Hydra - Die Ausgeburt der Hölle

and abysmal, over-the-top acting, you might enjoy this rubbish flick.Apparently atomic bombs makes life mutate in about a day or two (or according to other viewers, wake them up). Or so it seems. And apparently massive atomic explosions off the coast of Spain doesn't make anyone ask any questions at all. Coming to think of it, the plot doesn't make sense in any way whatsoever (why would evil sock puppets attack lighthouses?), so the nukes going off for no reason at all doesn't stand out too much.

OK, getting past this, and the fact that the "monster" is a glorified thing you make of socks in kindergarten, you may actually be able to stand this. But for once the complete lack of gore doesn't help, leaving the monster attacks in all their naked rock-bottom-budget "glory".

I doubt you'll be able to watch this though, so better stay well away.

Hard to believe that "The Sea Serpent of Del Mar" is from 1985, as it easily eclipses present day C.G.I. monsters. I'd put this up against any Sci-Fi Channel movie. Here we have no green screen. Instead, prepare to be amazed as intricate toys and models are destroyed by the sock puppet serpent. The monster is clever, and victims meet a horrible death sliding down his throat, after carefully climbing into the creature's mouth. The toy boats, lighthouse, train, and helicopter, will seem familiar to kids everywhere. Not only that, this wonderful film contains no blood, no sex, and a script that a six year old can easily follow. The icing on the cake are the cartoons that follow the feature on the DVD. What more could a kids movie offer? - MERK

A silly, yet lightly enjoyable low-grade Spanish sort of Jaws knock-off (even just listening to the rehashed John Williams' music score) that also provides shades of 1950s atomic monster films. How this sea serpent comes about, is presented in the dodgy opening set-up with some unintentionally amusing dialogue exchanges and over-the-top actions. The cause is that of a nuclear bomb being dropped in the Atlantic Ocean, where the radiation escalates the growth of an eel that goes on to terrorise the coast of Portugal. For some reason after hearing the witnesses trying to explain what they saw, I started to think of another possible outcome that maybe it laid dormant to be only disturbed by the bomb, but that being the case I don't think they would have made such a big deal that it was atomic.

"THE SEA SERPENT" (aka HYDRA) pretty much lives and dies on its goofy second-rate special effects, ridiculous plotting and ham-fisted performances (or better put dubbing). There's nothing subtle about it. Just look at those twirling beady eyes, as this hand-puppet serpent pops up from the sea?! Something which I wouldn't have associated director Amando de Ossorio, as he gave us the dread-induced, atmospheric "BLIND DEAD" films. Exotic coastal locations stick out, in spite most of the action occurring at night. When our titular squealing serpent isn't taking out its frustration on miniature models (the lighthouse being my favorite), or repetitively using flailing victims to floss its teeth - it can be fairly flat watching Timothy Bottoms (playing sea captain, and looking the part) trying to convince everyone of his monster story (even physically showing us in one sequence how this beast moves), although Ray Milland, when he does show up, evokes much needed stability.

After an atomic bomb is dropped into the sea, THE SEA SERPENT is created. While the monster is utterly preposterous, the true stars of the film are the inane dialogue and dreadful dubbing, making the proceedings seem almost dreamlike!

Timothy Bottoms plays a ship's captain who sees the creature, and Ray Milland has a throwaway role as Professor Wallace. All, while the monster eats people like anchovies, accompanied by its own JAWS-inspired theme music!

This joyfully wretched Spanish film is recommended viewing for all lovers of rock bottom cinema...

This film has me seriously doubting again whether Armando de Ossorio was a good filmmaker or not... His BLIND DEAD films are praised by many fans. This I can understand. But wanna-be Gothic vampire trite like MALENKA doesn't show any signs from a gifted filmmaker. And that also goes for SERPIENTE DE MAR. It features horrible acting, a dumb plot, stupid events, a lot of other things you can expect from a bad monster-movie and also veteran actor Ray Milland, who does his best to mumble his way through this film while not having much of a clue about what he's doing in it. Apparently Milland was already very ill while shooting SERPIENTE DE MAR (his last theatrical feature) and going out with a ridiculous stinker like this, makes it all the more sad. One last appearance alongside Peter Cushing in a made-for-TV film directed by Roy Ward Baker (also in 1984) doesn't change much about it.

But the sock puppet/sea serpent is a hoot to behold. Watch it swirl up a lighthouse and crush it. See it destroy a harbour with miniature boats. Look at it demolish bridges and munch on charming miniature trains.

Good Badness? Yes. 3/10 and 7/10