1960s Korean SF Monster Movies and the Aspects of Film Exchange and Relationship in Northeast Asia

Abstract

1960s Korean SF Monster Movies and the Aspects of Film Exchange and Relationship in Northeast Asia Ham, Chung Beom Research Professor / Contemporary Cinema Research Institute, Hanyang University This article examines the aspects of Korean SF monster films and cinematic exchange and Relationship in Northeast Asia during the 1960s through three movies titled The Iron-eating Monster: Bulgasari (1962), Big Monster Wangmagwi (1967) and Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967). The movies above feature a monster with a strange animal appearance, so all of them may be categorized as “monster movie”. And, the fact that its unusual attempt to introduce special effects during its planning and production in 1960s was influenced by a Japanese movie Godzilla (1954) cannot be ignored. On the other hand, “historical” monster films represented by The Iron-eating Monster: Bulgasari converged on SF monster films including Big Monster Wangmagwi and Yongary, Monster from the Deep, cinematic relationship and exchange between Korea and Japan got heated up. Moreover, the stories behind these films indicate the character of Korean society in the 1960s when the state-led anticommunist jingoism and nationalism were strengthened. In addition, in the case of The Iron-eating Monster: Bulgasari, after more than 20 years, again reveals international exchange and relationship.