Fantasia Review: “Space Monster Wangmagwi” (1967)

"Space Monster" or "Time Waster"? Wangmagwi May Only Appeal to Kaiju Movie Completists

by Joseph Perry

Hoo, boy, this movie.

No matter how much of a giant-monster movie fan you are, black-and-white South Korean entry into the subgenre Space Monster Wangmagwi is not an easy watch. Regular readers of my reviews know that I do not take making negative comments in my reviews lightly, so please keep that in mind as you forge ahead.

In South Korea’s second giant-monster outing (the first is supposedly a lost film), a group of the least convincing space aliens you have ever seen — and among the worst of planners — drop a man-sized beast from one of their spaceships to Korea, knowing that it will grow in size as, and because, it enters the Earth’s atmosphere. Now, I prefer 1950s creature feature “science” to modern-day scientific accuracy in my monster movies, but you need to apply the maximum willing suspension of disbelief that you have for Space Monster Wangmagwi. Once the beast grows to the enormous proportions that they calculate — which is a far cry from its scale when it arrives in Seoul — it will eventually destroy all human life, and the aliens can swoop down and set up shop on Earth.

Fantasia Serves Up Ghoulishness, Gore, and Guffaws with Its Retro Fare

- by Joseph Perry

North America’s largest genre film fest, the stupendous Fantasia International Film Festival, celebrates its 26th anniversary in Montreal this summer, running from July 14—August 3. Fantasia has a tantalizing array of more than 130 feature films and more than 200 shorts from around the globe. Although the main focus is on new releases, Fantasia always outdoes itself with selecting a stunning lineup of older films, too, most of which hit right in the Uphill Both Ways wheelhouse.

Number one on my must-see list is not a new film, but its subject is one of my favorite TV heroes since childhood. Shin Ultraman reunites the filmmaking pair behind 2016’s Shin Godzilla, which I had a lot of fun with. This should be an intriguing take on the iconic Japanese superhero.

Think you have seen all of the old-school giant-monster movies out there? Think again, as Fantasia presents the restored version of 1967 South Korean movie Space Monster Wangmagwi. As a lifelong monster kid, I can’t wait to check out this creature feature. Also in the film restoration department, Blue Sunshine blew me away when I saw it for the first time, and it should be even wilder with Fantasia’s newly restored version. I have only read about the insanity of The Deadly Spawn, so I’m glad that my initial viewing will be the restored version on offer.

Fantasia is celebrating Kier-La Janisse’s book House of Psychotic Women — billed as “an autobiographical topography of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films” — with a section of shockers both classic and seldom seen. Having recently reviewed the terrific Italian folk horror possession outing Il Demonio for Uphill Both Ways, tops on my radar for this section are the Polish vampire film I Like Bats and Italian Elizabeth Taylor vehicle Identikit.

There’s plenty more to drool over, so have a gander at what classics and clas-sicks Fantasia has on tap for this summer! All descriptions are from the fest’s official press announcements. And keep eyes and ears out for reviews from yours truly right here on the Uphill Both Ways site and on our podcast!


SHIN ULTRAMAN REIMAGINES AN ESSENTIAL ICON OF JAPANESE POP SCI-FI

Following its enormously successful release in Japan, Fantasia unleashes the highly anticipated SHIN ULTRAMAN. Directed by Shinji Higuchi, famed for the special-effects work on 1990s GAMERA revival and for directing the live-action ATTACK ON TITAN films; and scripted by Hideaki Anno, the genius behind the hit anime NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. SHIN ULTRAMAN reunites the pair, who co-directed 2016’s astounding SHIN GODZILLA, to reimagine another essential icon of tokusatsu, Japan’s science-fiction TV and cinema. Debuted in 1966, Tsuburaya Productions’ giant, shiny superhero from space—and the wild array of alien monsters he confronts—have embedded themselves in the nation’s popular culture for generations. With auteur flair, unprecedented visual impact, and genuine affection for the Ultraman franchise, Anno and Higuchi now renew, as only they could, the action-packed cosmic saga of Ultraman, his alter ego Shinji Kaminaga, and his colleagues in the science police force battling endless extraterrestrial threats. North American Premiere

"Fantasia Retro"

Fantasia Retro: Fantasia International Film Festival’s 25th Edition Features a Pack of Retro Premieres

by Joseph Perry

The Fantasia International Film Festival, Montreal’s premiere genre-film fest, features a ton of new horror, thriller, action, and dark comedy titles from around the world from August 5-25, but this year’s edition also boasts a fine series of films from the past that gets Uphill Both Ways’ seal of approval. Following are the festival’s official film descriptions, with comments from yours truly in italics.

In 1989, Stephen Sayadian, aka Rinse Dream, released one of the most iconic and fantastical works in American exploitation cinema. For the first time since its release, thanks to a new restoration, it will finally find its audience and retroactively be appreciated as the Underground masterpiece that it is. Bizarre, stunning, goofy, and unsettling, DR. CALIGARI embraces the avant-garde in its exquisite and hilarious exploitation of America's repressed libido. As the film's title might suggest, the feature is a loose remake of the German expressionist classic, centered on Mrs. Van Houten, a woman who seems to be losing touch with reality, and her treatment under Dr. Caligari, who diagnoses her with a "disease of the libido." 

Somehow seeing Dr. Caligari has eluded me all these years, though it has been on my radar since its release.  As a big fan of the original silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an out-there 1980s version is right up my alley and I am thrilled that Fantasia is giving viewers a chance to finally see it, and in a restored version, no less!

In addition to DR. CALIGARI, Fantasia is proud to announce the following classics, resurrected in stunning new transfers.