Short-lived Toho monster movie “Magura!”

幻の東宝怪獣映画「マグラ!」
Short-lived Toho monster movie “Magura!”

提携して”空想科学小説コンテスト”を行うなど、東宝と早川書房の「SFマガジン」との結びつきは古い。コンテストは審査員に田中友幸らが名を連ね、入選作の映画化が謳い文句だったが、そこまでこぎつけた作品は出なかった。

The relationship between Toho and Hayakawa Shobo’s “SF magazine” is old, such as a joint “science fiction contest.” Tomoyuki Tanaka and others were among the judges of the contest, and the slogan was that the winning works would be made into movies, but none of them made it that far.

その「SFマガジン」63年8月臨時増刊号に掲載された光瀬龍の『マグラ!』は、映画原作というふれこみだった。

Mitsuse Ryu’s “Magura!” which was published in the August 1963 special issue of “SF Magazine,” was a promotion that it was based on a movie.

原発の廃棄物投棄による汚染が原因で、体長100メートルの怪魚〈マグラ〉が出現。陸上での呼吸を可能とする肺と、強力な発電組織を有するこの怪物は、都市の灯に幻惑されて日本に上陸、逃げまどう人々を食らいつつ、電撃で野や街を焦土に変える。最後は、主人公の医師の発案によるかく乱攻撃で怪物は滅びる…………。どことなく「ゴジラ」を思わせる展開だが、作中の恐怖描写は絶品で、文明批判もさりげなく盛り込まれており、映画として日の目を見なかったのは残念だ。

A 100-meter-long monstrous fish appears due to pollution caused by the dumping of nuclear power plants. This monster, which has lungs that allow it to breathe on land and a powerful power-generating organization, is dazzled by the lights of the city and lands in Japan. In the end, the monster is destroyed by a disturbance attack proposed by the hero’s doctor. The development is somewhat reminiscent of “Godzilla”, but the depiction of horror in the work is exquisite, and the criticism of civilization is casually included, so it is a pity that the movie did not see the light of day.

Source: Encyclopedia of Godzilla, Gakken MOOK, p 157 106