Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

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.

Matthew_Capitano Nitwits get off at the wrong stop when they walk onto an island inhabited by zombie mushrooms.Things become a free-for-all after our heroes discover they are not alone. 90 minutes later, everybody is still running to and fro, half the time looking for a way off the island, the other half staving off those annoying shrooms which have been wandering around in the jungle. A Japanese film from the famed Toho Studios, this one was later English-dubbed and released in the U.S. as 'Attack of the Mushroom People'. OK sci-fi/horror movie; fun to watch at 3 AM with all the lights off.

Aaron1375 The score here is rather high, but this movie to me was kind of low. Low and really slow. It had some good parts to it, do not get me wrong, but it was incredibly slow moving. Most of the mushroom action takes place at the end, before that you get lots of build up and infighting between the characters and it just really made for a somewhat boring film. The story started out good, a group on a yacht are traveling the seas and are hit with a storm, they are adrift for a while and end up near an island. There is virtually no food on the island other than mushrooms, however, the captain's log plainly states you do not want to eat these particular mushrooms called Mantango. Well time passes on the island, tensions build and you just know someone is going to eat a mushroom and then the action begins. Only this does not really happen, the movie seems to want to really show these people passing away time in the island so I am guessing we can understand why they finally broke down, but I wanted to watch a film with a bit more things happening. Like I said, overall I was disappointed with this one, especially considering it was made by Toho studios who make my beloved Godzilla films, but this one just was a bit hard to watch for me personally. The good, the first scenes on the yacht and them finding the island initially. The makeup was good in places too, especially considering the time period. I also liked the ending. Overall, just not a movie for me I am afraid. I would love to have that rifle they used, however, I mean it was not particularly strong, but it never ran out of bullets!

Scottytrotts I just got watching this movie on DVD, and i have to say i am more then impressed with it. i didn't think Japanese scary movies from the 60's could actually scare me, but when that thing peeked into the girls' cabin, i was freaked out for the rest of the movie. It's one of those movies that toys with your head, makes you think that you can trust all the characters when in the end there's only one that you can trust even then you wonder if he's truly trustworthy or not. not to mention the idea of people eating mushrooms and then turning into them is one hell of an original idea. by the time the movie was over i felt as though i had watched a different incarnation of Night Of The Living Dead. It leaves that feeling of oh my god there was no hope for them at all! Not to mention the Matango are never destroyed meaning that there's a possibility of more and more people going to the island and that they'll continue multiplying. but yeah definitely an outstanding movie that's got my 10/10 rating