By Ray Walton

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) ⭐️⭐.5

An atomic blast in the arctic releases the 140 million-year-old dinosaur which causes destruction and terrorises the cities from North Atlantic to New York City.

Starring: Paul Hubschmid,, Paula Raymond, Kenneth Tobey, Lee Van Cleef, Alvin Greenman, Cecil Kellaway, Eugene Lourie, Fred Freiberger, Lou Morheim

Watch on: Prime Video, AppleTV

Inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story The Fog Horn, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms helped launch the atomic monster craze of the 1950s with its groundbreaking stop motion effects and Cold War-era anxieties.

Even after this one movie, it is evident that the main focus of these creature features is to deliver an impressive monster, and not the most compelling characters, with movies like Them! being exceptions. That being said, this was still a fun watch. The stop motion effects of the dinosaur are pretty cool. Though I did find myself chuckling at a couple of moments when it showed up. I have never actually seen Jurassic Park in its entirety, but I am tempted to label this as “The pre Jurassic Park dinosaur movie, that is actually decent.” because there are many, many dinosaur films out there that are supposedly horrible. I also have never seen King Kong though, and one of my parents told me that there were plenty of scenes where Kong is battling dinosaurs. Somehow that basic plot detail completely slipped by me. Guess I now need to watch King Kong at some point. This movie really isn’t anything special, but with an endearing performance from Cecil Kellaway, and some cool stop motion effects, and a finale involving a roller coaster, it’s a fun time.

Ray Walton

Neurodivergent movie lover. Here to share reviews for horror and non horror movies that fall into the “Dark Cinema” category.