EUGÉNE LOURIÈ'S PRE-GODZILLA 'THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS'

Year: 1953 Rating: **1/2

Eugène Lourié's THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS was what actually inspired Japan's year-later GODZILLA... other than the legendary GOJIRA creature representing American nuclear bombs that destroyed their country (and lost them the war)... making the second radioactive-dinosaur-flick much deeper and far more coherent than this literally groundbreaking predecessor to all sizzling-lizard creature-features...

At one point, when scientific leads Paul Hubschmid and Paula Raymond wind up in KING KONG-inspired New York City after following the beast (resembling a T-Rex's walking-on-all-fours feisty pet) from the arctic underseas, it never feels like we actually struggled with them throughout any truly adventurous danger within a surprisingly bland monster movie that, other than Ray Harryhausen's terrific 11th hour stop-motion effects, feels like two disconnected stories that never quite meshes into one.

Paula Raymond in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Ray Harryhausen's creature in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Ray Harryhausen's creature in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Lee Van Cleef in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Paul Hubschmid and Paula Raymond in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Cecil Kellaway and Paula Raymond in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms