Episode 176: TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975) with Michael Popham

Featuring the first appearance of writer, Trylon volunteer, Horrorthon body counter, and comms specialist Michael Popham (https://twitter.com/mpopham)! A direct sequel to the movie where Godzilla rips Mechagodzilla’s head off, TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA is a movie (written by newcomer Yukiko Takayama!) where Godzilla rips Mechagodzilla’s head off… and there’s a dinosaur… being controlled by aliens… who’ve teamed up with a disgraced scientist… whose daughter is a cyborg… that controls another Mechagodzilla. It’s a pretty stacked movie! It’s also the lowest-grossing Godzilla ever and it marked the end of Godzilla’s Shōwa era before a nine-year hiatus. Somewhere in that milieu, there’s a strangely human, tender core to the story, anchored largely by Katsura Mafune (Tomoko Ai), the mad scientist’s daughter-turned-cyborg whose position in the plot. We talk about her many motivations and how her character – dutiful to her father’s cause, finding love in her enemies, possessed by her extraterrestrial overlords – reflects both the humanity in the movie’s monsters and the monstrosities of its humans. Links: Follow Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mpopham Michael’s blog memorializing Horror Incorporated, a 1970s late-night creature-feature series from MSP: https://horrorincorporatedproject.wordpress.com/ - Buy tickets to EDDIE MURPHY (June 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/eddie-murphy/ - “NIC CAGE, NATIONAL TREASURE” (June - Aug 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/national-treasure/ - “GENE TIERNEY” (July 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/gene-tierney/ - “YAPHET KOTTO” (Aug 2022 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/films/category/yaphet-kotto/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at [email protected] to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing song: Main theme by Akira Ifukube from the TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 176: TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975) with Michael Popham 4:19 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:04 - Movie good? (Movie good.) 15:45 - Balancing the human and the alien 31:56 - Katsura as nexus between them 46:37 - The Junk Drawer (kaiju insurance, a sense of scale & more) 53:13 - Cody’s Noteys: Godzilla or Not-zilla (tagline trivia)