"From the sea, burning like fire, behemoth"
There is something in the waters off the coast of Cornwall. Something that glows and emits radiation. A fisherman dies of radiation burns. Next thousands of fish wash ashore burned by radiation. Professor Bickford (Andre Morell) and Steve Karnes (Gene Evans), a marine biologist, are tasked with finding out what is going on. Next a ship is attacked and no one survives. Then a farmer and his family are burned to a crisp. Oh and yes the helicopter takedown. This one explodes from the radiation burst. It’s when the monster gets to London that all the fun begins. It starts by upending a ferry. Of course once it comes on land is my favorite part.
"The Giant Behemoth" was released in 1959 and was directed by Douglas Hickok and Eugene Lourie. The special effects on this movie were done by Willis O’Brien who is of course famous for “King Kong”. It was also co/directed by Eugene Lourie who is the same person that directed “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”.
There are similarities in the behemoth and the beast from 20,000 fathoms. Both are made up dinosaur species. Both need to be taken down by some kind of radioactive isotope shot into it. In the realm of monster making the behemoth and the beast were created from number 3 on the monster making chart. Atomic testing awakened them both. Both go on land in a big city and wreak havoc. The paleontologist dies. Stomping on cars. Knocking over brick walls on people. They both shake a car that has someone in it. Spotlights. Attitude.
There are differences too. There is more than one hero for the British movie. And there isn’t a love interest for either one in the British film. Also the British extras being chased by the monster in the movie run better and faster than the American ones. Apparently they are just better actors. The British monster emits radiation as the American one has blood containing plague. The ending to the movie?
The first time I saw this movie I didn’t really appreciate it. It seemed that it took a long time to get to the monster. I’ve come to appreciate it more as I got older. Now it’s one of my favorites. (I have a lot of favorites.)