The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
1953 - Warner Brothers
Directed By Eugene Louirie



SYNOPSIS

Atomic testing in the arctic releases an enormous dinosaur frozen in the ice. After a series of attacks on ships and buildings along the coast of Canada and the United States, a group of scientists believes the beast is heading for New York City!



MY THOUGHTS

Made a year before the king of them all first laid waste to Tokyo... the first of the atomic monster films remains one of the best.

Like many sci-fi films of the 1950's, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms features scientists as the main characters. Those other films like It Came From Beneath The Sea, The Thing From Another World, and This Island Earth had some very dry performances from their scientist-leads and this film is no different. It gives the movie a very pulp novel-like quality and doesn't bog down the story with excess plot or depth... making for a great popcorn-flick.



The film features special effects by the master of stop-motion animation, Ray Harryhausen. Today's younger audiences could easily pick apart some of his work as being very phony-looking... but the black and white photography mixed with moody lighting and weather conditions mask some of the limitations of the FX technology of the time and create some truly effective shots. This is some of Harryhausen's best work in his long and successful career and any classic sci-fi film with his touch is instantly made better.



Fun Fact: You may recognize the dinosaur skeleton in the museum scene is the same one who had a much bigger part in the classic screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby.

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms remains an exciting film and rarely delves into cheese like many lesser sci-fi and horror films of the era. Definitely recommended.