With a longtime feud going on between commander Scott Brady and crew member Mike Road, it's going to be a tough journey for scientific experiments going on at the bottom of the beautiful briny sea and research doctors Gary Merrill and Sheree North. An alleged space craft that looks like the size of one of the hubcaps in "Plan Nine From Outer Space" flies over their sea station here, and while at first assuming that it belongs to the Russians, the crew soon finds out otherwise when they take what looks like a large couch pillow back into their sea station that somehow amongst earthly oxygen starts to get bigger. Soon, it explodes open, and a giant creature appears to terrorize them, making Road regret bringing it back on board. His feud with Brady has to explode to a head as well, as Road blames Brady for the death of crew members on a submarine they were both on years before, but the truth is much deeper than that as Road must come to terms with. It takes teamwork to deal with a monster like this, and as Merrill demands, Brady and Road must put aside their differences in order to fight this creature that seems indestructible.
For once, the monster isn't silly looking, even though it's obviously made out of rubber. In fact, it's actually pretty scary looking, and the color photography helps bring out the details used in creating it. Only the special effects of the alleged Russian spacecraft with the ability to travel through deep ocean waters cheapens the look of this late in the game sci-fi monster movie that utilizes a few well established human conflict to create some tension and add a story that is both believable and touching. There is a scene towards the beginning with Brady and North that is definitely showing sexual harassment at work, and Wende Wagner, as the expedition photographer, must put up with some of that as well. But these women show that they are able to stand up for themselves against even the most vile of harassment circumstances, so they command respect here rather than demand it, and the men actually come out of this expedition learning something, not only about how to deal with monsters from outer space, but how to deal with women in a close space and how to get past conflict with co-workers where truth is not always what it appears to be.
For once, the monster isn't silly looking, even though it's obviously made out of rubber. In fact, it's actually pretty scary looking, and the color photography helps bring out the details used in creating it. Only the special effects of the alleged Russian spacecraft with the ability to travel through deep ocean waters cheapens the look of this late in the game sci-fi monster movie that utilizes a few well established human conflict to create some tension and add a story that is both believable and touching. There is a scene towards the beginning with Brady and North that is definitely showing sexual harassment at work, and Wende Wagner, as the expedition photographer, must put up with some of that as well. But these women show that they are able to stand up for themselves against even the most vile of harassment circumstances, so they command respect here rather than demand it, and the men actually come out of this expedition learning something, not only about how to deal with monsters from outer space, but how to deal with women in a close space and how to get past conflict with co-workers where truth is not always what it appears to be.