Reptillicus
Reptillicus (1961) Rewatch: ✅
I’m not 100% on this so don’t quote me but I think Reptillicus may be the only kaiju film that also doubles as a tourist information film. It’s the most amazingly jarring thing to one minute be watching some scientists concerned about a regenerating giant reptile tail then, mere minutes later, to watch an army general discuss all the great places you can visit in Copenhagen, complete with stock footage.
It’s also completely amazing, obviously. I sincerely believe more films would be better for doing this. Imagine how much better The Exorcist would be if Father Merrin took a few minutes to introduce everyone to the sights and sounds of Washington DC, including a bit of a club musical number extolling its virtues.
We’re really not talking Godzilla levels here but it’s a bit of riotous fun all the same. Once Reptillicus starts going for a wander and spitting gobs of green acid slime all over the place and folks are running from the bright neon superimposed goo en masse, it’s brilliant. People leaping off a bridge to avoid some shonky puppet work never gets old. There is so much green goo. So much. Oh, and Reptillicus takes out the stock exchange in style. The kind of style where parts of the stock exchange model end up on its bonce before it goes back to gopping goo at the camera.
Brilliant stuff from start to finish.