Varan the Unbelievable

VARAN THE UNBELIEVABLE was pretty scary stuff when I first saw it as a kid in 1962. A few years ago I picked the original Japanese version and the must say it proceeds at a ponderous pace and is much longer than the Crown International Pictures release. There are more battle scenes and Varan even flies in the Japanese version. The American distributor shortened the film considerably and added scenes with Myron Healey and maybe even Tsuruko Kobayashi. The monster is a neat-looking reptilian creature that one critic referred to as appearing like "a squirrel with jet propelled nuts." In any event, not bad stuff but it's not great either. For better Japanese sci-fi GODZILLA, RODAN, ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE and THE MYSTERIANS are much better. But VARAN deserves a break and was never seen again (except for a brief appearance in one of the GHIDRAH sequels). VARAN was meant for television release originally but never made it. See it anyway for its fun moments, and there are a few. With Katsumi Tezuka in a rubber suit as Varan. Also, catch the original Japanese version if you can!