Monster Zero...or Why Ghidorah is the Rodney Dangerfield of Japanese Monsters

Poor Ghidorah. He's got three heads, two tails, can fly, and spew "magnetic force beams." This modern-day "dragon" should have been one of the most feared and respected Japanese monsters of the 1960s. And yet, consider this: His name was misspelled as "Ghidrah" when his debut film--Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster--was released in the U.S. in 1964. In the sequel, which didn't appear in the U.S. until five years after it was shown in Japan, he was called Monster Zero in the title. And, unlike Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra, he never got his own stand-alone movie.

All of which brings us to Monster Zero, which appears on TCM tonight. The original title is Kaijū Daisensō, which translates as Great Monster War. It's also known as Invasion of Astro-Monster and Godzilla vs. Monster Zero. But I'm calling it Monster Zero, because that was the title when I saw it as a kid in 1970 on a double-feature with War of the Gargantuas.

The Xiliens remind me of the rock group Devo.

The plot gets off to a quick start when Japanese scientists discover a new planet beyond Jupiter. When two astronauts (Nick Adams and Akira Takarada) are sent to Planet X, they discover an alien race called the Xiliens. They reveal that their planet's inhabitants are under constant attack from Ghidorah. They want to "borrow" (my words) Godzilla and Rodan to defeat Ghidorah. In exchange, they will provide Earth with a cure for all diseases. If this deal sounds too good to be true, then you are a wise and astute negotiator. The Xiliens' real plan is to gain control of all three monsters and turn the Earth into a Planet X colony.

Gozdilla in "blue bubble."

Monster Zero is a surprisingly entertaining monsterama that features colorful special effects from Japanese legend Eiji Tsuburaya. I thought the highlight was the scene in which Godzilla and Rodan were encased in blue bubbles--not unlike Glinda's pink bubble in The Wizard of Oz. But you can also marvel at Godzilla's "victory dance" when he thinks he has beaten Ghidorah and admire how Godzilla and Rodan team up creatively to get an upper hand against their three-headed opponent. (Let's be realistic: Other than causing damaging winds by flapping his wings, Rodan's fighting skills are pretty limited.)

Monster Zero also features an unintentionally amusing performance from Nick Adams (fortunately, the rest of the cast plays it straight). Unlike the original Godzilla (Gojira), in which Raymond Burr's scenes were filmed later and inserted into the movie, Nick Adams appears alongside the Japanese performers. While it's true that he has some ridiculous dialogue (spouting "You stinkin' rats!" like Cagney), Adams doesn't even seem to be trying.

Adams in The Rebel.

Perhaps, he had all but given up on his once promising career by this point. He began acting in the 1950s and eventually earned supporting roles in prestigious films like Mister Roberts and Picnic. His work led to a well-received TV series called The Rebel, in which he played a former Confederate soldier who had various adventures in the West. After a two-year run, he returned to movies and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor as a murder defendant in Twilight of Honor (1963). His career sputtered after that, however, and he went to Japan to star in Frankenstein Conquers the World (1964) and Monster Zero. Nick Adams died in 1968 at age 36 of drug-related causes. His death has been called a suicide, an accident, and even a possible murder.

For more on Japanese monster films, better known as Kaijueiga cinema, check out our interview with Miguel Rodriguez.