The Secret of the Telegian

Probably one of the creepiest and scariest sci-fi from Toho. A former, vengeful soldier uses a matter-transmitting device to transport himself to his enemies so he could do away with them. A reporter and the detectives get mixed into the plot and they aim to stop this "Teleport Madman" before he continues his killing spree.

This is one of the more dull and dark stories from writer Shinichi Sekizawa, who was known for his more light-hearted and positive screenplays. Jun Fukuda, known for his crime dramas, did well directing. Sei Ikeno's music score was eerie and added suspense to this thriller. With some heart-pounding terror, this movie is not short on believable special effects. Featuring veteran Toho actors Akihiko Hirata, Yoshio Tsuchiya, and Yumi Shirakawa, this movie is a good one to scare away the kids.

Grade B

A creepy film. A soldier teleports himself around with a teleportation device and kills his enemies where ever they try to hide then steals some gold. This realy scared me the first time I saw it when I was 8. I would really like to find a color version of this.

Someone is killing former Imperial soldiers and the prime suspect is a comrade they betrayed and left for dead 14 years earlier. The sci-fi gimmick in this otherwise routine murder mystery is the killer's access to a teleport machine, which allows him to get at the victims and yet seem to have an alibi. The plot doesn't really make a lot of sense* and not much is done with the teleportation angle other than allowing the killer to unexpectedly appear and to occasionally emit a blue aura or flicker mysteriously. Eiji Tsuburaya's special effects are limited but effective (especially the teleportation sequences) and Jun Fukuda's direction is serviceable, although some of the drama is undercut by some cartoonish dubbed-in voices and frequent use of gimmicky Dutch angles. Not as good as the studios earlier sci-fi noir, 1958's 'The H-man' ('Bijo to ekitai ningen') or 1960's 'The First Gas Human' ('Gasu ningen dai 1 gô') but entertaining enough for fans of vintage tokusatsu. *at least in dubbed version I watched.

Strongly influenced by American cinema industry this inventive and well-crafted sci-fi made by Toho on early sixties is a delightful and colorful war story of former soldiers where the Commander and three followers killed a private nationalist and a scientist due they tried hidden a box of gold together with blueprints of war machines in cave after WWII is over, thus fourteen years later the trio of stealers have been received a warning over a revenge about to came.

After the first one has been murder by a small blade, it triggers a panic among the remainder group, including the Police and an investigative reporter as well, turns out that the assassin is actually the former soldier using an advanced device of matter transporter developed by the survivor old scientist, by this the electric killer has a perfect alibi, whereof he has to prove that wasn't at local where the crime carried out.

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First watch: 2024 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.

Nicely atmospheric Japanese Sci-fi Horror by Toho productions which sees a supposedly dead soldier getting revenge by killing off those crooks who left him for dead, by using a teleporting machine to locate and then finally dispose of them on by one. However a police detective and reporter are on the case in trying to stop this indestructible killer. "Secret of the Telegian" has a clever gimmick, striking special effects (mainly involving the life matter transmitter) and an interestingly complex little tale engulfed with mystery and darkness, however while there are some eerie visuals and a creepy villain (just listen to that cackle) who lives in the shadows. It's just not as fun as it could have been. Too bad as it starts off strange, but there are some really slow passages and its script is dry as can be. Even when it came to the action, it's rather streamlined with plenty of foot chases despite the distorted villain being able to teleport, but the best moments occur when it's leading up to the stylistic deaths. There's something ominous about its tension through those scenes and the music beautifully complements it with its haunting cues. The photography is smoothly projected and the art direction (with some obvious back-lot sets) is rich in details. I see some people mention about a black & white version, but try to get your hands on the colour film. Looks great! Yoshio Tsuchiya, Akihiko Hirata and Yumi Shirakawa give solid performances and the direction is tersely layered.