Review: "Gehara: The Long And Dark Haired Monster"

^The closest thing to "Gehara, Garemon, Giant Robot: Japan SOS" we will ever get.

The last of the kaiju films I have been meaning to review for a while is "Gehara" or as the legal title is, "Geharha" (though if that was the actual translation, then Godzilla would be Gojirha). Technically, I am re-reviewing it. The original review didn’t survive the blog transition so here we are. So, since most have already seen the film, I am going to skip to the review. Though I should mention, it is awesome finally seeing the film subtitled.

This film is one of two films Kiyotaka Taguchi directed in 2008/2009. The other is "G". Though this film is vastly more superior to "G" in every way. Now sure, Shinji Higuchi was on board for the SFX work here, but I am talking about other things. "G" was directed in a very erratic sense. "Gehara" isn’t and for good reason. With this we do not waste the talents of Shiro Sano, a Godzilla veteran. With this, we get a more traditional and well rounded kaiju film. Gone is the gore and nut shots of "G". Instead, this film is just one big tribute. From the Ifukube music to the "Ultraman", "War of the Gargantuas", and "Mysterians" and other reverences to the ending which is inspired - if not copied - from Takeshi Shimura’s final lines from the original "Gojira", this is a cool kaiju short that pulls out all of the stops, including bringing on destruction a single kaiju hasn’t brought on since "Gamera 2: Advent of Legion".

Now we can just hope that the faux trailer for "Gehara: Monster Martial Law" isn’t as faux as some think it is.
Score: 4.7/5