The Frida Cinema Showa Godzilla Weekend Film Festival

Press release,
Showa Godzilla Weekend – June 2023
Head for the hills, because Showa Godzilla Weekend is stomping into town this June, co-presented by Creature Bazaar, Atomic Arts & Music, and Mission Control! We all know and love the big radioactive lizard (his movies have even been featured on our blog before), but not everybody’s had the chance to see the movies that made him a star around the world on the big screen. To that end, The Frida is screening all 15 films from the original Showa era of Godzilla over the course of one weekend. Featuring everything from the grim black and white 1954 original to the colorfully wacky entries of the 70s, it’s a series only fit for a king – a King of the Monsters, that is!

Tickets are standard (and matinee when applicable) prices, but we are adding the opportunity to buy day and full festival passes:

• Friday Festival Passes are $30 for all 4 films!
• Saturday Festival Passes are $25 for all 3 films!
• Sunday Festival Passes are $30 for all 4 films!
• A Full Festival Pass is $99 for 15 films across 5 days!

Godzilla (Subtitled) – Jun 16
Directed by Ishiro Honda | 1954
Japan, forced into economic and social panic after several ships sink near Odo Island, sends an expedition to the island led by Dr. Yamane. Soon discovering something far more devastating, awaking and surfacing from the sea appears a 50 meter tall monster, whom the natives call Gojira. The monster begins a citywide rampage, threatening to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.

Godzilla Raids Again (Subtitled) – Jun 16
Directed by Motoyoshi Oda | 1955
Following the destruction of Godzilla, two fishing scout pilots discover not only a new version of the creature, but a new monster named Anguirus, aka Godzilla’s long-lost foe. Gone is the weapon that killed the original, as authorities attempt to lure danger away from the mainland. But Godzilla and Anguirus soon arrive, resparking an ancient rift as the two monsters make their way towards Osaka for a battle of the ages.

Mothra vs. Godzilla (Subtitled) – Jun 16
Directed by Ishirō Honda | 1964
Ichiro Sakai and Junko are journalists covering the wreckage of a typhoon when an enormous egg is soon found and claimed by greedy entrepreneurs. This prompts the arrival of tiny twin fairies named the Shobijin to plea for its return. When their requests are denied, Godzilla arises near Nagoya, and the people of Infant Island must decide if they are willing to answer Japan’s own pleas for help as monster warfare begins to wage.

Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (Subtitled) – Jun 16
Directed by Ishirō Honda | 1964
When a meteor lands in Kurobe Valley, detective Shindo is assigned to protect Princess Salno. Soon she emerges under the guise of a Venusian prophetess, whose warnings of the alien-dragon King Ghidorah catches the attention of journalist Naoko and Mothra’s fairies. It is only up to Mothra to convince Godzilla and Rodan to set aside their grudge on humanity or dare to face Ghidorah alone.

Invasion of Astro-Monster (Dubbed) – Jun 17
Directed by Ishirō Honda | 1965
Glenn and Fuji are astronauts who are investigating Planet X, soon encountering the mysterious Xiliens, who ask Earth’s people to help save their world from “Monster Zero” (aka King Ghidorah). In exchange for borrowing Godzilla and Rodan, the Xiliens offer a cure for cancer, to which Glenn makes an attempt to uncover the Xilien’s true intentions.

Ebirah: Horror of the Deep (Subtitled) – Jun 17
Directed by Jun Fukuda | 1966
Ryota, on the search for his missing brother, stows away on a boat belonging to a criminal alongside two other teenagers. Shipwrecking on Letchi island, the group discovers that the natives of Infant Island have been enslaved by a terrorist organization controlling a crustacean monster with the name Ebirah. The only way to defeat the terrorists and liberate the natives is to awaken the fury of Godzilla.

King Kong vs. Godzilla (Dubbed) – Jun 17
Directed by Ishirō Honda | 1962
Mr. Tako, the advertising director of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, becomes frustrated with the low ratings of their sponsored TV program, seeking a more sensationalist approach. Ordering his staff to Faro Island to capture King Kong for exploitation, Godzilla coincidentally re-emerges, prompting a media frenzy as Pacific hopes to capitalize off of the ultimate battle.

Son of Godzilla (Dubbed) – Jun 18
Directed by Jun Fukuda | 1967
Goro Maki is a reporter who stumbles upon scientists conducting strange weather experiments on Sollgel Island in the South Seas. Discovering that the island is inhabited by giant mantises and a cast-away woman named Saeko, the pair soon find a helpless infant monster that Godzilla must adopt and learn to raise as one of his own before the other monsters lay out ungodly destruction.

Destroy All Monsters (Dubbed) – Jun 18
Directed by Ishirō Honda | 1968
In the year 1999, world peace has finally been achieved, with all of the Earth’s monsters having been rounded up and kept safely on Monsterland. But chaos quickly erupts when a race of she-aliens known as the Kilaaks unleash the monsters from their confines, and subsequently wreck havoc across the world. Who shall remain?

All Monsters Attack (Subtitled) – Jun 18
Directed by Ishirō Honda | 1969
Young Ichiro Miki lives in the industrial district of Kawasaki, where his parents’ relentless struggle to make ends meet often isolates the small boy. A victim of bullying, whenever Ichiro isn’t befriending toy consultant Shinpei and fellow classmate Sachiko, he turns to escapism as he dreams of casting away to the distant Monster Island, becoming companions with the equally bullied Minilla.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (Subtitled) – Jun 18
Directed by Yoshimitsu Banno | 1971
A microscopic, ever-evolving alien life-form named Hedorah arrives on a comet from the Dark Gaseous Nebula and proceeds to consume pollution, eventually swelling into a kaiju-sized, poisonous behemoth. Spewing mists of sulfuric acid and corrosive sludge, neither humanity nor Godzilla may be able to defeat this new, toxic menace.

Godzilla vs. Gigan (Subtitled) – Jun 19
Directed by Jun Fukuda | 1972
Gengo Odaka is a manga artist who lands a job with the World Children’s Land theme park, left only to become suspicious of the organization when a garbled message is discovered on tape. While Gengo and his team investigate, Godzilla and Anguirus quickly decipher the message and begin their own plan of action, as the cyborg-monster hybrid Gigan threatens battle alongside King Ghidorah.

Godzilla vs. Megalon (Subtitled) – Jun 19
Directed by Jun Fukuda | 1973
Goro Ibuki is an inventor who creates an android named Jet Jaguar, later seized by an undersea race of people called the Seatopians. Using Jet Jaguar as a guide, the Seatopians send Megalon as vengeance for the nuclear tests that have devastated their society, as the world slowly divides from beneath the sea.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (Dubbed) – Jun 20
Directed by Jun Fukuda | 1974
An Okinawan prophecy foretells the destruction of the Earth, seemingly becoming fulfilled when Godzilla emerges and returns to his ruinous origins. But not all is what it seems after Godzilla breaks the jaw of his ally Anguirus. Matters are further complicated when a second version of Godzilla emerges, revealed to be a doppelgänger and a mechanical weapon threatening global annihilation.

Terror of Mechagodzilla (Dubbed) – Jun 20
Directed by Ishirō Honda | 1975
A submarine expedition is sent to salvage the remains of Mechagodzilla, becoming thwarted by a massive dinosaur named Titanosaurus. After an Interpol investigation leads biologist Ichinose to uncover the work of Dr. Mafune and his mysterious daughter Katsura, Katsura is aligned with the Black Hole Aliens, her life becoming synthesized with the resurrected machine.

THE FRIDA CINEMA
305 E. 4TH STREET STE 100
SANTA ANA, CA 92701
https://thefridacinema.org/