Keizô Murase
Costume & make-up · 1935 – 2024 · Ikeda, Tokachi, Hokkaido, Japan
Keizō Murase (村瀬継蔵, Murase Keizō; October 5, 1935 – October 14, 2024) was a Japanese suitmaker, stuntman, sculptor, modeller, and film director. He is particularly well known for his work in giant monster films, including Mothra (1961), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), and The Mighty Peking Man (1977). In 1958, Toho hired Murase to sculpt the Varan suit for Varan the Unbelievable. An amateur photographer, Murase extensively documented his work, which was published in his 2015 autobiography, Monster Maker: Keizo Murase. After working for Daiei Film on Gamera, he, Masao Yagi, and Akira Suzuki founded the modelling company Ex Productions; he later left in 1972 to form his own company, Twenty. Murase died from cirrhosis of the liver on October 14, 2024, at the age of 89.
Movies1
Movie5.1ActionFantasyWord of a monster ape ten stories tall living in the Himalayas reaches fortune hunters in Hong Kong. They travel to India to capture it, but wild animals and quicksand dissuade all but Johnny, an adventurer with a broken heart. He finds the monster and discovers it's been raising a scantily-clad woman, Samantha, since she survived a plane crash years before that killed her parents. In the idyllic jungle, Johnny and Samantha fall in love. Then Johnny asks her to convince "Utam" to go to Hong Kong. Lu Tien, an unscrupulous promoter, takes over: Utam is in chains for freak show exhibitions. When Lu Tien assaults Samantha, Utam's protective instincts take over: havoc in Hong Kong.