The Brute That Conquered The World!

One vintage Japanese monster flick that has always eluded me was Frankenstein Conquers the World (one of the great titles in all the history of hyperbole). Its "sequel", War of the Gargantuas (starring Russ Tamblyn of West Side Story fame) was a movie I saw a lot when I was young as it played on TV all the time. I later learned this rather athletic Japanese monster movie was a the follow-up to the earlier "Frankenstein" movie, a movie I'd read about in Famous Monsters of Filmland. But this one never played on TV, or at least never around me. Being a fan of Frankenstein movies and of Godzilla movies, I naturally wanted to see this one, and when I read somewhere that it was originally the brainchild of Willis O'Brien the grandaddy of King Kong, I had to see it.

And I did finally, on TV some years ago.

And again just a few months ago after getting it on DVD. The Japanese title is the far less memorable Frankenstein Vs. Baragon but it is what it is. The DVD I picked up had three versions, the original Japanese version, the American version, and an extended International version (with extra Octopus action at the end that really confuses the plot terribly). I watched the Japanese version first and found it to be a surprisingly somber and nearly serious presentation, downright understated for a Kaiju flick. This one seemed to treat the material, which begins in around Hiroshima with a sober attitude that overcame the more common hijinks these movies had largely descended into by the 60's. This tone was more like the original Godzilla than anything else, and I found it fascinating. By contrast the American version is more quickly paced, drops some of the more somber subplots, and is more a bang-up monster fight flick. I prefer the original.

Now what's this to do with comics?




Well, for a long time I've always assumed that Atlas-Seaboard's comic The Brute by Michael Fleisher, Mike Sekowsky, and Pablo Marcos was based on Trog the 60's movie about a subterranean caveman who gets lose and tears up an English village. It's a hoot of flick itself, and the parallels to Brute are obvious. But one review of Brute suggested that Frankenstein Conquers the World was also an influence. And after watching this movie carefully now, I'd have to concur. The Brute in some scenes is suggested to be a giant (the debut cover no less)and his conflicts with the police are rather like the Frankenstein creature's battles in the movie. Both films have similar themes, monsters who are more than just savages despite their genetics and circumstances, and who are violent to no small extent due to the violence they are confronted with. I might have to read those Brute issues again and see what else might have been lifted from the Japanese classic.

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