Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954)

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Having grown up in the fifty's and loving SCI-FI movies produced back then for me they offer an hour or two of pure escape to a much simpler time, before computers, cell phones and even terrorists. Yes, Monster from the Ocean Floor I found to be most entertaining with actors who conveyed a sense of reality and a solid music score that fit this film like a glove. I think those who dislike this film do not understand the Era from which it came. Roger Corman was not out to get an Academy award but to provide us with an entertaining adventure that would temporarily transport you from realty to fantasy and in Monster from the Ocean Floor with me he succeeds. So if you are looking for state of the art special effects or some deep meaning message, look elsewhere and save those critical remarks for a film that deserves them, this one doesn't.

Julie Blair (Anne Kimbell) is an American vacationing at a sea-side village in Mexico. She hears stories about a man-eating creature dwelling in the cove.This film is a low budget science fiction film in every sense of the term low budget. Director Wyott Ordung (1922–2005) doubled as an actor (playing Pablo), and this was his first of only two times in the director's chair. In fact, his only real experience before this was a writer on another low budget flick, "Robot Monster".Most notable is the producing credit of Roger Corman, who took a modest $30,000 budget and earned more than ten times that back at the box office. No small feat, especially from someone just starting out in the business. This also marks a collaboration between Corman and cinematographer Floyd Crosby; Crosby had been making films over twenty years, but would be possibly best known later on for shooting Corman's finest films.This was also the debut of Jonathan Haze, a gas station attendant that filled the small role of Joe. He must have done something right, because Corman hired him for numerous productions over the next decade, including the starring role of Seymour in "Little Shop of Horrors".As for the film itself, there are things to like and things that could have been improved. The monster is actually rather cool looking, and when revealed is no disappointment. To use him sparingly, they also have a shark and an octopus, which may cause a few people to jump. The film is also rather short -- only 64 minutes -- so there is little time for the pace to slow down. Variety praised the film, calling it an "oddity" but "well-done", noting that "Corman's production supervision has packed the footage with commercial values without going overboard."The negatives are few, but worth pointing out. The forced romance was a bad idea, though probably almost necessary for a film of its day. This is somewhat compensated for by having the main character be a heroine rather than a hero -- not the strongest female lead, but a female lead nonetheless. The biggest issue is the sound. Clearly they had not invested in a boom mike, because scenes were either overdubbed, or the conversations were drowned out by the ocean waves...While not the best film of 1954, it has its historical merits and is fun in its own way. For a low budget film now sixty years old, I think it holds up respectably well.

"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.

On the surface, this film appears to be just another entry into the 50's cinema monster mill. But when we dive deeper we find some subtle and entertaining differences. The heroine is remarkably modern. She is brave, independent, determined, and completely oblivious to what the rather effete male characters think of her. The film is actually developed around her persona, and her dogged determination to seek the monster lurking below. The underwater scenes are beautiful examples of early open water cinematography in the lush, cool Pacific Ocean. The submarine is great. I really wanted one when I was a kid and first saw this film. The spunky actress seems to have done her own diving too. The scene in which she tries to fend off the shark is exciting. If you forget the rather weakly done monster, its minimal time on screen, and instead, focus on the enchanting heroine and her quest, this is not a bad film at all. I certainly find it entertaining. I have it on DVD and watch if often.