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 Matango
(1963) on IMDb

Matango (1963)

Castaway on a forbidden planet…Their craving for the strange exotic fruit…Drives them to madness…And unspeakable horror!

Shipwrecked survivors slowly transform into mushrooms.

Matango (マタンゴ) is a 1963 Japanese horror film directed by Ishirō Honda. The film stars Akira KuboKumi Mizuno and Kenji Sahara. It is partially based on William H. Hodgson‘s short story “The Voice in the Night” and is about a group of castaways on an island who are unwittingly altered by a local species of mutagenic mushrooms.

Matango was different from Honda’s other films of the period as it explored darker themes and featured a more desolate look. Upon the film’s release in Japan, it was nearly banned due to scenes that depicted characters resembling victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film was released directly to television in the United States in a shortened form. Retrospective reviews generally commented on how the film varied from Honda’s other work, with its darker tone.

Theatrical release poster, Matango
Theatrical release poster

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