October Horror Movie Challenge: Gamera (1965)

Tonight is my oldest son's birthday, and he wanted to watch a Kaiju movie. We have seen all the Godzilla movies and wanted to see something from the same era. To our mutual surprise, we had never seen the first Gamera movie. So tonight it is giant, flying atomic turtles! Gamera (1965)Some airplanes carrying atomic weapons fly over the Arctic. One crashes, explodes, and awakens Gamera, "The Devil's Envoy."And we are off.There is no question that Gamera owes a lot, ok everything, to Godzilla. Atomic weapons awaken a giant prehistoric monster, conventional weapons are useless, and Japan once again finds itself being stomped by something enormous. But Gamera quickly establishes his own personality. He breathes fire, feeds on energy, and, most importantly, can pull his limbs into his shell and fly like a gigantic spinning UFO.That alone was worth the price of admission.The practical effects are a lot of fun. Miniature cities, tanks, jets, explosions, and plenty of buildings wait to be…