Tokyo Filming Locations #8 – Monster (2008)

Slagging off this film in my review nine months ago still didn’t stop me from hunting down some of the shots which appeared in perhaps the worst movie I’ve ever seen! Most of them were shown in a flash inbetween the cleavage shots of the girls but as a man who works in Shibuya twice a week it was quite easy to recognise the briefest glimpses of Tokyo scenery. On their arrival in Japan we see the girls walking down Centre Gai on 6 minutes past Tenkappin Restaurant (below).

 

If you turn right just a bit further down you see the view seen above. The girls film a short piece to camera at the place seen below which is situated at Shibuya crossing just before Centre Gai street.

 

Every three minutes this world famous crossing descends into chaos as hundreds and hundreds of people cross in all directions and has been seen in a countless number of films. This one is no exception as the shot above is seen. The green train below and the famous Hachiko dog statue are within spitting distance of each other outside Shibuya station and both these angled shots can be seen in the blink of an eye.

 

The girls go to the Ministry of Environment (below) at Kasumigaseki 1-2-2 in Chiyoda-ku for a meeting with some guy about global warming when there’s a big shake which they at first think is an earthquake but later discover is a monster which gives the film its cr*p title. Despite this very little, if anything at all is seen of the deadly monster.

 

They try to make their way to the supposed safety of the American Embassy (above) though I’m not sure if it actually appears on screen due to the “recovered tape” style filming of the film which was damaged in part by the mysterious monster and these annoying “effects” are used far too often to cover up the many loop-holes.

The wooden torii gate at the entrance to Meiji Shrine (below) outside Harajuku station is seen on 37 mins even though the caption prior to it says that its Shinjuku-gyoen Gardens. Even though its supposed to be January the two American girls are wearing just vests as they walk along the path in fear of the monster whilst Japanese people in the background are just going about their own business oblivious to the fact that theres a monster on the loose. Truly an awful film and I’m mildly embarrassed to have even featured these locations on here. Almost worth watching though to see how bad it is!