Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is one of the earliest Japanese kaiju films that featured multiple giant monsters engaged in epic battles. It was the fifth movie in Toho’s Godzilla franchise and the first that didn’t feature Godzilla’s name in the title.

The movie starts with an alien from Venus possessing a princess to warn the people of Earth about a threat heading their way. Ghidorah, the dragon alien lands on Earth where only fellow giant monsters Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra can stop it from destroying the planet.

Ghidorah was directed by Ishirō Honda, the filmmaker who directed several of the franchise’s early movies, including Godzilla, Rodan, King Kong vs. Godzilla, and Mothra vs. Godzilla. Shoichi Hirose, reprised the role of King Ghidorah, which he had played in King Kong vs. Godzilla. The movie was the fifth time Haruo Nakajima portrayed Godzilla (he would play the character in 12 consecutive films through 1972), and the kaiju Rodan made his second appearance, played by Masanori Shinohara.

The movie was released in Japan 60 years ago on December 20, 1964, and became the fourth highest grossing film of ’65 in its home country. Just a few months later, the Walter Reade-Sterling company acquired the rights to distribute it in the US, and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster landed in American theaters in September ’65.