The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

George Ritchie: [referring to the A-bomb test] You know every time one of those things goes off, I feel as if I was helping to write the first chapter of a new Genesis.
Professor Tom Nesbitt: Let's hope we don't find ourselves writing the last chapter of the old one.

One morning many years ago as a little boy, I woke up in the wee hours and decided to watch a movie.  At the time I had no idea of the name of the movie but as I sat there and watched in awe (I was well under 10), one part of this movie was imprinted on my mind.  A large lizard type creature was tearing apart a rollercoaster as men tried to bring a stop to the destruction it brought.  Jump forward some…well a lot of years, I finally found out what that movie was called, and here today we have that movie in review.

There has been a whole assortment of monster movies over the decades which all revolve around either a larger than normal creature of some kind or at least a very destructive one, but either way they wreak havoc on towns, cities and of course people.  We have giant/killer octopus, spiders, squid, frogs, rats, bees, gorillas, more spiders, crabs, lizards, fish of various kinds (need I mention sharks separately?), Crocodiles/Alligators (gotta love Lake Placid!), snakes, ants, cockroaches, dinosaurs and O boy does the list go on and on and on.   Needless to say, these type of movies struck a chord in us and, for some reason, became popular.  We like to have dominion over the beasts/birds/fish of the earth and if they try to fight back (eg. The Aussie film Long Weekend) we fight all the more to rule them.  Well that’s the way we like it anyway.  As with all things, they need to start somewhere and when it comes to giant monster movies it all started with a silent film called The Lost World in 1925, then we had that the 1933 King Kong (reviewed here …………….), then a Japanese version of King Kong came out in 1949 called Wasei Kingu Kongu and finally in 1953 we have our film in review being The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.  It is the first movie where a beast was revealed from the effects of a nuclear explosion, so its landmark in that regard.

In the far northern Arctic circle, a nuclear bomb test is conducted which awakens/thaws out a Rhedosaurus from his icy slumber.  One survivor Prof. Tom Nesbitt (Paul Christian aka Paul Hubschmid) see’s the creature briefly before it disappears but gets ridiculed by his peers and doctors as having some kind of hallucination and is essentially palmed off.  But when the monster starts making some sporadic appearances from the Artic down along the North American coast, the curiosity of palaeontologist Thurgood Elson (Cecil Kellaway) and his assistant Lee Hunter (Paula Raymond) is captured and when Tom points out what the beast looked like from various drawings they had, they start making serious queries.  Eventually the beast finds its way to New York and they do all they can to bring a stop to the beast and the trail of destruction it has left behind.

Whilst being a new thing back then in 1953, the idea of a giant monster terrorising a town or city has been used and abused over the years so finding an original story is pretty hard and this is no exception.  The creature is brought to the screen via, you guessed it, stop animation by the then young Ray Harryhausen who would go on to bigger and bolder projects over the coming decade and a half.  A few of Harrryhausen’s later films, namely It Came From Beneath the Sea, 20 Million Miles to Earth and Earth vs the Flying Saucers, have been colourised recently using new techniques which has breathed new life into them however this one missed out on getting the treatment but that does not detract me one but from watching it.  To me, black and white is still a string format whether that be in still photography or video.

It is an impressive film and one that brought back fond memories of that night so long ago (gee that makes me sound old) when I was watching it for the first time in the wee hours of the morning.  It has a realistic feel to it without being over done or excessive and there is that sense of mystery in how the main characters came to discover its existence.  I wouldn't call it the best movie of this genre that’s for sure, but it is a classic and it will no doubt be watch again.  

The Bluray used for the review was imported from the US and is region free.  Considering the age of the source film, the image, in its 1.37:1 aspect ratio, is in great shape with good sharpness and contrast and is no doubt as good or even better than its original screening at the cinema/drive-in.  The audio comes to us via DTS HD Master Audio in the original mono format and sounds good for the movie.  We have also been given the following extras:

• The Rhedosaurus and the Rollercoaster: Making the Beast (documentary)
• Harryhausen & Bradbury: An unfathomable Friendship Armatures (documentary)
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall this is a movie I enjoyed watching and is a solid movie in itself, but I wouldn’t say it is everyone’s cup of tea.  It comes recommended for those interested in old 50’s monster movies or Ray Harryhausen’s animation work, but apart from that you could find better.  It is not Harryhausen’s best work but it is some of his early stuff and it still very well done especially as the beast goes between the city buildings having the shadows cast upon it, which would have taken quite a lot of effort.  

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