Plot
Atomic tests in the ocean disturbs a
prehistoric monster than can project electric shocks and radioactive beams.
After terrorising the English coast around Cornwall, the creature heads
towards London. However it is discovered that if the creature is destroyed
by conventional weapons, a dangerous amount of radioactive contamination
would spread across England, rendering it uninhabitable for centuries.
Review
Originally written
as though the monster was invisible, the success of The Beast from 20,000
Fathoms prompted a re-write and a change of the title creature into
something a little more familiar to audiences. Unfortunately this then means
that The Giant Behemoth runs like a poor man's remake of it's far
superior cousin with even the same helmer,
Eugène Lourié, pulling the strings. The action switches from the States
to England and everything else is toned down a couple of notches: action and
special effects being the main victims. The Japanese may have been getting
pummeled by Godzilla and Gamera and the Yanks by all sorts of giant insects
but the good old Brits had to settle for Gorgo and Behemoth. I can see who
drew the short straws.
Perhaps it's the original
notion that the monster was to be invisible which leads to the film being
overly talky. If the intention was to have an invisible monster all along,
then it never mattered about the action sequences simply because you were
never going to see much anyway! So the film spends time in undertaking a lot
of scientific analysis and research about the creature. Director
Eugène
Lourié roped in Willis O'Brien, the legendary effects man who created
the amazing King Kong, to bring to life the monster in stop motion.
At least the makers of the film went to some lengths to create their monster
and didn't just opt for the rubber suits or optically enhanced insects that
the other 50s sci-fi monster flicks were employing. However, O'Brien was
getting on in age and could only provide advice to younger apprentices in an
advisory role. The low budget stop motion effects aren't memorable in the
slightest and there's not a lot of them. In fact the same sequence is used
three times as the monster squashes a car. The only half-memorable sequence
is when the monster attacks a ferry but it's a basic toy ferry and rubber
headed monster which is used. Hardly cutting edge special effects and hardly
anything but a complete laugh when you see it now as the real life footage
of people standing on a stationary ferry is inter-cut with scenes of the
rubber monster aggressively destroying the toy ferry. Cut back to scenes of
the actors pathetically trying to pretend they're being buffeted around the
ferry before it's dragged under.
When it's destructive rampage
finally kicks off towards the end of the film with the destruction of the
ferry, you'd wish it had just gone straight home. It saunters into London
for a bit of sightseeing, strolling past famous landmarks without so much as
a second glance. Come on! The Japanese and the Americans love showing famous
landmarks be smashed to pieces by monsters and aliens so why are the British
so reserved about the Houses of Parliament or the Tower of London take a bit
of a beating? The monster does little damage and then the film is over.
Speaking of reserved, it wouldn't be a quintessential British flick without
the stiff upper-lipped main characters all talking rather calmly and
politely. Even in the face of extreme danger, the characters are all laid
back, softly spoken and relaxed. The characters are strictly
one-dimensional, serving to move the plot further on and nothing more.
There's no secondary story or romantic sub plots. These scientists are
simply out to solve the problem and thus explain a lot of the technical
mumbo jumbo and try to give proceedings some scientific gravitas. All it
does is make the film dull and to say it's only 79 minutes long, it feels a
lot longer whilst watching. Scenes of the characters undertaking science
experiments are pure filler and do little to ease the viewer's ever-growing
disillusionment. The daft underwater finale does little to warrant sitting
through the rest of proceedings although the final twist at the end is
rather unusual for a 50s sci-fi flick as everything is normally wrapped up
in a neat little package.
Verdict
The Giant Behemoth is by no
means the worst of the 50s atomic monster flicks but it's one of the most
dull. There are no characters to root for or get to know, there's no monster
action until the fifty minute mark and no genuine sense of awe and
excitement when it does turn up. But at least it does get to cause a bit of
panic throughout London and the final ten minutes or so are fairly decent,
it's just a pity you've got to wait a long time to get there.
