Mostly all new films this time around, and they’re all pretty good!
We will start off with “Shelby Oaks,” then have no choice but to take a look at “Compulsion.” “Alma and the Wolf” will be stopping by before “Operation Undead” occurs. All of these are new-ish 2025 films. Lastly, we’ll watch the final film of the second Godzilla era, “Godzilla Vs Destoroyah” from 1995.
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Mainstream Films:
2025 Shelby Oaks
Directed by: Chris Stuckman
Written by: Sam Liz, Chris Stuckman
Stars: Camille Sullivan, Sarah Durn
Run Time: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s a mix of documentary, found footage, and standard movie format that mixes the three smoothly together. After a quartet of paranormal investigators vanish, the sister of one of them starts an obsessive investigation of her own looking for answers. She finds some, and it’s thoroughly creepy. We both thought the movie improved as it went along, with a stronger second half, and we give it a thumbs up.
Spoilery Synopsis
We’re told that Riley, the host of “Paranormal Paranoids,” went missing in 2008. We watch an old video of her talking about being scared. That was the last time anyone saw her alive. In Darke County Ohio, we hear news reports about Riley and her whole team going missing. Could it have been a hoax?
Mia, Riley’s sister, has been searching for her for the past twelve years. We cut to people talking about this new thing called YouTube, and how it created a whole new type of paranormal researcher. We watch one old clip that took place in an abandoned prison, and Riley was never the same afterward. They never really got famous until their disappearance.
The last evidence of the group was at a place called Shelby Oaks, a modern ghost town. Eventually three of the team were found, dead and mutilated, but Riley’s body was not found. We see that clip again, and this time, we see a creepy figure standing outside the window behind Riley. “Mia, he’s back,” she said. Mia talks about Riley’s visions from when she was little.
As the interviewer and Mia finish up, a man comes to the door. “She finally let me go,” he says before shooting himself in the head. Credits roll. In his hand is a tape labelled “Shelby Oaks,” and Mia steals it.
Mia watches the tape, which contains missing footage from Riley’s camera. Riley introduces the town of Shelby Oaks, but then gets all serious and wants to leave. She mentions having a dream about the place. They explore the place, but that night, there are weird sounds outside the buildings; howling and whining, like animals. We then see the man who killed himself on their doorstep come into the building and kill some of the crew.
Mia sees someone standing outside looking in her window– on the second floor. Riley used to talk about the same thing happening.
Detective Burke tells Mia about Wilson Miles, the man who did the killings. Mia still doesn’t tell the police about the tape. She wants to investigate on her own. Miles had been incarcerated in that old haunted prison as well, so that’s all connected. She interviews the former warden of the prison, who talks about how oddly quickly the prison deteriorated after Wilson Miles arrived there. The place literally rotted.
Mia tells her husband Robert more of her suspicions, and yes, she’s seen the thing at the window a few times. The thing out there wanted something from Riley, and it’d been stalking her all her life, minus the few years when Miles was in prison. Robert thinks Mia needs psychiatric help.
Mia reads about Incubuses and other demons. The pictures look familiar. Later, she sees a demon dog outside on the street. She decides, in the middle of the night, to drive right over to the abandoned CGI prison and break in, alone. Without telling anyone where she’s gone. She tracks down Wilson Miles’s prison cell and it abruptly gets very cold. Suddenly, her flashlight goes out and she sees some surprising things. She wastes no time in leaving the prison.
She then drives to the old amusement park and encounters the demon dog again. This time, it leads her into the woods to a house where an old woman lives. She’s Norma. Mia notices that the house is covered in mold and rot, just like the prison. Norma says she lives with her son, who turns out to be Wilson Miles. Mia’s creeped out and sends Robert a text to call the police to her location.
She finds photos of Wilson and Riley together, and she doesn’t look happy about it. Oh, and she’s pregnant in the photos. Norma comes out and opens a trap door on the floor and leads the way in. In a cell down there, Mia sees Riley, alive. It also becomes clear that old Norma isn’t human at all, or perhaps is just a human shell.
Riley runs upstairs and Mia chases after her. They hear a baby crying and go into the room. Norma is there praying to Tarion, the Incubus of the North. She blesses the baby in his name. There are photos on the wall of Riley, Robert, Mia, and they’re all covered in blood. When the ritual is over, Norma falls to the floor, apparently dead. The baby, on the other hand, looks just fine.
Mia takes Riley to the hospital. After twelve years, the news is all over the story. Eventually, they take Riley home, but she’s not adjusting well and is very quiet. “It has to die,” she says about the baby. The two sisters struggle, and Riley gets knocked out a window, where she’s torn apart by devil dogs. We get a good glimpse of Tarion standing behind Mia. Then it puts a hand on her shoulder.
Mia then explains that Tarion had been following Riley for decades; this is what it’s always wanted. She screams, and we see that her eyes are glowing now.
Brian’s Commentary
A lot of the beginning is found footage, but it moves away from that as Mia starts investigating. After that point, it starts picking up and gets good. I liked the last half quite a bit. The sets, music, lighting, and pacing all lend themselves to a very suspenseful mystery. You see just enough to know what’s going on, but they don’t beat you over the head with monsters and gore.
It’s very good!
Kevin’s Commentary
Hmmm. A found footage documentary movie where a quartet of supernatural investigators have vanished. Will it be good or show us something new? Yes, it was quite good and unique enough to entertain me. I was pleased.
The CGI when it’s used is pretty obvious, but the real abandoned locations, the interior of the prison, the town, the amusement park, were perfect.
An interesting bit of trivia on IMDB.com says “In one of the posters promoting the movie, there are the names of all people contributing to the movie hidden in the poster. There were over 14,000 people included in (sic) making of the movie (including crowdfunding).”
Oof. Sometimes the dragon wins as the saying goes.
2025 Compulsion
Directed by: Neil Marshall
Written by: Charlotte Kirk, Neil Marshall
Stars: Charlotte Kirk, Matthew Camilleri, Zach McGowan
Run Time: 1 Hour, 41 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
There’s a masked and disguised killer on the loose in Malta who does brutal work. It has a hint of the horror elements, but really it’s a sexy and violent murder mystery. The deaths are very bloody, a contrast to the beautiful people and settings. And the script is clever but flawed. We both thought it was entertaining, but had some issues.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open on various shots in and around Malta. Someone in a black outfit climbs the ladder on the side of a building at night. They break in through a balcony and skulk around. The person in black watches as the man who lives in the house gets ready for a shower. Then the intruder slashes the man to death excessively. We pull back and see that the killer is a woman in a full-body BDSM suit.
Detective Claudia arrives on the scene. The chief explains the case to her; she’s never done a case like this before, so he assigns her to Detective Crawford as a partner. Also, the chief is her father.
Evie is on vacation in Malta, just arrived, and she gets an annoying taxi driver. She’s got a rich father, whose isolated country home she’s going to stay at, and an attitude. She listens to neighbor Diane and her boyfriend, Reese, arguing from quite a ways away.
Evie runs into Diane at the local store, and they talk. Meanwhile, the two detectives look at security footage of the bondage-killer; the killer is probably not one of the locals. Diane tells Evie about the murderer on the ride back home. Evie mentions that she just broke up with her girlfriend.
Back at the house, neighbor Reese invites Evie out for dinner tomorrow night. Evie notices that she can see through to their windows from her room and really likes what she sees.
Later, Diane and Reese talk about Evie’s rich father and how to get his money. Reese planned to seduce Evie, but she’s a lesbian, so that’s not gonna fly. They need to devise a new plan, so the next day, Diane goes to see Evie at her house. We get a flashback to Diane watching Evie’s stepfather, Mason, getting into the safe. She scopes out the lock on the safe as Evie gets dressed. Then Diane works on seducing Evie, which isn’t especially hard.
Reese goes to see some baddies about the money he owes, and the boss, Fabio, isn’t nice about it. Final warning. He’s got a week before the boss lets a henchman skin him alive.
The two detectives show up to question Evie, since she’s a recent arrival to Malta who fits the demographic of the killer. They tell her not to leave the island. They go to Diana’s house right afterward. The police have found several similar murders in neighboring countries over the past few months.
Diane and Evie go out for dinner, and run into the annoying cab driver. The outing does not go well for any of them. When they get home, Diane learns the security code for Evie’s house entrance.
We cut to the killer’s point of view as she walks through a house with a big knife. It’s the annoying cab driver’s house, and she stabs him to death with one of Evie’s swords.
Diane and Reese argue about who’s seducing whom. Evie overhears Reese talking about needing money badly. When he threatens to mess up everything, she stabs him. That doesn’t do much, but then Evie shows up and they tag team stab him repeatedly in a messy fight. He dies hard.
Diane says they could just make Reese disappear and not mention any of this to the police. They wrap up the body and dump it in the ocean. We see someone is watching them from a distance. Then they make out in the hot tub as they wash the blood off each other.
In the morning, someone sends a video of them loading the corpse into their car last night. It’s blackmail for $100,000 worth.
The two cops get called to Madam Karmelina’s annual masquerade, as there was a report of someone dressed like the murderer showing up there. The two girls are there as well to meet the blackmailer. Everyone there is dressed sexy, so the murderer’s bondage suit doesn’t really stand out. The girls spot their pool boy, who must be the blackmailer.
Someone then follows the pool boy into the bathroom, kills him, smashes his phone with the blackmail video on it, and throws it in the toilet before leaving. The police jump into action, and the two girls rush to get away. There are too many deaths connected to Evie and Diana to be a coincidence.
The police return with a search warrant and soon find one of Evie’s father’s swords missing - clearly the murder weapon used on the driver. Diana calls Mason, Evie’s stepfather, about the trouble; he needs to come to Malta, which is exactly what Diana needs to get into the biometric locked safe. She also texts Claire, Evie’s former girlfriend and hears Claire’s phone pinging upstairs. Upon investigating further, Diana finds Claire’s head in a suitcase. Diana then decides to leave town– no, on second thought, Mason is arriving, and she can use him to open the safe.
Evie gets released under house arrest and goes home, where Diana is waiting for her. When Diana tells Evie that Mason is on the way, she is not happy.
After thinking it over, Detective Claudia decides that Diana is the serial killer and heads over there. She soon learns the truth of the matter– Evie is the killer. Diana and Evie play cat and mouse throughout the big house for a while until it all comes down to a– sword fight. Suddenly, Mason and Evie’s mother show up.
Evie confronts her parents about her motivations. Then she shoots them both. Evie runs away, leaving Diana alone with the bodies. Diana cuts out Mason’s eye, which allows her to open and rob the safe, full of lots of goodies and cash.
Detective Crawford arrives outside the house and finds what’s left. He has his people arrest Evie on the way to the docks. When the chief finds out that Evie killed his daughter, he rushes right over to the hospital where she is, with Crawford not far behind. The chief ends up getting shot, which makes Evie smile.
We cut to Diana, now with a new hair color and on an expensive-looking boat, as she leaves Malta for good.
Brian’s Commentary
There are numerous bloody murders, a head in a suitcase, and some extreme fights, but calling this one horror may be a stretch. It’s a sort of whodunnit, but we really don’t get many clues as to the murderer’s identity. In the end, it somewhat makes sense, but there are several plot holes that we both picked up on right away.
Still, it was interesting all the way through and was well shot and looked good throughout. Some of the actors’ accents were pretty bad, but that’s just the way some international films are.
It’s pretty decent, but not really horror.
Kevin’s Commentary
Definitely low on horror and high on the murder mystery drama. And sex. This one had me guessing right up to the reveal what was really going on.
So, they dressed up sexy and revealing and went to a costume party. Upstairs in the bathroom, the fully gimped killer takes out the blackmailing pool boy and destroys his phone with the video of them hauling out Reese’s body. Which only the two main characters knew about, so it had to be one of them? But no, because very soon, they are still dressed revealingly and leaving. Point one, that was way too little time to get in and out of that gimp rubber outfit. And point two, where did Evie have it stashed? Up her butt? I thought it was well made overall, but this and a few other points troubles me.
So, I’m going to say it’s very well made, well acted, and well directed. But I had some issues with the script.
2025 Alma and the Wolf
Directed by: Michael Patrick Jann
Written by: Abby Miller
Stars: Ethan Embry, Li Jun Li, Jeremie Harris
Run Time: 1 Hour, 29 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
A police officer with personal issues responds to a wolf attack. And things get more complicated from there when he, and us, start having a hard time telling what’s real and what’s going on. The acting is good, the effects are very cool, it’s short and moves well. Things are strange, but mostly explained in the end. We both liked it very much.
Spoilery Synopsis
We’re in the Pacific Northwest for this one. The sheriff’s deputy, Ren, stands on the seashore carrying a red balloon. He gets a call and goes to investigate. On the way, he passes a girl walking on the side of the road, and she’s not looking so well. He recognizes Alma and takes her in for questioning. Ren assumes she was raped, but she calls him a dummy and says her dog was killed. A wolf and a bunch of goats did it, but she was drunk, so who knows. Eventually, he gets the full story out of her, and it’s weird. Ren explains that wolves are protected, and killing one is a felony.
Alma and Ren used to be a thing back in high school; neither is looking too successful at the moment. He promises to kill the wolf for her. Ren goes to his son Jack’s game, and it’s clear that none of the townspeople much like him. Jack’s mother Connie is there too, and she hates Ren as well. There’s a whole custody argument.
That night, Ren goes off looking for the wolf that killed Alma’s dog. He finds the goats she described, but they aren’t normal goats. He also finds Alma’s dog’s leash. When he sees the wolf, he fires his gun. Then he sees it turn into a wolf-man. “I am the wolf and you are the weasel,” it says before it charges at him. Still, he’s pretty drunk, so who knows?
In the morning, the sheriff mentions that the lieutenant position is up between Ren and Murph. Murph brings in banana bread for the boss. Alma comes in, looking much cleaner, and wants to hear about the wolf last night. She guilt-trips him into a date. Jack comes over and talks about a talent scout that saw him at the big game.
The date with Alma goes really well. Elsewhere, the wolf-man attacks Jack.
In the morning, Ren gets the call about Jack going missing. He didn’t show up to school this morning and his dog was found dead. His meeting with the sheriff and Murph doesn’t go well because Connie keeps attacking Ren. As they all leave, Ashley, the town drunk, pukes all over Ren’s shoes.
Ren and Murph go for a drive, and they’re attacked by goats. Ren thinks the goats will lead him to Jack, but Murph isn’t too supportive. Night falls, and they get lost. Murph explains that he’s a pacifist and doesn’t even load his gun. Jack dreams about the wolfman and goatmen, now giant-sized. He sees Alma, “Search the trees.” Then he gets a vision of Jack in the lake.
In the morning, Ren gets divers to search the lake, but there’s no one there. The sheriff thinks Ren is losing his mind.
When Ren gets home, he finds Alma making scary meatloaf. She believes him about the wolf, which leads to sex. Ren tells her all about his life and feelings about Jack. Then he gets a call from Alma; she wasn’t with him at all last night– it was a flaming goat!
Ren runs over to Alma’s house and finds the nasty neighbor, Betty, outside the house. He shoots her. He then runs to the police station, and they say they found old Ashley in the woods with his head bashed in. Jack’s blood was on him. Everyone in town is starting to get sick, including the sheriff’s daughter.
Murph and the sheriff arrest Ren for murdering Ashley and Jack. Ren denies it. They have fingerprints, and they aren’t taking his explanation seriously. “He’s coming for all of you,” Pam screams before splitting open and releasing a goatman which attacks Murph.
Ren and the sheriff barricade themselves in an interrogation room as the goatmen try to break in. Then, the sheriff changes as well. Ren slips out the air duct while the sheriff holds the baddies off.
Ren drives out to the woods and confronts the wolf about Jack. We then get a flashback to what happened to Jack. He ran into Ren on his walk and they argued about Ren’s drinking. Ren wanted to go swimming at the lake, and Jack couldn’t say no. It’s really cold, and Ren wants to play “Wolf and Weasel.” This goes badly, as Ren ends up drowning Jack. Ashley came upon them and Ren ended up killing him too. “You are the wolf,” says the wolf.
Ren wakes up in the morning with a terrible hangover, but he now remembers what happened. He finds Jack’s corpse in his back room just as the whole police force comes to the door.
Alma, as it turns out, is one of the deputies, and she asks him what happened. We see the opening scenes again how it actually was, with her as the cop finding him walking down the road. Back in the now, he sees the wolf with the cops, and it goads him into grabbing for a gun, which ends the movie. Alma shoots Ren.
Brian’s Commentary
It’s a weird “What’s going on here?” kind of story. Is this all real, or is Ren losing his mind? Or is it something else entirely? It’s a mystery that doesn’t seem at all real, but then again, maybe it is. Ren is damaged goods, and Ethan Embry does really well with the tormented character.
The bits with the wolf, wolfman, and goats are really cool-looking. It could probably be debated that this isn’t a horror movie, but I liked it quite a bit.
Kevin’s Commentary
Despite the title, there wasn’t all that much Alma. It’s more like Ren and his Angst and the Wolf.
I was expecting something like a standard werewolf fare, but this was more strange and complicated than that. The animal/human hybrid prosthetics and effects were very cool. And I thought the cast, led by Ethan Embry, does a nice job.
The tragic explanation of things at the end was not what I expected.
Overall, I’d give it a thumbs up.
2025 Operation Undead
Directed by: Khom Kongkiat Khomsiri
Written by: Khom Kongkiat Khomsiri
Stars: Thawatchanin Darayon, Akkarat Nimitchai, Seigi Ozeki
Run Time: 1 Hour, 50 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Early in WWII, the Japanese bring an experimental biological weapon to their frenemy Thailand. We can’t fault how it’s made, the acting and effects are all great. And there is a complete and kind of poignant story. But it was too long and drawn out, we both thought, and we found ourselves bored for some of it.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open in Thailand during World War II. The Junior soldiers all get their photos taken and introduce themselves. They sneak up on a tent where another junior soldier is having sex with a prostitute they pay their fee and go in as well. The captain shows up and catches them all in the act. They all run away, but he catches them and they all have fun at the beach.
Mek, one of the soldiers, hears from his girlfriend, Pen, that he’s going to be a father. He asks her to marry him; he’s already got a ring and everything. Suddenly, a man runs up and says he’s seen a bunch of iron ships with guns just over the horizon. The enemy is about to attack.
The leadership discusses war strategy and talks about a special weapon they’ve been developing. We see grainy footage of what appears to be a man becoming a zombie. They will use it as a last resort.
Mek and his brother Mok are called to duty; their father has already been killed. Mok wants to run away to a friend’s house, but Mek wants to serve his country as a patriot.
There’s a pretty major battle. Afterward, we see a crate on the shore with a zombie inside. Mok did go to fight, and now he’s regretting it. After avoiding the zombies, he dies in quicksand– Nope– he’s rescued by the zombies, who eat him.
The Japanese soldiers come ashore and survey the area. There sure are a lot of bones in camp. They soon spot some zombies, shoot some, and pursue the rest into the jungle. These are fast zombies, and it doesn’t take long for them to turn the tables.
Mek is on patrol and comes into the now-deserted camp. He finds another soldier down in a pit and descends to help. He soon finds that the man’s got no face; it’s been eaten off. He burns up the man and then reports what he saw.
Mok wakes up with the other zombies, and we see things from his point of view. At the hospital, another soldier tells Mek that Mok was with his unit. Elsewhere, the scientists involved with the experiment kill themselves for honor. The soldiers are told about the infected man who escaped, but that’s not who Mok saw in the woods, so it must be spreading. Captain Nakamura has been assigned to apprehend them– alive.
Elsewhere, Mok remembers eating a child. He puts a pistol to his head, but then gets a flare-up that makes him self-combust. He bursts into flames. “The Fumetsu is flammable, but will it continue to evolve?”
Mok wakes up in a cave later; he’s hard to kill. Not far off, Nakamura cuts himself to allow the blood to draw in the zombies. Mok hallucinates a woman who sings to him.
The colonel has one of the Fumetsu in a cage and tortures it for the location of the others, which he gets. He then shoots it repeatedly, but it won’t die. They pump him full of cyanide, and Mek objects to that. It still doesn’t die.
The “zombies” sit in their cave and complain about what they’ve become. Yes, they can talk and communicate with each other. Mok sings to them, and they’re all very sad.
In the village, a shaman is doing a prayer dance but falls down in a seizure. The zombies come out of the woods and attack the villagers. Mok and Mek’s mother prays for her sons, not seeing one of them shambling toward the house. Mek shows up and explains that Mok is still alive, sort of. Mok is hiding in the woods and hears all this.
One of the zombies, Sak, runs into his wife and daughter in the woods, and they all recognize each other. He doesn’t hurt them, but the army does, which really gets him angry. This results in a shootout. Mek arrives just in time to see all the non-infected men die.
Mek shoots Mok, who falls off a cliff. Another zombie jumps out of nowhere and attacks Mek who also becomes infected.
The chief scientist explains that the infected will all eventually self-destruct, and then the ash will help nature renew itself. He doesn’t seem to think the soldiers will be able to beat the Fumatsu.
Nakamura and the Japanese plan to kill all the villagers to eliminate all the eyewitnesses.
There is much roaring and debate amongst the zombies in the caves. Saks comes in and tells the others of Nakamura’s plan to kill their families. Mek and Mok argue about what to do to save their mother.
Soon, the zombies come to the villagers, and they all recognize each other. Nakamura orders them all to be shot. Mek watches as the pregnant Pen dies and raises a counterattack. The undead start to bite Pen and the other dying people so they can “survive.”
Mek makes a plan to lure all the Japanese to the cave and kill them all. Nakamura kills the head scientist and reads the part in his notes about how the Fumetsu are flammable. He calls for a flamethrower.
Mok gets a vision of his dead family, dissolves into dust, but then re-forms, looking much healthier now.
There’s a drawn-out battle in the caves, and most of the soldiers die. Nakamura paints himself with mud, thinking the undead can’t see him. They do see him, and he doesn’t last long after that.
Mok stumbles in and picks up the flamethrower. He waits at the cave’s entrance and blasts them all on the way out. The flaming zombies then run back inside to tackle Nakamura’s zombies, and they all burn. Mok runs into the flames as well, so basically, everyone dies and the infection is eradicated.
Brian’s Commentary
We don’t see many views of WWII that aren’t from the viewpoint of one of the major powers, so this Thailand film was interesting for that alone.
These are definitely the brain-eating zombie variety, and fast ones at that. Even more important, these zombies can talk and organize, which is pretty unique. It’s got some pretty good gore effects as the zombies eat through people’s heads.
On the other hand, it’s very long and drawn-out. I literally caught myself dozing off at a couple of points.
Kevin’s Commentary
I’m sure I’ve never seen a Thai WWII film before.
This was kind of interesting how the zombified soldiers can still sort of talk and think and remember. But the movie started feeling long after the infection kicked in and things dragged on a bit in the middle. Okay, it drags a lot. The gore is over the top when it happens, and it’s technically well made, but it ended up being on the dull side overall, I thought.
1995 Godzilla vs Destoroyah
Directed by: Ishiro Honda, Takao Okawara, Koji Hashimoto
Written by: Kaoru Kamigiku, Koichi Kawakita, Yosuke Nakano
Stars: Takuro Tatsumi, Yoko Ishimo, Yusufumi Hayashi
Run Time: 1 Hour, 43 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This one starts right off the bat with creature action and doesn’t let up. There’s Godzilla, and other creatures, and humans with a new super-duper fighting ship. It was the last movie of the Heisei Era, until the next era started in 1999, and it was a worthy finish. Lots of action and entertainment.
Spoilery Synopsis
A plane spots Godzilla out in the ocean, and he seems to be on fire. He soon shows up in Tokyo and starts his usual hijinks. Except this time, he’s glowing, all over and making steam. Credits roll.
We waste no time getting back to Tokyo’s destruction. Scientists convene and talk about how he looks so different now. The Americans explain that Godzilla’s internal nuclear reactor has gone haywire. Kenichi Yemane came up with the theory, and we soon get to meet him. He’s some kind of misunderstood genius, and the son of a Godzilla expert. He refuses to go work at G-Force until he finds out that Miki is working there, and then he’s all on board.
We cut to a man being interviewed about his invention, a device that makes tiny micro-oxygen atoms. It could be used as a weapon, but he just wants to use it to make larger fish. The interviewer is Yukari, Kenichi’s sister. His aunt wants to talk about Serizawa’s work from the very first movie, who invented an oxygen bomb weapon to use against Godzilla. Dr. Ijuin knows his work is similar to Serizawa’s forty years ago.
Kenichi and Miki meet, and they theorize about whatever happened to Baby Godzilla– he could be dead. Godzilla is becoming overpowered with his “Reactor” messed up, and he will explode, vaporizing Earth’s entire atmosphere. If they attack and blow up Godzilla, that might even be worse. (Worse than the end of the world?)
At the Tokyo Bay undersea tunnel, the workers run into a snag. Their elevator shaft is melting! This was the same site where the first Godzilla was killed forty years ago. Ijuin explains his theories about what’s going on. They find signs of life in the soil sample he took from the tunnel.
Kenichi suggests to the military that they need to use a new oxygen-destroyer bomb to kill this Godzilla like they did the original. It’s non-explosive and might do the job. His aunt remembers those terrible days and warns him not to make a new bomb.
At the aquarium, the security guard watches as all the fish die and turn to bones in front of his eyes. Yukari, Kenichi, and Ijuni all get called to see the results. Whatever did this has mutated from the soil of the undersea tunnel. This has been evolving ever since the original oxygen-destroyer bomb went off.
A bunch of special-forces soldiers arrive at a factory to look for the new mutated creature that killed all the fish. It’s gotten a lot bigger, and it’s got an energy weapon as well. Turns out, there are more than one of them. A really big one shows up outside, and everyone sees it. It looks like the humans win this battle.
Meanwhile, Godzilla goes after some nuclear reactors. The general gets the call: the new Super-X 3 is ready to launch. It’s got cadmium bombs and freeze guns. They quickly fly to where Godzilla is and blast him with the freeze gun, which does, in fact, slow him down. When they use their missiles, it appears that Godzilla is finally frozen for the next six hours. Maybe everything is over and will be fine now.
Or maybe not. Miki and another psychic talk about her mental powers getting weaker; she might not even be able to contact “The Little One.”
Meanwhile, at the beach, Godzilla shows up. No, this is Baby Godzilla, much more grown up and looking like a smaller version of the regular Godzilla. The big one, whose temperature is now around 900 degrees, changes course; he may be chasing Junior. The big one is heading for a dramatic, Earth-destroying meltdown– within the week!
Back in Tokyo, the new creatures have been hiding inside the factory, out of sight, as the humans bring in giant freeze-guns to deal with them. The creatures soon show up in force, and the firefight begins. The creatures all seem to merge into one giant kaiju monster. Now it’s a problem! Ijuin says micro-oxygen didn’t cause this– it must be the oxygen-destroyer bomb itself. They call the new one “Destroyer” because of that. “Only that monster can stop the meltdown,” Kenichi suggests.
Now they need to figure out how to get the two monsters together to fight. They get Miki and the other psychic to “steer” Baby Godzilla to the proper place.
Destorayah takes the bait and zaps Baby Godzilla. They fight, and this results in tons of collateral damage in downtown Tokyo. Suddenly, the Big G shows up in town and heads for the fight. Destorayah sucks energy from Junior, who is not going to survive much longer.
Destorayah has mutated, and Godzilla’s temperature continues to rise. They bring the Super-X3 back into the battle; Ijuin wants to use the weapons to freeze Godzilla to prevent the inevitable explosion.
Just as the two Godillas meet, the new and improved Destorayah grabs the little one and flies off. He drops him from a great height and then shoots him repeatedly. Miki’s helicopter is shot down, and they all run to where the Baby is dying to cry– even Godzilla.
Now it’s time for the two adults to fight. Super-turbocharged Godzilla is not going to mess around with the monster who hurt his son, so he goes all in this time.
Miki and her friend encounter smaller versions of Destorayah, and they all gang up on Godzilla. They don’t last long, so he goes over to check out what’s left of Junior. He breathes energy in the little one and moves on.
Destorayah shows up again, and there’s more fighting. Godzilla’s getting so hot that his spines are melting, and he’s leaking radiation wildly. All the freeze weapons let loose, and his radiation starts to drop. Godzilla then melts into glitter and blows away.
Suddenly, all the radioactivity reduces to zero and everyone looks at the mist over Tokyo. Baby Godzilla has absorbed it all, and now he roars like his father did…
Brian’s Commentary
What’s worse than Godzilla? Giant, flaming-hot Godzilla!
This one ties in with the oxygen-bomb from the first film, which has never been mentioned since. There are also a lot of nods to “Aliens” (1986). The Destorayah creature design is ambitious, but silly looking and not very articulate.
At one point, they flat out state that the original Godzilla was killed at the end of the 1954 movie, so this is a different Godzilla.
This was intended to be Godzilla’s final fight until the fiftieth anniversary in 2004, the end of an era. Due to the failure of the American version, they brought him back a little earlier than planned for the next film.
Kevin’s Commentary
This one starts right off the bat with a Godzilla attack. The action is pretty steady throughout too. And the stakes are higher this time, a potential end of the world, not just the end of some cities in Japan. So it’s a worthy finish to this era of the Godzilla movies.
I like how they tied things back to the first Godzilla movie from decades previous.
There is a cool montage of footage from the old movies during the closing credits, showing just how much the creature and model effects improved over the years.
I was pleased and entertained.
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