Yongary Monster From the Deep

Year: 1967

IMDb Rating: 3.8/10

Genres: Drama, Adventure, Fantasy

Directors: Kim Ki-duk

Cast: Jeong-im Nam, Oh Yeong-il, Lee Soon-jae, Yeong-il Oh, Nam Jeong-im

A South Korean family celebrates the wedding of an astronaut. Then the groom receives a call on his wedding night that he is needed for a reconnaissance flight during which he observes a nuclear test that triggers an earthquake in Korea. Strangely, the quake's epicenter keeps moving towards Seoul. A photographer who was documenting the moving temblor's damage notifies authorities that its cause is a gigantic underground creature making its way toward Seoul. Martial law is declared. As the creature, Yongary, emerges, it begins to wreak havoc on the city. Later, it is seen drinking from a refinery's storage tanks to fuel its flaming breath. Icho, an eight-year-old boy, also notices that it disliked a tank of ammonia when it was ruptured. Il-Woo, the boyfriend of Icho's sister, is a scientist. He recognizes the creature's aversion response and concocts a precipitate of ammonia. The first batch puts Yongary temporarily to sleep, so a stronger form needs to be created. This is taken up in a helicopter to be deployed.

Yongary, Monster from the Deep (Korean: 대괴수 용가리; RR: Daegoesu yonggari; lit. 'The Great Monster Yonggary') is a 1967 kaiju film directed by Kim Ki-duk, with special effects by Kenichi Nakagawa. The film was a joint production between South Korean studio Keukdong (Far East) Entertainment Company and Japanese studio Toei Company. The film stars Oh Yeong-il, Kwang Ho Lee, Nam Jeong-im, with Cho Kyoung-min as Yongary. In the film, a giant reptilian monster lays waste to Seoul after being awakened by an earthquake triggered by a nuclear bomb test. The film was produced to rival the success of Toho's Godzilla series and features the same techniques of practical special effects filmmaking used in the Godzilla films and other kaiju films utilizing suitmation, pyrotechnics, and miniature sets. The film opened in Seoul, South Korea on August 13, 1967 and was released in the United States directly to television by American International Television in 1969 as Yongary, Monster from the Deep. In 1999, filmmaker Shim Hyung-rae released a reimagining of his own titled Yonggary.

Hosted by The Cinemated Man Directed by Ki-duk Kim Written by Ki-duk Kim, Yun-sung Special Effects by Kenichi Nakagawa