Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954)

Monster from the Ocean Floor (USA, 1954) 64 min B&W DIR: Wyott Ordung. PROD: Roger Corman. SCR: Bill Danch. MUSIC: André Brummer. DOP: Floyd Crosby. CAST: Anne Kimbell, Stuart Wade, Dick Pinner, Wyott Ordung, Inez Palange, Jonathan Haze, David Garcia. (Lippert Pictures)

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Monster from the Ocean Floor is a modest yet entertaining effort, notable in that it was Roger Corman’s first undertaking as an independent film producer, and the success of the film effectively set his long, prolific career in motion. It was Corman’s first attempt at producing his own film his way, outside of normal studio constraints, and he was very hands-on in all aspects of the making of the film, from raising the funds and organizing distribution to hauling equipment to playing a bit part. It was his trial by fire… or perhaps by water!

The subject matter for Monster was inspired by an article that Corman came across in the L.A. Times, about a new one-man submarine developed by a company named Aerojet General. Corman conceived an underwater sci-fi adventure picture that would utilize this new submarine, and he sweet-talked Aerojet into letting him use their invention for free in exchange for credit in the film. The strange undersea vehicle receives ample screen time in Monster (talk about product placement) – in fact, more screen time than the monster itself!

He hired minor actor/screenwriter Wyott Ordung (the man responsible for the script to Z-grade sci-fi schlocker Robot Monster!) to direct the film, on the condition that Ordung put up an investment himself. Also on-board were cinematographer Floyd Crosby, and actor Jonathan Haze (billed as Jack Hayes), who would become regular Corman collaborators.

Corman and screenwriter William Danch worked up a serviceable screenplay set in a remote seaside village on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Julie Blair (Anne Kimbell), a commercial artist vacationing in the area (who also happens to look good in a bathing suit), meets marine biologist Steve Dunning (Stuart Wade), who is tooling around in his cool one-man submarine while she is taking a swim. They soon begin hearing stories from the locals about a mysterious “devil in the cove” that has been taking the lives of local fishermen and livestock. Dunning, the practical scientist, is skeptical, but Blair decides to investigate further, and in a strange nocturnal incident on the beach, she sees the bizarre, one-eyed octopus-like creature rise out of the sea like a nightmarish hallucination. The natives believe it is an “evil god” which can only be appeased by human sacrifice, and set about luring Blair to her demise while Dunning and his research partner, Dr. Baldwin, speculate that the creature is a mutation resulting from recent nuclear experiments in the Bikini Islands. The film reaches its climax as Blair is threatened by the tentacled monster and Dunning comes to the rescue in (you guessed it!) the Aerojet submarine!

Corman and crew shot Monster on a tight six-day schedule, and a minuscule budget of $12,000.00; the fact that the film is still floating around today is a testament to its moderate success. Viewed in today’s light, Monster is in many ways reminiscent of an episode of The X-Files, and perhaps a low-budget cousin to Creature from the Black Lagoon, released the same year; one could even say that it pre-dates Jaws (there is a similar ominous two-note musical motif in several underwater scenes when Blair is in peril). Corman wisely kept the monster’s screen time to a minimum, as he had no budget for special effects. The creature was a puppet filmed through a fish tank, resulting in an odd, blurry shimmering effect. 

Monster is certainly not a masterpiece, nor is it essential viewing within the Corman oeuvre; however, it remains a watchable and amusing little picture that, in the context of Corman’s career, shows signs of what’s ahead.

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Originally published in The Roger Corman Scrapbook.