It's rather surprising that more giant creature films don't feature giant squids. We've had all sorts of radioactive monstrosities over the years, yet the giant squid is real. Logic dictates that something real is far more frightening than something that isn't. Though not a giant squid, "It Came From Beneath the Sea" does a fantastic job at making the experience seem real thanks to Ray Harryhausen's effects and placing it high in the ranks of 50's monster movies.
An atomic bomb test in Marshall Islands irritates one of the seas larger inhabitants, causing it to attack a submarine. Scientists Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue) and John Carter (Donald Curtis) team up with Commander Pete Mathews (genre veteran Kenneth Tobey) to try and figure out what caused the disaster. More incidents occur and the sense of urgency builds. Finally the creature makes a spectacular attack on San Francisco for one last attack while the authorities make a desperate attempt to put an end to the menace.
Any decent science fiction fan knows Ray Harryhausen's work. This was his first film with producer Charles H. Schneer, whom would join him on countless other classics for the rest of his career. Harryhausen's creation here remains spectacular to this day and the rest of the effects work is still believable. Well known is that the octopus only has 6 tentacles (compared to 8 on a real one), an effort to save on the budget and give the master animator a break.
This is a somewhat disjointed film however, as the two lead characters lead a generic romance that goes absolutely nowhere in the second half. Stock footage is used extensively and the narrator used in the first half-hour is grating (and speaks only once in the second half). It's obvious that the focus is put squarely where it should be for the final chapters and it all comes out just fine in the end, but it almost makes the first 40 minutes seem meaningless. Even so, "It Came From Beneath the Sea" is one of the best of the 50's creature features and a must see for any fan of this quirky genre. (**** out of *****)
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Article comments
1 - Chris Kent
Favorite Ray Harryhausen film - Seventh Voyage of Sinbad
We really need to start a Kenneth Tobey fan club. I mean fuck, what other actor can claim to have starred in It Came From Beneath the Sea, The Thing AND Billy Jack?!!!!
2 - Matt Paprocki
Gotta say Harryhausen did his best work in The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, a disc I'll probably review later today. There is a film that you can watch a 100 times and not get tired of it.
Also, Beat is another Tobey classic. Had he made his way into Them! he would pretty much ran the gauntlet for this genre.
3 - Paul
I also think 7th Voyage is Harryhausen's overall best.
But my favourite single scene occurs in Beneath The Sea when the flamethrowers make their appearance.