dir. Ishirô Honda
year. 1965
country. Japan
run-time. 1 hour 27 mins
rating. 18
With special guest Kim Newman and the Ultimate Frankenstein Quiz
£6.00 (£4.50 conc.)
£1 to enter Frankenstein Pub Quiz
Doors 19:00 Film 19:30 Quiz - after the screening
Furankenshutain tai chitei kaiju Baragon followed by the Ultimate Frankenstein Pub Quiz
Frankenstein Conquers the World, known in Japan as Frankenstein vs. Subterranian Monster Baragon, is a kaiju film with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.
During World War II the heart of Frankenstein's monster is transported from Germany to Japan, where it arrives in Hiroshima. On the day that it arrives, however, the United States drops the atomic bomb on the city. Fifteen years later, a vagrant child is found by doctors at a hospital in Hiroshima. The child soon draws interest when he begins growing, and soon becomes larger than a car. Eventually, the child becomes the size of a building, and escapes from the laboratory, but not before losing a hand. Studying the hand, scientists and doctors find that the boy possesses surprising regenerative qualities. After doing some investigating, it is discovered that the boy is actually the result of Frankenstein's heart regenerating after being exposed to the radioactivity of the city's bombing in 1945. The boy is subsequently named Frankenstein.
The film will be introduced by movie critic, author and broadcaster Kim Newman. He is a contributing editor to Sight & Sound and Empire magazines. His books about film include Nightmare Movies, Millennium Movies, Kim Newman’s Video Dungeon and BFI Classics studies of Cat People, Doctor Who and Quatermass and the Pit. His fiction includes the Anno Dracula series, Life’s Lottery, Professor Moriarty:The Hound of the D’Urbervilles, An English Ghost Story, The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School and Angels of Music. His comics include Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland and Anno Dracula Seven Days in Mayhem. His most recent novel is The Haunting of Drearcliff Grange School. He has written for television (Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema), radio (Afternoon Theatre: Cry-Babies) and the theatre (The Hallowe’en Sessions), and directed a tiny film (Missing Girl). His official web-site is at www.johnnyalucard.com. He is on Twitter as @AnnoDracula.
Special Event: The Ultimate Frankenstein Pub Quiz will be held after the screening. Get yourself into quiz teams. £1 entry per person on the night – prize for the winning team!
This is the fourth film in our FRANKENSTEIN FOREVER season – a celebration of the cinematic legacy of Mary Shelley’s novel. Although there have been numerous straight adaptations of her gothic masterpiece, this season brings you some of the weirdest, wackiest and most bizarre films inspired by Shelley’s brilliant imagination. 2018 marks 200 years since the publication of Frankenstein. Reckon you can survive all five screenings? Collect your season card at The Rocky Horror Picture Show and get a stamp at every film to get your exclusive FRANKENSTEIN FOREVER tote bag.
Tickets available for the other screenings here:
Deptford Cinema’ new film and book club will also be screening Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein alongside reading the original novel on Sunday 4thNovember.
“[A] cult favourite”
“One of Ishiro Honda’s more underrated kaiju flicks from Toho’s Showa era. ”
“Of all the countless horror and fantasy films inspired by Mary Shelley’s famous 1818 novel, Ishiro Honda’s Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) is easily the weirdest entry in the entire genre. Although some have accused it of exploiting the Frankenstein connection for purely monetary reasons, that doesn’t make it any less bizarre or enjoyable if you have a fondness for Japanese science fiction films.”