Monster from the Ocean Floor

"Monster from the Ocean Floor" is historically important as the very first film produced by a young Roger Corman, so it's a shame it's not more entertaining than it is. It does have some schlocky charm, but owing to an obviously very low budget, it gets bogged down in talk and becomes fairly dull. It's not even that much fun on the "so bad it's good" level. It's too bad, because if you're a B movie enthusiast you'd certainly *want* to like it. It does have its moments, but they're spread too far apart.

There is some enjoyment to be had from watching the amateurish acting. The pretty Anne Kimbell plays Julie Blair, an American artist on vacation in Mexico. She hears stories of locals disappearing from the waters and learns that there's a legend believed by the natives. She meets a handsome marine biologist named Steve Dunning (Stuart Wade) - their initial encounter is amusing, to say the least - and while he's a practical, hard headed kind of guy, she becomes convinced some sort of mysterious beast is the culprit - and she's right, of course.

It's naturally a good thing that the monster in this film - resembling an octopus with one great big red eye - is seen so little. Our anticipation is built up, and the payoff isn't bad. I can believe that people who'd seen this movie as little children would have been frightened. The problem is that for a movie running only one hour and five minutes, there's too much padding on this thing. Still, "Monster from the Ocean Floor" isn't without its assets. Corman works with ace cinematographer Floyd Crosby - who shot his colourful, widescreen Edgar Allan Poe adaptations - and Crosby creates good atmosphere. The underwater photography is likewise well done. Kimbell has one harrowing scene with a shark. And the original music by Andre Brummer is enjoyable.

Cormans' stock company player Jonathan Haze (billed as Jack Hayes) makes his film debut as the character Joe, director Wyott Ordung plays the key supporting role of Pablo, and Corman himself makes an uncredited on-screen appearance as Tommy.

This does have high curiosity value just to see the humble beginnings of one of the great independent filmmakers of all time.

Four out of 10.

I know many people judge a movie solely on its of special effects. This one doesn't have a lot of eye-candy, even considering the time it came from. But the story and the acting are above par for movies of this type and when all was said and done, I enjoyed myself watching this movie.

Plot - Legend has it that a one-eyed monster lurks off Mexican shores, though most non-hispanics don't believe it's real. Despite her science-imbued male friends, adventurous Miss Kimbell believes the legend and attempts to seek it out, along with boy friend Ward in his real-life one man submarine. So who will win out, woman or beast.

Seeing the name Corman as producer, I naturally expected a cheeze fest, having spent my teens imbibing his silly drive-in roasts. Surprisingly, that's not the case here. In fact, the undersea monster gets only a couple of cameo appearances and are not that badly done. It may be that an exceptionally cheapo 28-grand budget limited the effects, along with a storyline that takes place almost entirely along the LA area coast. Though limited in area, these scenes from both top and bottom of the Pacific, are well-done and keep viewer interest alive amid a skimpy script.

Of course, it helps guy viewers that the curvaceous Kimbell, gets a lot of screentime in a goody swimsuit. Plus, she's quite a good actress, in an unfortunately brief acting career. In fact, the script delivery amid the five principals is much better than the usual Corman brand. Then too, the science vs nature comments make up something of an unusual Corman subtext, along with the female hero, a move in advance of its time.

Despite the comic book title and skimpy budget limitations, the flick almost amounts to a respectable B-movie rating. Clearly Corman is feeling his way along at career's outset; that is, before he found riches serving up fun-filled late-nighters to drive-in freaks like me. I'm glad that as of 2021, he's still with us. Good.

I rented this film because the composer was a good friend of my musician father Felix De Cola (who may have played the piano on the score!). It's a silly movie with an absurd monster, but there's a scene around minute 40 where the heroine encounters a shark that had me quite startled. The fish appears to be 2 meters long and its open mouth comes at the camera and then at the girl in several shots. Even if she was an experienced diver, this must have been an unsettling experience. And no, it's almost certainly not an animatronic.

This was a time when the psychotechnology of horror films was developing at its fastest, so you can see how the director (clumsily) tries to manipulate our fears. Crude films often teach us more than well-made ones.

As for the music, there's a distant similarity between Brummer's music and John Williams' Jaws theme, but I doubt the link is real.

Monster From the Ocean Floor was the first monster movie from Roger Corman and I quite enjoyed watching this, despite reading some bad reviews.

A series of deaths and disappearances turn out to be the responsibility of a one-eyed octopus which only comes ashore on nights when the moon is out full. It also kills a cow. A woman and marine biologist team up and destroy it and also fall in love.

This movie also includes an unusual pedal powered submarine, sharks, the marine biologist singing and a mad local native who wants the woman dead so the creature won't appear again (according to local legend). There is also some nice scenery and a good music score.

The cast includes Stuart Wade (Teenage Monster), Anne Kimbell and Corman regular Johnathan Haze (Little Shop Of Horrors).

Monster From the Ocean Floor is a good way to spend just over an hour one afternoon or evening.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.