Crew
Director – Kenji Misumi, Screenplay – Tetsuro Yoshida, Producer – Masaichi Nagata, Photography – Fujio Morita & Shozo Tanaka, Music – Akira lfukube, Animation – Yoshio Watanabe, Special Effects Director – Yoshiyuki Kuroda, Production Design – Shigeru Kato & Akira Naito. Production Company – Daiei.
Cast
Kojiro Hongo (Juro), Shiho Fujimura (Sayuri), Takashi Kanda (Lord Danjo Mikoshiba), Taro Marui (Dodohei), Sei Hiraizumi (Hayato Tabe), Jutaro Hojoh (Genba Onikojima), Kiyokazu Kagatsume (Ryuta)
Plot
The warlord Danjo sets out to conquer two neighbouring villages – first, Mikoshiba and then the small island of Chigusa in the middle of Yagumo Lake. As they move in to conquer Chigusa, the village’s leader Juro goes missing. The locals appeal to the god Daimajin that lives in a cave to save them. Instead, Lord Danjo’s men come and blow the statue of Daimajin up. As Lord Danjo brings the villagers under his iron fist, Daimajin rises to stand up for them.
Return of Giant Majin was the second in a trilogy of films made by the Japanese company Daiei. It was preceded by Majin, Monster of Terror (1966) and followed by Majin Strikes Again (1966). The Majin films are often listed as Japanese Monster Movies, although the majin has often been compared to the Golem from Jewish legend.
The three Majin films were all released in the same year and were shot back-to-back. As a result, they tend to a similarity. This is particularly the case when it comes to the plotting. Return of Giant Majin has a not dissimilar plot to Monster of Terror – a peaceful village(s) terrorised by a brutish warlord; the decent and innocent villagers who appeal to the stone god Majin for help; the rightful ruler of the villager who goes missing but returns to claim his title; the warlord seeking to destroy the statue of Majin (which is now located in a cave on an island rather than a mountainside); and the climactic awakening the monster to enact justice on behalf of the villagers.
The Majin films sit with one foot inside the samurai film genre just as much as they do the Japanese Monster Movie. As such, Return of Giant Majin spends a good deal of time on the invading warlord, the drama concerning the peaceful villagers and the various personalities among these. It is not until the 61-minute mark that Majin gets to rise out of the waters and come to life – although its statue is seen in the caves before that and its eyes glow red. We also get scenes where the tyrant warlord attempts to deal with it by blowing the statue up.
Certainly, Daiei lavished reasonable budgets on these Majin films. There is a reasonable expansiveness to the armies moving around, the sword fights and so on. There is a mocked up village. Particularly impressive is the set build for the cave and lagoon with the full-size statue of Majin centred in the midst, which gets blown up. The effects of the risen Majin, which include the genteel image of it tearing the cross that Shiho Fujimura is tied to out of the ground and laying her down, are reasonable for the era.
Trailer here
Full film available here