BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Leofwine_draca William Hope Hodgson was a British writer of ghost and horror stories at the turn of the 20th century. He authored some great works and remains a favourite to this day, but what does he have to do with a Japanese B-movie (from Ishiro Honda, the guy who directed GODZILLA no less) made half a century later? The answer is that ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE (the US television title) is a loose adaptation of Hodgson's short story, The Voice in the Night. The latter is one of my favourites and I looked forward to seeing it put on screen, but only the basic premise remains the same.ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE is very much a product of the '60s. The cast all have stock roles: there's a psychiatrist (very much in vogue during this period), a novelist, some thrill-seekers and a stern skipper. The main problem with this film is that absolutely NONE of the characters are engaging. They're all unlikable, and you end up hoping that they're going to get bumped off as quickly as possible. Not so. This is one of those films that saves up the (admittedly good) action for the last ten minutes. Until then we've got scene after scene of dialogue, some exposition in the form of flashbacks here and there, and most of all, just plain mood building.How can a film about people turning into mushrooms be so slow? Because the film-makers adopt a subtle approach rather than going for a fun, fast-paced B-picture. Subtlety and slow-burn are great in modern horror flicks like JU-ON: THE GRUDGE, but I wasn't expecting the approach in a '60s monster flick, which is why I disliked this film when I first saw it.Things have changed on a second viewing. There is some atmosphere present, and some good creepy scenes involving the mushrooms and what they do to people (the film got into trouble because the make-up resembled Hiroshima victims!). The ending is an all-out cheese fest and a lot of fun. Of course, this is the '60s, and these mushrooms are hallucinogenic, so there are plenty of psychedelic bits and some good old flashing coloured lights thrown into the mix. People are stranded, people bicker, people kill each other, people fall victim to monsters. When those people are uniformly uninteresting, it's hard to care about their fate. Still, this was a nice break for Honda from making movies about rubber-suited giant creatures.

AaronCapenBanner Ishiro Honda directed this surprisingly effective Japanese science fiction/horror film that sees seven people on a sailing ship encounter a fierce storm, and survive, but find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious and deserted island, where they find a derelict vessel covered in moss, but loaded with canned food, which has a most unfortunate side-effect on these castaways, just like it did before...Plot does strangely resemble "Gilligan's Island" in many ways, but this film is made in eerie and atmospheric style, with a most effective and striking ending. Later retitled "Attack Of The Mushroom People" for America! (A really dumb title that does this picture an injustice.)

preppy-3 OK--I've only seen the dubbed version of this retitled "Attack of the Mushroom People" on TV. I've heard the original version works but the dubbed one is stupid and funny when it's supposed to be scary. A bunch of idiots out sailing get lost in a fog and are shipwrecked on a deserted island. Being hungry they start eating the mushrooms on the island. They're slowly turned into walking, talking giant mushrooms! Seriously.Lousy acting and terrible "special" effects really sink this one. Also the basic story is laughable. I mean come ON! There's nothing scary about people being turned into mushrooms! The only mildly scary parts are when you see a woman eating one of the mushrooms and seeing the mushrooms growing out of a guys face (until you get a good look and realize it's obviously fake). I suppose this movie does some good. I mean think of it--if people hadn't seen this movie there might be walking, talking giant mushrooms on every deserted island out there! Good for laughs and nothing more.

The_Void As a big fan of bizarre cult cinema, there's no way I could resist a film with a title like 'Attack of the Mushroom People' and resisting this film is definitely not recommended to my fellow cult film fans as this is a highly original and fascinating slice of cinema! The film obviously takes influence from the monster movie genre in the way that the plot is set up; but director Ishirô Honda clearly didn't want to make just another monster film as the 'mushroom people' of the title don't figure much and the real point of this movie stems from the isolation and claustrophobia felt by the central characters. The film gets off to a promising, albeit slow; start as we see a group of people on a yacht get caught in a storm. Their boats sinks and they seek refuge on the closest island to where their boat sank; a seemingly lush paradise. However, the situation soon starts to become awry when they happen upon an abandoned research vessel. There's very little to eat on the island, and even though the research crew noted that there was something wrong with the mushrooms that grow there...they soon become hard for the shipwrecked to resist.In spite of the title, this is not a 'joke' film. The director takes the plot completely seriously and it really benefits the film. The 'monsters' only feature rarely, and mostly towards the end, and the way that the director focuses on the characters and their situation is always interesting and gives the themes of the plot a lot of credibility. Clearly, this is not just a film about funny mushrooms. The radiation theme recalls the director's earlier film 'Godzilla', and in turn recalls the Second World War, which obviously had a big effect on Japan. The mushrooms represent a pleasurable escape to the character's situation, although it is one that will cost them their humanity. The atmosphere is one of the key elements of the film too. Ishirô Honda gives the film a unique dreamlike style and the way that the tropical island is presented is very mysterious. The film has also aged surprisingly well considering it over forty years old. This is a very weird film and I have never seen anything quite like it. I often find myself searching for films like this and while it is not what its title suggests it will be, Attack of the Mushroom People is a fascinating film that should not be missed. Highly recommended viewing!