Review of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) by Todd S — 12 Jun 2006

[font=Times New Roman][size=4]Originally inspired by a Ray Bradbury short story called [i]The Foghorn[/i], this film was one of the first ?major? projects with Ray Harryhausen (a good friend of Bradbury?s) doing the monster effects. Those effects are very good. The beast is brought to life nicely and, especially for the early 50s, the creature?s ?interactions? with the live actors and sets is excellent. I also thought the acting was pretty good. Although the characters are well rooted in the era, the actors still do a good job bringing them to life.[/size][/font].

[font=Times New Roman][size=4] Although the plot seems very basic, it actually has some pretty original elements to it. Through out the 1950s the ?atom bomb mutates/awakens/frees the monster? plot was used over and over. This movie carries itself as more than a simple monster rampages through the city film. No doubt, the monster does indeed rampage, but there is more to the movie plot than just that. Also like the intriguing concept of the beast being not only a chaotic destroyer, but also a carrier of a deadly virus. This was original and also added to the plot in that it limited the ways the ?good guys? could kill the monster.[/size][/font].

[font='Times New Roman'][size=4] The only fairly average part of the film is the music score. It never really adds or even keeps up with the drama. Fortunately it doesn?t get distracting in any way and so it doesn?t take away from watching the movie at all. Monster movie fans and Harryhausen fans really should see this one, if not outright own it. Casual genre fans should still find this film fun to view at least once. I recommend this film whole heartedly as a classic. Ray Harryhausen?s SFX still look good in this age of amazing computer imagery and they hearken to a different time and a different type of film making.[/size][/font].