Daimajin (1966) Review

Today’s review is going to be on one of Daiei’s better entries into the genre, Daimajin (1966). Just a heads up, this review will be short, I may add to it later.

Part of a three movie series, Daimajin is a daikaiju eiga about 1700′s Japan, and a giant stone warrior that destroys it’s attackers, Daimajin.  Now, into the summary:

The movie starts with an earthquake, which the villagers think is Daimjin’s awakening.  They begin to perform a ceremony to keep the guardian at bay, when a young samurai commits mutiny.

A great fight scene breaks out, and the remaining villagers struggle to keep the ceremony going, but it just gets too intense.

Honestly, the fight scene is pretty epic, as is the whole movie, and really, this movie could be good without Daimajin, but he puts it over the top, as one of my favorite Daiei films, better than most of the Showa Gamera films.  Now, back to the summary.

We cut to a time which appears to be about 10-20 years later.  After a scene where we get a good shot of Daimajin, in his unawakened form, we cut to the opposing samurais from earlier in the film.  They are crucifying people, and Daimajin is finally awakened.  He goes to the city, and begins destroying everything, in classic Daikaiju style.  Although, being a humanoid, he can be more diverse.

Soon enough, he performs my favorite human kill in a kaiju movie of all time, the death of the main antagonistic samurai.  He holds the samurai up to two pieces of wood that were once the frame of the house, the form a cross.  He then pulls a giant chisel out of his head that he was impaled with earlier, and jams it through the man’s chest!  It is a sight to behold, and the most ironic thing I have ever seen.

Daimajin, about to make the most impressive kill in kaiju history.

Soon, a girl begs Daimajin to stop, and the statue becomes inanimate once again.

This movie was absolutely amazing, and one of my favorites of the Showa era.  Sorry for some of the vague information, I’m doing this off of memory, but will rewatch the film soon.  I’ll probably fill in the names and other non-specifics.  This movie gets a 9.5/10!