AKA: Attack of the Mushroom People. A group of pleasure-seeking young people are stranded on a mysterious island when their boat crashes. One by one they succumb to the lure of the deadly music. (Source: IMDB)
It was the 1960’s. An era of movies about giant.. things.. Insects, Lizards, Spiders.. and yes.. Mushrooms. This is one of my favorites from that time period. I remember watching it in the early 80’s on WLVI Channel 56 out of Boston (Now part of the CW), they would have the “Creature Double Feature” on Saturday mornings, after the Cartoons and American Bandstand.. holy crap, I’m old.
Basically what we have here is this..
A storm renders a pleasure yacht useless, and the passengers must make for safety on a deserted island.. now, before you expect me to say that one of them was named Gilligan, I can assure you that I’m not.. Now, the first mate and the Skipper (yes, sigh.. I’m sorry, that’s what he’s called.. damn you Gilligan!). Must organize a search for food and water. Water isn’t the hard part.. but the island has no animal life, except for a couple of turtles.
With food scarce, the group scour the Island and come upon a wrecked boat, which was, apparently, a research ship looking into the effects of nuclear radiation. (Yes, the Japanese Cinema was chock filled with Nuclear Sci-Fi and Horror Movies after WWII). They find a small cache of Spam in the ship’s hold, but nothing else.. except fungi.. Fungus growing everywhere.
The captain’s log details how they ran out of food and began eating the indigenous mushrooms, but then they began to change.. a “Neurological Disorder”. But, as the island’s newest arrivals find out.. it’s much more than that.
This movie is great for a light watch with the kids, as scary as it must have been in the 60’s. It’s more of a PG Sci/Horror for today’s audience. It’s got Drama, Douche-baggery, Diva’s getting bitchy, and a shotgun that apparently doesnt need to be reloaded.. He must have fired off 30 shots in the last 5 minutes of the film.
