Varan the Unbelievable (1962) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language

1962 · 70 mins · English

Directed by

Ishirô Honda, Jerry A. Baerwitz

Starring

Akihiko Hirata, Noriko Honma, Fuyuki Murakami, Minosuke Yamada, Nadao Kirino, Yoshifumi Tajima

An international U.S.–Japanese military team sets up a base on a remote Japanese island to develop a cheap seawater desalination method. Their tests disturb the lake’s depths, awakening the ancient monster Obaki, which then attacks Japan. The film, made by a U.S. studio, uses monster footage and scenes from Toho’s 1958 Japanese kaiju movie “Daikaiju Varan.”