Terror Beneath the Sea

Terror Beneath the Sea
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji海底大戦争
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnKaitei Daisensō
Directed byHajime Sato
Screenplay byKōichi Ōtsu
Produced byKoji Kameda
Seiichi Yoshino
Masafumi Soga
Starring
CinematographyKazuo Shimomura
Edited byTomio Soda
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
Production
companies
Toei Company
Ram Films
Distributed byToei
Release date
  • July 1, 1966 (1966-07-01) (Japan)
Running time
84 minutes (Japan)
79 minutes (United States)
CountriesJapan
United States
LanguagesJapanese
English (dubbed)

Terror Beneath the Sea (Japanese: 海底大戦争, Hepburn: Kaitei Daisensō; lit. 'The Great Undersea War')[a] is a 1966 science fiction horror film directed by Hajime Sato.[2] An international co-production of Japan and the United States,[3][4] it stars Sonny Chiba, Peggy Neal, Franz Gruber, Andrew Hughes, Tadashi Suganuma, and Hideo Murota.

Plot

The story follows reporter Ken Abe and photographer Jenny Gleason as they attend a torpedo testby the US navy, which has a mysterious swimming body appear during it. This and other irregularity cause the pair to investigate, which leads them to a cave inhabited by silver fish-men, who capture the pair.

The pair is eventually taken to the underwater base of the enigmatic Professor Moore, who has created these fish-men or "water cyborgs." The Water Cyborgs lack free will and are intended to be his soldiers in his task to unify the world under him and make people compliant in his 'Utopia'. The process of transforming ordinary humans into these creatures is shown in graphic detail throughout the procedure, disturbing Jenny and Ken.

A US Navy submarine searching for the missing couple as well as a kidnapped scientist stumbles upon the base, interrupting the process of Ken and Jenny's transformation, though both are left scared. The base and submarine engage in deadly combat using torpedoes and missiles until a hit disrupts the control mechanism of the Water Cyborgs and they begin indiscriminately killing everyone they come across. While attempting to escape, Ken, Jenny, and the scientist run into the leader of the base attempting to do the same, eventually resulting in the leader's death. A navy diver rescues them from the base.

Awakening in the hospital, Jenny is at first terrified of being seen in her altered appearance, only to find their fellow rescuee knew the process to reverse the procedure and she and Ken have been restored, and Jenny excitedly tells her boss she has a story for him, before she and Jen go for a walk on the beach together.

Cast

Release

Terror Beneath the Sea was released in Japan on July 1, 1966.[5] The film did not receive a theatrical release in the United States, instead being released directly to television by Teleworld.

Home media

Reception

International response

Critical response outside of Japan has been mixed to negative. Jon Condit of Dread Central rated it two out of five stars, writing "Terror Beneath The Sea is the epitome of a disposable movie. It's utter nonsense from beginning to end and never takes the time to develop any characters or allow for the story to build naturally".[7]

Notes

  1. ^ also known as Water Cyborg,[1] Agent X-2: Operation Underwater, and Battle Beneath the Sea

References

  1. ^ "海底大戦争｜一般社団法人日本映画製作者連盟".
  2. ^ Dr. Ishii (1997). 日本特撮・幻想映画全集. Tokyo: Keibunsha. p. 172. ISBN 4766927060.
  3. ^ Desjardins, Chris (2005). Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film. I.B.Tauris. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-84511-090-1.
  4. ^ "映画 海底大戦争 (1966)について 映画データベース". Allcinema. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "海底大戦争 : 作品情報". Eiga.com (in Japanese). Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  6. ^ Barsanti 2014, p. 377.
  7. ^ Condit, Jon (October 5, 2005). "Terror Beneath the Sea (1966)". Dread Central. Retrieved June 25, 2023.

Bibliography


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