The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

This is a quintessential monster movie for any fan of the genre.

What's the deal with people in the posters always saying "it's alive"? Dead things can't crush families under its foot, genius.

It is argued by many fans that the giant monster genre would not be the same if this movie wasn’t made. Many more argue that the genre would probably not even exist if not for The Beast. I think that’s true. Without this, we wouldn’t have Godzilla. At least, it wouldn’t be the same Godzilla that we know. The filmmakers wouldn’t have made him reptilian, nor anything similar to what we know if they didn’t draw inspiration from The Beast. We have this to thank for the giant monster genre’s current history. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is the big Grandfather of the genre, and deserves a ton of respect and recognition for that… but is the movie itself good?

Yes. Yes it is. In terms of giant monster movies, it’s one of the best and one of my favorites.

The plot is simple. There’s a nuclear bomb testing in the North Pole called Operation: Experiment (funniest part of the whole film) and it awakes a fictional prehistoric beast from the ice called a Rhedosaurus that goes directly south along the east coast of North America. The motive that the monster has is pretty realistic for the time it was made. In the 50’s, everything was bent on DESTROYING EVERYTHING INDISCRIMINATELY. But this Rhedosaurus is just trying to get to his ancient nesting grounds that his species used to travel to every year. His path takes him to New York City, where, much like King Kong, it goes on a rampage.

There’s not much to say about the characters. They’re not too memorable. But they’re not supposed to be why this movie is good. This movie is awesome because of the monster itself. The characters are only good to make fun of, and there’s plenty of that. But it’s the Rhedosaurus that keeps it really entertaining.

The Rhedosaurus’ design is fantastic. It might not be as extravagant or crazy like some later monsters are. It’s simple, but so darn interesting and effective. It’s really hard to explain.

I also think the black and white helps out a lot. I’ve seen colorized stills on the internet, and it does not have the same effect.

The filmmakers didn’t use a puppet or a rubber suit to bring him to life. Thanks to the work of Ray Harryhausen, the Beast is done in stop-motion animation. Harryhausen’s effects are always fun to watch. He’s done work for several movies, like 1 Million Years BC, The Mysterious Island, Clash of the Titans, and 20 Million Miles to Earth. I might review those films later. The Beast was one of his earlier works, but you wouldn’t be able to tell. The stop-motion is so fluid and appealing that I dare say it rivals the original King Kong from 1933… which is what inspired Harryhausen in the first place.

Obviously, this movie isn’t as serious as Gojira would be in the following year. But The Beast wasn’t meant to be a deep, dark drama. It was supposed to be fun, and it delivered better than most during its time.

It’s rare for a movie to successfully rely on its special effects to be completely enjoyable. The Beast is one of these rarities. If anything, the appreciation needs to go to the effects, sound, and editing. It’s a fun movie, and necessary for all fans of the giant monster genre.

FINAL RATING: 39 / 50

STORY: 3 / 5

ACTING: 3 / 5

CHARACTERS: 2 / 5

VISUAL EFFECTS: 5 / 5

ACTION: 4 / 5

SOUNDTRACK: 3 / 5

TONE: 4 / 5

ENJOYABILITY: 5 / 5

REWATCH VALUE: 5 / 5

OWNING VALUE: 5 / 5

Ray Harryhausen died in 2013. He was many people’s favorite stop-motion animator. He was very influential in the special effects department, and his impact on the film industry is monumental even to this day. This film is my favorite of all of his work, and I think that stop-motion should be revived in some way in the modern filmmaking world.