Coventry Review of It Came from Beneath the Sea

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

...And It Went Straight To The List Of 50's Classics!

[6/10 · 5 January 2008]

A TV-station in my country programmed "It Came From Beneath The Sea" on a late Friday night as a small tribute to the great and legendary stop-motion effects wizard Ray Harryhausen. I think this particular title was a terrific choice because, out of all the films he worked on, the gigantic octopus definitely ranks amongst Harryhausen's finest accomplishments; even if it had only 6 arms instead of 8. It's largely thanks to our man Ray's work and a handful of legendary sequences (the squid climbing the Golden Gate Bridge, for example) that this film is still remembered as part of the cinematic monster-mayhem of the 1950's, because the script is rather weak and the pacing is continuously interrupted by one of the most annoying triangular relationship sub plots in the history of cinema. The entire American marine force is alarmed when Commander Pete's submarine bumped into a giant living creature whilst bobbing in the Pacific Ocean. Extended research by eminent biologists proves that the animal tissue that got jammed in the propellers belongs to an octopus, only this jolly critter is extremely over-sized and on the prowl. For once oceanic pollution or nuclear radiation isn't responsible for the animal's proportions (the script just automatically assumes these things exist), however, military bombing tests did cause for the animal to get disturbed and leave its natural biotope. Instead of feeding on small fish, he now enjoys pulling down entire ships (including the crews) and plans an ultimate sightseeing trip in San Francisco. Stop motion effects may look incredibly dated and even quite silly by nowadays standards, but still nothing feels as charming and nostalgic as Harryhausen's fantastic work. And impressive! Imagine what complex and hard labor it must have been to achieve the aforementioned Golden Gate bridge scene or the footage where the squid pulverizes pedestrians with its tentacle using only frame-by-frame shots of clay figures & designs! These days it's all too easy (and equally fake-looking) through CGI techniques, but stop-motion was the real thing! As said, "It Came From Beneath The Sea" sadly suffers from a dull and uninteresting sub plots, like Kenneth Tobey's character falling in love with the female scientist (Faith Domergue) but at the same time he refuses to accept the evolution of feminism. Extremely lame but whenever those tentacles emerge from the water, guided by eerie music and tight photography, you (re)-realize why this is still a bona fide 50's monster movie classic.