Tonight on YouTube, I watched the Korean film Space Monster Wangmagwi. This flick was originally thought to have been lost. After it made its debut in South Korea, it seemed to have disappeared, showing up occasionally at Korean film screenings. The rights were eventually acquired in 2022 to license the film, and it has since become available for home media distribution. Wangmagwi is the oldest surviving Korean giant monster film, the other big one being Yongary. I saw this on a channel called The Original Creature Features.
The plot is about a UFO in space that sends a monster to Earth as part of their plans of conquest. They hope to use a typhoon as cover to send the monster down undetected. Once the creature reaches our planet, it will grow giant, go on a rampage and destroy civilization, leaving the Earth open for conquest. The film has several side characters and plots, including a woman who’s upset that her wedding day will be ruined, two bumbling fools who are making a bet on who can stay in the area longest, and a young boy who is determined to be brave and stop the monster. Most of these side stories are comedic and silly, giving the movie a goofy tone. The monster is a guy in a suit that looks like it was made out of dirty carpet, with a dorky face that sports big ears and teeth. Many of its scenes are shot from below at low angles, to give it the appearance of a giant. It has a mechanical box on its back that acts as a remote control, and it sprays an acid mist from its forehead that melts and burns everything it touches. The spacemen look like they are wearing welding suits.
Despite its silly appearance, the monster scenes are entertaining enough, with a set full of impressive miniature work. The comedic elements don’t always work, sometimes coming off as just annoying or weird. There were some elements of King Kong, as Wangmagwi picks up the bride and carries her around his hand for most of the movie, enthralled by her cleavage. One of the most bizarre but entertaining sequences is when the little boy climbs up the monster, crawls into his ear, uses his knife to slash through the monster’s eardrum and end up in his nasal passage. While the military jets fly around and basically do nothing, the kid finds a way to destroy the monster’s control. Why none of the military members noticed the obvious electrical panel attached to the monster’s back and the kid did was kinda hilarious.
Ultimately, Space Monster Wangmagwi is just an ok movie. Nowhere near as good as some of the better Japanese kaiju films, it suffers due to the comedic subplots that slow down the pace, as well as the inept military who are outwitted by a kid. The monster attacks, while decent, should have had more destruction. The aliens sent him down with the hope that he will eat the population of humans, but other than one scene showing a guy getting stepped on, no one else gets eaten. It’s still worth checking out if you’re a kaiju fan, just don’t go in expecting a lot and you should be fine.
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