It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) Movie Review

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ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – I – It Came from Beneath the Sea

Director: Robert Gordon

Writer: George Worthing Yates, Harold Jacob Smith (Screenplay)

Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis, Ian Keith, Dean Maddox Jr, Chuck Griffiths

Plot: A giant, radioactive octopus rises from the Philippine Trench to terrorize the North American Pacific Coast.

Runtime: 1 Hour 19 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: It Came from Beneath the Sea starts when America launches a new submarine. The submarine makes contact with something unusual in the ocean. Commander Matthews (Tobey) and Professor Joyce (Domergue) are called into study the creature. A giant radioactive octopus, that has been attacking bigger vessels in the area.

Dr Carter (Curtis) is looking for an alternative solution. One that will see the military getting involved, looking to blast it out of the ocean.

Thoughts on It Came from Beneath the Sea

It Came from Beneath the Sea is a creature feature from 1955. Using the ideas of the Kraken returning to life. Mixing that with the radioactive testing within the oceans. Using the typical American solution, blow it up, when the scientific approach is smarter.

This does hold back on the terror, mostly because it would have been difficult to do for the era. It does add to the uncertainty the people will be going through. Never knowing what could come from the ocean, one of the greatest mysteries in the world.

The octopus is terrifying when we see it, destroying anything in its path. Being one of the classic creature movies, we can’t help but love what we are given. This ends up being one we can see the great ideas that we starting to appear in the creature feature era of cinema.

Final Thoughts – It Came from Beneath the Sea is a great creature feature.