Monsters from the Deep Terrorizing Ladies on Land

Continued from Page 1

In 1960 came TORMENTED, the story of a man haunted by the ghost of a woman he kinda let fall to her death from a secluded lighthouse. Because she fell into the sea, the beach and the ghost are a part of each other. (Check this one out if you can find a good copy, my favorite ghost movie and a nice showcase for Richard Carlson.)

Shame on me for in making this article overlooking such an obvious candidate as THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS (1959). Thanks to Seb Godin for reminding me!

Anyway, THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS tells of a prehistoric humanoid that pops up under a New England lighthouse. A particularly blood-thirsty beastie, the titular monster begins leaving behind mutilated bodies in a quiet seaside village. Produced by men who had recently left (or been fired from) Universal International, the monster itself was partly cobbled together from spare parts, including claws once worn by THE MOLE PEOPLE and feet that used to belong to the Metalunan Mutant. The resulting creature is quite it’s own monstrosity. Popular pinup model Jeanne Carmen had here her only starring role in a monster movie. At the premiere, countless excited young fans nearly ripped the dress from off her back! After that episode, she swore off monster pictures for good! Don Sullivan plays the young hero, alongside Les Tremayne as the elder man of science.

Jeanne Carmen in *The Monster of Piedras Blancas*

Also in 1959, THE GIANT BEHEMOTH (the British THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS) told of a revived dinosaur that rises out of the sea. Originally, it was to feature a radioactive blob washing up on the beach, but the producers wanted a dinosaur for the poster. The beach is featured early on, as the Behemoth’s appearance coincides with masses of dead fish washed up on the shore. Much like IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, it’s inclusion here is a bit of a cheat and more urban destruction is what the film is remembered for.

I suppose you could charitably call REPTILICUS (1961) a Danish version of THE GIANT BEHEMOTH. Both feature living dinosaurs that must be destroyed in one piece or threaten the entire world (as, again, did THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS). Where one is a somber British exercise in moody science fiction, however, the other is a colorful kiddie comic book* brought to life! In short, a wildcat drill drags up a hunk of flesh from the tip of a dinosaur’s tail. It quickly grows into a whole new monster and threatens Denmark. Since Reptilicus is a water monster, the beaches are in peril. One key scene involves an assault on numerous sun-lovers. (The beach is even more involved in the original Danish cut of the film. American International was reportedly mortified at the finished film and made numerous edits before release.) AIP never acted proud of the film, though they did heavily promote it and the film made a fortune for them.

*Actually, there was a Reptilicus comic book, although they changed his name to “Reptisaurus” after a few issues.

One of Roger Corman’s black comedies, CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA (1961) dealt with smugglers who used the local legend of a monster to cover their tracks. When the real monster shows up, all bets are off. Said creature was basically a walking mound of seaweed. Corman used the same cast for THE LAST WOMAN ON EARTH.

Betsy Jones-Moreland in *Creature from the Haunted Sea*

1961’s MYSTERIOUS ISLAND had plenty of monsters on the beach! Civil War POWs escape in a hot air balloon and get caught in a massive storm which blows them into the Pacific. They wash up on an island that just happens to be the home of Captain Nemo, who has been doing some experimentation with gigantism… Stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen (earlier of IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA) really delights with this one. Being set on an island, there’s quite a bit of beach action on display. A real highlight (among many) was the giant crab that menaces our heroes. Ray used the shell of a real crab on his model. Reportedly, he and his wife ate the meat!

Joan Greenwood and Beth Rogan in *Mysterious Island*

THE FLESH EATERS (1964) concerned a group of people on a tiny island, trapped by flesh-hungry microbes in the surf. One of the earliest films to exploit blood and gore, the film is surprisingly good. One of the first of a new line of more adult-minded genre films that began to spring up in the early 60’s. The less said about it before you see it, the better!

Beach monster movies as a distinct genre hit their stride in the mid 60s. The most famous of these was THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH (1964). In this one, toxic waste from a nuclear reactor causes seaweed to fuse with dead bodies and create aquatic vampire zombie fish-men (as well as aquatic vampire zombie muck men). The beaches are only the first places to be terrorized by these monstrous mutations. The film has a few effective moments despite itself, as so much of it is beyond silly (this is the film where Carbon-14 testing has some bearing on genetics, sodium liquefies at room temperature, and of course nuclear waste creates armies of aquatic vampires). If nothing else, though, the film is fun and genuinely entertaining. Great soundtrack too, via the Del-Airs singing group. From time to time, the film even sports some genuinely moody photography. Goofy, but enjoyable.