Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954)

Absolutely Fantastic

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Producer: Roger Corman.Copyright 7 September 1954 by Palo Alto Productions, inc. A Lippert Pictures release. No New York opening. U.S. release: 21 May 1954 (sic). U.K. release through Exclusive in March 1956, in a version cut to 51 minutes. Never theatrically released in Australia. 64 minutes.Alternative titles: IT STALKED THE OCEAN FLOOR; MONSTER MAKER.SYNOPSIS: A Mexican coastal village is threatened by a sea monster, but two visiting Americans (a beautiful advertising artist and a husky marine biologist) save the day. NOTES: First films for producer Roger Corman, director Wyott Ordung, and players Kimbell, Wade and Haze. Corman went on to produce over a hundred more pictures, Ordung wrote a couple of scripts, Kimbell starred in "Girls at Sea" (1958), Haze in "The Little Shop of Horrors", "Invasion of the Star Creatures", etc.VIEWER'S GUIDE: Extraordinarily, the Australian censor in the year 2000 awarded the film an "MA" certificate — Mature Adults Only, with children excluded from cinema admissions unless accompanied by a responsible parent or guardian. This, despite the fact that the British Board of Film Censors way back in 1956, awarded the much faster- paced yet uncensored version a Universal Exhibition certificate! It's good to know that — despite all appearances to the contrary — Australia's space-age, computer kids are so shy and sensitive that a couple of tawdry shots of the tamest monster ever made will scare them witless. American and British kids of yesteryear were certainly made of sterner stuff.COMMENT: Produced by Roger Corman, this is a very efficiently made, little sci-fi thriller. Script and dialogue maintain the interest, the little-known principals are attractive, and the movie seems to have been lensed wholly on location by the resourceful Floyd "High Noon" Crosby. Actually, the photographic quality tends to be a bit variable, but this and some extremely long (but well-composed) takes are the only evidences of what was undoubtedly a very short shooting schedule. (The film was reportedly shot in a week and budgeted at only $12,000). Sci-fi fans will undoubtedly be disappointed that they see so little of the long-awaited "monster", though I found the delay more suspenseful than his actual appearance. The pace could be improved still further (this is a review of the British version, not the over-talky and rather static full-length movie currently being aired on cable) by slightly trimming the scenes with the miniature sub, which out-stays its welcome. The support cast is capable, whilst production values — aside from the tame special effects — are more than fair.

Roger Corman is the most consistent person on Earth.He has consistently churned out garbage for over half a century and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. With only 1 hour to work with,Corman still manages to kill half the time with lots of nothing.I guess that's his trademark.His use of the two person tight shot makes having a budget completely unnecessary.Why have a story or set when you can just have tight shots of nothing? So the "story" is about a woman who goes on vacation to Mexico,alone.She quickly befriends a fatherless child(not weird at all) and then meets a guy with a submarine.The submarine is human powered,very slow,can not move in a straight line and is not air tight(you need scuba gear to ride in this thing).The entire concept of the thing makes no sense yet we are treated to 15 minutes of it traveling underwater. All the Mexicans have eastern European accents while still managing to throw in 1 Spanish word per sentence.Did I mention the woman faints every 5 minutes? She's obsessed with finding this mysterious monster yet every time she goes looking she gets terrified and runs,when she doesn't faint. One time she sees an octopus and says she thought it was the monster.When we finally see the monster,IT LOOKS LIKE AN OCTOPUS! Then the Corman genius kicks in and we only see the monster out of focus while the woman moves in fast motion. Never watch this or any other Roger Corman movie.

Having grown up in the fifty's and loving SCI-FI movies produced back then for me they offer an hour or two of pure escape to a much simpler time, before computers, cell phones and even terrorists. Yes, Monster from the Ocean Floor I found to be most entertaining with actors who conveyed a sense of reality and a solid music score that fit this film like a glove. I think those who dislike this film do not understand the Era from which it came. Roger Corman was not out to get an Academy award but to provide us with an entertaining adventure that would temporarily transport you from realty to fantasy and in Monster from the Ocean Floor with me he succeeds. So if you are looking for state of the art special effects or some deep meaning message, look elsewhere and save those critical remarks for a film that deserves them, this one doesn't.

Lame may be the best word to describe this attempt at horror. Primitive special effects. An attractive young woman(Anne Kimbell)is vacationing in Mexico and hears tales of missing persons and pets. She herself witnesses a giant octopus and a huge one-eyed amoeba like creature that may be the answer to the disappearances. Authorities won't believe her story; not even deep-sea diving oceanographer(Stuart Wade). Love interest convinces a soft investigation. Acting is atrocious. This is the debut of Roger Corman as a producer. He also has a bit part. Director Wyott Ordung too plays a role. Other players: Dick Pinner, Inez Palange and David Garcia.