Daimajin opens in a small Japanese village in feudal Japan being overthrown by an evil overlord named Samanosuke (Yutaro Gomi). He kills everyone in the royal family except the young Princess and Prince Tadafumi, who go into hiding on the mountain where the statue of the God Majin stands. Legend has it that Majin has the soul of a warrior trapped inside him, and must not be angered lest there be grave consequences. After ten years of repression and starvation, an attempt is made to restore the old regime but Samanosuke is simply too powerful. That is, until he decides to mock the God Majin and has his cronies try to destroy it by pounding a chisel into the statue's head. Majin wakes up in a really bad mood and goes on a wild rampage to set things straight.
     Daimajin holds up very well after almost forty years. It is different from most giant monster movies of the sixties in that it is a period piece, and therefore seems timeless to modern audiences. It also can just as easily be called a samurai film as a giant monster movie. Sadly, we don't get to see Majin until the final reel of the film, and the action ends just as abruptly as it began. Still, there's plenty of good acting and special effects to be had, and the miniature sets are extremely well photographed, with some of the shots eclipsing the bigger budget efforts of the time. The supernatural elements of the story are expertly interwoven with the human drama, and Majin never comes off as a fun monster the way Gamera (Daiei's other star of the period) did. Adding to the moodiness of the piece is a brooding score by Akira Ifukube, who composed the majority of the Godzilla films over at Toho Studios. Daimajin is a serious film with very little humor, but it is still very enjoyable. (Magicvoice 2003)