Jû jin yuki otoko

This is an obscure Japanese monster movie brought to you by acclaimed Godzilla director, Ishiro Honda, a story about a group of tourists in the alps whose vacation turned into a rescue mission, as they try to find two missing friends of theirs. However, their visit was plagued by appearances of an abominable snowman.

The story sounds exciting enough, but the movie suffers from an extremely slow-moving plot, depressed-acting characters, and limited monster action. Even as a Toho movie it couldn't capture the entertainment, spirit, and fun that most of you would find in the kaiji genre because there is really nothing redeeming about this film, as much of the monsters thrills are drown out by the subplots of the anxiety-filled tribal people and the evil carnival exploiter, save for a cool-looking monster and some creepy moments.

The original Godzilla movie was released a year earlier, and while that film has poignant and sad moments, the drama captures your mood, monster action excites you, and character developments makes you sympathize with them. This film is just downright dark, pitiful, and depressing, even boring at times. Do your best to stay away.

Grade D---

Ju Jin Yuki Otoko (1955)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This Toho film from director Ishiro Honda was pretty much pulled from release and has been hidden by the studio ever since then. If you have seen the film it's probably been the American version known as HALF HUMAN, which cut out over a hours worth of footage and replaced it with new scenes featuring John Carradine. In the uncut Japanese original, a group of friends go skiing but two of them decide to stay in a cabin where they are attacked by a creature. One is killed on the spot but another one is missing so a search party goes out looking for him. JU JIN YUKI OTOKO isn't a masterpiece and if you've seen HALF HUMAN than you've seen the majority of the Yeti footage. It's really hard to judge this film because the only thing out there is un-subtitles and since I don't speak Japanese it was impossible for me to really follow the story. There's a lot of dialogue here so you really are missing stuff by not having any subtitles. The actual story is easy to follow but with all the dialogue you have to think a lot more was going on. Still, for the most part I thought there was some pretty good stuff here including the music score, the cinematography and especially the look of the creatures. Yes, there are more than one and they look quite good and very realistic. The performances for the most part seemed to be good and director Honda has no problem at building up a rather nice atmosphere. Considering how long this movie has been put in a vault, it's probably highly likely that a Special Edition is coming anytime soon. Until it does, the bootleg version out there will have to do or you can check out the easier to find American cut, which on its own isn't too bad in a campy sort of way.

The dialogue is generally blunt to the point of emptiness, almost altogether senseless, sometimes contradictory, and nearly always deeply unconvincing. The stunts and effects are okay but may be dubiously employed, such as when a major landslide that the party narrowly dodges apparently just keeps sliding and leaves no trace of itself in the surrounding landscape. The pacing is meek and sluggish, testing one's patience; Ishiro Honda's direction often comes across as restrained, or possibly downright sedate, and maybe a little confused at times. Other elements are pretty good, I guess - sets, filming locations, costume design, acting. But these alone can't carry a film, or keep audiences invested. Frankly, 'Half human' is a club-footed, lumbering chore, stopping just shy of being soporific. It was only my generous sense of commitment that made me continue to watch, not any meaningful enjoyment. This isn't very good.

There are myriad distinct flaws and weaknesses, including halfhearted writing that commonly makes it impossible to really care about any of the characters or the course of events. Some aspects are more appreciable than others, however; there are some good ideas in the scene writing, for example, and some of the art direction is more plainly admirable. The story leans heavily on 'King Kong' in no small part, but I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong about that. Yet the picture mostly just saunters along, the writing is frail, the direction is unsteady, and - well, I know I said the acting was "fine," but if I'm being honest that's only true some of the time; too many moments are underwhelming, or more likely overdone. This is maybe even sort of unfocused, with too many ideas that arguably each receive insufficient treatment and almost certainly dilute the whole, and in turn ninety-five minutes feel extra, extra long.

There have been a lot of terrific monster flicks to come out of Japan, and Honda has directed some of them. This is not one of those. There are scattered bits and pieces that are commendable and that could have been latched onto as anchors for a better movie, but they are all too few. Construction that is meager and frequently outright questionable severely reduces the impact that the most dramatic or action-laden scenes should bear, and whatever it is one hopes to get out of 'Half human,' it can be found in many, many other places in higher quality and greater abundance. Why, I'd suggest simply rewatching 1933's 'King Kong' rather than sit through the tedium this predominantly represents. The value that this 1955 feature might claim is substantially outweighed by its shortcomings, and even if you're a major fan of someone involved I have a hard time thinking that I'd ever recommend it. Watch if you want, but I think your time is much better spent elsewhere.

I'm binging Toho movies and have to say that thus far Half Human is by far the worst.

It tells the story of a yeti like creature and its kin that an expedition comes across on Mount Fuji.

Looking dated even for 1955, lacking any of the Toho charm and without Kurosawa this is an absolute disjointed mess with no redeeming features.

Make no mistake this isn't a traditional over the top Toho creature film like Godzilla or Rodan, it's a poor sasquatch film that fails to entertain.

The Good:

Nothing springs to mind

The Bad:

Story is very poorly constructed

Looks terrible

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Toho have far from a flawless record

While searching for a lost skier in the mountains of Japan, a group encounters a huge, shaggy, man-like creature as well as a heartless carnival owner who is hunting the beast. Although directed by Toho's kaiju-master Ishiro Honda, the film is slow-moving and not all that interesting (not much is seen of the creature until well into the film). The kaijin is essentially man-sized, so there are few of the miniatures that make Toho's monster outings so entertaining (other than some toy trucks and a brief stop-motion scene). I watched a grainy sub-titled version on-line, so can't really comment on the kaijin suit, the cinematography (although the scene when one of the searchers is left as buzzard bait is great), original script, or acting. The titular 'Beast-Man Snow-Man' is an example of the 'misunderstood monster' sub-genre and the conclusion is poignant as the searchers discover the somewhat surprising fate of its species. The intriguing 'third act' balances the flat first half somewhat but the film will really only be of interest to fans of the studio and/or genre. Apparently the controversy about the depiction of 'Buraku' (a segment of the Japanese population who historically have been subjugated and ostracised) has led to the film being out of general circulation (the subtitled on-line version I watched seems to be quite recently made). Ju Jin Yuki Otoko was 'Americanised' into a much shorter monster film ('Half Human, 1958) featuring perennial horror-schlock star John Carradine, which by all accounts is terrible.