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Matango

 Matango
type
TVTItem
 Matango
label
Matango
 Matango
page
Matango
 Matango
comment
Matango, known in the US as Attack of the Mushroom People, is a 1963 Japanese horror film from Ishir⁠ō Honda, director of the original Godzilla (1954). It's an adaptation of a short story called "The Voice in the Night" by William Hope Hodgson.When a Japanese yacht is damaged in a storm, its crew and passengers make their way to a nearby island. The island is apparently deserted, though the castaways soon discover a beached research ship on the other side of the island. An examination of the ship, the insides of which are encrusted with a thick mold, soon reveals that it had an international crew who appear to have been involved in radiation and fallout research. Despite this, it seems that the crew survived for some time after the ship was beached, however there is no indication of their current whereabouts.Although mushrooms are unusually plentiful on the island, the ship's captain warns the passengers not to eat them because of the danger of poisoning, and to concentrate on birds and turtle eggs. However, it is soon discovered that birds are afraid of the island and that turtle eggs are scarce. A small supply of canned food is found on the research ship, but this only buys the crew some time. Inevitably, members of the crew begin eating the mushrooms. In the meantime, they also discover that the crew of the abandoned ship may not have vanished as completely as they'd originally thought...
 Matango
fetched
2023-11-16T02:14:27Z
 Matango
parsed
2023-11-16T02:14:27Z
 Matango
processingComment
Dropped link to GilligansIsland: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Matango
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Matango / int_115d318
type
And Then John Was a Zombie
 Matango / int_115d318
comment
And Then John Was a Zombie: At the end, we see Kenji turning into a mushroom man.
 Matango / int_115d318
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_115d318
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_115d318
 Matango / int_14ed6ab7
type
Does This Remind You of Anything?
 Matango / int_14ed6ab7
comment
Does This Remind You of Anything?: A lot of people got worked up over the effects, because they looked like radiation burns. The movie could be a metaphor for the dangers of fallout. Sure the food looks unharmed but...
 Matango / int_14ed6ab7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_14ed6ab7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_14ed6ab7
 Matango / int_18d15922
type
Title Drop
 Matango / int_18d15922
comment
Title Drop: "Matango" is written on one of the sample crates on the abandoned boat (with a massive mushroom inside), and at one point Yoshida says in a drugged stupor that it's a word for "no longer human".
 Matango / int_18d15922
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_18d15922
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_18d15922
 Matango / int_21889507
type
A House Divided
 Matango / int_21889507
comment
A House Divided: Hunger, class resentment and desperation all come together to create a really bad situation. And then those who eat the mushrooms become homicidal...
 Matango / int_21889507
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_21889507
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_21889507
 Matango / int_23473ae7
type
Adaptation Expansion
 Matango / int_23473ae7
comment
Adaptation Expansion: Very much so. For one thing, the castaways never turned on each other in the original story though that really doesn't make the short story's ending any happier than the movie's.
 Matango / int_23473ae7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_23473ae7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_23473ae7
 Matango / int_246cc760
type
Magic Mushroom
 Matango / int_246cc760
comment
Magic Mushroom: They cause you to lose your compassion and turn into a Mushroom Man.
 Matango / int_246cc760
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_246cc760
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
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Matango / int_246cc760
 Matango / int_4ac8b81f
type
Humans Are the Real Monsters
 Matango / int_4ac8b81f
comment
Humans Are the Real Monsters: Downplayed. The biggest sign that a castaway has accepted their transformation into a Mushroom Man is a sudden change into their clean, respectable selves before the more disturbing visual changes begin. As he succumbs to his own infection, Kenji ultimately damns modern Tokyo as no different from the inhumanity of the mushroom creatures.
 Matango / int_4ac8b81f
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1.0
 Matango / int_4ac8b81f
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1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_4ac8b81f
 Matango / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Matango / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: Kenji escapes the island, only to start turning into a mushroom man anyway and be trapped in a cage to be studied by scientists.
 Matango / int_4e3d253b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_4e3d253b
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 Matango
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Matango / int_4e3d253b
 Matango / int_4e7f703c
type
Wham Shot
 Matango / int_4e7f703c
comment
Wham Shot: When Kenji turns his head in the ending.
 Matango / int_4e7f703c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_4e7f703c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
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Matango / int_4e7f703c
 Matango / int_4fba5bf6
type
Festering Fungus
 Matango / int_4fba5bf6
comment
Festering Fungus: And how. It causes Body Horror and drug-induced madness. The worst part is that it's the only thing that can be eaten on the island.
 Matango / int_4fba5bf6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_4fba5bf6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_4fba5bf6
 Matango / int_502c9edd
type
Mushroom Man
 Matango / int_502c9edd
comment
Mushroom Man: This film is the Trope Namer.
 Matango / int_502c9edd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_502c9edd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_502c9edd
 Matango / int_504a1991
type
Body Horror
 Matango / int_504a1991
comment
Body Horror: So much body horror. A good sign that the mushrooms have some kind of drug-like effect, because transforming into a Mushroom Man surely doesn't look pleasant...
 Matango / int_504a1991
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_504a1991
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_504a1991
 Matango / int_6a1c2a6
type
Cosmic Horror Story
 Matango / int_6a1c2a6
comment
Cosmic Horror Story: The mushrooms and their effects could be a low-key version.
 Matango / int_6a1c2a6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_6a1c2a6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_6a1c2a6
 Matango / int_6d892421
type
Teacher/Student Romance
 Matango / int_6d892421
comment
Teacher/Student Romance: Kenji is a college professor while Akiko is a student of his. They were ultimately separated, and Kenji laments having left the island to stay with her.
 Matango / int_6d892421
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_6d892421
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_6d892421
 Matango / int_7870735b
type
From Bad to Worse
 Matango / int_7870735b
comment
From Bad to Worse: Starting with a damaged ship...then the island...then all those mushrooms are actually dangerous...no birds or fish...well shit!
 Matango / int_7870735b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_7870735b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_7870735b
 Matango / int_863fa679
type
What Happened to the Mouse?
 Matango / int_863fa679
comment
What Happened to the Mouse?: Kasai. After he got tempted by Mami to eat the mushrooms, Kasai was last seen trying to get away until he got surrounded by the Matango and collapse from exhaustion.
 Matango / int_863fa679
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_863fa679
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_863fa679
 Matango / int_905438eb
type
Recycled IN SPACE!
 Matango / int_905438eb
comment
Recycled In Space: Theme-wise it's something of Night of the Living Dead (1968)...on an island! Where they should fear each other more than the mushrooms. There was a B-movie reviewer who actually compared the film to Gilligan's Island... In a Horror Film!
 Matango / int_905438eb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_905438eb
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_905438eb
 Matango / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 Matango / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: In the beginning, everyone goes on about how great and trusting they are to each other.
 Matango / int_9d12bbc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_9d12bbc1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_9d12bbc1
 Matango / int_9d67ad5c
type
Nuclear Mutant
 Matango / int_9d67ad5c
comment
Nuclear Mutant: The mushrooms may or may not have been mutated by the radiation experiments conducted by the research vessel.
 Matango / int_9d67ad5c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_9d67ad5c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_9d67ad5c
 Matango / int_aba8065b
type
Fatal Flaw
 Matango / int_aba8065b
comment
Fatal Flaw: Which ultimately leads most of the cast to their doom. Yoshida, a shallow writer who plagiarizes without regret, regurgitates various stock horror tropes to justify his betrayal and descent into madness. Mami is immensely fickle and attaches herself to whoever she thinks offers her the best chance of survival. Allying with Yoshida results in a quick assimilation to a Mushroom Man. Kasai's secret theft of food supplies and general short-sighted selfishness results in him suffering even more than the others once they actually run out. Which makes it easier for Mami to tempt him to gorge down on the mushrooms. Sakuta has little patience for his crew's tensions interfering with his work and enjoys a fair reputation in sailor circles. But he can't escape the island alone with the yacht, no matter how skilled he may be.
 Matango / int_aba8065b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_aba8065b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_aba8065b
 Matango / int_ad22fa80
type
Apocalyptic Log
 Matango / int_ad22fa80
comment
Apocalyptic Log: The log of the research ship explains that food was pretty low, so the people sent parties on a daily basis to try to find more supplies in the island... but not a single one ever returned... Sakuta sails off in the yacht all by himself leaving all other survivors to die. The ship eventually comes back to the island carried off by the currents and Kenji gets on it, discovering that Sakuta scribbled a note on one of the cabin's walls saying that everybody else died, that he was the last to perish, and that Sakuta's body is nowhere to be found.
 Matango / int_ad22fa80
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_ad22fa80
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_ad22fa80
 Matango / int_af3ea0e3
type
Face–Heel Turn
 Matango / int_af3ea0e3
comment
Face–Heel Turn: While few of the castaways are decent people, it's their assimilation into the Matango that marks their complete shift to evil.
 Matango / int_af3ea0e3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_af3ea0e3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_af3ea0e3
 Matango / int_b97a2fa7
type
Forced Transformation
 Matango / int_b97a2fa7
comment
Forced Transformation: People who eat the mushrooms are slowly turned into mushroom men.
 Matango / int_b97a2fa7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_b97a2fa7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
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Matango / int_b97a2fa7
 Matango / int_bfb5f597
type
Money Is Not Power
 Matango / int_bfb5f597
comment
Money Is Not Power: Variation. Yoshida is the richest man amongst the survivors, but he has had some of the worst luck when it comes to scavenging food. Kasai ends up exploiting this by selling him some of the food he hoarded at exorbitant prices.
 Matango / int_bfb5f597
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_bfb5f597
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_bfb5f597
 Matango / int_e0e3579a
type
Fungus Humongous
 Matango / int_e0e3579a
comment
Fungus Humongous: The titular "mushroom people" are humanoid walking clusters of mushrooms.
 Matango / int_e0e3579a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_e0e3579a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_e0e3579a
 Matango / int_e2a6ebc1
type
Closed Circle
 Matango / int_e2a6ebc1
comment
Closed Circle: The protagonists are trapped inside of an island surrounded by a permanent fog that makes signals impossible to be seen, their communication methods were destroyed by the storm and/or have no batteries, the currents actually make ships return to the island's coast...
 Matango / int_e2a6ebc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_e2a6ebc1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_e2a6ebc1
 Matango / int_ed68bcc9
type
Dwindling Party
 Matango / int_ed68bcc9
comment
Dwindling Party: The film started with 7 people and only one escaped the island. Yoshida. During his search, he ate the mushrooms and start to go insane. Sakuta. Betrayed the others by stealing the remaining food and the yacht. The yacht drifted back with a written message that Sakuta committed suicide by jumping overboard after he ran out of food. Koyama. Shot by Yoshida during the latter's mutiny. Mami. She ate the mushrooms after being exiled with Yoshida for participating the latter's mutiny. Kasai. Tempted by Mami to eat the mushrooms, he tried to run from the Matango until he collapses from exhaustion, presumably to be either dead or changed slowly into a Matango himself. Akiko. She got captured by the Matango and force-fed the mushrooms.
 Matango / int_ed68bcc9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Matango / int_ed68bcc9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_ed68bcc9
 Matango / int_f516f938
type
Never Found the Body
 Matango / int_f516f938
comment
Sakuta sails off in the yacht all by himself leaving all other survivors to die. The ship eventually comes back to the island carried off by the currents and Kenji gets on it, discovering that Sakuta scribbled a note on one of the cabin's walls saying that everybody else died, that he was the last to perish, and that Sakuta's body is nowhere to be found.
 Matango / int_f516f938
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1.0
 Matango / int_f516f938
featureConfidence
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 Matango
hasFeature
Matango / int_f516f938
 Matango / int_name
type
ItemName
 Matango / int_name
comment
 Matango / int_name
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 Matango / int_name
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 Matango
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Matango / int_name
 Matango / int_name
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Matango

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Matango
hasFeature
Festering Fungus / int_3d67de7b
 Matango
hasFeature
Market-Based Title / int_3d67de7b
 Matango
seeAlso
Matango
 Matango
hasFeature
Monster Media / int_3d67de7b
 Matango
hasFeature
Mushroom Man / int_3d67de7b
 Matango
hasFeature
Plant Aliens / int_3d67de7b
 Matango
hasFeature
Sci-Fi Horror / int_3d67de7b