5.0 out of 5 stars Roger Corman's First Production

J.C.G. · February 7, 2025

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of 'Monster from the Ocean Floor' released by Film Masters on February 4, 2025BLU-RAY: The picture is very nice. It is basically free of imperfections such as dirt, dust, specks, lines, etc. I didn't focus on this throughout the film but I didn't notice anything. Judging by the original trailer and then the re-cut, it looks as if they raised the brightness level of the movie by quite a bit.EXTRA'S:- There is a 15 page booklet included that is attached to the inside cover of the Blu-Ray case.- Audio Commentary with Tom Weaver - Weaver uses a lot of interviews with the principals in this commentary- Featurette: 'Bob Baker: From Monsters to Marionettes' - This is a 14 minute documentary about Baker's career in Hollywood.- Featurette: Roger Corman: Becoming a B-Movie Maker - This is an interview with Roger Corman about the beginning of his career as a Producer. 'Monster from the Ocean Floor' is barely mentioned. (8:42)- Original Theatrical Trailer- Re-cut 2024 Trailer- Gallery of stills***** NOTE - LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT *****PLOT/SYNOPSIS: Julie Blair is making a painting at a beach on Mexico when a young boy comes by and tells her that his father was killed by something in the ocean right at the beach they are at. When she goes swimming, an American man, Steve Dunning, a marine biologist, scares her in his submarine. Back on shore, he invites her to come to his boat to see what he is working on. Julie meets Steve's colleague, Dr. Baldwin and a crewman, Tommy.A short while later, a boat approaches claiming that a divers line snapped. Steve heads there in his submarine. Steve finds a diving outfit with no body in it. Julie learns of several other disappearances that have occurred recently and she is determined to investigate these disappearances.One evening, Julie sees a steer that has been left as a sacrifice. A one-eyed monster comes to the surface of the ocean near the beach and Julie passes out on the beach. Tula, a superstitious old lady tells Pablo, a drunkard, that a sacrifice of the 'fairest' must be made to the monster in the ocean. She orders Pablo to do her bidding. Pablo makes half-hearted attempts to kill Julie but ultimately he confesses to her. Julie dives in attempt to see the monster and ends up passing out. Steve comes back in the nick of time to rescue Julie and sends his submarine into the monster's eye and kills it.PRODUCTION/COMMENTS: 'Monster from the Ocean Floor' was released in 1954 as a part of a double bill with 'The Queen of Sheba'.- THE MONSTER: A giant one-eyed amoeba. I'm not sure how they think is one cell, but ok...- THE SUBMARINE: Roger Corman did not have to pay for the submarine as he convinced the maker that he would give them free advertising in his movie. The company, Aerojet General, gets mentioned in the credits as well as in the movie.- THE SHARK: The shark you see Julie fighting was an old shark with very few teeth left. Anne Kimball refused to do the scenes with the shark and a double was used.- PATHETIC END OF THE MONSTER: The 'Monster' meets it's end in a fairly pathetic way. I mean... how tough could it be if an unpowered 1-man submersible can kill it by basically floating into the monster. This submersible was pedal-powered by the person manning it. How much speed could you possibly generate?- THE GREAT OUTDOORS: The entirety of 'Monster from the Ocean Floor' was filmed outdoors.JAWS RIPPED-OFF 'MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR'?: Just listen to the music at about the 57 minute mark and tell me that Jaws didn't rip off this movie for it's main theme. At the least, it obviously inspired the music from 'Jaws'.- OTHER COMMENTS:- The original title of 'Monster from the Ocean Floor' was 'It Stalked the Ocean Floor'.- Roger Corman appears as 'the one man crew' on Steve Dunnings boat.- The director, Wyott Ordung, plays Pablo.- There have been estimates of anywhere from $12,000 to $35,000 for the actual cost to make the movie. Roger Corman says it cost $12,000 and took six days to shoot.RATINGS/CONCLUSIONS:Blu-Ray: 8/10 - It's not perfect but it's very goodExtra's: 8.5/10Plot: 4/10SFX: 7.5/10 - I'm obviously factoring in the budgetOverall: 9/10 - My rating is for the release, not the movie itself.IF YOU LIKE THIS, THEN WATCH...- Jaws (1975) - They say... what is 'Jaws' but a big budget Roger Corman movie...

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally on blu-ray

J. · April 29, 2025

First off, as much as I enjoy this new blu-ray transfer, I have to admit that I'm still a bit disappointed. If I had viewed this without being told that it was a new blu-ray edition, I would have thought it was a very clean DVD transfer. The image quality is soft throughout 90% of the film. Not the crisp, sharp image that some other older movies deliver. I don't fault Film Masters for this, because it's likely that this is simply the quality of the original film elements that they had to work with. I think they did an excellent job of transferring and restoring this movie. Having said what needed to be said about the soft image quality, I can say that everything else was very good. They did a great job of cleaning up the film, far surpassing the previous DVD edition. It's free of dirt and scratches and bad spots in scenes. Sound quality is about average for a low-budget film of the 1950's. Overall, even if it's not the sharp image quality hoped for, it a very good quality transfer, and would make a welcome edition to any sci-fi collection.

5.0 out of 5 stars 50s cheese

r. · May 22, 2025

Awesome 1950s b movie enjoy

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy one eye thriller

S. · March 25, 2025

The first SCI FI film by Roger Corman! Maybe the special effects are no Star Wars but being made in the early 1950's, this film rocks!! Solid cast and made on a shoestring budget, this film will delight any lover of classic 50's SCI FI! I waited a very long time for an improved version over the standard DVD and I must say, the wait was worth it!! This blu ray plays great on my 4K 65" Samsung TV, VIDEO crystal clear and the sound much improved!! Get this before it goes up in price n out of print like Corman's ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS""! !!solid fun film!!

5.0 out of 5 stars Good movie

B.T. · November 9, 2024

If you like cheesy ScifiThis is for you

3.0 out of 5 stars Amoeba? One-Eyed Octopus? No Monster From the Ocean Floor

J.A.J.J. · December 21, 2002

MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR stars Anne Kimball, Stuart Wade, Dick Pinner, Inez Palange, Jonathan Haze, and David Garcia.This movie stars a strong female lead, who is fairly easy on the eyes without the obscenity of modern-bathing suits. Julie Blair, played by Anne Kimball, investigates stories of an underwater, single red-eyed, monster that is terrorizing a small Mexican community.Steve Dunning (Stuart Wade), a marine biologist working in the cove provides the romantic interest. He pedals around a real neat one-man mini-sub. Without giving away the ending, this fact will be important at the movie's ending.A local witch influences one of the peasants to make an attempt to sacrifice her, "the fair one," as an appeasement to the monster. His haphazard attempts make us sympathetic to him in a movie that drags somewhat and where there is little significant action.I read that this was Roger Corman's first production, making it a must see for his fans and collectors. The director is Wyott Ordung who also appears as the superstitious Pablo in the movie. Roger Corman is in the movie, too, as Tommy. There is nothing on the box from RHINO or on the DVD to tell us this.Kimball gives a good performance although the other actors often come off wooden and as if they are reading. The music is not bad and compliments the suspenseful water scenes. The one-eyed monster comes off cheap by today's standards, maybe even by those in 1954, but it is still rather neat with its one bulging eye. Unfortunately, we do not see much of it. The underwater scenes with the monster used a puppet in an aquarium. The live sequences, with just the swimmers and the sub was purported to be actual deep-sea footage. Usually such shots are done a few inches under water in someone's pool.The RHINO DVD is a conventual pan/scan 1.33:1. There are no extras, just the movie and a few chapter divisions. The picture is pretty clear although the sound is below average. I had to turn my speakers way up. Part of the problem rests with the original production. There is too much background noise and the constant blowing wind becomes a distraction.In retrospect the peasant woman, really a witch who disavows the local padre for her ancient superstitions, comes across as a real monster. However, she has little screen time. Further, while the character played by Kimball incessantly seeks the monster, she goes out unarmed and passes out every time she sees it. While she has proof of her discovery at the end, she goes back into the water looking for it again, for no good reason whatever. It simply provides the final situation for the movie's mild climax. The logic fails somewhat at this point.Nevertheless, I like B-grade movies and this is a fair one.>No foul language or blasphemy.>Conventional bathing suits, but no bikinis and no nudity.>Light romance, but nothing lewd and no sexual situations.>Light plot violence.