Review of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) by Jeffrey L — 31 Jan 2008

This is the very first Giant monster caused by radiation attacks city' movie and is actually the movie that inspired the original Japanese Godzilla. Creature effects were done by the godly and infamous Ray Harryhausen, with good acting, even for its time period, and a really engaging plot (Scientists accidentally awaken a dinosaur trapped in ice by nuclear explosions up in the artic, one man sees the creature but nobody believes him, and it quickly makes its way to New York, its ancestral breeding grounds, attacking a ship in the ocean and a lighthouse along the way.) Once it reaches New York, the movie hits its full stride with monster mayham galore as the creature destroys buildings (One scene of the military chasing it and it slams into a building an emerges out the other side was really good effects for back then, as was when it attacks an amusement park on Coney Island) and the military tries to stop it, yet bullets seem to do no damage to it. There's even a scene where the monster picks up a citizen's body and munches on it when it first emerges from the water and attacks the city.

This is one of the best 'older' movies I've ever seen, and if you're a fan of older movies and haven't seen this one yet, then what are you waiting for?