I’m a little perplexed to read about the critical and popular success of The Human Vapor (1960), the third movie in the Japanese “Transforming Human Series” that includes The H-Man (1958) and The Secret of the Telegian (1960.) I mean, I’m thrilled that a film like this is so beloved, but I just didn’t get that much out of it. Others have. There was a stage adaptation in the late 2000s, as well as consistent rumors of sequels and/or remakes through the years since its release. In fact, we’re discussing this today because a modern reworking of the story is debuting on Netflix as an eight-episode miniseries.
Research indicates that timing may have had everything to do with its success. I’m not familiar with Japanese history, but apparently there was social unrest in 1960 that included the Anpo protests against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. It seems the fictional bank robberies of the film reflected actual events occurring during this time. Yeah, but I bet the heists weren’t enacted by the victim of an experiment gone wrong that left mild mannered librarian Mizuno (Yoshio Tsuchiya) with the ability to transform into a mist (or vapor, if you will) so he could easily access bank safes and make undetected getaways.
Contributing to my lack of enthusiasm may also be the fact that, unable to find the original 91-minute Japanese version, I had to watch the 81-minute American version. I’m no mathematician, but I think that’s 10 whole minutes that may have made the presentation feel less like a TV show and more like a real movie. I’ve read that the beginning and endings are different and it’s obvious when you watch. The version I saw opens with Mizuno telling his story to the press. That means flashbacks. The original synopsis I found online suggests a more natural order in which we don’t know much at all about Mizuno until later in the story.
There’s natural suspense in an order like that. We see all the strange goings on and must wait to learn what exactly is happening. The edited version had no big reveal or surprise. It also felt rushed. The mystery shifted to why he’s robbing the banks. With that focus instead of the culprit himself, it just wasn’t as interesting to me. Plus, if felt like a backstory was missing for how Mizuno met former dancer Fujichiyo Kasuga (Kaoru Yachigusa) in the first place. Where did they meet? How did they fall in love? What made him love her so deeply that he would become a criminal to pay for her return to the stage?
The special effects by Toho’s reliable screen magician, Eiji Tsuburaya, are… OK. For the time, they may have impressed. Good or bad, it’s fun to see a man turn into vapor that escapes the openings of his suit before it collapses to the ground empty. And sometimes the vapor can wrap around someone’s face to suffocate and/or strangle them. As that particular fate increases for the good guys, Mizuno suffers from a little Jack Griffin fever and becomes more carefree, if not crazy, about his powers. He doesn’t particularly want to kill but won’t hesitate to do it if it prevents him from achieving his goals.
It’s also fun to see someone with powers as the villain with no equally powered heroes to fight him. However, we don’t know much about Inspector Kenji Okamoto (Tatsuya Mihashi) and newspaper reporter Kyoko Kono (Keiko Sata) to care about them or even be on their side. On the other hand, they’re not despicable characters, so we don’t really root for the bad guy. All this said, I’m looking forward to the Netflix series. I’m assuming it will embellish the story and show us spectacular special effects. Plus, if it’s good, I might appreciate the original more and maybe we’ll get a proper release of the original Japanese version.
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