Monster from the Ocean Floor

Monster from the Ocean Floor
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Wyott Ordung
Produced by Roger Corman
Written by Bill Danch
Starring Anne Kimbell
Stuart Wade
Dick Pinner
David Garcia
Music by Andre Brummer
Cinematography Floyd Crosby
Edited by Edward Sampson
Production
company
Palo Alto
Distributed by Lippert Pictures
Release date
  • May 21, 1954 (1954-05-21)
Running time
 64 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $30,000
Box office $850,000

Monster from the Ocean Floor is a 1954 science fiction film about a sea monster that terrorizes a Mexican cove. The film was directed by Wyott Ordung and starred Anne Kimbell and Stuart Wade.

It was the first film produced by Roger Corman (although he had previously written Highway Dragnet).

Plot

Julie Blair (Kimbell) is an American vacationing at a seaside village in Mexico. She hears stories about a man-eating creature dwelling in the cove. She meets Dr. Baldwin (Dick Pinner), a marine biologist, and they fall for one another. The mysterious death of a diver inspires Julie to investigate, but Baldwin is very skeptical. She sees a giant amoeba rising from the ocean.

Cast

Production

Alan Frank listed Monster from the Ocean Floor's budget as $30,000.[1] However, Corman stated that the film was made for $12,000 over six days.[2] According to Corman, $4,000 of the film's budget came from Ordung, $3,500 from Corman (from the sale of the Highway Dragnet story to Allied Artists), $5,000 in deferment from Consolidated Labs, and money raised privately by selling $500 and $1,000 shares.[3] Ordung later claimed that he hocked his life insurance and sold his apartment to raise $15,000 to pay for the film.[4] Corman's brother, Gene Corman, estimated the budget at $35,000.[5]

Roger Corman had seen an article on a new electric-powered one-man submarine, and was able to use it in the picture for free in exchange for the publicity and an on-screen credit ("Submarine built by Aerojet General"). The film's original title was It Stalked the Ocean Floor, but was changed by the distributor for being too artsy.[6]

Release

Gene Corman, an agent, negotiated the sale of the film to a distributor. Although Herbert Yates of Republic Pictures had an interest in the film, Monster from the Ocean Floor was sold to Lippert Pictures for $110,000. Gene Corman later said that Lippert renegotiated his deal on the film once he found out that Roger Corman had not spent $100,000 on making it, but considerably less.[5]

Corman received a $60,000 advance for Monster, which enabled him to make his next film.[2]

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $850,000.[3][4]

Critical

TV Guide found the movie lacking and criticized the directing; however, it found the movie interesting historically as the "beginning of something big and cheap".[7] Variety was kinder, calling the movie a well made quickie. [8]

References

  1. ↑ Alan Frank, The Films of Alan Frank: Shooting My Way Out of Trouble, Bath Press, 1998 p 15
  2. 1 2 Beverly Gray, Roger Corman: Blood Sucking Vampires, Flesh Eating Cockroaches and Driller Killers, AZ Ferris 2014 p 30-31
  3. 1 2 Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p15-20
  4. 1 2 Mark Thomas McGee, Talk's Cheap, Action's Expensive: The Films of Robert L. Lippert, Bear Manor Media, 2014 p 156-159
  5. 1 2 Weaver, Tom (2006). Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup. McFarland. p. 94-95.
  6. ↑ Frank, Alan (1998) The Films of Roger Corman. Batsford
  7. ↑ http://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-monster-from-the-ocean-floor/review/106617/
  8. ↑ Frank, Alan (1998) The Films of Roger Corman. Batsford


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.