Giant Horde Beast Nezura (lost production materials of unfinished Japanese monster film; 1963)

Surviving publicity still; not an actual still from the film.

Status: Lost

Giant Horde Beast Nezura was the working title of an "animal attack" movie to be produced by Daiei Film, concerning a horde of giant rats attacking Tokyo. A crowdfunded tokusatsu kaiju biopic film was produced and released in 2020 titled Nezura 1964.

Synopsis

A research institute on the island of Sasashima develops a new high-calorie superfood called S602. The project is shut down after it is discovered this superfood causes mutations in people who consume it. The local rat population consumes the S602 and become giant, attacking people and livestock. The horde of rats makes its way to Tokyo; among them is an even larger, kaiju-sized rat named Nezura. Eventually, the rats were slated to turn on each other, destroying themselves through cannibalism.

Production

Filming of Giant Horde Beast Nezura began in Autumn 1963, under the direction of Mitsuo Murayama. The plan was to have live rats overrunning miniature sets; suitmation would be used for the lone giant Nezura. When the real, untrained sewer rats arrived, however, an infestation of fleas and lice spread through the set, and the rats began escaping and infesting nearby businesses. The rats were eventually destroyed through pesticides and cannibalism (ironically slated to happen in the movie), and production was shut down. Many of the miniature sets of this movie would later be reused for the first Gamera movie.

Availability

At least 20 minutes of footage were shot; Noriaki Yuasa, future director of Gamera, supposedly compiled the shot footage into a trailer, but the whereabouts of this footage is unknown. Publicity stills of the film still exist; however, these are not stills from the shot film.

References

• Lemay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films.