Genocide (昆虫大戦争 Konchū Daisens��?, lit. War of the Insects) is a 1968 Japanese tokusatsu monster film produced by Shochiku Company Ltd. It was released to Japanese theaters on November 9, 1968.
Plot[]
Akiyama came to collect insects on an island in the South Sea. He witnessed the plane crash. The plane was a US military-strategic bomber on its way to Vietnam with a hydrogen bomb, but it crashed after encountering a horde of insects at an altitude of 10,000 meters. At Guam's headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Gordon was in charge of recovering the hydrogen bomb. A U.S. military search team finds a captain and co-pilot who are dead after being scooped out of jaw meat, and Charlie who has lost his memory in a cave on the island. On the other hand, Akiyama was accused of murdering the captain and the co-pilot because he picked up a military watch. Akiyama asked Nagumo of the Tokyo Institute of Biological Sciences, the client of insect collecting, and Annabel, who lives on a nearby island, for innocent testimony. From Charlie's shit, the captains learned that they had been attacked by a horde of insects in the cave. Akiyama escaped when he was informed that his wife had a child in the morning when he was taken to a court in Tokyo, and escaped to Annabel. However, Annabel was kidnapping Charlie, who had regained consciousness in the X country gang, who is researching bacterial warfare. Then, he collected deadly poisonous insects and tried to kill all the US troops. Charlie was the victim of a poisonous insect and was shot dead by Gordon when he went crazy into the city. On the other hand, Akiyama, who knew everything, met Nagumo. Nagumo used his body to discover an antidote against poisonous insects. However, the insect spoke strange things with Nagumo's mouth. "It's up to humans to be destroyed by their nuclear weapons, but we don't want to be involved. We'll kill all humans." Akiyama hurried to Annabel's house. However, Annabels were prey to mass-breeding insects. Insects began to attack humans one after another, and Akiyama was also sacrificed to protect his connection. Meanwhile, Nagumo fought to stop Gordon from trying to blow up the hydrogen bomb with remote control, but it was too late and the hydrogen bomb exploded. After that, the eerie tranquillity remained.
Staff[]
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu
- Written by Susumu Takaku
- Story by Kingen Amada
- Produced by Tsuneo Ozuno
- Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi
- Cinematography by Shizuo Hirase, Sosaburo Shinomura
- Edited by Akimitsu Terada
- Production Design by Koretaka Yoshino
- Assistant Directing by Keiji Shiraki
- Special Effects by Keiji Kawakami, Shun Suganuma
- Art by Yotaka Yoshino[1]
Cast[]
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Keisuke Sonoi as Yoshito Nagumo
- Yusuke Kawazu as Joji Akiyama
- Emi Shindo as Yukari Akiyama
- Kathy Horan as Annabelle (Japanese voice actor: Haruko Kitahama)
- Chico Lourant as Charlie (Japanese voice actor: Kazuya Tatekabe)
- Reiko Hitomi as Junko Komura
- Ralph Jesser as Lieutenant Colonel Gordon (Japanese voice actor: Goro Naya)
- Franz Gruber as Military physician
- Mike Daneen as Bomber pilot
- Harold Conway as American military commander
- Chuko Ueda as Matsunaga
- Saburo Aonuma as Detective
- Hiroshi Aoyama as Fuji
- Toshiyuki Ichimura as Kudo
- Eriko Sono as Nagumo's assistant
- German Reiner as Copilot
- William Douque as Military signaller
- Happy Berman as Sailor
Appearances[]
Monsters[]
- Giant bees
Alternate Titles[]
- The Great Insect War (Japan; literal title)
- War of the Insects (United States)
- Death Opens Its Wings (Ο θάνατος Ανοίγει τα Φτερά Του; Greece)
- The Incredible End of Humanity (L'allucinante Fine Dell'umanità; Italy)
- The Destructive Invasion (La Invasión Destructora; Mexico)
- Genocide - The Killer Bees Attack (Genocide - Die Killerbienen Greifen An; West Germany)
Theatrical releases[]
- Japan - November 9, 1968
- Italy - 1972
- United States - 1969
Foreign releases[]
U.S. release[]
Shochiku Films of America originally released Genocide as War of the Insects in 1969.
Italian The Incredible End of Humanity poster
Italian release[]
The first theatrical release of Genocide (L'allucinante fine dell'umanità) in Italy was distributed by Kent World Distributor in 1972.
Video Releases[]
Trivia[]
- The film was Kazui Nihonmatsu's second film after The X from Outer Space which was also a kaiju film.
External Links[]
- Genocide on Wikipedia
