Varan the Unbelievable (1962)
In an effort to find an economic means of purifying salt water, a joint U.S.-Japanese military command is set up on an isolated Japanese island where an unusual salt water lake is situated. However, their purifying experiments arouse the prehistoric monster Obaki from hibernation at the lake's bottom, and it proceeds to attack Japan. Although made by a U.S. independent film company, this film was based on a Japanese Toho monster film of 1958, "Daikaiju Varan", from which all of the monster effects scenes and a few incidental dramatic shots were edited into it.
Directors:
Jerry A. Baerwitz, Ishirō Honda.
Writers:
Sid Harris, Shinichi Sekizawa.
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Myron Healey as Cmdr. James Bradley |
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Tsuruko Kobayashi as Anna |
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Clifford Kawada as Capt. Kishi |
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Derick Shimatsu as Matsu, the boy |
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Koreya Senda as Dr. Sugimoto |
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Kōzō Nomura as Paul Isoh |
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Ayumi Sonoda as Shidori Isoh |
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Fumito Matsuo as Paul's Friend |
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Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Fujimora |
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Fuyuki Murakami as Dr. Majima |
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Yoshio Tsuchiya as Military Officer Katsumoto |
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Minosuke Yamada as Secretary of Defense |
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Hisaya Ito as Ichiro |
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Yoshibumi Tajima as Captain of Uranami |
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Nadao Kirino as Yutaka Wada |
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Akira Sera as Village High Priest |
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Akio Kusama as Military Officer Kusama |
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Noriko Honma as Ken's Mom |
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Akira Yamada as Issaku |
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Fumindo Matsuo as Horiguchi |
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Yoshikazu Kawamata as Jiro |
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Yasuhiro Shigenobu as Sankichi |
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Shōichi Hirose as Fisherman |
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Takashi Itô as Ken |
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Hideo Shibuya as Cameraman |
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Toshitsugu Suzuki as Fisherman |
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Haruo Nakajima as Varan |
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Katsumi Tezuka as Varan |
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George Sasaki as Soldier |
| Visual Effects | Eiji Tsuburaya | Visual Effects |
| Directing | Jerry A. Baerwitz | Director |
| Directing | Koji Kajita | Assistant Director |
| Writing | Sid Harris | Screenplay |
| Writing | Ken Kuronuma | Story |
| Writing | Shinichi Sekizawa | Screenplay |
| Sound | Victor B. Appel | Sound Mixer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Robert O'Dell | Costumer |
| Sound | Peter Zinner | Music Editor |
| Sound | Kurt Hernfeld | Sound Effects Editor |
| Directing | Margaret Lawrence | Script Supervisor |
| Editing | Jack Ruggiero | Supervising Film Editor |
| Production | Tomoyuki Tanaka | Producer |
| Directing | Leonard Kunody | Assistant Director |
| Crew | Eiji Tsuburaya | Special Effects |
| Art | Sam Harris | Property Master |
| Production | Jerry A. Baerwitz | Producer |
| Camera | Jacques R. Marquette | Director of Photography |
| Editing | Rudolph Cusumano | Editor |
| Costume & Make-Up | Robert Cowan | Makeup Artist |
| Directing | Ishirō Honda | Director |
| Sound | Albert Glasser | Music |
| Sound | Akira Ifukube | Music |