. . . such as the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, while others including WORLD WAR Z are peopled by fast-moving, gymnastic brain-eaters, there are scads of blob movies in which the title mass skedaddles right along, but sadly THE H-MAN is not one of these. "O.N. John" might have been "Torn between two lovers," but she certainly would have felt even MORE like a fool had she been divvied up among at least a dozen film genres, as is THE H-MAN. Whether you look at this tale as a mob saga, horror flick, musical, police procedural, romantic comedy, pacifist rant, anti-Nuclear plea, exercise in science fiction, ghost story, Asian sex industry expose, maritime myth, post-war anti-American propaganda piece, or something else, viewers cannot deny that THE H-MAN is one mixed up mess, given its leaden pace, ludicrous English voice dubbing, cheesy special effects, pretentious professors, flip-flopping police, idiotic crime lords, kitchen sink plotting, pulled punches, eye-candy teases that lead nowhere, amphibian genocide (putting one in mind of Dolphin Bay), and other incompatible jagged puzzle pieces.

The Japanese horror and sci-fi films from the 50's never really reached any sort of high level of artistic quality other than superficial curiosity. Almost always a notch below even the least of its American and UK cousins.The movies did have a surreal quality although most of that seems to stem from the cultural and cinematic differences in style, approach, and mindset. The best of the line just didn't have that crisp, clean veneer that the domestic releases contained. It is probably this shortcoming that gives these films that other-worldly wonder that the kids of that era and film buffs today find so fascinating.The H-Man has a few eerie scenes and some somewhat different looking, if not cheap imitations, of American nightclub gangsters and performers (a forced assimilation of their conquerors pop culture). But overall it is talkie and rather vapid. At least it is a mild diversion from the rubber suit, erector set extravaganzas.

I have searched several places to see if that movie was saved for the future generations to see. I was a kid when I saw it and it made a profound effect upon me. I would love to see it again! I seem to remember the part where a guy or a girl is in a telephone booth and is trying to make a call and all of a sudden "The H Man" attacks and you see the H Man melting the person in the booth. It crept up the person's leg and the person melted before your very eyes. It sort of reminds me of "The Blob" but more liquidy and chilling. I recommend it to everyone who wants to go back and see the superb work produced back then. It is a wonder to see the high standard of movie making that was happening back then.

Like many other posters, I saw this film as a young boy and it gave me nightmares for weeks (maybe even months)! Luckily, my older brother finally convinced me that the "liquid creature" would not survive a swim from Japan to the United States and I was able to sleep again.I suspect that the modern age's Freddies, Jasons and Leatherfaces would not hold a candle to the effect that this film had on an impressionable youth back then. Perhaps the very fact that the monster had no tangible qualities and could theoretically be any puddle of water you came across was what gave it its fright value.It would certainly be interesting to see how a remake of this would play today.