Terror Beneath the Sea (1966), starring Shin’ichi Chiba, Peggy Neal, Andrew Hughes, Franz Gruber
In Terror Beneath the Sea, will water cyborgs, created in an underground laboratory, put an end to the human race?
Review
In short, Terror Beneath the Sea is the type of cheesy monster movie that I enjoyed years ago that enjoyed as a teenager. Although I have to admit, had I seen it back then, I’d have probably rated Terror Beneath the Sea higher for the nostalgia factor.
Synopsis
The film begins with a submarine, testing new torpedos underwater. Two journalist are along — played by Shin’ichi Chiba (billed as Sonny Chiba) and Peggy Neal. While exploring, she sees an aquatic fish-man. At this point, I thought that the film was going to be a rip-off homage to The Creature from the Black Lagoon. But, I was wrong.
The lady reporter takes a photo of the mysterious creature … but loses her camera. One thing leads to another, and soon the journalists are kidnapped. And, taken to a city beneath the sea, run by a mad scientist (Andrew Hughes). For some reason, the mad scientists wants the journalists on their side. For better public relations, when he takes over the world. Seriously.
The mad scientist demonstrates turning one of his minions into one of the fish-people, including surgery to give him gills. And, soon, the journalists are being given the same treatment, to make them compliant.
Our hero fights his way out, rescues them both, and the submarine destroys the city beneath the sea. Our female reporter screams a lot, and collapses into Shin’ichi’s arms. Seriously.
Conclusion
Well, the pace of the movie is somewhat slow, and there’s plenty of cliches. I do like the design of the fish-men, although the costuming’s fairly cheap. As I say, had I seen it as a teenager, I probably would have thought more highly of it.
Editorial review of Terror Beneath the Sea courtesy of Amazon.com
A group of surface dwellers comes upon an underwater city ruled by a mad scientist and his amphibious servants.