VARAN THE UNBELIEVABLE 1962 ISHIRO HONDA CROWN INTERNATIONAL GIANT MONSTER ENGLISH DUB DVD-R

Varan the Unbelievable (Japanese: 大怪獣バラン, Hepburn: Daikaijū Baran, lit. ‘Giant Monster Varan‘) is a 1958 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it stars Kōzō Nomura, Ayumi Sonoda, and Koreya Senda, with Haruo Nakajima as Varan. In the film, a reporter’s investigation into two mysterious deaths in Japan’s mountains leads to the discovery of a giant lake monster, wrecking its way towards civilization.

In 1957, Toho was approached by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT) to co-produce a new kaiju film for television. It was intended to be a three-part film, each 30 minutes with fade-in/outs for commercial breaks. However, AB-PT collapsed during production and Toho altered the film’s status from a television film to a theatrical feature. As a result, the crew faced difficulties and filming lasted 28 days.

The film was theatrically released in Japan on October 14, 1958.

The film was heavily localized for its America release. Produced by Jerry A. Baerwitz, Baerwitz also directed new footage with Myron Healey interacting with Japanese-American actors. A new story was written by Sid Harris which featured an American military scientist stationed in Japan conducting a de-salinization experiment on the lake where Varan dwells. The American version only features 15 minutes of the original Japanese footage and does not credit any of the Toho crew. Ifukube’s music was replaced with cues from The Amazing Colossal Man.

The American version runs at 70 minutes and was theatrically released on December 12, 1962 by Crown International, under the title Varan the Unbelievable. It was released on a double-bill with First Spaceship on Venus. Toho featured the American version in their 1962 and 1963 English sales catalogues. Honda was unaware until the 1980s of the American version’s existence