(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Julie, an American on vacation in Mexico, spots a giant, one-eyed amoeba rising from the ocean, but when she tries to tell the authorities, no one believes her. She finally teams up with a marine biologist in an attempt to destroy it.”
On the commentary track for 2025’s new release of Film Master’s Monster From The Ocean Floor, film critic and historian Tom Weaver gets producer Roger Corman to admit that the chief idea behind the picture’s relatively simple story was this: Corman had seen a theatrical short featuring this brand-new one-man submersible, and he was so enthralled with the invention that he wanted to feature the craft on the big screen. From there, he hired screenwriter Bill Danch to pen some underwater yarn; and the rest – as they say – is history.
Well …
It isn’t exactly good history.
What evolves as an adventure exploring a watery beast feels all wet most of the time. There’s no relative progression for the plot: once Julie Blair (Anne Kimbell) hears a local legend that may or may not be linked to underwater nuclear testing back in 1946, she’s convinced that the resulting radiation must’ve somehow found its way into this particular cove, infected a conventional octopus, grew it to (reasonably) mammoth proportions, and gave it a single big human eyeball. That’s really all a storyteller like Corman needed back in the day to set the wheels in motion, and Monster makes the best of such lean efficiency from start-to-finish in unspectacular style.
Along for the ride is Julie’s guy-friend – marine biologist Steve Dunning (Stuart Wade) – who just happens to be in the area testing out that aforementioned submersible, a nifty contraption that figures prominently into the story at each and every chance. Unfortunately, Dunning dismisses so much of what Julie learns as little more than ‘fish stories’ as no true ‘man of science’ like him would be caught dead suspecting there could be anything more than a conventional explanation to some mysterious shenanigans going on ‘round these parts. Still, she looks goods, so he’s willing to hang around for all of this nastiness to pass, having announced that he could be falling for the lady after only spending a mere day or two in her presence. Wow. Ain’t love grand?
To Corman, Danch, and director Wyott Ordung’s credit, Monster is surprisingly feminist. Whereas other flicks of the bygone era might’ve cast their leading ladies as little more than damsels-in-distress, the irrepressible Julie Blair gets the lioness’s share of the screen time entirely as its central character. Sure, she needs to ultimately be rescued by Dunning and his incredible underwater machine in the final reel – social mores weren’t that progressive in the mid-1950’s – but it’s the lady and her take-no-prisoners attitude that fuels what little narrative there is, even if that means dipping into the murky drink entirely on her own to do some deep-sea investigating. She may not be Ellen Ripley (from the hugely successful Alien film franchise), but Blair was certainly no slouch.
Still, Monster isn’t the kind of picture that probably registered on anyone’s cultural radar back in the day. At just over 60-minutes running time, it’s all-too-brief an affair to register with audiences. Furthermore, the procedural is far too chatty in too many sequences, opting to divulge a great deal of local folklore and even a bit of marine science in some cut-and-paste sequences that feel tacked on more out of necessity than they do anything organically unfolding. Danch adds aboard a few smaller roles to give all of it a kinda/sorta local flair, but these folks are painted more as superstitious simpletons, never having the chance to be anything greater than a screenwriter’s invention.
Monster From The Ocean Floor (1954) was produced by Palo Alto Productions. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Film Masters. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I’ll attest that most of the picture looks surprisingly smart: Film Masters reports that this has been newly restored in 4K from the original 35MM camera negative. (The underwater sequences are occasionally underwhelming; and there are some rather obvious redubbing throughout a great deal of the flick.) Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? There’s a solid commentary from film historian Tom Weaver along with a few other items heralding Corman’s legacy and Bob Baker’s work on the picture. Heck, there’s even a few more items – including a collector’s booklet – giving this one a thumbs up entirely on the extras even though the film isn’t much to be desired.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
Corman purists can delight with how good 1954’s Monster From The Ocean Floor looks, although they might have some complaints over the surviving sound mix (it’s a bit muddled here and there). While the flick isn’t exactly what I’d call a good one, I suppose it retains about as much charm as any of the auteur’s earliest works do (which is to say not a great deal). Even creature feature fanatics will likely be disappointed with just how little monstrousness is in here – it’s exceedingly thin, maybe only a few minutes – so the Deep Blue Sea gets far more treacherous than audiences were subject to here. Not a complete miss but very, very, very close.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Film Masters (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Monster From The Ocean Floor (1954) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Julie, an American on vacation in Mexico, spots a giant, one-eyed amoeba rising from the ocean, but when she tries to tell the authorities, no one believes her. She finally teams up with a marine biologist in an attempt to destroy it.”
On the commentary track for 2025’s new release of Film Master’s Monster From The Ocean Floor, film critic and historian Tom Weaver gets producer Roger Corman to admit that the chief idea behind the picture’s relatively simple story was this: Corman had seen a theatrical short featuring this brand-new one-man submersible, and he was so enthralled with the invention that he wanted to feature the craft on the big screen. From there, he hired screenwriter Bill Danch to pen some underwater yarn; and the rest – as they say – is history.
Well …
It isn’t exactly good history.
What evolves as an adventure exploring a watery beast feels all wet most of the time. There’s no relative progression for the plot: once Julie Blair (Anne Kimbell) hears a local legend that may or may not be linked to underwater nuclear testing back in 1946, she’s convinced that the resulting radiation must’ve somehow found its way into this particular cove, infected a conventional octopus, grew it to (reasonably) mammoth proportions, and gave it a single big human eyeball. That’s really all a storyteller like Corman needed back in the day to set the wheels in motion, and Monster makes the best of such lean efficiency from start-to-finish in unspectacular style.
Along for the ride is Julie’s guy-friend – marine biologist Steve Dunning (Stuart Wade) – who just happens to be in the area testing out that aforementioned submersible, a nifty contraption that figures prominently into the story at each and every chance. Unfortunately, Dunning dismisses so much of what Julie learns as little more than ‘fish stories’ as no true ‘man of science’ like him would be caught dead suspecting there could be anything more than a conventional explanation to some mysterious shenanigans going on ‘round these parts. Still, she looks goods, so he’s willing to hang around for all of this nastiness to pass, having announced that he could be falling for the lady after only spending a mere day or two in her presence. Wow. Ain’t love grand?
To Corman, Danch, and director Wyott Ordung’s credit, Monster is surprisingly feminist. Whereas other flicks of the bygone era might’ve cast their leading ladies as little more than damsels-in-distress, the irrepressible Julie Blair gets the lioness’s share of the screen time entirely as its central character. Sure, she needs to ultimately be rescued by Dunning and his incredible underwater machine in the final reel – social mores weren’t that progressive in the mid-1950’s – but it’s the lady and her take-no-prisoners attitude that fuels what little narrative there is, even if that means dipping into the murky drink entirely on her own to do some deep-sea investigating. She may not be Ellen Ripley (from the hugely successful Alien film franchise), but Blair was certainly no slouch.
Still, Monster isn’t the kind of picture that probably registered on anyone’s cultural radar back in the day. At just over 60-minutes running time, it’s all-too-brief an affair to register with audiences. Furthermore, the procedural is far too chatty in too many sequences, opting to divulge a great deal of local folklore and even a bit of marine science in some cut-and-paste sequences that feel tacked on more out of necessity than they do anything organically unfolding. Danch adds aboard a few smaller roles to give all of it a kinda/sorta local flair, but these folks are painted more as superstitious simpletons, never having the chance to be anything greater than a screenwriter’s invention.
Monster From The Ocean Floor (1954) was produced by Palo Alto Productions. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Film Masters. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I’ll attest that most of the picture looks surprisingly smart: Film Masters reports that this has been newly restored in 4K from the original 35MM camera negative. (The underwater sequences are occasionally underwhelming; and there are some rather obvious redubbing throughout a great deal of the flick.) Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? There’s a solid commentary from film historian Tom Weaver along with a few other items heralding Corman’s legacy and Bob Baker’s work on the picture. Heck, there’s even a few more items – including a collector’s booklet – giving this one a thumbs up entirely on the extras even though the film isn’t much to be desired.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
Corman purists can delight with how good 1954’s Monster From The Ocean Floor looks, although they might have some complaints over the surviving sound mix (it’s a bit muddled here and there). While the flick isn’t exactly what I’d call a good one, I suppose it retains about as much charm as any of the auteur’s earliest works do (which is to say not a great deal). Even creature feature fanatics will likely be disappointed with just how little monstrousness is in here – it’s exceedingly thin, maybe only a few minutes – so the Deep Blue Sea gets far more treacherous than audiences were subject to here. Not a complete miss but very, very, very close.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Film Masters (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Monster From The Ocean Floor (1954) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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