The Manster (1959) & The Revenge of Dr. X (aka The Venus Flytrap) (1968)

The Kaiju Transmissions Podcast

Byrd, Tom, Kevin and Lux pair up two independent horror films made in Japan by American filmmakers, with a mix of American and Japanese cast and crew. First up we have the Manster, an early body horror film directed by Kenneth G Crane (the American version of Half Human) and starring Peter Dynely (Thunderbirds), Terri Zimmern Jerry Ito (Mothra), and Tetsu Nakamura (Mothra, Latitude Zero). It is about an American journalist in Japan who becomes the subject of an evolution experiment that causes a monstrous creature to grow out of his shoulder and commit murders across Tokyo. Then we have the Revenge of Dr. X (actually titled Venus Flytrap), a film written by Ed Wood (yes, that Ed Wood) and shot in Japan by bored military personnel stationed there (we get into that insane story). It tells the story of a cantankerous NASA scientist who goes to Japan to "relax" and (for reasons left unclear) starts splicing plant DNA to create a violent plant-man. There's unhinged gas station attendants, pearl divers, mute hunchbacks and more. How do these compare to other b-movies of the times? Why did some guys in the military decide to buy an Ed Wood script and shoot it in Japan? Why is SO MUCH of the information out there about Dr. X false? Which of these movies nearly drove us to madness? We have the answers, so relax and enjoy the conversation!