A team of college professors and their peers accidentally awaken Yamata No Orochi, a legendary Japanese dragon from tales of old. To thwart this kaiju attack, the military is called in, and the battle for Earth ensues. Unbeknownst to the professors, their closest peer not only caused the rise of Orochi, but is also being held against her will by an evil alien cult, to control the beast telepathically as their beast avatar.
Released in 1986 independently on 16mm by Daicon Film, who is most notably the production house behind Hideaki Anno’s Ultraman fan films, Orochi is perhaps one of the deep-cut fares of the kaiju genre. It has seen no official release in the West. Daicon itself produced several fan films, including the aforementioned Ultra fare, and the famous anime intro for the Daicon III/IV conventions, which saw Godzilla crossing over with Space Battleship Yamato, among many, many other anime characters, to the tune of Electric Light Orchestra’s Twilight. These films collectively would prove to put Anno specifically on the map, who famously went on to create Neon Genesis Evangelion within the decade. Daicon film would eventually become established production house, Gainax, famous for the previously mentioned Evangelion, as well as other anime such as FLCL, and Gurren Lagann.
The production of OSA would birth the rise of another famous player in the kaiju and tokusatsu world – Shinji Higuchi! This film was his first major special effects gig, and he would go on to become the go-to special effects director of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, having his dedicated, passionate work on Shusuke Kaneko’s Gamera Trilogy (1995-1999) and later Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001). This would cement Higuchi as a seminal figure in the effects department between kaiju studios, up until him and Anno teamed up to helm Shin Godzilla (2016) and Shin Ultraman (2022) together.
The film itself is rather basic and by the books in terms of plot. It’s your standard story featured in past kaiju films— a giant beast awakens from the mountains and goes right to destroying the nearest Metropolitan area. The military must intervene and save the local populous from incoming disaster. However, the film has fun with this as much as possible with larger-than-life performances and various military shenanigans. One standout amongst the roster is the arrogant, aviator-wearing, constantly grinning military officer whose truest happiness emerges when bombing Orochi with every artillery shell available.
The effects work for an early 80’s indie kaiju film is stellar. Most kaiju fans will recognize the Rodan roar soundbite used for Orochi, a fun bit of trivia. The costumes for the bizarre lizard cult bent on the titular monster’s resurrection are right out of a classic tokusatsu television show, such as Kamen Rider or Space Sheriff Gavan. There are lovely establishing shots of trains and tanks that feel straight out of a Godzilla film.
The military has a reoccurring theme that references the pompous, patriotic marches of Akira Ifukube; my favorite part of the movie. The vibe it creates feels heroic and fun, with lots of heart, and I think that’s what this movie embodies fully. The cast members were reportedly listening to the soundtrack to the recently released (at the time) The Return of Godzilla (1984) during the production of this film. It’s clear that despite the budget and the odds, a team came together to create something special, like a real-life version of One Cut of the Dead (2019).
Overall, if you’re a kaiju fan and into the weird indies, this one’s a must. I would also recommend this film for connective tissue, as it is a perfect example of how careers are budded early on. Higuchi was the only major force to emerge from this film, but it is great seeing his roots going from effects director to actual director.
This film is not available officially, but someday hopefully it becomes widely released on home media!
Adjacent Content:
Return of Ultraman (1983), directed by Hideaki Anno
Raiga: God of the Monsters, directed by Shinpei Hayashiya
Attack of Giant Teacher, directed by Yoshikazu Ishii
Legendary Beast Wolfman Vs. Godzilla, directed by Shizuo Nakajima (unreleased, select footage available)
