is a 1967 Japanese kaiju film directed by Noriaki Yuasa, with special effects by Yuasa. Produced by Daiei Film, it is the third entry in the Gamera franchise and stars Kojiro Hongo, Kichijiro Ueda, Tatsuemon Kanamura, Reiko Kasahara, and Naoyuki Abe, with Teruo Aragaki as Gamera. In the film, Gamera and authorities must deal with the sudden appearance of a carnivorous winged creature awakened by volcanic eruptions.
Plans for a third film were made immediately after the release of Gamera vs. Barugon, with the film financed by the UniJapan Film Association. Due to the underperformance of the previous film, Yuasa was brought back as the director and special effects director, who decided to aim the film towards children. Gyaos was created as a response to Toho's Frankenstein vs. Baragon and The War of the Gargantuas, with Yuasa pitching to writer Niisan Takahashi his idea to turn Dracula into a kaiju.
Gamera vs. Gyaos was theatrically released in Japan on March 15, 1967, on a double bill with Chiisai Tôbôsha. That same year, it was released directly to television in the United States as Return of the Giant Monsters by American International Television.
The film was followed by Gamera vs. Viras, released on March 20, 1968.
Plot A series of mysterious volcanic eruptions in Japan impact shipping and aircraft flights. An eruption at Mount Fuji attracts the giant turtle kaiju Gamera, whose arrival is witnessed by a young boy named Eiichi. A research team of geologists is sent to investigate the phenomenon in Shizuoka Prefecture, but are killed by a supersonic ray emitted from a cave which slices their helicopter in two. A reporter, Okabe, travels to a village nearby to investigate. The Chuo Expressway Corporation's plans for a roadway face challenges when the local villagers refuse to leave. The resistance is a ploy to increase the bid on the land. The foreman, Shiro Tsutsumi, and his crew are turned away by the locals as Okabe sneaks past.
Eiichi finds Okabe in the woods and leads him to a cave where Gamera might be. Okabe abandons Eiichi as the cave collapses and is devoured by a winged creature. Gamera emerges and saves Eiichi from the winged beast but is wounded in the process by its supersonic ray. While interviewed by Dr. Aoki and authorities, Eiichi names the winged monster "Gyaos". Dr. Aoki deduces it was awakened by the volcanic eruptions, can produce a supersonic ray due to a forked tongue, and cannot turn its head due to having two spines. A daytime airstrike fails to neutralize Gyaos due to its ray. Meanwhile, Gamera recovers from its wounds beneath the sea.
During a meeting, the villagers become divided on whether to sell their land or not due to Gyaos. Shiro's crew, save two, quit because of Gyaos. Despite Eiichi's claims that Gyaos is nocturnal, Gyaos ignores military flares and attacks Nagoya. Gamera appears and battles Gyaos once more, biting off its toes in the process. Dr. Aoki discovers that exposure to ultraviolet light, like the sun, causes the toes to shrink. A plan is formed to disorient Gyaos with a rotating platform for long enough for the sun to rise and kill it, using artificial blood as bait. Gyaos is lured out but the plan fails when the power station supplying electricity to the platform overheats and explodes.
After learning that the expressway would be rerouted due to Gyaos, the villagers blame the headmaster, who ordered them to hold out. The headmaster regales a plan to Shiro, inspired by Eiichi, to start a forest fire to kill Gyaos. Gyaos depletes the fire with a yellow vapor, however, the fire attracts Gamera and engages Gyaos in a final showdown. Gamera kills Gyaos by dragging it into Mt. Fuji's crater. As the authorities celebrate, Shiro affirms to the villagers that work on the expressway will resume. Eiichi bids farewell to Gamera as it flies away.
Cast
Production Production credits
Noriaki Yuasa – director, special effects director Kazufumi Fuji – special effects photography Shima Abe – assistant special effects director Tomohisa Yano – special effects art director Yuzo Kaneko – special effects synthesis Masao Kobayashi – assistant director Yukio Okumura – sound Heihachi Kuboe – lighting Akira Inoue – art director Nobuyoshi Ogura – sound effects
Gamera vs. Gyaos was planned immediately after the release of Gamera vs. Barugon and it was decided that the third film would be targeted towards children. The film was financed through the UniJapan Film Association. The film's production cost was ¥60 million ($167,000), however, this figure does not include studio overhead, cast and crew salaries under contract, nor print and advertisement.
Due to the underperformance of Gamera vs. Barugon, Daiei president Masaichi Nagata assigned Noriaki Yuasa as the director and special effects director due to the first Gamera film, directed by Yuasa, being a success. When Naoyuki Abe was cast, many mistook him as Yuasa's son. A real office in Akasaka, Tokyo was used for the road construction board meeting after Yuasa asked the son of the company's president (working for Daiei at the time) to arrange the location. Daiei's dubbing studio was used as a laboratory set in the film's opening, with a few set pieces attached. The park scenes were filmed in Setagaya at the Futako-Tamagawa garden. Scenes of Nagoya Stadium were filmed at Ajinomoto Stadium.
The ending theme Gamera's Song was composed and arranged by Akira Komachi, lyrics by Hidemasa Nagata, and performed by the Hibari Children's Choir. The song was released by Daiei Records as a single. Historian August Ragone deduced that the song may have been inspired by the instrumental release of "Gammera" by The Moons, a song produced specifically for the American release of the first Gamera film.
The film, along with Wrath of Daimajin (1966) and other Daiei Film productions, obtained tax-based loans from the governmental foundation , which was established under the influence from Masaichi Nagata to support declining domestic film industries by exporting productions to global markets. This resulted in appointing foreign cast members and enhanced child-friendly direction for subsequent Gamera films.Takeshi Tanigawa, August 2014, 海外輸出向けコンテンツとしての怪獣映画と日本映画輸出振興協会（輸振協）の活用, International Research Center for Japanese Studies
Writing Gyaos was created as a response to Toho's Frankenstein Conquers the World and The War of the Gargantuas. Yuasa pitched to writer Niisan Takahashi an idea to turn Dracula into a kaiju. Yuasa approached the film like a children's book, after feeling that children became bored during the human scenes of the previous films. Yuasa held a meeting to discuss how to jump into the action scenes as quickly as possible to retain children's attention. The film's opening was inspired by real volcanic eruptions from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Kamchatka that were happening at the time of production, with fears that Mount Fuji would become active. The expressway protest was inspired by the Sanrizuka opposition against the construction of the New Tokyo International Airport.
Producer and senior managing director Hidemasa Nagata wanted to include the protest because he found societal issues made films more interesting. Nagata also wanted a correlation between the protest, roadblocks, bid hike, and Gyaos' awakening, stating, "I want to let the children know that there were consequences for doing bad things." In an early draft, Takahashi used the working title Gamera vs. Vampire. Gyaos was named "Vampyra" and stood 67 meters high with a wingspan of 172 meters. Nagata coined the name "Gyaos" for the monster. Yuasa "hated" adding scenes with military and scientific figures on the film, and other films as well, feeling that the characters were "useless" but seemed obligatory due to the 1954 film Godzilla.
On Eiichi's role, Yuasa stated, "we wanted all the ideas to come from the child. It may be a bit silly but we didn't want theories of the adults to work in the Gamera universe". Yuasa made Eiichi point out Gyaos' nocturnal nature, feeling that it was a detail only a child would notice. Yuasa felt one of the film's messages was to show the purity of children, stating, "I think the main point of the whole film is that Eiichi and Gamera had some sort of bond or one mind. I thought that was better than some needless exposition." The car split scene was added after Takahashi saw the Toyota Corolla deluxe at a motor show, as a result, the vehicle was not produced for the film.
Special effects The special effects were directed by Noriaki Yuasa. Gyaos was designed by art director Akira Inoue. The Gamera suit was recycled from Gamera vs. Barugon, however, the eyes were modified to look more friendly. The upper-half portion of the suit from Gamera, the Giant Monster was recycled for fire-breathing scenes. The Gamera shell that Eiichi rides was a full scale prop built at 20 meters square. The monster footage was filmed on an indoor soundstage set. Yuasa recalled spending time, energy, and money on the shot of the miniature volcano exploding, however, he later felt the result was not worth it. Yuasa disliked the oatmeal formula used to simulate flowing lava in other films and instead backlit translucent molds and had them pulled by hidden cables.
Yuasa felt that nighttime matching shots were easier to achieve than daytime opticals due to film elements not requiring precision. The Gyaos cave was a set constructed at Daiei. For the scene with Okabe being lifted by Gyaos, the camera was tilted at a 90 degree angle while the background shifted horizontally. The full scale Gyaos claw was operated by three people that required them to pull on a cable attached to it. Historian Stuart Galbraith IV deduced that the giant Gyaos claw was recycled for Gyaos' severed toes. Gamera's blood was pumped manually by the crew, which Yuasa found difficult to match the animation to Gyaos' beam.
For the shot of Eiichi climbing Gamera's shell, Yuasa filmed a stunt double climbing a ladder that was later layered into the shell. The Highland Park miniature was based on Fuji-Q Highland. The Hotel Hi-land miniature was inspired by the Hotel New Otani Tokyo, which upset the then-hotel president and told Daiei president Masaichi Nagata, "we're barely open yet Gamera has already broken it." For the scene of Gamera recovering underwater, a 20 centimeter prop was built and filmed in a fish tank. Lighting up Gamera's leg sockets for flying scenes cost ¥12,000 ($33) per socket. Gyaos' beam required optical work that cost ¥3,500 per cut.
English versions Following the film's completion, Daiei commissioned Axis International to produce an English dub. This dub was recorded in Hong Kong and was used as a "sales marketing tool" to attract international distribution. That same year, American International Productions Television acquired the film, along with Gamera vs. Barugon and Gamera vs. Viras, for the American television market and commissioned a new English dub. Journalist James Flower deduced that the AIP–TV version may have been dubbed by the English Language Dubbers Association (ELDA) due to Gamera's name being mispronounced as "Guh-mer-ah", a fluke that is consistent in ELDA's dub of Gamera vs. Barugon. AIP–TV retitled the film as Return of the Giant Monsters, left it uncut, and added two brief insert shots replacing Japanese signs with English signs. Gamera's Song was cut from the AIP–TV version.
Release Theatrical and television