Gamera: Super Monster
"Gamera: Super Monster" was distributed by New Daiei, and was released theatrically in Japan on 20 March 1980. It was followed by "" in 1995, which would mark the beginning of the franchise's Heisei period. Plot. When the evil alien Zanon comes to enslave Earth, all hope seems lost. The Earth's resident superheroes, the Spacewomen, are powerless to stop him. They must enlist the help of a young boy who has a special connection with the giant turtle Gamera. The Friend of All Children then battles Gyaos (a huge vampire bat/pterosaur hybrid), Zigra (an alien  shark), Viras (an alien squid), Jiger (a female giant prehistoric dinosaur), Guiron (a knife-headed alien monster) and finally Barugon (an enormous lizard whose tongue sprays a freeze-gas that can freeze things solid and whose back spines emit a powerful rainbow ray that can melt or dissolve any solid object). Gamera sacrifices his life in the end to destroy Zanon once and for all and to protect Earth one last time. Production. "Gamera: Super Monster" contains extensive stock footage of the entire "Gamera" film series, as well as "Space Battleship Yamato" and "Galaxy Express 999". Almost all of the  footage of Gamera is stock footage. The movie was made as an attempt to help Daiei get out of its turbulent financial situation. Release. "Gamera: Super Monster" was released theatrically in Japan on March 20, 1980, where it was distributed by New Daiei. Home media. Section::::"Elvira's Movie Macabre". The movie was featured on a 1983 episode of "Elvira's Movie Macabre", which Shout! Factory released on a DVD in 2007 together with the 1967 British film "They Came from Beyond Space". The two films can each be watched with or without the Elvira host segments. Section::::"Cinema Insomnia". In 2007 , "Gamera: Super Monster" was shown on the horror hosted television series "Cinema Insomnia". Apprehensive Films later released the "Cinema Insomnia" episode onto DVD in both regular and special "Slime Line" editions. Shout! Factory release. Shout! Factory acquired the rights from Kadokawa Pictures for all eight of the Showa era "Gamera" films and have issued the uncut Japanese versions on DVD for the first time in North America. These "Special Edition" DVDs were released in sequential order, starting with "Gamera, the Giant Monster" (1965) on May 18, 2010.