That's correct: Frankensteins! We're dealing with more than one in the Toho kaiju eiga. In this installment I'll depart somewhat from form and examine the background of two of the films, as it helps resolve some questions.

The first film to be discussed is Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965). Currently this film is unavailable on video except as a bootleg; it still appears on television occasionally. The first problem concerns the relationship of the title kaiju to the Frankenstein Monster's heart. The English version is silent about this. Some sources claim that the Hiroshima atomic blast caused the heart to grow into the kaiju, while others suggest the irradiated heart was eaten by a Japanese street orphan who there upon mutated into the kaiju. Visually, there is nothing in the Japanese version to resolve this dispute and I don't know if the dialogue addresses this issue.  I prefer the heart-eating hypothesis for two reasons. This solution accords well with the scavenging activities displayed by Frankenstein in the first part of the film. Additionally, the kaiju looks more like a mutated Japanese youngster than a regenerated Frankenstein Monster. That the kaiju is friendly rather than belligerent is interesting but not conclusive since the original Frankenstein monster was not inherently evil. That raises another, though minor, problem: which Frankenstein Monster's heart was eaten? Was Frankenstein Conquers the World meant to be a sequel to the Universal Frankenstein films, the Hammer ones, the novel itself, or some other source? Unfortunately there is no way to tell, although the heart's immortality suggests the Universal films as the inspiration.

Frankenstein is one of the few kaiju who can be considered to have died, although how he died and how "completely" he died raise some questions. In the English version of the film, Frankenstein is killed by a combination of fire and earthquake after his fInal battle with Baragon. The Japanese version, in contrast, omits the earthquake and features a giant octopus attacking Frankenstein immediately after Baragon is dispatched. The two fight, then fall into a lake (or the sea?) where Frankenstein presumably drowns. Yet, according to a letter by Greg Feret in "Video Watchdog" magazine, the octopus sequence was filmed at the request of the American co-producers. It was then deleted from both the American and Japanese versions, finally being restored on the Japanese laser disc. So how Frankenstein died depends on which version is accepted as canonical. Let's agree to accept the Japanese laser disc version. How completely Frankenstein died leads to the next film.

Readers should be aware that War of the Gargantuas (1966), in the Japanese version, is a direct sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World. Indeed, the Japanese title of Gargantuas translates as "Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda vs Gaila". The American version is presented as an unrelated film. The story usually told is that Henry Saperstein, the American co-producer, felt that the kaiju looked nothing like Frankenstein and had them changed to Gargantuas. Just when this change occurred is problematical. Presumably, Saperstein would have been involved in the film from the start and could have rejected the pre-production drawings as un-Frankenstein-like. That it was an early decision seems to be supported by the English dialogue. In the Japanese trailer, actor Russ Tamblyn's dialogue is in English (sub-titled in Japanese) and he refers to Gargantuas. In the Japanese feature, Tamblyn's dialogue is dubbed into Japanese and refers to Frankenstein throughout. Still, if the decision was an early one, why did Toho stick with Frankenstein?  It is interesting to note that in Stuart Galbraith's book, "Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films," Bill Warren is quoted as saying that Tamblyn's original dialogue was lost and had to be redubbed. Therefore, he might have said Frankenstein originally, with the change occurring after the film was completed but before the Japanese trailer was made. Thus, it is possible that Saperstein took a hands off approach to the production, not objecting to the kaiju's name until the film was completed.

None of the above would matter particularly for our purposes were it not for the conundrums that arise as a result of the name changes. For example, there is the question of Sanda and Gaila's relationship to Frankenstein. Frankenstein's severed (and still living) hand, lost during his escape from captivity, is generally credited with somehow being responsible for the Gargantuas. Robert Marrero, in his extremely unreliable book "Giant Monster Movies," claims Sanda is the grown up Frankenstein (now the Brown Gargantua) and Gaila (the Green Gargantua) was regenerated from the severed hand. That this is nonsense is clear from the presence in both versions of a child-sized Sanda. Other sources suggest Sanda regenerated from the original severed hand and Gaila from a second severed hand or other accident. This expatiation is preferable.

If Sanda did grow from the hand, why the change in size and appearance? Size isn't much of a problem. Even though the original hand was quite large while Sanda started out as a small child, the act of regeneration probably altered the hand as the new body developed. The change in appearance was likely due to whatever sustenance the hand used, just as Gaila's appearance is attributed to ingestion of and/or combination with plankton. The hair covering could already be seen developing on Frankenstein; it may be an adaptation to giantism.

Here is a proposed scenario: Sanda grew from the severed hand of the original Frankenstein and was kept in a laboratory until escaping. Gaila grew from the remains of the original Frankenstein left in the water after his fatal encounter with the giant octopus.  That octopus raises another point. Is it the same one Gaila fights at the beginning of War of the Gargantuas? It is often stated that the battle contains left-over footage from Frankenstein Conquers the World. Having seen both octopus sequences, I doubt it.  However, it is reasonable to believe Gaila' s attack is his revenge for Frankenstein's defeat in the prior film.

Gaila gets my vote as the most evil of all the kaiju (as opposed to merely destructive). Be that as it may, he and Sanda disappear during a volcanic eruption and are presumed dead. Certainly, they had not been located and moved to Monsterland on the Ogasawara Islands by 1999, the time of Destroy All Monsters.

Since Toho seems to have abandoned plans for a remake of King Kong vs Godzilla, they might want to consider making "Godzilla vs Sanda and Gaila" at some point instead. The Gargantuas human intelligence would make them unusual adversaries, compensating for their lack of brute strength or other powers on a par with Godzilla's. I can picture Godzilla using his radioactive ray to blast a limb from Sanda, only to have it regenerate into Gaila! And if Godzilla realized the connection, he would be forced to abandon his most powerful weapon.

Compared to the Frankensteins, Baragon is problem free. Not especially well liked in America (except with younger viewers), Baragon ranks fairly high among Japanese fans. Baragon is interesting as one of the few kaiju (Gaila is another) shown eating. Their dietary habits are unlikely to endear them to humans, however. Baragon is also one of the kaiju to use/create underground passages.  Severely injured in his battle with Frankenstein, Baragon was a long time recovering. By 1999 he had been located and placed on Monsterland. He suffered the ignominy of being blamed for Gorosaurus' attack on Paris in Destroy All Monsters, perhaps because Gorosaurus burrowed his way there. This misidentification exists in both the English and Japanese versions.

To conclude this installment, we'll take a quick look at Varan. Varan the Unbelievable (1958) is a difficult film to see nowadays. Available only as a bootleg video, it is rarely if ever Shown on television anymore as it is in black and white and lacks any particular historical interest. According to Stuart Galbraith's book, only fifteen minutes of the original Japanese production are contained in the English version. Among the scenes omitted are all  those of Varan flying.  In the English version of the film Varan's arrival is triggered by desalination experiments. Not so in the Japanese film. There he arises from his lake while scientists are investigating the discovery of an unusual butterfly. Varan can also be briefly glimpsed in Destroy All Monsters. Grievously wounded with internal injuries as a result of swallowing explosives during his first appearance, he did not recover for some time, probably in the 1990's.

Here, then, is the chronology for this installment's kaiju:

1945: The Frankenstein Monster's heart is transported from Germany to Hiroshima, just in time for the atom bomb explosion.

1958: Varan rises from his lake, attacks Japan, and lives to regret it.

Late 50s or early 60s: Frankenstein's irradiated heart is eaten by a Japanese street urchin, causing him to mutate.

Early 60s: Baragon appears from beneath the earth while Frankenstein grows to enonnous size. Frankenstein escapes captivity, losing a hand in the process, and fights Baragon to victory, only to be defeated in turn by a giant octopus.

1966: Frankenstein's severed hand has regenerated into Sanda, his other remains have become Gaila. The two fight and disappear under the sea during a volcanic eruption.

1990s: Varan and Baragon are located and removed to Monsterland on the Ogasawara Islands.