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{{Short description|1965 Japanese film}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = Half Human
| name = Half Human
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| alt =
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| native_name = {{Infobox name module | kanji=獣人雪男 | romaji=Jūjin Yuki Otoko}}
| native_name = {{Infobox Japanese| kanji=獣人雪男 | revhep=Jūjin Yuki Otoko}}
| director = [[Ishirō Honda]]
| director = [[Ishirō Honda]]
| producer = [[Tomoyuki Tanaka]]{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1996|p=205}}
| producer = [[Tomoyuki Tanaka]]{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1996|p=205}}
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| starring = {{plainlist|*[[Akira Takarada]]
| starring = {{plainlist|*[[Akira Takarada]]
*[[Momoko Kochi]]
*[[Momoko Kochi]]
*[[Akira Takarada]]
*[[Akemi Negishi]]
*[[Akemi Negishi]]
*[[Sachio Sakai]]
*[[Sachio Sakai]]
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}}
}}


{{Nihongo|'''''Half Human'''''|獣人雪男|Jūjin Yuki Otoko|{{literal translation|''Beast-Man Snow-Man''}}}} is a 1955 Japanese [[Science fiction film|science fiction]] [[horror film]] directed by [[Ishirō Honda]], with special effects by [[Eiji Tsuburaya]]. The film stars [[Akira Takarada]], [[Momoko Kōchi]], [[Akemi Negishi]], [[Sachio Sakai]], and [[Nobuo Nakamura]], with Sanshiro Sagara as the Abominable Snowman.
{{Nihongo|'''''Half Human'''''|獣人雪男|Jūjin Yuki Otoko|{{literal translation|''Beastman Snowman''}}}} is a 1955 Japanese [[Science fiction film|science fiction]] [[horror film]] directed by [[Ishirō Honda]], with special effects by [[Eiji Tsuburaya]]. The film stars [[Akira Takarada]], [[Momoko Kōchi]], [[Akemi Negishi]], [[Sachio Sakai]], and [[Nobuo Nakamura]], with Sanshiro Sagara as the Abominable Snowman.


==Plot==
==Plot==
{{Long plot|date=September 2015}}
{{Long plot|date=August 2022}}
The Japanese version is told in flashbacks framed by scenes of a reporter questioning the expedition after they have returned from their harrowing ordeal in the mountains.
The Japanese version is told in flashbacks framed by scenes of a reporter questioning the survivors.


Five young friends, university students, have come to the Japanese Alps in Nagano during New Year's for a skiing vacation. Among them are Takashi Iijima ([[Akira Takarada]]) his girlfriend Machiko Takeno ([[Momoko Kochi]]), her elder brother Kiyoshi Takeno (Tadashi Okabe) and their friends Nakada ([[Sachio Sakai]]) and Kaji.
During New Year's, Five young university students come to the Japanese Alps in Nagano for a skiing vacation. They are Takashi Iijima, his girlfriend Machiko Takeno, her older brother Kiyoshi Takeno, and their friends Nakada and Kaji. When they arrive, Kiyoshi and Kaji split off and visit their mutual friend, Gen, promising to meet the others later at the lodge. Takashi, Michiko, and Nakada arrive at the lodge, whose caretaker informs them of an approaching blizzard.


The caretaker telephones Gen's cabin, but nobody answers, worrying the group. While Takashi takes over the phone, a fur-coat-clad young woman named Chika, who lives in a village deep in the mountains, enters. Growing up in a village that shuns contact with outsiders, Chika is none too pleased to see so many visitors but reluctantly takes shelter from the storm nonetheless.
Rather than the five of them skiing together, Kiyoshi announces that he will follow Kaji to the cabin of a mutual friend named Gen, and then meet the other three at the inn. Takashi, Michiko, and Nakada arrive at the inn, welcomed by the manager Matsui (Akira Sera), who informs them that a blizzard is approaching.


The caretaker tries to telephone the remote cabin, but nobody answers. He tries to hide his concern, but nobody is fooled. While Takashi takes over trying to ring the cabin, Machiko stares out the window into the deepening storm. She catches sight of a shadowy figure shambling toward the lodge: a fur-clad young woman named Chika ([[Akemi Negishi]]), who lives in a remote village somewhere deep in the mountains. Chika is none too pleased to see so many visitors in the lodge, since the people of her village shun all contact with outsiders. However, the night is so brutal that she has little choice but to join them if she wants to stay warm. There is still no response from the cabin; and the little group is horrified to hear the sound of an avalanche thundering down a nearby slope. The lodge telephone starts ringing. Machiko runs to the phone; but no sooner has she put it up to her ear when she throws it back down again in horror. Through the earpiece comes the sound of screams, followed by a single gunshot. There is a moment of silence. Takashi picks up the receiver, he hears another agonized scream and the line goes dead. Chika puts her furs back on and slips away, unnoticed by the others.
The sound of an avalanche thundering down a nearby slope terrified the group. The lodge telephone rings. Michiko picks up the phone but drops it in horror. Through the earpiece comes the sound of screams, followed by a single gunshot. When Takashi picks up the receiver, he hears another agonized scream and the line goes dead. Chika puts her coat back on and slips away.


The next day, as soon as the weather clears, a rescue party goes off to find Gen and Kaji. Gen is found dead on the cabin floor while Kaji's body has been dragged out into the snow. Their injuries suggest they were attacked by something far stronger than a man. Of the elder Takeno, though, there is no sign. Takashi and Nakata find strange tufts of hair around the cabin, as though whatever had left them was absurdly large. But most disturbing of all are the enormous bare footprints leading off into the snow. The search team splits up, with one group bringing the dead men back to the lodge and the other continuing the search for Kiyoshi. By nightfall, there is still no sign of Kiyoshi and the leader of the rescue team informs the others that they will have to return to Tōkyo until the snow thaws.
The next day, as soon as the weather clears, a rescue party goes off to find Gen and Kaji. Kiyoshi is nowhere to be found. Gen is dead on the cabin floor while Kaji's body has been dragged out into the snow. Their injuries suggest they were attacked by something far stronger than a man.


Takashi and Nakata find strange tufts of hair around the cabin, as though whatever had left them was absurdly large. Most disturbing of all are the enormous bare footprints leading off into the snow. The team splits up, one group brings the bodies back to the lodge and the other continues searching for Kiyoshi. By nightfall, there is still no sign of Kiyoshi and the rescue team leader announces that they will have to return to Tōkyo until the snow thaws.
Six months later, the snow on the mountains have thawed enough for a proper search to be mounted, Takashi and Machiko return to the Japanese Alps with anthropologist Professor Shigeki Koizumi ([[Nobuo Nakamura]]) as leader of the expedition. There is little hope of Kiyoshi having survived, a fact which Machiko seems to have come to terms with; but if there is some clue what happened to him and the others, Takashi is determined to find it. Determining Kiyoshi's fate, though, is almost incidental to Koizumi's intentions: the main focus of the expedition is to find out if there is a previously unknown bipedal primate lurking in the area.


Six months later, when the snow has thawed enough for a proper search, Takashi and Machiko join an expedition to the Japanese Alps led by anthropologist Professor Shigeki Koizumi. The two have come to terms with the possibility of Kiyoshi's death, but are determined to find out what happened. Koizumi's goal, also the expedition's main focus, is to verify the existence of an unknown bipedal primate lurking in the area.
When the party arrives at an inn, Machiko is distracted by a monkey in a cage. As she stops to feed it some treats, the shifty little man who seems to own the animal turns to the innkeeper and asks him who the Koizumi expedition might be.


As the group arrives, it is revealed they are not the only one interested Koizumi is not the only one interested in the unknown creature. Ōba, an unscrupulous animal broker, is also in the area to search for a rumored special animal. He intends to trail the expedition and use them to search for his target. The expedition gets further into the mountains, observed by a third party - an old man and his companion.
The innkeeper explains that this is a famous zoologist from the city who will be spending some time in the area. As soon as the innkeeper's back is turned, the little man sneaks out of the room and goes to find his boss. His boss is Ōba ([[Yoshio Kosugi]]), an animal broker of less-than-sterling reputation. His job is to capture animals for circuses and he has heard stories of one animal in particular that account for his presence here. When his lackey tells him a university scientist has come with a fully equipped expedition, Ōba has no trouble guessing what he is looking for. Ōba had thought he had the area to himself. But there may be an upside to Koizumi's competition. Ōba and his men can follow the expedition surreptitiously, make use of Koizumi's knowledge of the local wildlife and sneak in ahead of him when they start getting close to their target. Little does Ōba know that he is not the only one following Koizumi's progress. As the expedition gets further into the mountains, a white-bearded old man and his oddly shaped sidekick watch them warily.


Late one night, as the expedition tries to get some sleep after the day's misfortunes, a very large shadow falls across Machiko's tent. A face of an ape-like creature appears at the tent window. The creature reaches into the tent and touches Machiko's face, causing her to wake up and scream. The Snowman runs off into the forest, while Takashi chases after him. Takashi loses his way and takes a bad fall. As he stumbles back to the campfire that he believes marks the expedition site, he is astonished to find himself surrounded by Ōba and his cronies. Ōba's men give Takashi a beating and casually toss him into a lethally deep ravine.
One night, as Koizumi's group rests in their camp, an ape-like creature reaches into Machiko's tent and touches her face, causing her to wake up and scream. The Snowman runs into the forest, pursued by Takashi, who loses his way and takes a bad fall. As he hobbles back to what he thought was the expedition's camp, he stumbles upon Ōba's camp. Ōba's men beat him up and casually toss him into a deep ravine.


Takashi is found at the bottom of the cliff by none other than Chika, the girl who appeared and disappeared so mysteriously during the snowstorm. Chika brings him back to her village, a place so isolated that it has had little or no contact with the outside world for generations and the population has become inbred and disfigured. There she tends to his wounds as he regains consciousness. She is the granddaughter of the white-bearded old village chief ([[Kokuten Kodo]]). When the village finds out Chika has brought an outsider into their midst, they become furious; but the chief, pretending to be reasonable, sends Chika out to bring an offering of game to the Snowman, who the villagers worship as a deity, while he confers with the others. She takes her grandfather at his word and leaves Takashi alone with them. They bind and gag him and hang him off a cliff to be eaten by the vultures. When Chika gets back, she is horrified to find Takashi gone. When she confronts her grandfather, the old man castigates her, both for defying tradition and for challenging his authority. He also beats her viciously with a stick.
Takashi is alive and found by Chika, who brings him to her village. The place has been isolated from the outside world for generations, resulting in the population becoming inbred and disfigured. Seeing an outsider, the villagers become agitated. The village chief calms them down and sends Chika away to bring an offering to the Snowman, whom the villagers worship as a deity. After she is gone, the villagers hang Takashi off a cliff to be eaten by the vultures. Upon returning and finding Takashi gone, Chika confronts her grandfather, only to get reprimanded and viciously beaten up.


Chika goes off on her own up the mountain to nurse her injuries. Sitting alone on a rocky path, she runs into Ōba and his henchman. She mistakes them from members of Koizumi's party out looking for Takashi. Ōba seizes the opportunity to try to worm his way into the girl's trust. He trades her a shiny silver ring for some information on where the Snowman can be found. The gift of the ring persuades her and Chika marks the spot for Ōba by throwing a stone across the valley.
Going off to nurse her wound, Chika runs into Ōba's group. Mistaking them for Koizumi's party out looking for Takashi, she agrees to share the Snowman's location. Ōba gifts her a ring, and in return, she shows him the direction by throwing a stone across the valley. Approaching the creature's lair, Ōba discovers a juvenile Snowman playing by the cave entrance. They promptly capture it to use as bait.


Meanwhile, the Snowman is on his way back to its cave, with a freshly killed deer over his shoulder, when he sees Takashi hanging off a cliff by a rope. The beast calmly puts down the deer, pulls Takashi back up, unties his hands, shoulders the deer again and walks off without a second glance. Ōba and his men lug their traps and equipment up the mountain to the creature's lair. But when they get there, they make an astonishing discovery: there is a juvenile Snowman playing by the cave entrance. Ōba's eyes light up with fiendish inspiration: they will trap the young Snowman and use it as bait to capture the adult! The Snowman comes back a little while later and is horrified to find the cave empty. As he searches frantically for the little creature, Ōba's men remove the gag from the juvenile's mouth; its cries bring the Snowman storming back out of the cave. A heavy net falls on it, trapping the creature, and Ōba's men use chloroform to knock him out.
Meanwhile, the Snowman is on his way back to its cave with a fresh kill, when it spots Takashi hanging off a cliff by a rope. The beast pulls him up, unties him, and walks away. When the Snowman comes back to its cave, Ōba's group successfully traps and tranquilizes the creature.


Back in the village, Chika is still being punished for breaking the rules; and in the course of her punishment, her grandfather finds the ring. Chika admits that she has told the outsiders about the Snowman's lair. The old man and the other villagers arrive at the cave just in time to see Ōba preparing the unconscious beast for transport. When the old chief tries to intervene, Ōba shoots him. Terrified, the remaining villagers can do little more than jeer impotently and throw stones as the outsiders drag the Snowman away. The young creature has managed to slip out of his bonds and run away.
Back in the village, Chika is punished once again. She admits to telling outsiders about the Snowman's lair. The villagers arrive at the cave when Ōba's group prepares the beast for transport. When the village chief tries to intervene, Ōba shoots him. As they drag the Snowman away, its child slips out of his bonds. It catches up with the truck and undoes the rope tying the adult Snowman. Soon, the adult Snowman wakes up and begins to break his way out of the cage. In the ensuing chaos, all of Ōba's henchmen are dead, and Ōba fatally shoots the juvenile Snowman. The adult grabs Ōba and throws him to a gruesome death. With its offspring dead, the Snowman, enraged and full of grief, runs back to the village and destroys it.


Takashi survives and manages to get back to the camp, but the Snowman takes Machiko. Following smoke in the distance, the expedition finds smoldering remnants of the village. Chika tells them about what happened and leads them to the Snowman's cave. There, they find Kiyoshi's remains and fragments of his journal. Kiyoshi had been tracking the creature when he was caught in an avalanche. The Snowman had saved his life and sheltered him. Further into the cave, the party finds a large pile of bones of other Snowmen. Finding poisonous mushrooms, Koizumi speculates that these caused their deaths.
Ōba is at first too excited by capturing the adult creature, and later too busy fending off the locals, to notice that the little beast has escaped. But the young creature has no intention of running away. When the truck carrying the Snowman starts off down the mountain, the juvenile springs onto the platform and works at undoing the ropes. Ōba finds himself the last surviving human as the adult creature begins to break his way out of the cage. In the chaos that results, Ōba ends up killing the juvenile Snowman. The adult grabs Ōba and throws him to a gruesome death. With its offspring dead, the Snowman, enraged and full of grief, runs back to the village and destroys it.

Takashi makes it back to the camp and tells his story to his companions. The Snowman is then heard approaching their camp. The beast grabs Machiko while she is adding logs to the fire. The next day, the expedition spots smoke in the distance. They find the smoldering remnants of the village and Chika. Chika tells them about what happened and Takashi asks her where the Snowman's cave is. She then leads them to the cave. There, they find the bones of Kiyoshi, as well as the fragments of his journal. According to the last, fragmentary journal entries, Kiyoshi had been tracking the creature when he was caught in an avalanche. The Snowman had actually tried to save Kiyoshi's life, giving the injured man food and shelter. Going further into the cave, the party finds a large pile of bones of other Snowmen. Koizumi finds poisonous mushrooms growing near the bones and speculates that eating these mushrooms may have killed off the Snowman population.


The creature storms in with Machiko over his shoulder. They chase the beast further into the cave, until it stops by a pit of boiling sulfur. Chika comes to the rescue, attacking the Snowman with her knife; she distracts the creature enough that Takashi is able to get a clear shot at it. The mortally wounded Snowman grabs Chika and drags her down with him as he plunges into the sulfur pit to certain death.
The creature storms in with Machiko over his shoulder. They chase the beast further into the cave, until it stops by a pit of boiling sulfur. Chika comes to the rescue, attacking the Snowman with her knife; she distracts the creature enough that Takashi is able to get a clear shot at it. The mortally wounded Snowman grabs Chika and drags her down with him as he plunges into the sulfur pit to certain death.
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{{Div col end}}
{{Div col end}}
Personnel taken the official [[Ishirō Honda]] website.<ref name="IshiroHonda"/>
Personnel taken the official [[Ishirō Honda]] website.<ref name="IshiroHonda"/>

===Development===
===Development===
Before ''Godzilla'' had been released, [[Toho]] had already planned its next [[monster movie]] with Honda attached to direct it.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}} ''Half Human'' was part of a mini-cycle of topical films influenced by [[Eric Shipton]]'s photographs of large footprints found in the snow at [[Mount Everest]] in 1951.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}} These included the 1954 American film ''[[The Snow Creature]]'' and the 1957 British film ''[[The Abominable Snowman (film)|The Abominable Snowman]]''.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}}
Before ''Godzilla'' had been released, [[Toho]] had already planned its next [[monster movie]] with Honda attached to direct it.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}} ''Half Human'' was part of a mini-cycle of topical films influenced by [[Eric Shipton]]'s photographs of large footprints found in the snow at [[Mount Everest]] in 1951.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}} These included the 1954 American film ''[[The Snow Creature]]'' and the 1957 British film ''[[The Abominable Snowman (film)|The Abominable Snowman]]''.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}}


Writer Shigeru Kayama was hired to write the original script and completed his treatment on October 16, 1954.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}}{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}} The film began under the working title of ''S-Project'' (S for Snowman){{sfn|Kaneda et al.|2014|p=13}} with the production being officially announced in November with the title ''Snowman of the Alps''.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}} Screenwriter Takeo Murata began working on the project at the same time as ''[[Godzilla Raids Again]]''.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}}
Writer Shigeru Kayama was hired to write the original script and completed his treatment on October 16, 1954.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}}{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}} The film began under the working title of ''S-Project'' (S for Snowman){{sfn|Kaneda et al.|2014|p=13}} with the production being officially announced in November with the title ''Snowman of the Alps''.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}} Screenwriter Takeo Murata began working on the project at the same time as ''[[Godzilla Raids Again]]''.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}}

===Filming===
===Filming===
Honda went to Tokyo to shoot ''Half Human'''s scenes with snow and on returning found that special effects director [[Eiji Tsuburaya]] was busy working on ''[[Godzilla Raids Again]]'', which put ''Half Human'' on hold while Honda began filming ''[[Oen-san|Mother and Son]]''.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}} ''Half Human'' resumed filming in June and July and was released on August 14.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}}
Honda went to Tokyo to shoot ''Half Human'''s scenes with snow and on returning found that special effects director [[Eiji Tsuburaya]] was busy working on ''[[Godzilla Raids Again]]'', which put ''Half Human'' on hold while Honda began filming ''[[Oen-san|Mother and Son]]''.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}} ''Half Human'' resumed filming in June and July and was released on August 14.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=114}}


==Release==
==Release==
''Half Human'' was released in Japan by [[Toho]] on August 14, 1955, as a [[double feature]] with ''Three Brides for Three Sons''.{{sfn|Motoyama|Matsunomoto|Asai|Suzuki|2012|p=16}} Toho has not acknowledged the matter of the film's release.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}} Honda biographers Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski suggested the film was not released to avoid backlash from [[Burakumin|''burakumin'']]'s rights groups such as the [[Buraku Liberation League]],{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}} the film being removed from distribution for decades as a result.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}} Some sources indicate it was aired on television in either the 1960s or early 1970s and the film received a screening at a film retrospective in Kyoto in 2001.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}} As of 2017, a complete version of the film has never been released by Toho in any home video format.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}}
''Half Human'' was released in Japan by [[Toho]] on August 14, 1955, as a [[double feature]] with ''Three Brides for Three Sons''.{{sfn|Motoyama|Matsunomoto|Asai|Suzuki|2012|p=16}} Toho has not acknowledged the matter of the film's release.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}} Honda biographers Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski suggested the film was not released to avoid backlash from ''[[burakumin]]''<nowiki/>'s rights groups such as the [[Buraku Liberation League]],{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}} the film being removed from distribution for decades as a result.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=113}} Some sources indicate it was aired on television in either the 1960s or early 1970s and the film received a screening at a film retrospective in Kyoto in 2001.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}} As of 2017, a complete version of the film has never been released by Toho in any home video format.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}}


===American version===
===American version===
For the American version of the film, the American company [[Distributors Corporation of America]] (DCA) added English-language scenes and narration.<ref name="afi">{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=52204|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|title=Half Human|access-date=15 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402121310/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=52204|archive-date=2 April 2014}}</ref> The American version of the film contains the original Japanese footage with scenes of [[John Carradine]] as John Rayburn explaining the Snowman to his colleagues.<ref name="afi" /> The new footage was directed by Kenneth G. Crane on two different sets over the course of two days.{{sfn|Senn|2019|p=136}} Crane also directed ''[[Monster from Green Hell]]'', which was released by DCA on December 10, 1958{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1996|p=206}}{{sfn|Warren|1986|p=745}} as a double feature with ''Half Human''.{{Sfn|Senn|2019|p=136}} This version also removes Sato's film score.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}} The American version features a scene where Carradine reveals the corpse of the Snowman's son on a morgue slab, and the corpse was portrayed by the costume used for the Snowman's son in the original Japanese film, which Toho shipped to the U.S. for filming.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=118}}
For the American version of the film, the American company [[Distributors Corporation of America]] (DCA) added English-language scenes and narration.<ref name="afi">{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=52204|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|title=Half Human|access-date=15 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402121310/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=52204|archive-date=2 April 2014}}</ref> The American version of the film contains the original Japanese footage with scenes of [[John Carradine]] as John Rayburn explaining the Snowman to his colleagues.<ref name="afi" /> The new footage was directed by Kenneth G. Crane on two different sets over the course of two days.{{sfn|Senn|2019|p=136}} Crane also directed ''[[Monster from Green Hell]]'', which was released by DCA on December 10, 1957<ref>Warren, Bill (1986). Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2. McFarland & Co., Inc. Pg. 745. ISBN 0-89950-170-2.</ref> as a double feature with ''Half Human''.{{Sfn|Senn|2019|p=136}} This version also removes Sato's film score.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=117}} The American version features a scene where Carradine reveals the corpse of the Snowman's son on a morgue slab, and the corpse was portrayed by the costume used for the Snowman's son in the original Japanese film, which Toho shipped to the U.S. for filming.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=118}}


==Reception==
==Reception==
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* {{cite web |url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1955/ce002660.htm|title=獣人雪男 (Ju jin yuki otoko)|access-date=2007-07-13|language=ja|publisher=[[Japanese Movie Database]]}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1955/ce002660.htm|title=獣人雪男 (Ju jin yuki otoko)|access-date=2007-07-13|language=ja|publisher=[[Japanese Movie Database]]}}


{{Ishirō Honda}}
{{Ishirō Honda}}{{Eiji Tsuburaya}}


[[Category:Toho tokusatsu films]]
[[Category:Toho tokusatsu films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ishirō Honda]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ishirō Honda]]
[[Category:1955 films]]
[[Category:1955 films]]
[[Category:Japanese films]]
[[Category:1950s Japanese-language films]]
[[Category:Japanese-language films]]
[[Category:1950s science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:1950s science fiction films]]
[[Category:Japanese natural horror films]]
[[Category:Natural horror films]]
[[Category:Films set in Nagano Prefecture]]
[[Category:Films set in Nagano Prefecture]]
[[Category:Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka]]
[[Category:Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka]]
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[[Category:1950s monster movies]]
[[Category:1950s monster movies]]
[[Category:Avalanches in film]]
[[Category:Avalanches in film]]
[[Category:Yeti in fiction]]
[[Category:Films about Yeti]]
[[Category:Japanese black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Japanese science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:1950s Japanese films]]
[[Category:Kaiju films]]

Latest revision as of 06:50, 15 September 2024

Half Human
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji獣人雪男
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnJūjin Yuki Otoko
Directed byIshirō Honda
Screenplay byTakeo Murata[1]
Story byShigeru Kayama[1]
Produced byTomoyuki Tanaka[1]
Starring
CinematographyTadashi Iimura[1]
Music byMasaru Sato[1]
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • 14 August 1955 (1955-08-14) (Japan)
Running time
95 minutes[1]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Half Human (獣人雪男, Jūjin Yuki Otoko, lit.'Beastman Snowman') is a 1955 Japanese science fiction horror film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akemi Negishi, Sachio Sakai, and Nobuo Nakamura, with Sanshiro Sagara as the Abominable Snowman.

Plot

[edit]

The Japanese version is told in flashbacks framed by scenes of a reporter questioning the survivors.

During New Year's, Five young university students come to the Japanese Alps in Nagano for a skiing vacation. They are Takashi Iijima, his girlfriend Machiko Takeno, her older brother Kiyoshi Takeno, and their friends Nakada and Kaji. When they arrive, Kiyoshi and Kaji split off and visit their mutual friend, Gen, promising to meet the others later at the lodge. Takashi, Michiko, and Nakada arrive at the lodge, whose caretaker informs them of an approaching blizzard.

The caretaker telephones Gen's cabin, but nobody answers, worrying the group. While Takashi takes over the phone, a fur-coat-clad young woman named Chika, who lives in a village deep in the mountains, enters. Growing up in a village that shuns contact with outsiders, Chika is none too pleased to see so many visitors but reluctantly takes shelter from the storm nonetheless.

The sound of an avalanche thundering down a nearby slope terrified the group. The lodge telephone rings. Michiko picks up the phone but drops it in horror. Through the earpiece comes the sound of screams, followed by a single gunshot. When Takashi picks up the receiver, he hears another agonized scream and the line goes dead. Chika puts her coat back on and slips away.

The next day, as soon as the weather clears, a rescue party goes off to find Gen and Kaji. Kiyoshi is nowhere to be found. Gen is dead on the cabin floor while Kaji's body has been dragged out into the snow. Their injuries suggest they were attacked by something far stronger than a man.

Takashi and Nakata find strange tufts of hair around the cabin, as though whatever had left them was absurdly large. Most disturbing of all are the enormous bare footprints leading off into the snow. The team splits up, one group brings the bodies back to the lodge and the other continues searching for Kiyoshi. By nightfall, there is still no sign of Kiyoshi and the rescue team leader announces that they will have to return to Tōkyo until the snow thaws.

Six months later, when the snow has thawed enough for a proper search, Takashi and Machiko join an expedition to the Japanese Alps led by anthropologist Professor Shigeki Koizumi. The two have come to terms with the possibility of Kiyoshi's death, but are determined to find out what happened. Koizumi's goal, also the expedition's main focus, is to verify the existence of an unknown bipedal primate lurking in the area.

As the group arrives, it is revealed they are not the only one interested Koizumi is not the only one interested in the unknown creature. Ōba, an unscrupulous animal broker, is also in the area to search for a rumored special animal. He intends to trail the expedition and use them to search for his target. The expedition gets further into the mountains, observed by a third party - an old man and his companion.

One night, as Koizumi's group rests in their camp, an ape-like creature reaches into Machiko's tent and touches her face, causing her to wake up and scream. The Snowman runs into the forest, pursued by Takashi, who loses his way and takes a bad fall. As he hobbles back to what he thought was the expedition's camp, he stumbles upon Ōba's camp. Ōba's men beat him up and casually toss him into a deep ravine.

Takashi is alive and found by Chika, who brings him to her village. The place has been isolated from the outside world for generations, resulting in the population becoming inbred and disfigured. Seeing an outsider, the villagers become agitated. The village chief calms them down and sends Chika away to bring an offering to the Snowman, whom the villagers worship as a deity. After she is gone, the villagers hang Takashi off a cliff to be eaten by the vultures. Upon returning and finding Takashi gone, Chika confronts her grandfather, only to get reprimanded and viciously beaten up.

Going off to nurse her wound, Chika runs into Ōba's group. Mistaking them for Koizumi's party out looking for Takashi, she agrees to share the Snowman's location. Ōba gifts her a ring, and in return, she shows him the direction by throwing a stone across the valley. Approaching the creature's lair, Ōba discovers a juvenile Snowman playing by the cave entrance. They promptly capture it to use as bait.

Meanwhile, the Snowman is on his way back to its cave with a fresh kill, when it spots Takashi hanging off a cliff by a rope. The beast pulls him up, unties him, and walks away. When the Snowman comes back to its cave, Ōba's group successfully traps and tranquilizes the creature.

Back in the village, Chika is punished once again. She admits to telling outsiders about the Snowman's lair. The villagers arrive at the cave when Ōba's group prepares the beast for transport. When the village chief tries to intervene, Ōba shoots him. As they drag the Snowman away, its child slips out of his bonds. It catches up with the truck and undoes the rope tying the adult Snowman. Soon, the adult Snowman wakes up and begins to break his way out of the cage. In the ensuing chaos, all of Ōba's henchmen are dead, and Ōba fatally shoots the juvenile Snowman. The adult grabs Ōba and throws him to a gruesome death. With its offspring dead, the Snowman, enraged and full of grief, runs back to the village and destroys it.

Takashi survives and manages to get back to the camp, but the Snowman takes Machiko. Following smoke in the distance, the expedition finds smoldering remnants of the village. Chika tells them about what happened and leads them to the Snowman's cave. There, they find Kiyoshi's remains and fragments of his journal. Kiyoshi had been tracking the creature when he was caught in an avalanche. The Snowman had saved his life and sheltered him. Further into the cave, the party finds a large pile of bones of other Snowmen. Finding poisonous mushrooms, Koizumi speculates that these caused their deaths.

The creature storms in with Machiko over his shoulder. They chase the beast further into the cave, until it stops by a pit of boiling sulfur. Chika comes to the rescue, attacking the Snowman with her knife; she distracts the creature enough that Takashi is able to get a clear shot at it. The mortally wounded Snowman grabs Chika and drags her down with him as he plunges into the sulfur pit to certain death.

Cast

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Japanese version

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The cast from the Japanese version of the film are taken from the official Ishirō Honda website.[2]

American version

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The cast from the American version of the film are taken from The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994.[3]

Production

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Crew

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  • Ishirō Honda[a] – director
  • Eiji Tsuburaya[b] – special effects director
  • Kihachi Okamoto – assistant director
  • Minoru Sakamoto – associate producer
  • Shoichi Yokoi – lighting
  • Tatsuo Kita – art director
  • Akira Watanabe – special effects art director
  • Masao Shirota – special effects lighting
  • Hiroshi Mukoyama – optical effects
  • Yoshio Nishikawa – sound recording

Personnel taken the official Ishirō Honda website.[2]

Development

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Before Godzilla had been released, Toho had already planned its next monster movie with Honda attached to direct it.[4] Half Human was part of a mini-cycle of topical films influenced by Eric Shipton's photographs of large footprints found in the snow at Mount Everest in 1951.[4] These included the 1954 American film The Snow Creature and the 1957 British film The Abominable Snowman.[4]

Writer Shigeru Kayama was hired to write the original script and completed his treatment on October 16, 1954.[4][5] The film began under the working title of S-Project (S for Snowman)[6] with the production being officially announced in November with the title Snowman of the Alps.[5] Screenwriter Takeo Murata began working on the project at the same time as Godzilla Raids Again.[5]

Filming

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Honda went to Tokyo to shoot Half Human's scenes with snow and on returning found that special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya was busy working on Godzilla Raids Again, which put Half Human on hold while Honda began filming Mother and Son.[5] Half Human resumed filming in June and July and was released on August 14.[5]

Release

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Half Human was released in Japan by Toho on August 14, 1955, as a double feature with Three Brides for Three Sons.[7] Toho has not acknowledged the matter of the film's release.[8] Honda biographers Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski suggested the film was not released to avoid backlash from burakumin's rights groups such as the Buraku Liberation League,[8] the film being removed from distribution for decades as a result.[4] Some sources indicate it was aired on television in either the 1960s or early 1970s and the film received a screening at a film retrospective in Kyoto in 2001.[8] As of 2017, a complete version of the film has never been released by Toho in any home video format.[8]

American version

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For the American version of the film, the American company Distributors Corporation of America (DCA) added English-language scenes and narration.[9] The American version of the film contains the original Japanese footage with scenes of John Carradine as John Rayburn explaining the Snowman to his colleagues.[9] The new footage was directed by Kenneth G. Crane on two different sets over the course of two days.[10] Crane also directed Monster from Green Hell, which was released by DCA on December 10, 1957[11] as a double feature with Half Human.[10] This version also removes Sato's film score.[8] The American version features a scene where Carradine reveals the corpse of the Snowman's son on a morgue slab, and the corpse was portrayed by the costume used for the Snowman's son in the original Japanese film, which Toho shipped to the U.S. for filming.[12]

Reception

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Honda biographers Ryfle and Godziszewski noted that, though the film was "not Honda's best work", the original Japanese version is far superior to the more widely seen American version of the film.[4] They declared the film to suffer from "weak plotting, thin characters, and distracting humor"[13] Online film database AllMovie described the American version of the film as "Another example of a fairly interesting Japanese monster film rendered nearly incomprehensible by ham-fisted editing and substandard English dubbing" and that Honda's original edit "was marginally more interesting, though Honda would soon fare better with monsters of the scaly, radioactive variety."[14]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Credited as "Inoshiro Honda" in the American version of the film.
  2. ^ Credited as "Eigi Tsuburaya" in the American version of the film.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Galbraith IV 1996, p. 205.
  2. ^ a b "Half Human". IshiroHonda.org. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  3. ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 206.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 113.
  5. ^ a b c d e Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 114.
  6. ^ Kaneda et al. 2014, p. 13.
  7. ^ Motoyama et al. 2012, p. 16.
  8. ^ a b c d e Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 117.
  9. ^ a b "Half Human". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  10. ^ a b Senn 2019, p. 136.
  11. ^ Warren, Bill (1986). Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2. McFarland & Co., Inc. Pg. 745. ISBN 0-89950-170-2.
  12. ^ Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 118.
  13. ^ Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 116.
  14. ^ Binion, Cavett. "Half Human". AllMovie. Retrieved 21 January 2018.

Sources

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  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0032-3.
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.
  • Kaneda, Masumi; Oishi, Shinji; Konuta, Kenji; Eguchi, Mizuki; Maruyama, Takeshi (2014). Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia. Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-682090-2.
  • Motoyama, Sho; Matsunomoto, Kazuhiro; Asai, Kazuyasu; Suzuki, Nobutaka; Kato, Masashi (2012). Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works (in Japanese). villagebooks. ISBN 978-4864910132.
  • Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978-0819577412.
  • Senn, Bryan (2019). "Twice the Thrills! Twice the Chills!": Horror and Science Fiction Double Features, 1955-1974. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1476668949.
  • Warren, Bill (1986). Keep Watching the Skies. Vol. 2. McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-170-2.
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