THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, 1953
Movie Review

An Arctic exhibition awakens a prehistoric monster during a nuclear test, which terrorizes New York and the North American coast.

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REVIEW:

After watching both Godzilla films, Japanese and America alike, it's fitting now to do the film that inspired the 1954 hit film (which in itself was inspired by 1952's re-release of King Kong; see, there is a method to my madness). I suppose this will mark the end of this monster movie wave on interconnected influence, but it's good for viewers to know who begat who and what begat what. And surely the wave of influence isn't limited to these films—just the close proximity of them makes their connectedness significant.

With a budget of only 200,000 dollars, one would think that this movie would exude B-movie cheapness. And that would be correct—but misleading. The filmmakers seem very careful and cautious on where and how to spend their money. And while the decisions forsook complex shots and elaborate stories, they instead created a somewhat light, straightforward monster flick, emphasizing a story that focused on finding credibility to what seems to be a fascinating, wild tale.

A group of scientists travel to the Arctic to perform a nuclear test, the result of which releases a frozen prehistoric creature into the world. After a run-in with the beast that kills a member of the team, one scientist, Dr. Tom Nesbitt (Paul Hubschmid) tries to convince those around him of the creature he wtnessed. At first, no one believes his crazy stories, but as more and more strange sea attacks pop up, the world comes around. Soon, the beast attacks New York all out, leaving the Coast Guard and the NYPD scrambling to defeat him.

I think the only main issue I had was with the main character. Paul Hubschmid (who was credited as Paul Christian in the movie—something I'll address later) wildly jumps back and forth between his original foreign accent and a strong, clear American accent. It's so pronounced that it's distracting, mainly because for a few scenes, it's not clear who he's supposed to be. He's easily confused with one of the generals, which throws you off, but luckily the plot isn't too complex for that to because too much of an issue.

Also, the irony of nuclear proliferation might have been lost on the writers. While Godzilla made it clear about the dangers of such weapons, Beast from 20,000 Fathoms treats the entire matter as a be all and end all: if a nuclear weapon caused the chaos, well, a nuclear weapon will end it. If it's a thinly-veiled parallel of America's stance to indeed increase their nuclear stockpile, it would imply that the damage it could plausibly cause is inconsequential. I'm don't want to delve too much into analysis, because it's probably not warranted here, but still, it's something to consider. And while I can't find any confirmation on this, the idea that they changed Hubschmid's last name (to "Christian" no less) probably has something to do with that whole campaign to portray Americans as "Christians" versus their Communist enemies as god-less. I won't go as far as to say that the monster is metaphorically supposed to be Russia, but, again, it's something to think about.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a enjoyable enough B-film with some really engaging effects, and while any larger commentary is probably slim to non-existent, it is there, and could be argued to a certain extent. For the most part, though, this is a movie that exists to be enjoyed, to be entertained by, and it's as entertaining as they come.

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THE BEAST FROM 20000 FATHOMS