Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967)

Yongary, Monster from the Deep is a 1967 giant monster film directed by Ki-duk Kim. It was released theatrically in South Korea on August 13th, 1967 under the title Taekoesu Yonggary. It was re-released in West Germany on September 1st, 1972 and premiered on television in France on December 1st, 2001. Yongary is largely considered Korea's first and best venture into the "Giant Monster" sub-genre and was produced due to the popularity of Japan's infamous daikaiju Godzilla. The premise of the film revolves around a mythological figure of South Korean lore known as Yongary - a giant monster that awakens after bombings in the Middle East cause a series of earthquakes. Yongary rampages through Seoul attacking national landmarks such as the Great South Gate, as well as oil refineries, consuming their stores of oil and causing mayhem with his fire breath.

Notes & Trivia

 * The original title for the film was Daeguesu Yongary, or, The Great Monster Yongary.


 * Yongary, Monster from the Deep was released to DVD by MGM on September 11th, 2007 along with Konga as part of a "Midnite Movies" double-feature package.


 * The original South Korean release of the film had a running time of 100 minutes. This was trimmed to 79 minutes in the US video cut of the movie and 74 minutes in the Japanese cut. The version that appeared in West Germany had a running time of only 64 minutes. No prints of the original Yongary are believed to exist and the excised material from the original version and the re-release versions of the film are considered lost material.


 * The US version of the film has had three slightly different title/end sequences. The new region 1 MGM widescreen DVD had no titles on the film print. MGM did their best to match the previous 1960s version font and style 2. The public domain DVD released by St. Clair vision features the original titles sequence and has the wording of "American international TV Presents" in small lettering above the Yongary title. The public domain DVD released by Alpha video also has the original 1960s title sequence, however the AIP wording of "American International TV presents" is not present on their print. It just shows the title of the film. The end credit sequence is both the same for the alpha and St. Clair DVD versions.


 * One of the more notable bloopers found in the film is vent tube used to produce Yongary's fire breath. In several scenes from the movie, the pipe that extends from the mouth of the creature is clearly visible.