Gamera: Super Monster

Plot

When the evil alien Zanon comes to enslave Earth, all hope seems lost. The Earth's resident superheroes, the Spacewomen, are powerless to stop him. They must enlist the help of a young boy who has a special connection with the giant turtle Gamera. The Friend of All Children then battles Gyaos (a huge vampire bat/pterosaur hybrid), Zigra (an alien shark), Viras (a alien squid), Jiger (a female giant prehistoric dinosaur), Guiron (a knife-headed alien monster) and finally Barugon (an enormous lizard whose tongue sprays a freezing gas that can freeze things solid and whose back spines emit a powerful rainbow ray that can melt or dissolve any solid object). Gamera sacrifices his life in the end to destroy Zanon once and for all and protect Earth.

Casts

Production

Gamera: Super Monster contains extensive stock footage of the entire Gamera film series, as well as Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999. Almost all the footage of Gamera is stock footage.

Release

Gamera: Super Monster was released theatrically in Japan on March 20, 1980 where it was distributed by New Daiei.

Elvira's Movie Macabre

The movie was featured on a 1983 episode of Elvira's Movie Macabre, which Shout! Factory released on a DVD in 2007 featuring together with the 1967 British film They Came from Beyond Space. The films can be watched with or without the Elvira host segments.

Cinema Insomnia

In 2007, Gamera, Super Monster was shown on the horror hosted television series Cinema Insomnia. Apprehensive Films later released the Cinema Insomnia episode onto DVD in both regular and special "Slime Line" editions.

2010/2011 release

Shout! Factory acquired the rights from Kadokawa Pictures for all eight of the Showa-era Gamera films and has issued the uncut Japanese versions on DVD for the first time in North America. These "Special Edition" DVDs were released in sequential order, starting with Gamera: The Giant Monster (1965) on May 18, 2010.