Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

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

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

JohnHowardReid Producer: Roger Corman.Copyright 7 September 1954 by Palo Alto Productions, inc. A Lippert Pictures release. No New York opening. U.S. release: 21 May 1954 (sic). U.K. release through Exclusive in March 1956, in a version cut to 51 minutes. Never theatrically released in Australia. 64 minutes.Alternative titles: IT STALKED THE OCEAN FLOOR; MONSTER MAKER.SYNOPSIS: A Mexican coastal village is threatened by a sea monster, but two visiting Americans (a beautiful advertising artist and a husky marine biologist) save the day. NOTES: First films for producer Roger Corman, director Wyott Ordung, and players Kimbell, Wade and Haze. Corman went on to produce over a hundred more pictures, Ordung wrote a couple of scripts, Kimbell starred in "Girls at Sea" (1958), Haze in "The Little Shop of Horrors", "Invasion of the Star Creatures", etc.VIEWER'S GUIDE: Extraordinarily, the Australian censor in the year 2000 awarded the film an "MA" certificate — Mature Adults Only, with children excluded from cinema admissions unless accompanied by a responsible parent or guardian. This, despite the fact that the British Board of Film Censors way back in 1956, awarded the much faster- paced yet uncensored version a Universal Exhibition certificate! It's good to know that — despite all appearances to the contrary — Australia's space-age, computer kids are so shy and sensitive that a couple of tawdry shots of the tamest monster ever made will scare them witless. American and British kids of yesteryear were certainly made of sterner stuff.COMMENT: Produced by Roger Corman, this is a very efficiently made, little sci-fi thriller. Script and dialogue maintain the interest, the little-known principals are attractive, and the movie seems to have been lensed wholly on location by the resourceful Floyd "High Noon" Crosby. Actually, the photographic quality tends to be a bit variable, but this and some extremely long (but well-composed) takes are the only evidences of what was undoubtedly a very short shooting schedule. (The film was reportedly shot in a week and budgeted at only $12,000). Sci-fi fans will undoubtedly be disappointed that they see so little of the long-awaited "monster", though I found the delay more suspenseful than his actual appearance. The pace could be improved still further (this is a review of the British version, not the over-talky and rather static full-length movie currently being aired on cable) by slightly trimming the scenes with the miniature sub, which out-stays its welcome. The support cast is capable, whilst production values — aside from the tame special effects — are more than fair.

gavin6942 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.

Scott LeBrun "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.

r-c-s this is undoubtedly a B movie. 1954 was its year ( the same year as the first Godzilla ), so we should adjust our expectations accordingly. All in all, this movie is more closely related to 1930's movies than 1950's. Stories about some "sea devil" killing people fascinate an American woman vacationing in Mexico. She's beyond the typical female specimen of the 1950's, and she takes matters into her own hands, trying to locate this "monster", supposedly behind a few mysterious deaths. She joins forces with 2 marine biologists, one of whom (her supposed beau, but that gets nearly no screen time ) rides a man powered submarine i clearly remember i saw in print in some old Disney comics: same layout, same purpose. There is (Corman style) a subplot involving 2 villagers, one subduing the other into killing the young lady in an attempt to appease pre-colombian deities or whatever. Producer Corman perhaps (mask of red death) establishes a parallel between the unknown as source of evil and human distress and phobias.Again there is some nice submarine footage documentary style.Overall a nice movie visibly plagued by low budget. It still retains some personality (EG it still ranks higher and succeeds better than say "the mysterians"). Acting isn't much of anything, and actors have more "bit parts" or "uncredited" roles in their career than else. SFX are negligible, if any.