It may be the weekend here at sub basement level forty-three sector Z of the Terror-Dome but that doesn't mean that there will be rest for the wicked (like me). On this lovely Saturday I'm going to be reviewing a very rare and obscure Godzilla fan film from the very early 1980's, Godzilla Vs. The Mega Cactus.

Godzilla Vs. The Mega Cactus (AKA Gojira X Giant Green Pricku (in Japan)) starts off with an asteroid landing in a desert somewhere in Mexico and not far off we see a glowing flower pop out of the sand. The next day we cut to Japan where we see Godzilla attacking a power plant to drain it of it's energy. The Japanese army try their best to fend off Godzilla but Godzilla is just too tough. Godzilla ends up draining the power plant dry and wanders back into the ocean. Over at G-Force (an elite group of soldiers trained to battle Godzilla even if it kills them) are talking to a group of scientists about not only how to kill Godzilla but also about how to fix the blackout that has happened in Osaka due to the power plant being drained. Lucky for them one of the scientists tells them about the asteroid crashing in Mexico and how it is full of energy not seen by man and are thinking of testing it out as an alternative power source. Sadly I am out of preview space so the rest of the film description will be after the jump. (Click "Read More" to read the full review).


The group of scientists travel to Mexico to retrieve the asteroid only to have Godzilla attack them. All seems lost until a mysterious laser beam comes from out of nowhere and attacks Godzilla. Godzilla is spooked and runs off and the thing that caused him to run off was the flower. The scientists return back to Japan and use the asteroid to power up Osaka with success and they also decide to study the flower to see if they can find a way to turn it into a Godzilla killing machine. The new power attracts Godzilla and it makes him stronger than ever and he wipes out the Japanese army in an instant. We then cut back to the lab where we see something big going on and by big... I mean big. The laser flower grows at an phenomenal rate and ends up growing into a giant cactus with boxing gloves and a sombrero like Togemon from Digimon (except Togemon doesn't wear a hat). Now Mega Cactus is off to battle Godzilla to save Japan from the roided up Godzilla.

The story in this film was alright and it was interesting but the way this film was written was very weird and defiantly feels like a fan film. This was filmed using a pretty good camera for the time and looks really clean. The locations in this film were very cheap as they filmed all the scenes in Mexico in a child's sand-pit and it was very funny to look at. The scenes at the lab and meeting room were filmed in a kitchen and at one point you can see one of the actors mothers making a salad in the background (I believe it was John Goldstein's mother).

Characters in this film were surprisingly pretty good with some very charming personalities. The acting was also really damn good and I was surprised to hear that none of their careers took off. It is also sad to hear that nearly all of them died on a bus trip to Vegas with the only surviving actor being "Ralph Constantine Ironwood" who never acted again... His acting was shit anyway so good riddance.

Special effects in this film were so bad that it was funny with fire crackers for the explosions and a flamethrower for Godzilla's atomic breath. The costumes for the humans looked pretty cheap as they are cheap trench coats for the scientists and sweaters with "G-Force" stitched in for the G-Force soldiers. The monster outfits were all made from papermache and it looked surprisingly good but the downside is that they didn't make arm parts for the costumes so you see monsters with human looking arms.

The fight scenes in this film were insane with the action looking like something straight from a wrestling match. Some parts were a bit much though like the part where Mega Cactus got Godzilla drunk with a tequila bomb and when Godzilla was skateboarding while wearing a poncho. The way this fight ended took me by surprise as... Well you'll just have to see for yourself.

The video tape also included some neat little extras on them that includes a trailer, a making of feature, and footage from the screening at their local church. The trailer was decent and it doesn't ruin the film at all. The making of feature was weird as it was nothing but them in costume as the characters showing a boring slide show. Sure that sounds like a golden idea but it was boring. The footage from the test screening was interesting and I loved the reactions from the crowd.

Overall this was a so bad that it was good kind of film. I do recommend watching this film but I must warn you that it is very hard to find as there is no DVD release but I'm sure it's up on Youtube somewhere. A real hidden gem.

That is it for day six of "Godzilla Week 2014".  On tomorrow's edition I'll be taking a look at the most recent film in the Godzilla series and that film is Godzilla (yeah it was obvious).  Will this film flop like a fish?  Will it be the greatest Godzilla film of all time?  Find out tomorrow... Unless you read a review from some other website and in that case they are all full of lies as only my review is official (yeah that was an obvious and desperate marketing scheme to get you to read my review before you read any one elses).  Catch you all on Sunday for the final day of "Godzilla Week 2014".

Title: Godzilla Vs. The Mega Cactus
Directed by: John Goldstein, Willy Goldstein
Starring: Godzilla, Mega Cactus
Genre:  Action, Science Fiction, Fan Film
Running Time: 84 minutes
Studio: Goldstein and Goldstein Productions
Rating: Unrated
Recommended: Yes