War-Gods of the Deep

A couple of respectable elements assemble here for a decent fantasy feature: source material from master of horror Edgar Allan Poe, a capable director in Jacques Tourneur, and the consistently amusing film star Vincent Price. While ultimately it lacks the imagination, budget, and style to be anything more, it's still acceptable entertainment of this kind.

Ben (Tab Hunter) is an American living on the Cornish coast at the turn of the 20th century. When mysterious forces kidnap area resident Jill (Susan Hart), on whom Ben is sweet, he sets out after her, with the doddering artist Harold (David Tomlinson) in tow. (Oh, and not to forget, Harolds' pet rooster Herbert.) They soon discover a strange underwater civilization, ruled by the domineering captain (Price). The captain, upon being led to believe that Ben is a professor of immense knowledge, wants to pick his brain on what to do in the event of a cataclysmic volcanic eruption.

As part of the package, the captain and his men exploit local "gill men". They're NOT as cool as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but the masks aren't bad either, and they're not bad characters. Considering that A.I.P. probably controlled expenses a lot, the sets and production values are still respectable enough. The movie is shot in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is fairly colourful. The score by Stanley Black is also nice. Tourneur gets down to business quickly and the pacing & editing are adequate. Most of the cast & crew credits are saved for the end.

Hunter is a handsome and engaging hero. The beautiful Hart is a likable enough heroine. Tomlinson handles all of the comedy relief duties and is delightful. John Le Mesurier is excellent as helpful old Reverend Ives; Henry Oscar, Derek Newark, and Roy Patrick co-star. Price is magnetic as always as our villain, and the lines from the Poe story flow off of his tongue with the greatest of ease.

The viewer may not enjoy this quite as much as they'd like to, but it remains watchable for most of its 85 minute run time.

Sadly, director Tourneurs' final feature film.

Seven out of 10.

WAR GODS OF DEEP contains fantastic adventures full of sea-monsters in a lost continent placed underwater . Set on the Cornish coast in 1903 , the film starts when a body is washed ashore on a remote seacoast nearly a little town , it causes an investigation by an American young named Ben Harris (Tab Hunter). He goes to a house where the dead had been an advocate and encounters tracks that indicate the gorgeous Jill (Susan Hart) may be in deadly risk . Establishing menace and seeing off a suspicious strange monster like a gill-man that he trapped in the act of robbing a portrait of Jill , but he gets escaped . In the overnight Jill is abducted and Ben and Harold (David Tomlinson ) chase him . Finding a tunnel system going under the sea , as they walk across a dangerous rout . The duo discovering an underwater band of smugglers who never age residing in a lost underwater city along with their gill-man slaves . The group of people find inhabitants of the lost world that are ruled by one megalomaniac named Sir Hugh (Vincent Price) who's discovered the secret of eternal life but is desperate to avoid his world being destroyed by an eruption caused by a relentless volcano . Sir Hugh governs over the gill-men as slaves and wishes to rule the human beings and the creation a totalitarian state .

Based on Edgar Allan Poe writings with interesting screenplay by Charles Bennett . This fantasy picture displays thrills , weird sea monsters , lively pace and fantastic scenarios located undersea . Vincent Price is the real star of this production and its chief attribute , similar to his role as ¨Robur the conquer¨ . The tale is silly and laughable , but the effects and undersea scenes are quite well . Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are deeply shrouded caverns full giant sculptures in Persyian style . Some illogical parts in the plot are more than compensated for the excitement provided by Vincent Price acting and the sea-monsters appearance , though they are sometimes a little bit shoddy . Vincent Price is well accompanied by a decent main cast as David Tomlinson , Tab Hunter , Susan Hart and notorius secondaries as Henry Oscar and John Le Mesurier.

It packs a cheesy underwater city with mediocre matte painting . Filmed in glimmer and colorful cinematography by cameraman Stephen Dade on location in Cornwall Coast , Cornwall, England , Pinewood Studios , Iver Heath , Buckinghamshire , England, UK (studio). Thrilling and stirring musical score by Stanley Black . The motion picture was produced by American International (James H Nicholson , Samuel Z. Arkoff) in average budget and middlingly directed by the classic director Jacques Tourneur in his final feature movie . He was an expert on terror cinema (Cat people , Curse of the demon, I walked with a Zombie) and adventures (Flame and the arrow) . ¨City under the sea¨ will appeal to youngsters who will swallow it whole and they'll feel convulsed in their armchair and of course Vincent Price fans.

From what I know about screen writing the more credited writers a film has the worse the narrative is supposed to be . I genuinely think this is nonsense and perhaps CITY UNDER THE SEA is proof of this . It's a movie that has three people involved in he screenplay but is far more entertaining and involving than a great number of films I've seen that have only one screenwriter

First of all let's get the bad points out of the way . You don't need a University degree to know that there's no volcanoes off the coast of Cornwall which seems to be included to set up the ending and the back story of the gillmen are conspicuous by its absence . Also if you're a fan of Poe and you watched this movie expecting it to be an accurate adaptation of one of his works then you'll almost certainly feel cheated . The casting of two American characters in two lead roles to appeal to an American market does seem forced , especially when you've already got a well known American actor as the film's villain . Hammer films didn't bow to this type of casting so I've no idea why it's done here

In fact CITY UNDER THE SEA plays very much like one of the better Hammer productions concentrating on atmosphere rather than gore . When the film concentrates on this aspect it is genuinely frightening as early in the film when one of the gillmen prowls around the house . I must have been about seven years old when I saw this scene and remember being terrified by it . I saw this scene again earlier today and was not disappointed which is a great compliment coming from me . It's a film that is not Oscar worthy but is great entertainment nonetheless

This film is supposedly based on a Poe work (which is quoted a couple of times) and the writer himself is mentioned(a character even finds a vintage edition of his writings), but it strays far from the source material.

It is a mildly interesting flick with a spooky manor house atop a cliff, secret passages, sea creatures and a chicken of dudious gender named Herbert.

Price does a fine job--even though it is an uninspired character. Overall, I'd say this film is worth watching if you happen to catch it on the tube, and you have an hour and a half to waste.

Despite some beautiful technicolor photography and decent performances, the script and pacing make it almost impossible to keep your attention on the action of this film. Even Vincent Price and Tab Hunter in their heydays can't save things when all they're given to do is prattle at each other. This flick is set-bound and talky, but if you like movies with this "look," watch it with the sound turned down or fall asleep on the couch while it plays--the weird imagery and score will work their way into your dreams.