Space Monster Wangmagwi

I remember when the Highlight of Sat Morning was Cartoons in the Morning and Kaiju ala The Creature Double Feature on Channel 56 out of Boston. As a result, I collect the Cartoons I remember from those Sat Mornings. And I collect Kaiju films.My favorites were Bert I Gordon, Ray Harryhausen, Toho and Toho wanabees. IS this a Toho Wanabee? Not really. But it was a take off and King Kong invade's Earth via big ugly monster humanoid. It is Korean language with English Subtitles. If you like, you can listen to the audio commentary by Sueng-Hoon Jeon and John Goodrich, who give all kinds of insights on the movie and it's relationship to others.The monster looks silly but it was before CGI. I have a sentimental appreciation of anything before CGI, because it took so much work and creativity to make things look real. There is a lot of comedy, that one would never see from Toho, even the kid originated ones. And there is a child who is a hero, not like the kid's of the Showa Era breaking into military buildings, advising leaders on how to defeat the monster, or showing how silly adults act in a crisis caused by huge stomping monsters.There are interesting camera shots integrated, in unique ways. It makes up for how silly the monster looks. There is the stomping on buildings, but no pagoda, like most of these movies. The scenarios are silly. And it is kind of interesting to see women in traditional Korean Dress as opposed to the modernization that is reflected in later Kaiju. There are silly aliens in silly suits using silly strategies to control the monster.But sometimes one watches these because they are fun and campy. And anything before CGI has it's own endearing artwork. Someone took the time to build the set and the monsters were often some poor guy in an ill fitting suit, sweating, dealing with pyrotechnics, wires, nearly drowning in bodies of water because the suit was heavy and awkward to move in.I liked this movie even though the monster looked awful, because the actors made it funny. Perhaps too, that has been the charm of these older movies. It has felt easier for me to tolerate weird affects if the characters are likable. If you watch it to find the humor in it, it is a worthwhile film. If you question the wisdom in buying it, there are some reviews around though.

Despite this disc being listed as Region 0 on the box, it wouldn't play on my Region 1 (US) players, only on my Region-Free one.The film itself is a pretty weak affair, very primitive in comparison to Japanese kaiju of the time and about on the level of a lot of low-end American monster fare. Lots of low-brow comedy relief and poor special effects, it's hard to tell if it's a serious attempt or an outright parody. Not to say it isn't amusing at times, but it certainly wasn't going to make Korea a player in the international film market.

I was excited to own and watch this once lost film but my Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, and PS5 cannot read it. I’m beyond disappointed.

Depends on your point of view but this one goes down to the most god awful inept Kaiju film ever made. For that reason it is worth seeing just to know the depths of insanity this film has to offer. There are some scenes which will have you asking yourself if what you just saw actually happened! Rewind and yeah it happened! One thing that was surprising was the miniatures were actually pretty convincing most of the time. So convincing the monster doesn’t wreck them Godzilla style and only destroys the cheap models made of cardboard. I can recommend this for Kaiju completists and fans of cinema of the absurd.