Matango, also known as Attack of the Mushroom People or Fungus of Terror, is a psychological and science fictional horror film. It is directed by Honda Ishirō, who is well known for his movie Godzilla (Gojira, 1954). The movie was released on August 11, 1963. It was never officially released in America but it was first aired on American television in 1965.
The film first starts off with a scene at a psychiatry ward where a man is telling the story. It is a story about a group of people who decide to go on a trip on a yacht to escape their stressful lives. On board are psychologist Marai (the man in the psychiatry ward); his girlfriend Akiko; wealthy businessman Kasai; famous singer Mami; writer Yoshida; sailor Koyama; and captain Sakuda. Their pleasant trip comes to an abrupt end when they are blown off course by an unexpected storm. As they float in their yacht aimlessly, they soon discover an island with a jungle and an abandoned ship covered with fungus and a strange type of gigantic mushroom growing on it. There is some canned food on the ship and so they decide to clean the ship and use it as their shelter. They discover a log by the crew the previously owned the ship that warns of the mushroom’s damaging effects on the human nervous tissue. The captain warns the crew not to eat the mushrooms but it is very hard temptation due scarcity of food. One night, as Kasai tries to steal the limited supply of canned food, he encounters a monster and screams for the help of the others. The next scene is a cut to the next morning where everybody is discussing of what they saw. Things do not get any better as tempers being to flare and everyone starts turning on each other under the stress of not knowing whether or not they will be able to make it off this island alive. Sakuda eventually betrays them all and steals whatever is left of the food as well as the yacht and escapes off the island. Yoshida eventually gives in and eats the mushrooms which eventually became addicting. Yoshida’s appearance begins to change as well as his personality. He starts to act very oddly and on two occasions threatens to kill all the men on the ship. He eventually shoots Koyama and he and Mami, who has an affair with Yoshida, are forced off the ship and they disappear into the jungle and survive off of the giant mushrooms. Eventually Kasai gives into the stressful environment and follows Mami, who came back to find Kansai, into the jungle. She shows him the mushrooms that she and Yoshida have been living off of and he eventually gives in to the temptation and eats the mushroom that also gives him an eccentric high. She explains to him that when you eat the mushroom, you eventually turn into a mushroom monster (a Matango). Now only Marai and Akiko are left on the ship which leaves the question of will they be able to withstand the temptation of eating the mushrooms and also will they make it off the island alive?
The special effect make up for this movie is very well done, considering this is a film made in the 1960s. The faces of the mushroom people were very realistic and scary. In fact, the makeup was so well done that the movie was banned in Japan for 2 years because the makeup resembled wounds suffered from the bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The use of weather to portray the stressful environment of the island is used very well. In the beginning of the film, it was all rays of sunshine as the crew enjoyed their journey on the yacht. As the people begin to suffer in depression and stress, the weather eventually turns into a rainy season. The change of weather allows the audience to feel the gloomy mood on the island. The weather made the island feel very damp and depressing. The constant rain made me, as an audience member, feel very agitated and claustrophobic.
One of the more memorable scenes for me was when they first encountered the mushroom monster in the ship. Honda uses lighting to create shadows which was very appropriate because of the tense mood. When the monster first appears in front of Kansai, the camera sticks very closely to the monster, as to not reveal the grotesque figure which leaves you to your own imagination. The slow and lagging movement also added to the suspense. When the mushroom monster enters the room, I felt the shadows allowed me to have a better look at the mushroom monster because it forces you to focus on the parts that were in the light.
Overall I enjoyed watching the film. It has a very strong message which was to not give into temptation, which was the mushrooms, which symbolized drugs. The people on the crew knew these mushrooms should not be touched but they eventually gave in. If Yoshida never touched the mushrooms, they could have all still been on the ship together fighting for survival together. The film also depicts very well what can happen to someone when they are left in desperate situations; betrayal, tempers flaring and friends turning on each other as they all fight for survival. The ending was very surprising and shocking which made it a great finish to this psychological, science fictional horror film.