Killer Whale (film)

Killer Whale

Alternate titles

The Whale God (1962)

Killer Whale (1962) See alternate titles

Directed by

Tokuzo Tanaka

Producer

Masaichi Nagata

Written by

Kaneto Shindo; Koichiro Uno (novel)

Music by

Akira Ifukube

Special
effects by

Toru Matoba

Distributor

Daiei^JP

Running time

100 minutes
(1 hour, 40 minutes)

Aspect ratio

2.35:1

Rate this film!

4.50

(6 votes)

Killer Whale (鯨神, Kujira Gami, lit. "The Whale God") is a 1962 tokusatsu kaiju film directed by Tokuzo Tanaka and written by Kaneto Shindo based on Koichiro Uno's 1961 novel The Whale God, with special effects by Toru Matoba. Produced by Daiei's Tokyo Studio, the company released it to Japanese theaters on July 15, 1962, and it was given limited screenings in Hawaii later that year. SRS Cinema is set to bring the film to home video with English subtitles,^[1] marking the first time it will be made available in North America.

Plot

This section is a stub. Please help out by adding information.

A small Japanese fishing village is being terrorized by an unusually large and seemingly immortal North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica). Shaki, a man whose family has been killed in one of the whale's rampages, becomes obsessed with killing it for revenge. Meanwhile, a brutal drunkard comes to the village, intent on killing the whale himself.

Staff

Main article: Killer Whale (film)/Credits.

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

Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka
Written by Kaneto Shindo
Based on the novel by Koichiro Uno
Executive producer Masaichi Nagata
Planned by Osamu Yoneta, Yuichiro Takeya
Music by Akira Ifukube
Cinematography by Setsuo Kobayashi
Edited by Tatsuji Nakashizu
Production design by Shigeo Mano
1st assistant director Bainari Nakamura
Directors of special effects Chikara Komatsubara, Toru Matoba

Cast

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

Katsu Shintaro as Kishu
Kojiro Hongo as Shaki
Fujimura Shiho as Ei
Reiko Fujiwara as Okoma
Michiko Takano as Yuki
Takemura Yosuke as Kasuke
Kyoko Enami as Toyo
Koji Fujiyama as Shaki's brother
Chieko Murata as Shaki's mother
Koh Sugita as Shaki's father
Kikuko Tachibana as Shaki's grandmother
Kanji Kawara as Shaki's grandfather
Takashi Shimura as village elder
Chikara Hashimoto as bearded villager
Kichijiro Ueda
Bontaro Miake
Jutaro Hojo
Osamu Abe
Kenichi Miyajima
Kanji Kawahara
William Hughes
Masatoki Sasaki
Kazuo Mori
Junko Ichijo
Etsuko Fuji
Masako Kato
Michiko Masugi

Appearances

Monsters

Killer Whale

Gallery

Main article: Killer Whale (film)/Gallery.

Alternate titles

The Whale God (literal Japanese title)
Kujira Gami (English title featured on Kadokawa DVD)

Video releases

Kadokawa DVD (2006/2014)

Region: 2
Discs: 1
Audio: Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles: Japanese
Special features: Audio commentary (seemingly the 2014 release only), theatrical trailer, cast and crew profiles, photo gallery

SRS Cinema Blu-ray/DVD (2023/TBA)^[1]

Region: A (Blu-ray); to be announced (DVD, 1 guaranteed)
Discs: 1
Audio: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Special features: To be announced.
Notes: Sold with an optional limited-edition slipcover.

SRS Cinema VHS (2023)

Tapes: 1
Audio: Japanese
Subtitles: English

Videos

Japanese theatrical trailer

Yokai/Special Effects Film Festival screening trailer

References

This is a list of references for Killer Whale (film). 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]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 "SRS Cinema Catches Daiei Classic THE WHALE GOD!". SciFi Japan. 24 May 2023.

Films

Godzilla films

Showa era

Godzilla (1954) • Godzilla Raids Again (1955) • King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) • Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) • Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) • Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) • Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) • Son of Godzilla (1967) • Destroy All Monsters (1968) • All Monsters Attack (1969) • Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) • Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) • Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) • Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) • Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Heisei era

The Return of Godzilla (1984) • Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) • Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) • Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) • Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) • Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) • Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Millennium era

Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999) • Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000) • Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) • Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002) • Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003) • Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Reiwa era

Live action	Shin Godzilla (2016) • Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Animated	GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters (2017) • GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle (2018) • GODZILLA: The Planet Eater (2018)

American films

GODZILLA (1998) • Godzilla (2014) • Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) • Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) • Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

Short films

"Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley" (1992) • Monster Planet of Godzilla (1994) • Godzilla: The Real 4-D (2017) • Dream Challenge: Godzilla Appears in Sukagawa (2019) • "The Faceless Star" (2019) • Godzilla vs. Evangelion: The Real 4-D (2019) • Godzilla Interception Operation Awaji attraction video (2020) • Godzilla Appears at Godzilla Fest (2020) • Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monsters Ultimate Battle (2021) • "The Impact of a Blue Day" (2021) • Godzilla vs. Hedorah (2021) • Godzilla vs. the Tigers (2022) • Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex (2022) • Fest Godzilla 3: Gigan Attacks (2022) • "GO YOUR WAY" (2023) • Godzilla vs. Megalon (2023) • Fest Godzilla 4: Operation Jet Jaguar (2023)

Gamera films

Shōwa period	Gamera the Giant Monster (1965) • Gamera vs. Barugon (1966) • Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967) • Gamera vs. Viras (1968) • Gamera vs. Guiron (1969) • Gamera vs. Jiger (1970) • Gamera vs. Zigra (1971) • Gamera Super Monster (1980)

Heisei period	Gamera the Guardian of the Universe (1995) • Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996) • Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999) • Gamera the Brave (2006)

Short films	Gamera vs. Garasharp (1991) • GAMERA (2015)

King Kong films

King Kong (1933) • Son of Kong (1933) • King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) • King Kong Escapes (1967) • King Kong (1976) • King Kong Lives (1986) • The Mighty Kong (1998) • Kong: King of Atlantis (2005) • King Kong (2005) • Kong: Return to the Jungle (2006) • Kong: Skull Island (2017) • Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) • Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

Other Toho films

Shōwa period	Ramayana (1940s) • Invisible Man (1954) • Half Human (1955) • Rodan (1956) • The Mysterians (1957) • The H-Man (1958) • Varan (1958) • The Three Treasures (1959) • Battle in Outer Space (1959) • The Secret of the Telegian (1960) • The Human Vapor (1960) • Mothra (1961) • The Last War (1961) • Gorath (1962) • Matango (1963) • Atragon (1963) • Dogora (1964) • Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965) • The War of the Gargantuas (1966) • The Killing Bottle (1967) • Latitude Zero (1969) • Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure (1969) • Space Amoeba (1970) • Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972) • Submersion of Japan (1973) • ESPY (1974) • Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974) • The War in Space (1977) • Magnitude 7.9 (1980) • Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984) • Princess from the Moon (1987)

Heisei period	Cyber Cop (1989) • Gunhed (1989) • Mikadoroid (1991) • Reiko, Psyche Resurrected (1991) • Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994) • Rebirth of Mothra (1996) • Rebirth of Mothra 2 (1997) • Rebirth of Mothra 3 (1998) • Super Fleet Sazer-X the Movie (2005) • Sinking of Japan (2006) • Go! Godman (2008) • Attack on Titan the Movie: Part 1 (2015) • Attack on Titan the Movie: Part 2 (2015)

Reiwa period	Monster Hunter (2020) • The Great Yokai War: Guardians (2021) • Shin Ultraman (2022) • yokaipedia (2022)

Other Daiei films

The Invisible Man Appears (1949) • Warning from Space (1956) • The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly (1957) • Killer Whale (1962) • Daimajin (1966) • Return of Daimajin (1966) • Wrath of Daimajin (1966) • Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts (1969)

Other Japanese films

Shōwa period	Japanese King Kong (1933) • The Great Buddha Arrival (1934) • The King Kong that Appeared in Edo (1938) • Magic Serpent (1966) • The X from Outer Space (1967) • Gappa (1967) • The Last Dinosaur (1977) • Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977) • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Heisei period	The Cat (1991) • Sakuya (2000) • Wanigon vs. Gamaron (2000) • The Great Yokai War (2005) • Negadon: The Monster from Mars (2005) • Reigo: King of the Sea Monsters (2008) • Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008) • Geharha: The Dark and Long Haired Monster‎ (2009) • Demeking, the Sea Monster (2009) • Raiga: God of the Monsters (2009) • Death Kappa (2010) • The God of Clay (2011) • Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo (2012) • Jellyfish Eyes (2013) • Day of the Kaiju (2014) • Love & Peace (2015) • Kaiju Mono (2016) • The Great Buddha Arrival (2018) • Kaiju Ward Gallas (2019)

Reiwa period	God Raiga vs. King Ohga: War of the Monsters (2019) • The Great Actress Reiko Inui (2019) • Howl from Beyond the Fog (2019) • Monster Seafood Wars (2020) • The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died in 8 (2020) • Nezura 1964 (2021) • Yatsuashi (2021) • What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? (2022) • Yuzo the Biggest Battle in Tokyo (2022) • AKARI (2022) • Hoshi 35 (2023) • Brush of the God (2023) • Kaiju: Island of Fire (2023)

Miscellaneous

Films	The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) • The Giant Behemoth (1959) • Gorgo (1961) • Bulgasari (1962) • Gogola (1966) • Space Monster Wangmagwi (1967) • Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967) • APE (1976) • The Mighty Peking Man (1977) • Pulgasari (1985) • Reptilian (1999) • Cloverfield (2008) • 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) • Colossal (2016) • The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) • Rampage (2018) • Notzilla (2019) • untitled Cloverfield sequel (TBA)

Documentaries	Toho Unused Special Effects Complete Collection (1986) • Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1998) • GAMERA1999 (1999) • Bringing Godzilla Down to Size (2008) • The Dawn of Kaiju Eiga (2019) • Yonggary Chronicle Project (2019) • Godzilla's Leading Ladies (2020)

Fan films	Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969) • Gamera 4: Truth (2003) • Waiting for Gorgo (2009) • G vs. G (2019) • Godziban (2019) • Heritage (2020) • Coming Out (2020) • Wolfman vs. Godzilla (TBA)

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Killer Whale (1962)

Contents

Plot

Staff

Cast

Appearances

Monsters

Gallery

Alternate titles

Video releases

Videos

References

Comments

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