Goke: Bodysnatcher From Hell Review:

After a failed hijacking attempt and a strange light in a blood red sky forces a Japanese Airways flight to crash land, the dazed surviving passengers realise that something strange is happening, not just to them but also to the world. When the hijacker tries to escape with Kuzumi (Sato), the plane’s stewardess as his hostage, he finds himself drawn to a strange orange light beyond the crash site. Thinking he is gone the survivors try and figure out how they are going to get help, but the Hijacker returns however and he is not himself. He has a large cut on his face and an uncontrollable thirst for blood.

The 1968 Japanese horror classic finally gets an uncut release but there is nothing much to shock by today’s standards.

What might have been disturbing and shocking to 1960s sensibilities just comes across as B-Movie hokum now but that takes away nothing from this fun, over the top piece of Sci-Fi horror. Combining the disaster, alien invasion, apocalypse and Vampire movie genres, Goke: Bodysnatcher from Hell is one of the cheesiest films you will ever see but that only enhances its appeal.

The totally outrageous plot, the completely stupid alien threat, the political statement towards the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War and the hammy acting give this all the hallmarks of a B-Movie classic. Its like the filmmakers had five different film ideas but could only get one lot of funding so they decided to use them all.

The Goke or Gokemidoro, the alien race intent on invading Earth to teach it a lesson for been too violent are the most hysterical creatures from another world you will ever see. They arrive on Earth in your standard flying saucer but they turn out to be a metallic blob that enters your body through a large slit in your forehead. This then turns you into a blood-craving vampire. How these blobs fly or even build their spacecraft is left totally up to your own imagination because the filmmakers conveniently forget to tell us. It’s hard to take that an alien race would come you with the plan for us all to die by vampirism, which seems an extremely slow invasion plan.

The cast of characters are your usual B-Movie fare. All the women look pretty and scream a lot, the politician is self-centred and only cares about his own survival, the scientist finds the whole thing fascinating and wants to find out more and the hero of the film just wants to save everyone but no one listens to him and they end up getting killed anyway. The acting is hammy and over the top, but this just adds to the cheesiness of the film because you won’t have it any other way.

Where Goke: Bodysnatcher from Hell may have shocked in the late 60s, modern audiences can look back at this type of movie with nostalgia for a naïve age of fear and mistrust. The underlying message of excessive violence will lead to humanity’s destruction is still relevant today and the lack of a happy ending is very refreshing but this is a B-Movie in the extreme and should be enjoyed for this fact. Watch the skies…

Star Rating = * * *

PICTURE & SOUND

The movie is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound. The digitally enhanced picture is very good, seen as the movie was made in 1969 and the sound is very clear. The subtitles are not the best however, as Japanese writing appears on the screen intermittently when the American character speaks.

EXTRAS

Film/Biographies
Detailed text biographies and filmographies for stars Teruo Yoshida, Tomomi Sato, Eizo Kitamura, Hideo Ko, Kathy Horan, Yûko Kusunoki, Kazuo Kato, Masaya Takahashi and director Hajime Sato

Trailer

The original theatrical trailer from 1968

Artwork
Covers from other DVDs in the Arts Magic Range

OVERALL

The inclusion of more extras would have added to the value of this DVD. With the main feature only been 84 minutes long, you don’t seem to be getting much for you money as you do with many other Arts Magic releases. The quality of the transfer makes up slightly for these shortcomings however.

Star Rating = * *

Jamie Kelwick

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