"Matango, Attack of the Mushroom People" in 10 Screencaps Or Less

“Matango, Attack of the Mushroom People” (1963) is a trippy, creepy, bleak, thought-provoking sci-fi movie from the mind of Ishiro “Godzilla” Honda. Let’s summarize “Matango”… In 10 Screencaps Or Less!™

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Key plotpoints are pictured below. You have been warned!
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Decadent, white-collar professionals relax aboard a yacht. Privately, the captain and his crewman complain about their passengers–about their idleness, their almost parasitic nature.

A storm starts brewing. The captain wants to turn back, but the businessman who hired the boat rejects the idea. The ensuing storm blows the ship off course. After days of drifting aimlessly, they come upon a strange, deserted island.

The island is lush, loaded with many different kinds of mushrooms. The captain warns against eating any, fearing them poisonous. While exploring the island, they discover an abandoned research vessel.

The ship’s interior is coated with mold and the mirrors are all smashed. Clues left behind indicate that the missing researchers were studying the effects of radiation–and that consuming the island’s mushrooms can severely compromise human nervous tissue.

Unfortunately, there is very little food on the island–and, eventually, hunger and paranoia win out. The shipwrecked crew turns on one another and starts eating the mushrooms.

The mushrooms are tasty, rejuvenating, and addictive. Much like Pringles–once you pop, you can’t stop.

Unfortunately, once you start popping the mushrooms…

… you start turning into a giant mushroom. And enjoying it. Feeling like you’re part of something bigger, something larger than yourself.

Kenji–the only surviving castaway who hasn’t eaten the mushrooms–fights the mutated mushroom people, even as his girlfriend submits to the siren call of the fatal fungi. The maniac mushrooms try to catch him, but he manages to escape.

He flees the island on the damaged yacht. Starving, awaiting rescue, Kenji finally consumes the only edible items on board… the mushrooms.

When he’s rescued and brought back to Tokyo, the traumatized and now-disfigured Kenji can’t help but wonder, “Tokyo is not so different from that island. People in the city are just as cruel as on the island. It’s all the same. I would have been happier on the island.”

THE END

Tomorrow, we see what the mushroom people can teach us about surviving your corporate holiday party.

Special “Silver Lining” Department

Proving there’s a silver lining to everything–including being transformed into a giant mushroom–there’s this:

Thanks to @marlaerwin for pointing out this cute lil’ guy on Mark’s Scrapbook of Oddities & Treasures.