Behemoth the Sea Monster

Let me quickly begin by putting to rest once and for all a terrible error that is popping up everywhere concerning this film: THE GIANT BEHEMOTH was not, repeat NOT, "co-directed" by Mr Douglas Hickox. He was not an "uncredited" contributor to the film. Period. End of discussion. It was solely directed from start to finish by Eugene Lourie, a director (and production designer) of taste and imagination. How this rumor about Mr Hickox ever got started is beyond me.

If I accomplish nothing else but put this falsehood to rest I will be quite happy.

Now, on to the film. I recommend it highly. It is well-written, well-acted, nicely photographed and edited, and well-scored by Edwin Astley. It is a good example of what can be done on an extremely low budget. The producers were merciless in their budget-cutting which was very hard on master animators Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson but it is a testament to their skill and integrity that they managed as well as they did. Their animation of the giant creature is of a very high order and is, of course, vastly superior to the work of a second special effects crew which was brought in to do the ferry boat sequence. The less said about that work the better, though the scene played well due to the fine editing and music scoring.

I greatly admire what was accomplished here by these talented people having almost no money to work with. That should be an inspiration to many an aspiring movie-maker.

BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER is a British version of the classic GODZILLA story, although it's more closely linked to THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS with whom it shares a director in the Russian-born Frenchman, Eugene Lourie. A youthful Douglas Hickox (THEATRE OF BLOOD) is also credited as co-director in British prints.

I always find British monster movies to be a lot of fun and this one is no exception; the cast is full of decent, stiff upper lipped types who instantly band together to tackle whatever great menace is coming their way. And BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER tells a very typical storyline for its era, following a specific template that sees a slow and gradual build-up in the first half lead into some all-out monster action in the second.

The film features a likable imported American star in Gene Evans, backed up by some heavyweight British talent in the form of a tough Andre Morell and the likes of Jack MacGowran. Film fans will be delighted to see some brief snippets of stop motion effects contributed by the one and only Willis O'Brien at the tail-end of his career, although a cheesy model also bolsters the action. And I enjoyed the way the action plays out in a particularly grim fashion, with the monster readily offing men, women, and children thanks to that radioactive death ray.

Essentially a remake of THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS with the dinosaur emitting radiation instead of a deadly disease this is still a good film. Originally the monster was supposed to be invisible (hence the scene where it does not show up on radar) but the producers said that would never do and a monster must be seen by the audience! So Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson were brought in late in the game to do some effective stop motion effects. The low budget shows. Notice how the monster steps on the same car 3 times and seems to take forever to walk up a single street. When the Behemoth attacks the ferry watch carefully and you will see the wooden base the rubber head is attached to come out of the water! Other scenes are very good though, like the beast "attacking" the high tension wires and when he strolls by the houses of Parliament you almost cannot tell the old British landmark is just a blown up photograph! B-Western stalwart Gene Evans is pretty good as the hero and Andre Morrell, a one time Dr. Watson opposite Peter Cushing's Sherlock Holmes, is good too. Not much time is wasted on a romantic subplot . . .thank goodness! Allegedly when director Eugene Lourie's young daughter saw this film she chided her father "Daddy, you're bad! You killed the beastie." her comment stayed with Lourie and a few years later when he directed GORGO he . . .well . . .that's another story for another review. See you then.

Director Eugene (Gene) Lourie made three similarly-themed giant monster flicks, beginning with 1953's 'Beast From 20,000 Fathoms' to 1961's 'Gorgo', with 'Behemoth' sandwiched in between. The story line is much like a myriad of other films of the era (and very much like 'Beast...") but this one is a cut above. This time, the irradiated creature (weren't they all during the 50s?) turns up in British waters. Unlike 'Beast' and 'Gorgo' (as well as Godzilla and the others), this Behemoth not only was a huge creature, but also had the ability to project 'electrified fields of radiation', causing people to literally burn to death. Scenes with Behemoth climbing out of the Thames, destroying buildings and burning people to death (even kids aren't spared) is pretty exciting. While close-ups of Behemoth are not realistic (compared to Ray Harryhausen's work in 'Beast'), the full-body scenes done by Willis O'Brien are very effective. The acting, untypical of these films, is actually pretty well done. Character actor Gene Evans and Hammer Films regular Andre Morell do splendid jobs, and the supporting cast is fine too. One can quibble over which of these films is the best, but I agree with an observation made in Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film that The Giant Behemoth was "the scariest giant monster-on-the-loose film ever made." At least up to that point, anyway. Well worth having if you're a fan of old sci-fi & horror films.

This film is a pretty good "big monster" movie, especially since the British only did a few during this period. It has some good acting and once the creature comes to the surface the stop motion is not bad. The only real problem I found was that the first time you see the creature is when it attacks a ship in the Thames. Throw the effects book out the window, all you see is a plastic serpent hitting a model. The head doesn't move, nothing. Its just a tub toy hitting another tub toy. Doesn't ruin the movie, but it will either make you laugh or groan.