Attending Another Rare Screening of Toho's 'Half Human' (1955)!

Half Human at the Laputa Asagaya. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Monday, January 16, I was fortunate to attend another screening of Toho's Half Human (1955) in 35mm. It was part of the Laputa Asagaya's ongoing Science Fiction Film Festival program, and it was an offer too good to pass up.

I'd seen Half Human once before in 35mm, which was in late 2019 as part of an all-night film festival. Despite the lateness of the starting time, at least I'm able to sleep in my own bed tonight!

The print was in fairly decent shape, though there were defects aplenty. It certainly wasn't terrible, but the quality varied throughout the screening. Sometimes the print quality was basically perfect; other times it was rough going with a lot of jumps, scratches, and other flaws that one would typically associate with an old film print.

As for the film itself, I can't say that it's all that great. Toho hadn't perfected its formula for tokusatsu films until Rodan (1956), so most productions prior to that, in my humble opinion, don't hold up so well. Some parts of the movie -- the skiing sequence toward the beginning, in particular -- even look like a silent film, what with the lack of ambient sounds to go along with the action onscreen.

Masaru Sato's score is easily the most lackluster and forgettable of his SFX output. Speaking of SFX, the special effects are wildly uneven -- some shots are quite good, while others simply don't work at all. The titular Snowman doesn't come across as sympathetic as I'm sure the filmmakers wanted, but he also isn't as menacing as he should be. In many ways, the movie just isn't all that good.

On the plus side, I enjoyed seeing Shigeo Kato as one of the villagers, and I also spotted Haruo Nakajima as part of the mountaineering team. 

Even though Half Human is a much more lavish production, I enjoyed The Invisible Man (1954) -- last week's film -- much more. The ending to that film was quite a bit more impactful. Half Human's ending lacked any kind of emotion, even though it really should have, given who perished in the end. Thankfully, however, Toho would start cranking out superior productions on a much more regular basis shortly after this one. 

Seeing Toho's Half Human on the Big Screen!

 Signage advertising the Toho all-nighter at Shin-Bungeiza. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I really don't like all-nighters. I value sleep too much to sit through them. Besides, I find it's usually hard to enjoy a movie when it's 4:00 a.m., and you realize you're still miles and miles away from home (more specifically, your bed). But this all-nighter at Shin-Bungeiza (in Ikebukuro) was too good to pass up. It featured a rare 35mm screening of Toho's "lost" Abominable Snowman picture Half Human (1955).

The film print for Half Human wasn't in the best shape. There were a quite a few scratches, jumps, and other imperfections. But it was still a revelation to see the film in 35mm (and especially without the timecode at the bottom of the screen!). For the first time, I noticed Shigeo Kato's role as one of the primitive mountain men. Nothing beats seeing a film like this in the best-possible quality.

After Half Human, I stayed for a screening of The Human Vapor (1960), which I'd never seen before 35mm. Unlike Half Human, this print was virtually flawless. It'd also probably been years since I'd seen the film at all, and I'm much more familiar with the American version (with its focus on Yoshio Tsuchiya's Human Vapor character) than the Japanese (which centers on Tatsuya Mihashi's police detective). 

I decided against seeing the other two, especially since I've seen Matango several times on the big screen and didn't really feel much need to see it again. Besides, I got to see the two flicks I really wanted. Suffice it to say, it was a great time at the movies!

Loren Coleman remembers Half Human

Greetings from Chicago! Akira Takarada, star of Toho's 1955 science fiction film Half Human, enjoys sightseeing in Chicago during G-FEST 2010. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Fellow G-fan Mark Matzke sent me a link to noted cryptozoologist Loren Coleman's blog. I interviewed Mr. Coleman in 2004 for G-FAN magazine on the subject of Half Human. The Toho film inspired him to research Bigfoot and other curiosities of nature. It was a fascinating backstory, and I wanted Mr. Coleman to share it with Toho fans in the pages of G-FAN.

Eight years later, I'm happy to say that Mr. Coleman remembers the interview fondly and mentions it in a recent blog post about the movie Half Human. Give the entry a look for yourself. Suffice it to say, I was pleasantly surprised to find that, after so many years, he remembers the interview so well.
Incidentally, Half Human star Akira Takarada will be appearing at G-FEST in Chicago, July 13-15. Be sure to drop by and say hi!