“Matango” is a Japanese classic movie from 1963 which might be considered either one of the pioneer J-Horror movies or a really good stoner movie.
It begins with a shipwreck on a deserted island. I can almost hear the theme song from “Gilligan’s Island” as a yacht with a small group of sightseers gets tossed in a storm. The skipper, his first mate, the rich couple, the girl next door and the professor are all on board.
As they forage for food, the wise skipper tells them to stay away from the ‘shrooms. They could be poisonous. There is dissension and mistrust among the castaways and of course, it’s only a matter of time before they start eating the fungi, with eerie consequences.
A friend of mine had a copy of this classic with dubbed dialogue and we watched it in the wee hours of the night. Despite my initial skepticism and the laughability of the dubbed dialogue, the movie has somehow continued to haunt me every time I look at a mushroom.
“Please, can’t we eat the mushrooms now?”
Looks amazing. Those faceless nuns are are awesome.
I mentioned this film in a Halloween theme blog a couple of years ago as a “lost” horror classic worth checking out and will attest to the fact that despite its apparent silliness really is a haunting film (it was also directed by Ishiro Honda who also directed the original Godzilla). Perhaps a YOMYOMF remake is in order?
Magic to some and horror to others… I only wish I had seen this film before my first trip to Amsterdam.
I had seen this movie many times as a child. Haven’t seen it in years and years. It was freaky, made me hide my eyes. I wonder if it would be funny to me now?
I used to watch a lot of scary movies as a child. With older siblings and only 3 channels, you watched what you could on the weekends. I give it a thumbs up.
[...] I previously blogged about Matango, the fungus of terror. I can only describe it as a very tripped out, Japanese Gilligan’s [...]