GAPPA: THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTERS is one of those elusive old school giant monster flicks that has dumbfounded many genre fans, due to the inconsistent retitlings and repackagings. To set the record straight, GAPPA: THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTERS originally premiered in 1967 under its original moniker, DAIKAYOJU GAPPA. The now defunct Nikkatsu studios intended their one and only giant monster film to be a satire of the genre. But the crowded monster market of the era, ruled by bigger studios like Toho (Godzilla) and Daiei (Gamera) overwhelmed this independent effort. American International Pictures (who released many Japanese genre movies to the North American theatrical and TV market) aired GAPPA: THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTERS on TV in the early 1970s as MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET. Of course, this was a battered full frame print, which eventually showed up on VHS and LaserDisc. Finally, in the mid 1990’s, upstart video company called Media Blasters released two widescreen versions of GAPPA: THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTERS on separate VHS tapes. One tape contained the uncut international (English dubbed) version, and the other volume featured the uncut Japanese version with English subtitles. Many fans purchased both versions for the sake of completeness. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. Now that Media Blasters is cranking up their popular Tokyo Shock line on DVD, they felt the time was right to release this family-friendly monster entry on DVD. How convenient that they would include both the international and Japanese language versions on a single DVD!

The publisher of Playmate Magazine (no, not an adult rag) sends an expedition to remote Obelisk Island, to secure wildlife for his new jungle theme park that he plans on building in Japan. The expedition team consists of the typical monster movie stereotypes, like the ambitious scientist, the intrepid reporter, the brave photographer, and the cowardly comic relief character. When the team lands on Obelisk Island, they find the natives besieged by earthquakes. The natives welcome their visitors, because they believe the outsiders can stop the earthquakes. Furthermore, various natives inform the explorers that their angry god Gappa, is the source of the quakes. The reporter and his female photographer go searching for ancient statues (that the script stresses "are like the ones on Easter Island"). An earthquake causes one of the giant stone statues to collapse, revealing a hidden entrance to an underground cavern. They cautiously search the underground grotto, and discover a monstrous reptile egg. More tremors cause the egg to roll over and crack open, revealing an infant prehistoric reptile.

The other members of the team are elated at the discovery, and they immediately inform their publishing magnate employer, who orders them to bring the creature to Playmate headquarters. The natives don’t take kindly to the explorers making off with the infant creature (but they are not cannibals or anything, so what can they possibly do?). They take the creature back to Japan, and it triples in size in a matter of weeks. The greedy publisher places the beast in the care of the scientist, who attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery. Back on Obelisk Island, two parental Gappas emerge from the primordial sludge within the underground cavern. They see the remains of the egg, and are incensed that their offspring is missing. They take out their frustrations on the helpless natives, then spread their leathery wings and take to the sky. Later, the twin titans emerge offshore outside a Japanese city, and begin to wreak havoc. The Japanese Defense Forces are called in to halt the rampage, but you know how it goes with these movies.

The scientist determines that the baby Gappa is sending out a homing signal, which attracts others of its kind. The expedition members and the authorities put pressure on the publishing magnate, to release the rapidly growing baby Gappa (but he sees nothing but potential dollar signs). Luckily the scientist also discovers that the creatures are susceptible to a certain high-pitched frequency. When the two giant Gappas dive into a lake next to Mount Fuji, the army rigs a sonic weapon that sends ultrasonic waves to the bottom of the lake. This tactic nearly kills the Gappas, but they manage to escape, and therefore are more pissed off then ever. They resume their search for their progeny, trampling several cities and squashing countless tanks and planes. The publisher still refuses to cooperate, even to save hundreds of lives, so his sensible friends, family, and employees abandon him. The authorities come up with a plan to transport the baby to a deserted airport, to use it as bait to lure in his parents. If something is not done fast, it could mean the destruction of Japan!

GAPPA: THE TRIPHBIAN MONSTERS plays out like a combination of the original KING KONG, GODZILLA, RODAN, and GORGO. You’ve got the typical plotline about explorers travelling to a remote island and commingling with the natives (played by Japanese actors in facepaint!). The deity they worship is actually a monster, who lays waste to his subjects before leaving the island to search for the offspring. Then the narrative focuses on the characters as they try to make sense of the situation, while the monsters trash everything around them. Oh and of course, there is the futile military attempt to stop the beasties before its too late. And what monster film is complete without the greedy exploitative character that acts as a catalyst for the mayhem? GAPPA: THE TRIPHBIAN MONSTERS doesn’t have a single original idea in the entire script (then again, neither do any movies currently playing at your local cineplex). Director Harunasu Noguchi does not entirely rip-off other Kaiju franchises, he does employ a few original techniques. For example, Noguchi avoids slowing down the photography of the monsters. This is a simple trick utilized by Toho, to create the illusion that the monsters are more dense and heavy. During the monster attack scenes, Noguchi avoids employing any kind of musical score. While this may be a mistake (because score is important in underlying the mood), it succeeds in creating a grim, stark silence.

Well, what is it about GAPPA: THE TRIPHBIAN MONSTERS that is worth seeing? There is quite an undercurrent of satire running throughout the film, along with a dose of unintentional humor. At one point the publisher’s little daughter asks her father when she’s going to get a new mother—then she suggests her dancing teacher who happens to be in the room. In the underground cavern, the female reporter states her discomfort with the situation—and her partner tells her that if she is scared, she should "stay home, marry an office worker, and wash diapers". Every native in the film spews the same line about "do not make Gappa angry!". The army broadcasts soundwaves at the monsters, which is the only weapon that harms them (they must be using a Barbara Streisand album as an audio source!). There is the childlike character of Saburo (Kogan Katsura) who acts much like the egg-loving reporter from GODZILLA VS. THE THING. The mother Gappa has tears well up in her reptilian eyes when she finds her kid. At the dramatic conclusion, after witnessing the tearful reunion between the Gappa family, the female reporter quits and says she is ready to "stay home, marry an office worker, and wash diapers"!

The other major redeemable aspect of the film is the special effects. Though not up to Toho standards of the time period, the effects are better than most of the Daiei films. The special effects are courtesy of Akira Watanabe, one of Eiji Tsuburaya’s protégés. In fact, the effects scenes for GAPPA: THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTERS were filmed at Tsuburaya’s Productions studios. The sprawling miniature sets are just as detailed as any monster film of the time. Watanabe includes some nice touches, like the mother Gappa emerging from the ocean with a giant octopus in her maw! The tanks are obviously remote controlled vehicles, and the planes are guided by piano wire, but hey, that’s half the fun of these movies. The Gappas breathe animated fire breath onto their pesky attackers. The monsters themselves are well designed, and are surely some of the most unique monsters to emerge from Japanese cinema. The Gappas are clearly reptilian in nature, with some traces of birds in the wings and beak. Yet, they also have the appearance of some gigantic prehistoric griffin; or some demonic mammoth gargoyle—you might see similar mugs atop buildings in New York City. These Gappas flourish on land, underwater, or in the air, so they truly live up to their (fictional) moniker, triphibian. The adult Gappas possess this tremendous belch-like roar, which adds another dimension to this strange breed.

-  Tony Mustafa 

In the opening moments of this cheap, squalid little film, we find a nun wandering, lost and frightened, in the crypt of her convent. She and the camera creep slowly through the ossuary...

Suddenly a dark shape with glowing eyes rises from the gloom! "Oh, boy!" says the viewer. "Here comes the monster!" But the viewer's hopes are about to be cruelly dashed. The dark shambling thing, whatever it is, never reappears. What we do see through the rest of the film is a closeup of a paper maché devil-head, whose glowing red eyes are clearly light bulbs on a dimmer switch. Is this supposed to be the head of the monster? A gargoyle? The director's mother-in-law? Do we care?? At the end of the ossuary, the lost nun runs into the charming Sister Assunta, the convent embalmer, in her appalling little workroom. Sister Assunta is -- well, her rosary's dropped a few beads. She's two or three masses short of a Novena. Her Psalter doesn't go past 94. She travels in a pair even when she's alone. In other words,

She explains to her terrified Sister in Christ that in order to embalm a dead nun properly, you must first purify her body. She demonstrates -- by hacking out a corpse's private parts with a dagger. Then, she goes stark drooling bonkers, fondling the bloody bits in her hands and blathering on about how they are the gate to Hell (get it? She's hinting that woman's body and her carnal desires are "the other hell"). At this point, the paper maché devil-head pops up and goes, "Booga booga!" Sister Assunta begins choking (on her own performance, we imagine); and when the other nun tries to assist her, Sister Assunta stabs her repeatedly with her dagger.

This is the high point of the film, folks, in both quality and taste.

Other than the gross-out, the best this movie can summon up for a scare is having someone burst into the room, either through a door or from a coffin. This tired old trick is used three times -- once when Sister Assunta's dying body is found; once after a possessed nun develops stigmata and disappears; and even in the last seconds of the movie. Frankly, scarier things have popped through the door on a Seinfeld episode.

Other highlights include the immolation of an elderly priest. "Who's there?" he cries. "The Devil!" whispers the paper maché devil's-head, and the priest goes FOOMF! His charred head later turns up in the sanctuary. We're also treated to some gratuitous animal cruelty: a cat is mauled by savage dogs (definitely fake), and a chicken is beheaded by the lumbering gardener (unfortunately real). As far as the rest of the plot goes, it's drivel masquerading as the conflict between faith and reason, Dionysus and Apollo, masculine and feminine, butter or Parkay. The nuns believe it's all the work of the Devil, while Father Valerio, the priest who comes to investigate, is sure there's a rational explanation.

The "truth" is revealed to the priest through his tape recorder (which has apparently been possessed by his super-8 movie camera, because it starts showing images): it seems Mother Vincenza, as a young nun, had become pregnant (probably by the gardener) and had given birth to a child. The then-Mother Superior found out about the child and, calling it the spawn of the devil, tossed it into a pot of boiling water. Sister Vincenza rescued the child, but the incident brought on Carrie-like psychokinetic powers in the baby (Sister Carrie?). The child, played in this scene by a ridiculously unconvincing plastic doll, used her mind to kill the Mother Superior. Thereafter, Sister/Mother Vincenza went mad and raised her disfigured child in secret, all the while telling her that she is the child of the Devil.

At this point Father Valerio's tape recorder turns back into a tape recorder, whereupon Mother Vincenza comes into the room and shoves a knife into his groin. This ushers in the poorly-paced finale, which is too dreary to describe in detail. In the end, we have both a rational and a demoniac explanation for all the goings on. Is this the filmmakers' way of saying the mystical, feminine sides of our natures can never be reconciled with the rational, masculine side? Men are from Mars, Women are from The Other Hell? NAAAH.

SIGHT

Shriek Show brings "The Other Hell" to DVD with an anamorphic transfer that has been letterboxed at 1.85:1. Considering that the film was originally shot on 16mm, this transfer looks pretty good. The image is fairly clear, although there is some grain at times, as well as some noticeable artifacting. The colors are average, and the blacks and whites contrast well. There are some visible defects from the source print, but these are mainly minor scratches. The bitrate is consistently about 8mbps throughout the film.

SOUND

A Dolby Digital mono audio track accompanies the film on this DVD. The track contains several problems. While the dialogue is clear for the most part, this is an obvious low-frequency hiss on the track. For about half of the film, the sound is out of sync. For the dialogue, it could be explained that the English dub didn't match up with the Italian actor's mouths, but that doesn't explain why the cat's hiss comes a few beats after he opens his mouth! The music from Italian stalwarts Goblin (which was lifted from the movie "Beyond the Darkness") sounds fine and the dynamic range is acceptable

FEATURES

The DVD offers separate breif interviews with director Bruno Mattei and star Carlo De Mejo. Both are jovial, but neither offers any great insight into the making of "The Other Hell". The DVD contains the original trailer for "The Other Hell", and bonus trailers for four other titles from Shriek Show.

CONCLUSION

Though THE OTHER HELL has its share of problems, kudos to Shriek Show/Media Blasters for their phenominal DVD presentation. And bonus points for the bonus features. 

-  Luther Manning

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