The H-Man Film Review

Halfway through the film, Inspector Tominaga asks the other police officers "Why did it come to Japan? Why is it here in Tokyo?". After Godzilla, The Invisible Man and Rodan, you are still asking this basic question. Why Japan? Punishment for war crimes? The Occupation? The dropping of two atomic bombs on it? Atomic tests in the South Pacific? Perhaps, but the simple answer is Ishirô Honda. He was a wrecking crew along with his staff at Toho who were intent on both entertaining and terrifying the people of Japan with monsters, aliens and mutated human beings. It is a scary world out there beyond Japan and there is no way to keep it out. This isn't one of Honda's best-known works but it should be. He shows what he can do with a multitude of genres as this begins as a conventional crime film, morphs into sci-fi horror and still finds time for a little romance and a few wonderful splashy nightclub scenes (which I have a major weakness for). At 86 minutes it doesn't waste a minute and is shot in glorious color that will work its way into the lobes of your brain. It is a beautifully shot film with a minimum of special effects for Eiji Tsuburaya to work on. Some black slime and green lights. The suspense derives from the anticipation more than the actual money shots of men turning into mush.

Two gangsters Misaki and Uchida have broken into a bank vault and stolen a satchel of drugs. Uchida is the driver and as Misaki comes up out of the sewer, he begins to scream and shoot at the ground. Uchida drives away. By the time the cops get there only the clothes of Misaki remain. The cops headed by Inspector Tominga (Akihiko Hirata) wonder how a naked man could have escaped. The manhunt is on. It leads them to Misaki's girlfriend, Chikako (Yumi Shirakawa), a nightclub singer and all woman in her sleek gowns. Fortunately, the police visit her at work where she sings two songs and Emi (Ayumi Sonoda) puts on an erotic floor show that will make your eyes glow in the dark.

Their leads come to nothing - Misaki has vanished but another Yakuza comes to Chikako's apartment looking for him and smacks her around. As he drops to the ground, he screams and he too leaves only his clothes behind. A scientist Dr. Masada (Kenji Sahara) comes to the cops with a fantastic theory. That radioactivity brought to shore by a boat has created Liquid Men and they are killing people. Tominga kicks him out but then others begin disappearing and Masada takes the Inspector to see two men in the hospital who had boarded that mystery boat and tell a very creepy story of seeing horrors. Tominga still doesn't believe and then they begin coming out of the sewers in numbers. Very cool. What it doesn't get into is how intelligent are these Liquid Men who can take amorphous green gassy shape. Is one of them Misaki and does he want to protect Chikako. Or make her one of them.