Terror Beneath the Sea

YOU, thinking of Japanese monster horror, will likely picture either Godzilla or some kind of bodily mutilation, likely involving lots of tentacles (both fair).

YOU probably think you've seen it all.

But YOU have yet to experience the mid-point somewhere in between: a thrilling, chilling, underwater adventure so sixties it's hip! It's now! And how! Behold: the delightfully nostalgic, charming murk that is... TERROR BENEATH THE SEA!

(bum bum buuuuummm!!!)

SHRIEK in terror,as you attempt to uncover the (not so mystifying) mystery of the strange marine sightings interrupting underwater torpedo tests!

CRINGE at the gloriously wooden overacting, especially the nearly unbearably whiny Peggy Neal, and one navy sergeant bearing an uncanny resemblance to Bradley Cooper!

GROOVE to the funky James Bond vibe of the underwater base, matching uniformed minions, and cackling megalomaniac foe, all given a swingin' sizzle by the slam-banging jazzy adore!

GASP at the strange, eerie underwater creatures - like the Creature of the Black Lagoon with his face caught in a vice! Then HIDE YOUR EYES from the stop motion transformations creating the abominations (see? We promised bodily mutilation!)...which would likely be more memorably grotesque with a higher budget, so the actors weren't left looking like they have shredded condoms all over their faces.

PUZZLE at the fish-men being referred to as cyborgs, and how their actions are controlled by an outrageously 60s wall dial. But don't sweat the details - the film sure doesn't.

CHEER as dashing martial arts star Sonny Chiba finally (finally!) gets to unleash some whoop-ass in a fantastically campy explosive finale, after spending too much of the movie frowning and being imprisoned - even if he does more shooting than martial arts-ing (boo).

You ask yourself: are your nerves (or attention span) up for the spectacle, the pizazz, of this frightfully fun creature feature?? Well, there's only one way to find out. Take the plunge with Sonny and Peggy. Steel your nerves. And uncover the outrageous odyssey that is... TERROR BENEATH THE SEA!

-5/10

In AGENT X-2: OPERATION UNDERWATER, a mad scientist is bent on world domination through his army of cyborg-mutant fish-men. Only Sonny Chiba and his scuba partner can save the Earth from hideous totalitarian control.

They'll have to stay strong as they encounter the scientist's terrible gun-toting sardines!

This movie is loaded with enough cheeeze to fill 10 nuclear submarines! Is it absurd? Of course, but it's also highly entertaining...

1966's "Terror Beneath the Sea" is a forgotten sci-fi from Japan, less surprising once you learn it's from neither Godzilla's Toho, or Gamera's Daiei. It's actually a Toei production, one of three that made it to American shores, with "Magic Serpent" and "The Green Slime" better remembered. Apart from future martial arts star Sonny Chiba, we have teenage blonde Peggy Neal, who went on to star in Shochiku's "The X from Outer Space," who promptly disappeared from the scene. The Gill Man costumes are initially intriguing, but become obvious through repetition, though the prospect of human beings being transformed into amphibian cyborgs manages to produce some effective moments. Director Hajime Sato really struck paydirt with his final film, 1968's "Goke Body Snatcher from Hell" (also from Shochiku), as nightmarish a combination of horror and sci-fi as any made in Japan. "Terror Beneath the Sea" aka "Water Cyborgs" was frequently seen on television through the late 70s (not much since), airing three times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater from 1974 to 1978.

While this movie has all the elements that make old sci-fi movies suck,it somehow doesn't suck. The creature from the black lagoon has been cloned and is now in Japan,so of course two reporters must investigate.They immediately go scuba diving because what is a movie without scuba diving?I swear I can't remember the last time I saw a movie without scuba diving.Of course one of the reporters is a woman and wouldn't you know it...she sees the monster first.Two times when the camera cuts to him it's extremely clear that he's not underwater.As the woman swims away they superimpose the monster over her.Not content with nearly being killed, they must investigate further.That's when they discover that a guy has figured out how to transform humans into any form he wants.He explains how but then they just put what looks like a few human organs sewn together into a guy and the transformation begins.It's long,tedious and boring and the woman gasps constantly at the extremely slow process.At one point the guy even gets tiger feet before becoming a CFTBL clone. Did I mention that this guy has made a whole army of these things? And that he calls them cyborgs even though they have nothing robotic about them?And that he controls the entire army with a big knob that has settings like "work" and "fight"?And when he needs them all to stop he has to make a pa announcement so the guy standing next to him can turn the knob. I'm sure I didn't mention that he looks like Kevin Spacey in sunglasses.How do I even know who that is?? You would think that one of the monsters having his armpit "skin" ripped open would be the funniest thing in the movie but you'd be wrong.The funniest, and therefore best part of the movie, is all the underwater fire.What?I didn't mention that most of the movie takes place under water?Or that this guy has built his own Epcot center in the ocean? Doesn't matter. All that matters is this movie has more underwater fire than you will see everywhere else for as long as you live.

Sadly, before Sonny Chiba made the wonderful martial arts films that made him so famous throughout the world, he starred in a bazillion films--including some real turkeys like INVASION OF THE NEPTUNE MEN (in the bottom 100 films on IMDb). Despite a fairly respectable current score of 5.5 on IMDb, TERROR BENEATH THE SEA is also one of these early bad films. Now it isn't nearly as terrible as INVASION OF THE NEPTUNE MEN (but what is?!), it's still mighty bad and a film only for kids and the curious.

The film involves Chiba and a cast of Westerners and Japanese investigating some strange creatures in the ocean. They look like a poor man's version of the Creature from CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON--rubber body suits painted silver with putty-like faces. It turns out that they are the creation of a mad megalomaniac (Dr. Moore) who has learned to change humans into practically anything he'd like. Using a mind control device, these cheesy monsters do his bidding. And where does this crazed genius live? Yep, 3000 feet under the ocean--and it's up to Chiba and the US Navy to stop this crazy and his freaky friends. They never really explain how the subs are able to go that deep and Chiba's stupid red-headed sidekick wants to swim from there to the surface (they'd be crushed like grapes by the pressure almost immediately). Maybe originally they mean 300 feet and it was mis-dubbed!

The film looks very Japanese when it comes to the underwater battles and sub. There are lots of fires and explosions(!) under water and much of it looks really, really cheap--like they were created by someone who built the cities for the Godzilla films. Oddly, despite these silly special effects, some of the underwater diving scenes were very well done and filmed well and the color throughout the film was lovely--very vivid and clean. The costumes also aren't bad (other than the silver-suited freaks).

The film is entertaining silliness that bad movie fans and kids will like, but I can't imagine anyone else sitting through this odd film. Well,...at least it IS different!