Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro [Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell] (1968)

(On Cable TV, June 2021) The more I see of 1960s Japanese Science Fiction, the more I’m becoming oddly fond of its utter lunacy. In Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell, for instance, a catastrophe movie premise (among a backdrop of increased UFO activity, a plane crash-lands in a deserted area, creating tension among its passengers) shifts to horror (as a space vampire starts sucking dry some of the passengers) and then off to cosmic science fiction (as he’s an alien vampire and the aliens have destroyed most of the planet anyway). Technically, director Hajime Sato’s film is rough: Not simply its special effects, but dialogue, direction and audio/visual quality as well — the colour cinematography is bright and colourful (well, as much as a film largely set at night can be) and the images are strong, which excuses all sorts of other issues. (Many critics have compared the film to Italian giallo, which is not at all inappropriate.)  But it’s the go-for-broke craziness that takes centre stage: there are, admittedly, many lulls and repetitive moments, but when the film gets crazy, it does get crazy in ways that western films (thankfully?) don’t always do. It’s just loopy enough to negate any downer feeling that the strong antiwar theme and bleak conclusion may create: after so much colourful looniness, it’s not a mere trifle like the end of humanity that’s going to stop Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell from feeling all sorts of outrageous.