Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell

Thanks to Quentin Tarantino homaging 'Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell's blood red sky in 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' I can finally get to see this obscurity on DVD in Japanese with English subtitles, instead of a badly dubbed fading old VHS tape. Yay! Okay, this is a b-grade movie and the effects are pretty lousy (especially the plane crash sequence), but to say it's a bad movie is far from the truth. For me it's the perfect example of a low budget horror movie transcending its limitations, coming up with something surprisingly creepy and surreal (See also William Castle's 'The Tingler', Herk Harvey's 'Carnival Of Souls', Coffin Joe's 'At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul',etc.) The opening is terrific - a plane flies through an eerie red sky and birds throw themselves at the windows in sheer terror. There's a suspected bomb on board and the plane crashes after sighting a UFO. On the ground the survivors are initially worried about the basics, like water and rescue, plus the presence of a suspected assassin, but pretty soon they also have to contend with a bizarre alien invasion! Like I said, many of the special effects are cheesy, but they're still effective. The acting is generally quite good, the alien will freak you out, and there's several interesting references to the Vietnam war, which was unexpected and gave the movie quite a unique background (can you remember any American SF movies of the 1960s even MENTIONING Vietnam?). I highly recommend 'Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell' to all horror fans who treasure the offbeat and the unusual. Hopefully this overlooked movie will now reach a larger audience. QT, I salute you!

First of all, if you want to see this flick, you'll have to look for one of the out of print tape copies made by Sinister Cinema. They used to have them and in widescreen (more or less) but apparently cannot make any more. Mine was one I found for sale that was already viewed but was lucky to find.

The widescreen is not the complete picture, but it's close, there's not too much cropped off at the sides and it's about 1.66 to 1 ratio. Pretty good image and color too. The story concerns an airplane crash landing on some sort of island or rural area, where a spaceship has landed. The alien is a life form which takes control of a person by entering the body, and then turns that person into a vampire, who drains its victims of all blood. It seems this alien is the vanguard of an advancing conquest. The whole thing is pretty eerie but has plenty of goofy moments that will make for laughs. There's the whole idea of mankind racing to destroy itself along with pretty vapid references to Vietnam, and how terrible the world is. The idea is that the earth will get what it deserves since we can't live in peace. Good old 1970s peacenik hand-wringing at the terrible state of humanity, with a good dash of cardboard character clichés thrown in. You'll want to see it for the really weird execution of a pretty spooky premise, and fast paced too. One of those type of films that cries out for a remake by someone who knows how to handle sci-fi horror.

This was another film I had long been intrigued by via a solitary still from it in a horror-film tome of my father's; it's also proof that the Japanese could make adult-oriented horror just as well back in the day (and not merely kiddie stuff like the "Godzilla" films – one of which, incidentally, followed this viewing). Intriguingly, the Janus logo which preceded the opening titles suggests this may be forthcoming on DVD from Criterion (I haven't yet purchased the other cult Japanese horror they've released, JIGOKU [1960], due to the defective first pressing of that film's disc; having watched GOKE, I wonder whether I should take the plunge now…hoping that I end up with a corrected copy).

Admittedly, the plot of the film isn't all that original: the English title, obviously, implies a certain kinship with Don Siegel's 1956 classic – while the gelatinous alien which possesses the human body through the face(!) is also redolent of THE BLOB (1958); but maybe its influences actually came from European genre efforts – as a matter of fact, two Italian films I've just watched have a good deal in common with it, namely CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959; the oozing creature, again) and PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (1965; the remote setting, the 'body snatcher' element, the vivid color scheme and even the final apocalyptic revelation)! Besides, the fact that the narrative revolves around a handful of passengers from a crashed plane also brings to mind the oft-used 'hazardous situation' plot line of classic Hollywood films such as FIVE CAME BACK (1939), STAGECOACH (1939) and the like; under pressure of hunger, thirst, isolation and the imminent threat of alien takeover, all the basic natures of the various characters come to the boil – leading most of them inexorably towards their doom!

This mish-mash of elements ensures a stylish and entertaining ride – but it's all filtered through the innately weird sensibilities of Japanese cinema (not to mention the country's first-hand experience of nuclear fall-out, which unmistakably pre-occupied most of their sci-fi entries), giving it a distinctive creepiness; the final reel – peppered with red-tinted newsreel footage of devastation and violence – has the two lone survivors finally reaching civilization, only to be met with a less than comforting sight.

A seemingly ordinary flight is quickly and inexplicably cursed by blood red skies, a bomb threat and suicidal birds splattering themselves against the windows. As if this were not enough, a globular glow-in-the-dark UFO causes the plane to crash in an unoccupied and desolate area which looks suspiciously like the quarry where Fred Flinstone once worked. The survivors are soon faced with an alien invasion in the form of moldy cosmic silly putty. The slime takes over human hosts by oozing its way up over the face and into a gash opened in the hypnotized victims forehead...a gash which, even when closed up, rather resembles a vagina and gave me the uncontrollable giggles.

Anyway, the possessed human hosts go on vampiric killing sprees, draining their victims of blood and turning them a pleasant shade of blue. In the end, the dwindling survivors show their bravery and do battle with the nasty aliens, or become cowardly lumps of Jell-o and run away screaming. There's a lot of anti Vietnam War protesting throughout, complete with stock footage of wartime atrocities. It's a nice touch, considering the time in which this film was made and the unpopularity of anti-war protesting period. There's also a surprising twist ending which, for some reason, reminded me of Fulci's film "The Beyond" combined with "28 Days Later."

All in all, this is a goofy, badly dubbed and totally entertaining film to watch. If you're a fan of Japanese cinema, vampire films and sci-fi flying saucer invasions, you won't want to miss this one.

Turner Classic Movies broadcast Goke at 2AM, October 03, 2006 in a gorgeous, widescreen, sub-titled print. It's great that they were able to secure a print of this quality. There are many questions, few answers, in the allegorical script. The last of the J-horrors produced late in the decade, the pulp sci-fi magazine elements are presented in searing colors and psychedelic effects, giving this film an unforgettable visual impact. Great looking women are a major plus. Injecting an anti-war, anti-Viet Nam stance throughout the entire film took a lot of nerve and must have damaged its theatrical distribution with US exhibitors. The movie producers at the Sci-Fi channel should carefully study this film.