Source: SRS Cinema LLC press release
Special Thanks to Avery Guerra

The 1962 Daiei film THE WHALE makes its long-awaited North American premiere on Blu-ray. Image courtesy of SRS Cinema. ©KADOKAWA CORPORATION 1962

Distributor SRS Cinema has announced the launch of preorders for their limited edition Blu-ray of THE WHALE GOD (鯨神, Kujiragami). Released by Daiei (now Kadokawa) in 1962, the film was directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, stars Kojiro Hongo (Gamera series) and Takeshi Shimura (SEVEN SAMURAI, GODZILLA), with music by Akira Ifukube (GODZILLA, RODAN), and features stunning life-size practical effects. This is the first official North American release for THE WHALE GOD-- thanks to SRS Cinema.

Note: Fans can be a part of this release - submit a testimonial about what this release means to you, and maybe we will include it in the extras! Email Ron Bonk at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the header "The Whale God - Submissions."

SYNOPSIS

A small Japanese village is obsessed with killing a monstrous whale that has decimated its hunting parties. The town’s wealthiest man offers his land, position, and only daughter to the individual who can kill the demon whale. Shaki, a popular young man whose family has been massacred by the beast, steps forward vowing to slay the whale and avenge his relations, but his efforts are complicated by a brutish stranger to the village also intent on killing the monster and collecting on the promised riches. Based on Koichiro Uno’s award-winning novel published the previous year and scripted by visionary writer-director Kaneto Shindo, this loose adaptation of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick captures the madness and danger of whaling and combines it with period drama and kaiju monster effects.