Half Human (1955)

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Image gallery for Half Human
Credits for Half Human


Half Human
The Japanese poster for Half Human
Alternate titles
Flagicon Japan.png Monster Snowman (1955)
See alternate titles
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by Takeo Murata, Shigeru Kayama
Music by Masaru Sato
Distributor TohoJP
DCAUS
Rating Not Rated
Running time 94 minutesJP
(1 hour, 34 minutes)
63 minutesUS
(1 hour, 3 minutes)
Aspect ratio 1.37:1
Rate this film!
3.00
(14 votes)

Is it a demon or a primitive man? A horrible giant beastman with superhuman strength, it's the Snowman! (魔か原始人か?怪力と戦慄の巨獣人、これが雪男だ!)
„ 

— Tagline

Ah! A moment of fright! The giant beastman Snowman suddenly stamps through the snow of the Alps, approaching humanity! (あッ!驚愕の一瞬!忽然アルプスの雪を蹴って巨獣人雪男人間に迫る!)
„ 

— Tagline

1400 POUNDS OF FROZEN FURY that moves like man! HALF-MAN, HALF-BEAST but ALL MONSTER!
„ 

— American tagline

Half Human (獣人雪男,   Jūjin Yuki Otoko, lit. Monster Snowman) is a 1955 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho. It was released to Japanese theaters on August 14, 1955, and to American theaters on May 17, 1957.

Plot

X no sunglasses.PNG “I knew that『plot』wasn't up to much.”
This plot synopsis is missing or incomplete.
Please help by editing this section.

To be added.

Staff

Main article: Half Human/Credits.

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Akira Takarada   as   Takeshi Iijima, alpine club member
  • Akemi Negishi   as   Chika, villager
  • Momoko Kochi   as   Machiko Takeno, Iijima's lover
  • Nobuo Nakamura   as   Professor Koizumi
  • Sachio Sakai   as   Nakata, alpine club member
  • Kuninori Kodo   as   Tribal Chief
  • Yoshio Kosugi   as   Oba, animal broker
  • Akira Tani   as   Chubby Thug, Oba's men
  • Kenji Kasahara   as   Shinsuke Takeno, Machiko's younger brother
  • Senkichi Omura   as   Villager
  • Toshitsugu Suzuki   as   Kurihara, alpine club member (as Koji Suzuki)
  • Ren Yamamoto   as   Shinagawa, alpine club member
  • Akira Sera   as   Matsui, hotelier
  • Yasuhisa Tsutsumi   as   Kodama, reporter
  • Tadashi Okabe   as   Takeno, Machiko' older brother
  • Etsuro Saijo   as   Mountain guide
  • Kamayuki Tsubono   as   Mountain guide
  • Akira Yamada   as   Kaji, alpine club member
  • Shoichi Hirose   as   Mountain Searcher
  • Yutaka Nakayama   as   Thug, Oba's men
  • Ichiro Chiba   as   Chief policeman
  • Kihachi Okamoto   as   Mountain Searcher
  • Takuzo Kumagai   as   Policeman (as Jiro Kumagai)
  • Haruo Nakajima   as   Mountain Searcher


  • Shigeo Kato   as   Villager
  • Akio Kusama   as   Villager
  • Rinsaku Ogata   as   Mountain guide
  • Keiichiro Katsumoto   as   Villager
  • Koichi Sato
  • Kazuo Fukuda
  • Hiroshi Akitsu   as   Stationmaster
  • Kyoko Ozawa   as   Villager
  • Fuminori Ohashi   as   Snowman
  • Takashi Ito   as   Snowman's Child
  • Akira Kitchoji   as   Villager (as Hikaru Kitchoji)
  • Yasumasa Onishi   as   Thug, Oba's men (as Yasuo Onishi)
  • Ryutaro Amami   as   Mountain searcher
  • Kenzo Echigo   as   Mountain searcher
  • Kazuo Hinata   as   Station employee
  • Tsurue Ichimanji   as   Villager
  • Toku Ihara   as   Mountain searcher
  • Kawamata Kiichi   as   Mountain searcher
  • Eisuke Nakanishi   as   Mountain searcher
  • Shigemi Sunagawa   as   Policeman
  • Jiro Suzukawa   as   Mountain searcher
  • Masaaki Tachibana   as   Mountain searcher
  • Hideo Otsuka   as   Mountain searcher

Appearances

Monsters

Gallery

Main article: Half Human/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Half Human (Soundtrack).

Alternate Titles

  • Snowman (International Title)
  • Monster Snowman (Literal Japanese Title)
  • Beast Man Snowman (Alternate Translation)
  • Half Human: The Story of the Abominable Snowman (Alternate American Title)

Theatrical Releases

  • Japan - August 14, 1955
  • United States - May 17, 1957
  • England - 1957
  • Sweden - July 10, 1958

U.S. Release

American Half Human poster

In 1958, DCA acquired the rights to distribute Half Human in the United States in a double-bill with Monster from Green Hell. Like what had been done with Godzilla and would later be done with Varan, the American version of the film added in newly-filmed scenes with western actors. The American version of Half Human removes several of the human scenes from the Japanese cut and replaces them with new footage featuring John Carradine, Robert Karnes, Russell Thorson, and Morris Ankrum where the baby Snowman is being dissected. Carradine's doctor character acts as a narrator who tells the events of the film through a flashback, similar to Raymond Burr's role as Steve Martin in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! None of the Japanese characters are dubbed. Unlike the American edit of Godzilla, the American version of this film was not well received and its edits have been widely criticized.

Due to Toho's self-imposed ban on its own cut of the film, the American edit of Half Human remains the only version of the film to be legitimately available on home video around the world.

Video Releases

Rhino Home Video VHS (1990)[1]

  • Audio: English

Englewood Entetainment VHS (1998)[2]

  • Audio: English

Videos

Half Human American trailer

Trivia

  • In Japan, this film has been removed from circulation due to the original version depicting the inhabitants of the remote village as being deformed from generations of inbreeding as well as showing backwards and violent behavior. In the film’s dialogue, the word used for “village” is “buraku” (部落), which is associated with Japan’s Burakumin minority group. In the time since the film’s release, offensive portrayals of Burakumin have become a sensitive issue in Japan. To avoid causing offense, Toho has never issued it on any home video format. [3]
  • Toho prepared a VHS release of Half Human in 1994 or 1995, but ultimately declined to sell it.[4] Bootlegs of this tape, which include a timecode on the top of the frame, are the only way to see the Japanese version of the film.
  • Half Human was the first non-Godzilla kaiju film produced by Toho, as well as the first film Ishiro Honda directed following Godzilla.

External Links

References

This is a list of references for Half Human. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. Amazon.com: Half Human (1955) Rhino Home Video
  2. [1]
  3. Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski (2017). Ishiro Honda: a life in film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. p. 116-117.
  4. [2]

Comments

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