Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)

A pair of earthquakes, in the Myojin Reef and on Myaki Island, lead to Mt. Fuji waking from dormancy. Fuji's eruption, in turn, draws a visit from Gamera. When a party of researchers is sent to Fuji to investigate, a glowing green pit on Mt. Futago sends some yellow beams that slice the craft in two. All are lost. A reporter heads toward the site and talks the boy Eiichi into leading him toward the green glow. The glow is from a giant winged creature called Gyaos who has been wakened from a long slumber by the earthquakes. It begins to hunt warm-blooded prey, including the reporter who flees a cave that little Eiichi has explored with him. Just as Gyaos is about to kill Eiichi, Gamera steps in to help rescue him. In getting the boy free, he himself suffers a deep gash on his right front leg. He goes off to heal on the bottom of the sea while the Japanese science and military community search for a way to kill Gyaos. A squad of jets is sliced and diced as they bomb the area around the pit where Gyaos is hiding. Eiichi points out that Gyaos only hunts at night. The next attempt is to position a fleet of tanks to shoot at it when it emerges from the pit. Gyaos seems immune to the shelling. It uses powerful flapping of its wings to toss the tanks about. In the end, it is Eiichi, who has a friendship link to Gamera, that suggests a forest fire will weaken Gyaos and let Gamera prevail. Gamera is finally able to get the upper hand, and drags Gyaos to its death in the crater atop Mt. Fuji.