YOKAI MONSTERS Spook Warfare / Daiei Motion Picture Company - 1968

Welcome everbloody to Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Tonite, the word 'Monster' is even in the title of our offering, the movie also known as BIG MONSTER WAR and BIG GHOST WAR!!

The story's about an evil Babylonian vampire that comes to old Japan, and, an army of Japanese demons and ghosts gather to battle him.

The excellent music is by Mr. Sei Ikeno, Sei had 89 composing credits that includes the titles THE BLUE BEAST, BIG SHOTS DIE AT DAWN, THE BLACK TEST CAR, KEN, FOREST OF NO ESCAPE, RED ANGEL, THE WOMAN GAMBLER, THE HOUSE OF THE SLEEPING VIRGINS, THE BRIDE FROM HADES and THE FOX WITH NINE TAILS.

Well then, it must be that time... The time when we bring in our littlest helper, and, all around cool cat, you know the one... Rufus The Gnat!.. Give a big yippee yahoo for Rufus!.. Now that the formalities are fini, hit the 'GO' button, Rufus, an' start our Eariffic Earclip for... YOKAI MONSTERS Spook Warfare!

The crypt of our villian, Daimon, located somewhere in Afrika. He gets woken up by treasure hunters.

He decides he wants to rule Japan, so, he sets out on his long sea journey...

Daimon emerges to start his reign of terror, and, the plan is very simple...

Kill, then possess the body of the good and noble lord. That way, he can have a great deal of authority and power to assist in his twisted plans.

This local Water Demon just happens to catch the action, so now, he knows about Daimon!

And, Daimon doesn't stop there, Hell no!! Every soul he steals gives him the added power to duplicate another copy of himself!

The Water Demon gathers his fellow demons, spooks and ghosts together to spread the word about the evil vampire that is now among them, and, horning in on their territory!

Get this... The monsters in this film look exactly the way they do in old woodblock prints and watercolor paintings that depicted them!

The locals encounter the spooks in the fields. You wonder how many anime series probably steal from the YOKAI MONSTERS imagery! INUYASHA springs to mind.

Three very cool spooks!

The Long-Necked Monster tries it's best to choke the vampire!

Daimon doesn't take kindly to all the spooks' harrassment.

The story is also a hilarious comedy at times, with wild cartoon-like incidents!

Awesome sets and props, wow!!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to monster rumble we go...

Daimon puts all his eggs in one basket, so to speak, as he joins his clones together into one giant creature!

The Umbrella Monster distracts Daimon just long enough for a few other spooks to perform the task of sticking stakes into his eye, which is the way to kill this vampire according to a book they read!

Daimon turns the water red with his own blood during his death throes.

After their victory, all the spooks dance and prance back into the countryside. A proud day for Japanese monsters, to be sure!

Ghoulnight Everbloody!!..