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As part of our weekend tribute to the late special effects director Sadamasa Arikawa, here is the Japanese trailer for SON OF GODZILLA (1967) – a cute and cuddly kiddie flick in which the formerly terrifying radioactive reptile is revealed to be an old softie at heart, a caring parent who looks after junior, protects [...]

As part of our weekend tribute to the late special effects director Sadamasa Arikawa, here is the U.S. theatrical trailer for DESTROY ALL MONSTERS – the memorable Toho production in which Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and all of Earth’s other monsters team up for a non-stop destruction derby involving invading aliens trying to take over the [...]

If you want to draw eyeballs to an online magazine, you have to fill it with stuff that is new, new, new, but on of the defining aspects of Cinefantastique was its love for classics, expressed in frequent cover stories and retrospective articles. We like to keep that tradition alive at Cinefantastique Online, especially on [...]

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS is probably the last well-regarded entry in the original Godzilla series. By this time, all serious threat of the monsters had disappeared; recognizing this, director Ishiro Honda (who had helmed the original GODIZLLA in 1954 and many of the subsequent sequels) opted for a fast-paced action-adventure roller-coaster thrill ride that was seldom [...]

This film is from the goofy era when Godzilla was mutating from a radioactive menace into a lovable hero. The tone is definitely geared for younger viewers, and it’s impossible to take the proceedings seriously. And yet, SON OF GODZILLA is actually quite entertaining on its own juvenile level, filled with strong performances, exotic locations [...]

This is one of the silliest but also one of the more amusing Godzilla movies. The goofiness of the enterprise somehow becomes part of the entertainment value, resulting in a likable, fun-filled, fast-paced movie that is totally incredible but quite watchable.
The story begins (in the original Japanese cut) with a family worried about a missing [...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: In this archive question and answer session, culled from personal appearances made at a Godzlla film festival in 2000, the late special effects expert discusses his work on Toho’s biggest monster, from the frightening original to the comic “Son of” Sequel.
Sadamasa Arikawa served under the legendary special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, the man [...]