Review of It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) by Hugo S — 15 Jun 2008

IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955).

Directed by Robert Gordon.

Starring Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald CurtisIt Came from Beneath the Sea is campy monster movie from the 50's about a dangerously radioactive giant octopus heading to San Fransisco after attacking a few ships on the Pacific ocean. Add a cheesy romance, some bad gender clichés and an unclear message about the nuclear bomb and thats pretty much what this film is about.This is one of the first films on which legandary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen worked, and the result is impressive. To save some money Harryhausen built an octopus with only six tentacles, which I think is a funny bit of trivia, but we can never tell watching the film. The attack of the Golden Gate is classic and its a fine example of the quality of his work. The visual effects are actually very good for the time it was made and ultimately very effective which makes the film quite enjoyable.The acting is suitable for the type of film this is but also for the time it was made. No great performances but at least the actors dont try to be better than they need. There are some suspenseful moments but there are also many funny ones and most of the dialogues are awful. At times It Came from Beneath the Sea seems to be an argument against nuclear weapon but I thought it was never clear, maybe they used that excuse simply because Gojira was explained that way the previous year, but it made more sense in the Japenese movie, because of the H-bomb. Still, the Japenese monster wasn the first one either. In the end, its a fine monster movie nonetheless. Quite entertaining, and short.