The H-Man

Starring: Yumi Shirakawa, Kenji Sahara, Akihiko Hirata, Koreya Senda, Makoto Sato
Directed by: Ishiro Honda
Rating: Approved
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
1958

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After a man mysteriously vanishes, leaving only his clothes behind, several people uncover an unbelievable horror lurking in the sewers.

Review:

Tim: I was a bit surprised how effective The H-Man. Now, this isn't to say it is a good movie- it's far too flawed and silly for that. However, it is a memorable, occasionally chilling movie. It's a decent film from Ishiro Honda that combines horror and sci-fi in a fairly suspenseful manner. Toho made a lot of bad films, but this is one of their better efforts.

This film was made by the team responsible for Gojira, and it's fun to see them tell a story without giant monsters. This film is more focused on the human level, which added a nice element to the film. Like the aforementioned more famous film, this one also deals with the terrible effects of radioactive fallout. In this case, it doesn't transform a creature into a giant monster, it turns ordinary people into strange radioactive creatures. I liked the more street-level view of horror as depicted in this film.

The effects are fairly good and significantly creepy. I loved the way the movie depicted a human (or a frog) liquifying in a few moments. It was clever how they pulled this off, and it looks quite frightening on screen. If I was a kid in the 1950s, I wouldn't have been able to get those images out of my mind. It's not everyday you see a human melt into radioactive green liquid right before your eyes. Those effects were among the highlights of the film.

I liked the sequence told in flashback on the ghost ship. That was a fairly creepy sequence. I can still picture the green H-Men standing aboard that ship. There is also a few nice moments that take place in the sewers near the end of the film. The special effects weren't hard to figure out, but there is still something scary about seeing that green liquid pouring down stairs or up on the walls. It's a very good visual.

The human characters were fine, but again, they were paper thin. They got more screen time than they get in many of the Godzilla movies, so I appreciated that. I have to admit the different plots weren't that interesting to me. We have the central premise of people mysteriously vanishing, but there is a subplot about mobsters and nightclub singers- none of that was particularly exciting. We spend a lot of time in the police station. It was fun to see how serious police work was depicted in this film. I hope real police officers in the 1950s acted with more sense than the ones on screen do.

The H-Man has some impressive visuals and creepy moments, but like many films of the era, it pushes the boundaries of absurdity too far. At a certain point, you want to throw your arms up in the air about the science mumbo jumbo. If you have a hard time suspending disbelief, this movie and its ilk are not for you. With this film, I was able to do that to a certain degree. I'd consider this a fairly decent movie. However, its obvious flaws are a serious drawback and prevented me from really enjoying the film as much as I should have.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Gojira, Battle in Outer Space