The Human Vapor
| The Human Vapor | |
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| Directed by | Ishirō Honda |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka |
| Written by |
Takeshi Kimura John Meredyth Lucas (U.S Version) |
| Starring |
Tatsuya Mihashi Kaoru Yachigusa Yoshio Tsuchiya Keiko Sata Hisaya Ito Yoshifumi Tajima |
| Music by | Kunio Miyauchi |
| Cinematography | Hajime Koizumi |
| Edited by | Kazuji Taira |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Toho |
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Release date
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December 11, 1960 (Japan) May 20, 1964 (U.S) |
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Running time
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92 min. 81 min. (USA) |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
The Human Vapor, known in Japan as Gas Human No. 1 (ガス人間第一号 Gasu Ningen dai Ichi-gō?), is a tokusatsu film produced and released by Toho Studios in 1960. The film was made by Toho's legendary Godzilla directing/special effects/producing team of Ishirō Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Tomoyuki Tanaka.
The film was recut by Brenco Pictures in 1964, changing the format from that of a mystery to a narrative being told largely in flashback from Mizuno's point of view. Even though this version is dubbed, Tsuchiya has stated that he prefers this cut of the film, which he considers to feature his finest performance.
A sequel to this film was planned called Frankenstein vs. the Human Vapor in which the Human Vapor survives the climax and goes to find a doctor who brought Frankenstein's monster to back to life, in hopes of finding a way to bring back his girlfriend who didn't survive the climax leading to a battle between the two. This was dropped in favor of Frankenstein Conquers the World (the 1957 film Tomei-Ningen To Hae-Otoko or Invisible Man vs. Fly Man is available in North America under the title Vapor Man Meets the Human Fly, but it is not related).
A high speed pursuit between police and an escaping robber along Itsukaichi Highway was under way. Eventually, the pursued car ends up crashing and overturning down an embankment. Two policemen and Detective Okamoto (Tatsuya Mihashi) exit the squad car to find the robber and are astonished to find nothing inside, not even blood.
The men then hear the strains of music outside the property of a large nearby house. Entering though the garden, the police come upon the front of the house. Okamoto directs one of the men to search about the premises, while the other moves to ring the buzzer at the front door. Investigating the music, Okamoto sees an outdoor stag upon which a dancer wearing a grotesque mask is rehearsing, accompanied by her servant Jiya. As the dancer ends her routine, the buzzer sounds. Jiya answers the door and informs the officer that he and his Lady, Fujichiyo Kasuga (Kaoru Yachigusa), are alone and nobody has been by. The cop tries to take a peek inside, as Jiya informs him they do not have a car.
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Wikipedia