No one would think that the American Godzilla King of the Monsters was a horror film. It has Godzilla of course demolishing Tokyo under the watchful eye of inserted American prop Raymond Burr, but the movie is just that a "monster movie" and not a "horror movie". There is too much gusto, too brisk pacing in the story to evolve much of a horror mood. Outside of some great music it's really not very scary.
Not so with Gojira the original from which the American flick is derived. That's a horror movie, a movie that somberly takes you into a nightmare world of monstrosities that rip homes and terrorized children. In Gojira the pain and suffering is felt to the soul as people die under Gojira's power. The destruction of one man's dreams also makes you empathize with the sacrifice it takes to subdue the existential threat. The Oxygen Destroyer is a gimmick, but not one that will work minus the ultimate sacrifice, giving the story a scope the American verison avoids.
Both are dandy flicks, both are fun. But Gojira is scary, scary right down in your soul.
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