User Reviews

A chance for me to catch up with one of Roger Corman's earliest produced films, MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR which came out in 1954. Prior to this Corman had only worked as co-producer on one previous film (HIGHWAY DRAGNET) so this was really where it all started. As expected, it's a real cheapie of a film, shot briefly in one or two coastal locations. A female artist is residing by the beach when startled by a marine biologist emerging from the waves in his mini submersible. The two go diving together but soon learn of a giant single-eyed amoeba (!) with a penchant for dissolving flesh terrorising the waters. Very low rent mayhem ensues. Obviously shot with a tiny cast in just a week or two, this hasn't aged very well - like a lot of Corman's 1950s movies - but it has a few enjoyably cheesy moments and the underwater photography of sharks and giant squid is quite cool. It's nice and short too. 4/10.

Corman produced this one (instead of directing it), but his stamp is all over this minor, dull effort. I would be willing to bet that the actual director (Ordung) had maybe $20 grand and a couple of weeks to make this little lump of a film, and the results show in almost every aspect of it - from the special effect of the monster itself to the way the hero disposes of it.

(Seriously, if YOU were a giant octopus with one giant eye, don't you think that Nature would have let you learn to, I don't know...BLINK?!?!)

As always with Corman derived films, there is just enough interest and quality to it to keep you from setting your TV on fire - dull and talky though the movie is, it's still way, way better than celluloid disasters like "Mesa Of Lost Women". In this case, the film has an assertive and (mostly) dynamic heroine who persists in her altruistic attempts to aid a remote village when no one else believes there is a real problem. And she does fight off a shark with a knife at one point (even if the scene itself is badly staged and executed, it's impressive when you think about it). The movie actually builds up to the first appearance of the monster with some patience and instills a nice sense of menace and remoteness to the sea side village where the action takes place. Also, some nice underwater photography and some decent Debussy inspired piano music on the soundtrack add a bit of enjoyment to some of the ocean scenes.

On the other hand, the actress herself comes off as brittle and grumpy, there is no chemistry between her and the leading man, and some of the lines of dialog would make Uta Hagen herself despair. And the whole thing is so dark and the voices mixed so low into the soundtrack (although this might be a function of the print I saw) that it's hard to maintain even the slightest interest in the proceedings.

For what it's worth, you could kill 80 minutes watching this and not want to kill yourself when it was over. That's about the best recommendation I ever give a Corman production.

I like cheesy movies and especially the films of Roger Corman--a man who was often able to produce or direct pretty enjoyable films despite minuscule budgets and often silly plots. However, "Monster From the Ocean Floor" was less enjoyable than most simply because the sound quality on the DVD was pretty poor. Not all of this was due to the company producing the DVDs (Acme Video)--some was Corman's apparent unfamiliarity with directing (this was his first film). Too often, the sound quality of various individuals varied considerably. For example, the Mexican man who saw the monster was tougher to understand conversations he had with the leading lady--his sound levels were poor.

The film begins with a woman seeing some strange creature at the beach in Mexico. Soon afterwords, she meets a scientist who doesn't believe her but investigates. When he does finally believe, naturally he believes the monster was created by nuclear radiation (after all, that caused ALL monsters in the 1950s). Eventually, they find the monster, it dies and the world is saved.

I know that there is more to it than that, but the bottom line is that I didn't care. While the monster was pretty cheesy (which I like), the overall film is a bit slow-paced and not that interesting. Plus, it was formulaic and offered little in the way of entertainment. It's just a cheap film and nothing more.

More claptrap from famed bargain basement, Roger Corman, productions, this one notable as actually being his first (solo) in his (very*!) successful beginnings of stupid monster horror quickies; but also because in hindsight has gained a rather respectable reputation as demonstrating in its telling a prescient female empowerment, ah, well, undercurrent.

Since, amongst the oft interminable patriarchally expositionally 'men explain things to dumb woman' way going through even its short run, what nowadays makes this stand out significantly to still tolerate to sit through, is not only to catch (only a) glimpse of the 'monster', as surely having been plagarised pinched (potential copyright infringed!) for 'Bob' from the recent animated 'Aliens vs Monsters' kid's film (should you have sued Rog?), but is that it also casts the lead 'Julie' (Anne Kimbell) as an intrepid, determined to unravel the horror, female protagonist who drives the plot, (by B. Danch), and so not the dunderhead /Steve Dunning) lead guy, Stuart**, who, in just such typical fifties patrirachal condescendingly 'don't worry your pretty little head' way, otherwise pooh poohs her monster suspicions and investigative zeal: well, he is a professor whereas she's only turned up initially to paint seascapes - coz she's an 'industrial (specialty: washing machines, no less!) illustrator'!

Suggestibly (most amusingly), Stuart is introduced to become the de rigueur love interest into the proceedings through the mini-sub that actually gave Corman the incentive, idea to make this film, after seeing it and asking the company that made it to use it (Aerojet submersibles; happy to get free promotion they said 'yeah'): this was 'directed' - well, suggested - in a surely not unintentionally phallic way, when Julie first encounters him in it, its 'nose' poking priapically up through the surface causing her to grab hold of its phallic nosecone: even more amusingly (smuttily?) so - (although perhaps admittedly now surely only in the eye of this 'male gaze' viewer) - is that when he then wheels it up ashore it seemed to this (male gaze) viewer to be noticeably smaller than when first appeared in that first surface breaking encounter, thus somehow seemingly simulating a biological truism that affects blokes returning to land from (prolonged) water immersion ... if you get my, ah, well 'drift'?

Anyway, as said, he mainly (manly!) doubts and dismisses Ms Kimbell: "You have your beliefs - and I have mine." (but, he IS the professor, dear) and preferring to more safely examine protozoa under a microscope, so it's her who wants to properly investigate into the briny, by which means can thus then be filmed swimming about undersea - (rather like as just coincidentally from the same year, Julie Adam similarly in more famous 'Creature from Black Lagoon') - searching for the 'Aliens v Monsters' 'Bob' precursor, thus to afford director (Wyott Ordung: of whom, that's himself, playing Paulo in the film), quite some extended opportunities to have salaciously shot her long legged litheness - and just happenstance then with concomitant pulchritudinous rear end - when flippering away from shot, too; whereat, if you like your women in terror emoting seemingly real fear, as both from 'Bob' (er, that Monster on the Ocean Floor) and shark menaced, she does so quite convincingly well from behind her facemask. (Sadly no close 'intermingling' encounter with 'Bob' / er, 'Ocean Floor' monster - as lasciviously come on shown on the poster - ever occurs!)

Then, along the way of besides savouring this historic feminine driven interest development, are a couple of storytelling, pacing, oddity fun spots to enjoy, too:

besides the inevitable denouement dispatch of the Ocean Floor Monster, which you just gotta, ah, 'see' in its surely not coincidental phallic into gelatinous eye suggestability (!);

is, so how would a 'meal, victim' cow just happen to wander / get onto a small isolated beach cove? (And, note, 'all' that is left behind for intrepid Julie to recover ... euww, or, er .. 'monstrous' consumption skills inferred ...)

But perhaps the best 'what are they inferring there, then' moment just has to when lothario lead Stu is serenading Julie on his guitar, sat on a beach reef rock (nothing wrong with that; assuredly sea air would have no effect on those twangy strings), but at whence soon after, almost literally, 'pops up' from behind said rocky reef, Dr. Barton (Baldwin? / Dick Pinner), his institution boss, attired all in two piece suit and tie - so, right, just as you do for on the beach wear? - to advise him on his recent promotion: euuw; voyeur stalker, or what?

Indeed, in just happening to have been afore skulking behind the rock, Dr. Barton now positions himself right between, so separating, the erstwhile budding lovers, to soon regard Stu to 'remind': "We've got a lotta things to do tonight" and when departs this beach encounter scene, then eyes him again to now declare - and somehow oddly enthusiastically: "See you later, Steve"! Well, really**: (Ok, so, why would boss be down there on the beach whilst Steve/Stu** was serenading Julie then?)

Watched in these lights (darkness?!), this otherwise tedious clunker can be full of enjoyable fun:

*and as would seem it was in real life, as apparently it made back its paltry, barely just over $10,000 budget some 100+ times, making it no wonder, Corman became so successful in this genre styling filmmaking.

** so, yup, which note, bad film fans: is an amusing unfixed glaring goof: coz means 'Dr Barton (as I heard, or 'Baldwin') called him by actor's real name, not character 'Stu'!)

P. S. Would make a fun double billing with Corman's then first direction effort, as coincidentally, another prescient female driven romp: 'Swamp Women' (aka 'Swamp Diamonds'.)

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.

When American tourist Anne Kimball learns from a Mexican boy that a sea monster has been rumored to be responsible for the disappearance of several locals, she becomes curious and begins to investigate. While deep sea diving, she comes across a scientist (Stuart Wade) in a floating contraption that looks somewhat like a giant Tylenol, she questions him about the alleged sea monster. Upon her own, she discovers a huge, one-eyed monster that looks like a combination squid/octopus that has a cute wiggle while it walks. Old local legend has it that a beautiful woman sacrificed to the monster will satisfy it enough to go away, and guess who is chosen. One of the local wise-men refers to the octopus as "the coward of the sea", but there's no Bert Lahr lion in this monster. Horribly bad acting and dialog (Wade actually tells Kimball to slip out of her bathing suit into a dry martini!) abound, this has no real conclusion, making the other giant octopus movie, "The Bride of the Monster", look like "King Kong" in comparison.

this is undoubtedly a B movie. 1954 was its year ( the same year as the first Godzilla ), so we should adjust our expectations accordingly. All in all, this movie is more closely related to 1930's movies than 1950's. Stories about some "sea devil" killing people fascinate an American woman vacationing in Mexico. She's beyond the typical female specimen of the 1950's, and she takes matters into her own hands, trying to locate this "monster", supposedly behind a few mysterious deaths. She joins forces with 2 marine biologists, one of whom (her supposed beau, but that gets nearly no screen time ) rides a man powered submarine i clearly remember i saw in print in some old Disney comics: same layout, same purpose. There is (Corman style) a subplot involving 2 villagers, one subduing the other into killing the young lady in an attempt to appease pre-colombian deities or whatever. Producer Corman perhaps (mask of red death) establishes a parallel between the unknown as source of evil and human distress and phobias.

Again there is some nice submarine footage documentary style.

Overall a nice movie visibly plagued by low budget. It still retains some personality (EG it still ranks higher and succeeds better than say "the mysterians"). Acting isn't much of anything, and actors have more "bit parts" or "uncredited" roles in their career than else. SFX are negligible, if any.