The Dreadful Human Torch

From Wikizilla, the kaiju encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Mysterious Human Special Effects
Series: The Dreadful Human Torch
The Dreadful Human Torch
Alternate titles The Dreadful Human Torch[1]
Planned June 1973[1]
Concept history The Dreadful Human Torch
The Human Torch
The Invisible Man vs. The Human Torch

Mysterious Human Special Effects Series: The Dreadful Human Torch (怪奇人間特撮シリーズ 戦慄火焔人間,   Kaiki Ningen Tokusatsu Shirīzu: Senritsu Kaen Ningen), or simply The Dreadful Human Torch (戦慄火焔人間,   Senritsu Kaen Ningen), was a 1973 film proposal written by producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. It was planned as the first in a trilogy of tokusatsu films to be produced by Toho Eizo, of which Tanaka was president.[1]

Plot

At the wake of Kyuhei Takahata, former president of the chemical development company Toa Industries, a candle atop an altar suddenly transforms into a fiery humanoid, enveloping the casket and causing Takahata's body to vanish. As Takahata's firstborn son, Gozo, conspires against his family in secret with the help of researcher Dr. Okawa in order to take his father's inheritance all for himself, a series of fire-related tragedies strike the Takahata family. Gozo's schemes must be unraveled, as the secret of the Human Torch is revealed.[1]

History

In response to the high ratings of television airings of The H-Man and The Secret of the Telegian, Tomoyuki Tanaka hatched an idea for a trilogy of special effects films to succeed the Transforming Human Series. Dubbing it the "Mysterious Human Special Effects Series," Tanaka penned a proposal for the first film in the series, The Dreadful Human Torch, in June of 1973. The next two films in the series were also decided—The Invisible Man (透明人間,   Tōmei Ningen) and The Plant Man (植物人間,   Shokubutsu Ningen)—but were never put to paper.[1]

Jun Fukuda was to direct, with Masahiro Kakefuda as screenwriter. The outline bears resemblance to two episodes of Tsuburaya Productions' 1968 television series Operation: Mystery—"The Murder Circuit," directed and co-written by Fukuda, in which a researcher commits a series of murders targeting the family of his wealthy boss; and "The Radio Wave Calling for Death," written by Fukuda, in which a murderer named Gozo exacts revenge against a wealthy family. Because of this, it is speculated that Fukuda was involved in formulating the story for The Dreadful Human Torch.[1]

Tanaka's proposal was significantly rewritten by Kakefuda into a screenplay entitled The Human Torch in January of the following year, but was ultimately never produced.[1]

See also

References

This is a list of references for The Dreadful Human Torch. 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. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works. villagebooks. 28 September 2012. p. 10. ISBN 9784864910132.

Comments

Showing 0 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.

Loading comments...
Era Icon - Toho.png
Unmade
Era Icon - Showa.png
Movie