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

We need more William Hope Hogson adaptations.

[@gmanley1]

Brandon: Don’t be afraid, I’m a fun guy. Me: Get it?

[@Nickel_The_Wise]

I had this in a DVD triple box set with The Valerians, and something else, and this flick is one slow ride to spookytown. Sure, the beginning is upbeat and hopeful, but it captures that mounting dread of both being trapped on an island with shrinking supplies and paranoid survivors, but the background scare of the mushrooms on the island probably being people trapped there forever is like something out of a Hino Horror manga. It sticks to you and really sinks in when you watch it without stopping. Killer choice, Brandon!

[@FlyAVersatran]

"one slow ride to spooky town" is a GREAT phrase.

[@Nickel_The_Wise]

@@FlyAVersatranALSO the name of my Foghat Halloween album, from the cover band called 'Fake it Easy'~

[@sonicguyver7445]

I have that set too. It was this movie, Varen, and The Mysterians.

[@fromthecheapseats7126]

“Gilligan’s Island” as directed by Takashi Miike and written & storyboarded by Junji Ito.

[@Drforrester31]

I love this movie! I picked it up after hearing it mentioned so many times in the commentaries on those Classic Media Godzilla releases and was amazed at how creepy and surreal it was compared to Honda's other films. The guy was clearly a gifted filmmaker. It came in a box set with Mysterians and Varan, which were also good but Matango was definitely my favorite

[@grimscraggletag6799]

The main reason to watch this movie... *KUMI MIZUNO!*

[@ryanangelastro504]

She is a goddess. She’s basically Japanese Caroline Munro.

[@tky4336]

She is 83 years old now.

[@jasondavidson1889]

I remember seeing this movie in the 80's on Elvira's old show.

[@Mattteus]

the only downside to looking in a mirror while on shrooms, in my experience, is spending two hours looking at yourself in the bathroom

[@tommydarbe1524]

I got this in my TOHO collection. A really decent macabre movie.

[@fulcrum6760]

Fun fact: In the Godzilla anime expanded universe, the Matango appeared after said monster died releasing them.

[@SraFink]

Was it Hedorah

[@arthas640]

Matango sounds like the unholy hybrid of a mango and a potato

[@commonwriternext]

Might as well start a marathon of Toho monster movies

[@robertstuart480]

Matango! I love this trippy flick. Some other movies you oughta review sometime: Hausu aka House Slumber Party Massacre Humanoids From The Deep Deep Red Don't Torture A Duckling Long Weekend (the 70s original) The 7th Victim Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers Maniac Nurses Find Ecstasy Teenage Catgirls In Heat

[@DragonMaiden77]

Robert Stuart Eyyyy my man Fulci! I’d love to see more of his work on any internet show, not just his Zombi/zombie films either.

[@leviroch]

The last 3 sound like awesome 80s porn lol. . . Just pubes and pointy tits everywhere

[@charlemagnetheFranks]

I seen this movie on creature double feature on channel 56 Boston. As a kid it's made me very uncomfortable for a movie and it seems to be a part of my nightmares. The Lovecraft effect was definitely in this movie.

[@atomicvinylreviews3420]

I was lucky enough to see this one on the big screen a few years ago, awesome movie !

[@eyeseer1]

I can't help but imagine a revision this movie on nature, psychedelia & delusion. Despite its dated execution, being directed by the original Godzilla director, Matango feels like an early body horror film.

[@fromthecheapseats7126]

If anything, Brandon showed admirable restraint with the drug jokes.

[@yadayada9581]

YES! Thanks for doing this one! Always been one of my favorite guilty pleasures.

[@babababuck]

This is a childhood favorite. Way way back, UHF channel 29 in Buffalo used to play this every now and again. They actually showed a lot of Toho films. Most of which you now riff on. lol. Thanks Brandon!

[@KRhetor]

The Media Blasters DVD (long out of print, alas) is great, a restored color print with a subtitles option and lots of extras. Like Brandon says, behind the risible title is a surprisingly intelligent and effective movie. It makes for a good double bill with Attack of the Crab Monsters.

[@scottpandich3972]

I had a chance to watch this not too long ago. It's as if Toho decided to do a Hammer film, and it works pretty well.

[@maxpower3726]

I have a ringworm (actually a fungus) infection that I got from my cat. Now i'm terrified of waking up as a fungus man! Multiple high pitched Tarzan-like sceams of gutteral terror!

[@that-avr-drummer]

One of my favorite creature double feature flicks from the 80s!! When they released this on DVD a couple years ago I immediately ordered it....good stuff!

[@Tohofan122]

Love it when you review non-Godzilla Toho films!

[@MikeJohnson-yh4lg]

“Attack of the Mushroom People,” was a title was made up by exploitation film master/co-owner of American International Pictures, James Nicholson. Toho Studios often gets the blame / credit for it.

[@yith2116]

Hey, an Ebirah cameo! He even brought his music with him.

[@alyhoffman2643]

I've been waiting for you to review this one.

[@jayn8392]

"it's not a good idea to look in the mirror when your on mushrooms", this is very excellent advice

[@chriscarlisle5676]

I was gonna make a pun but there wasn't mush room. Sorry, I'll see my self out lol 😂😆

[@Soundofsilence-j4d]

Love laugh at end when skipper say nothen. Great moment you certainly know moments

[@93Monstermike]

13:45 I know that laugh!

[@mitchellburke7457]

93Monstermike Fun fact: The roars for the matango were used for Baltan from Ultraman

[@93Monstermike]

Like I said, I know that laugh because I first heard it from Alien Baltan.

[@skyslasher2297]

this is the most godzilla non godzilla movie

[@greenman5255]

This was one of the few movies that scared the crap out of me as a kid.

[@nicholaspokorny5058]

The wikipedia page never said anything about Ebirah making a cameo!

[@geardog24]

1:06 Now this would make a great movie😏

[@zeppelin_4743]

geardog24 you deserve a like just for your profile pic

[@andrewgwilliam4831]

I wouldn't want to bet that someone hasn't already made one. I refuse to google it, though! 😁

[@doenyin5269]

Hell yeah it would nice 👌

[@italiansoldierfromww2460]

Liked because profile pic

[@VortexBunche]

One of my favorite Toho films. Unique among their roster.

[@PlatinumRoseLady]

This movie TERRIFIED me when I was a young girl. I watched it again as an adult and...it was really interesting.

[@unclelou4839]

Fun fact: An entire episode of 'Sanford & Son' featured this film as a running gag!

[@SMunro]

Opens with Villain's monologue. "You think I'm insane."

[@sallyholmes9366]

I saw this movie a million years ago 😂😂 of course at that time I was too young to understand about mushrooms 🤣🤣

[@mheermance]

I saw this on Creature Double Feature back in the 70s. The scene with the arm coming off really wigged me out as a kid.

[@FingerBreakerWu]

Fun Fact: There is a city in the original Secret of Mana called Matango which hosts sentient vegetables, including mushrooms.

[@davebooshty299]

I've seen this movie a few times in the past when i was a kid , Special thanks to Boston's Creature Double Feature on Channel 56. I'm 48 Nowadays.

[@jyesucevitz]

I'd swear when I saw this as a kid it was part of the Saturday Creature Double Feature. except i thought it was in b&w. then it dawned on me that we still had a b&w TV then.

[@banik5213]

You made me check this movie out. Thanks dude! Very happy I did!

[@Silly-rt8mt]

I think concept and the noise mushroom make is definitely scary but all around they try there best to

[@wstine79]

I'll need to order my mushroom and cheese pizza first before I watch this review.

[@MrEmpoleon2010]

Living in the sunlight, love it.

[@Bengette]

Matango always frustrated me because it could have been a fantastic classic horror film, but Ishiro Honda is on record saying he didn't like doing horror. The cutaways to random singing and other things took away from the spooky scenery.

[@mossadon]

Agreed. This had such potential. Double blow for me as i'm a fan of the books author, whome Lovecraft stole the idea of an ancient book that runs through various stories from, William H Hodgson. Check out his Carnacki stories.

[@Bengette]

I've been meaning to read the book this is based on for years! I'll check it out soon. I'd love to see a deliberately paced horror film that combines the visual style of this movie with the style and plot of The Lost Continent. The only things I would change would be to make sure the ship reaches the island sooner and that the conquistadors would be driven mad by the mushrooms. I'd get rid of the random crab monsters, too.

[@thrashpondopons2776]

There is one connection Honda had to the source material... it is my understanding that his initial concept of Godzilla was of a giant Mushroom-Creature!

[@psykodactyle]

Not sure if giant mushroom-creature, but some consept art shows him with a kinda mushroom cloud like head

[@Bengette]

I think the mushroom thing was in reference to the mushroom cloud. I don't think Godzilla was supposed to be a fungus monster. That would have been cool, though. At one point he was also supposed to be a giant squid.

[@MinscFromBaldursGate92]

Attack of the Myconids.

[@earlfrancart5687]

glad you covered this one. I remember watching it as a kid. freaked me out, big time. haven't seen it since. I will have to track it down and watch it again.