JLRVancouver Seven stranded castaways on an equatorial island find the veneer of civilization chipping away as supplies dwindle and the allure of the ubiquitous psychoactive mushrooms grows. Either arrogant, selfish or weak, none of strandees are very likable, and social resentment and sexual tension permeates their claustrophobic shelter as they slowly realise that there is something else on the island. Despite the ludicrous title bestowed upon the English version ("Attack of the Mushroom People"), the film is a somber, well done horror yarn with creepy sets (especially the derelict ship in which they take shelter) and an entertaining story (based on "The Voice in the Night", a short story by William H. Hodgson). The characters are interesting, but as I watched a reasonably well done English dubbed version, I can't comment on the acting. The 'shroom motif and surreal scenes as the mind (and body) altering nature of the titular fungus becomes evident guaranteed the film cult status among trippy-hippies in the '60s and '70s. Worth watching for fans of 'body-horror' films, director Ishiro Honda's work, or Japanese fantasy cinema in general.

Uriah43 This movie begins with a lone survivor in a hospital ward explaining to an investigator the events which led him there. Essentially, it all starts with an extremely wealthy and arrogant corporate executive by the name of "Masafumi Kasai" (Yoshio Tsuchiya) who owns a small yacht and one day decides to invite a few people to go sailing with him. Besides the skipper, "Naoyuki Sakuta" (Hiroshi Koizumi) and the sailor that assists him, "Senzo Koyama" (Kenji Sahara) his guests include an attractive pop singer named "Mami Sekiguchi" (Kumi Mizuno), a professor of psychology, "Kenji Murai" (Akira Kubo), a writer of mystery novels, "Etsuro Yoshida" (Hiroshi Tachikawa) and a pretty college student, "Akiko Soma" (Miki Yashiro). Naturally, being the overbearing person that he is Masafumi Kasai micromanages everything the skipper does which inevitably results in the yacht sailing directly into a storm--causing major damage to it. Fortunately, after a few days of drifting they manage to spot a small island and eventually make land upon it. Not long afterward they discover an abandoned ship along the beach and to their astonishment find a log book which is covered in a thick fungus. Not only that but they also find several giant mushrooms located in the center of the island as well. After more investigation they learn that this particular ship was involved in experiments on the effects of nuclear radiation and that the log book specifically warns against eating these giant mushrooms. That being the case, and with very little food remaining, they soon begin to turn on each other. It's at this time that they also begin to suspect that someone—or something—is stalking them. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an entertaining B-movie which could have been much better if it hadn't started out by informing the audience who the lone survivor would be. Although having a person retelling a story to interested observers is a standard opening technique, I have found that it inhibits the element of suspense that is often necessary for a film of this type. That said, I have rated this movie accordingly. Average.

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.