Time for a change of pace as we move away from monsters and suitmation, and into absurd sci-fi and fantasy. Where else can you find Cesar Romero and Joseph Cotten in a battle to rule an undersea kingdom? That's not to say this is lacking creature effects of course, but this is more of an adventure film than the usual disaster spectacles from Toho. Although at the same time it does still include a lot of IshirÅ Honda's favourite themes about scientific research gone amok. Even if they spell his name wrong in the English opening credits you can tell it's definitely one of his features with all the lurid colour schemes and the focus on gadgets and secret islands. Let's dive into this tale of submarines and hybrid monsters.
An accident during a scientific expedition leaves a journalist and two researchers stranded at the bottom of the sea in a bathysphere. However before they can suffocate or fall into an emerging volcano they're rescued by observers from another world who were monitoring the geological activity. It's a nice quick introduction that sets up the overall themes of science for the good of the world clashing with the selfishness of humankind, in this case reporters only out for a scoop. It also reveals to us that people are secretly living under the sea in the eponymous hidden region. People that wear '60s neck ties and gold bikinis.
To be fair you're probably expecting this sort of thing if you sat down to watch a film of this nature. But it's still amusing to see submariner and undersea utopia head honcho Captain McKenzie (Joseph Cotten) deliver a lot of exposition wearing such a fabulous billowing shirt. He claims that his people are all super healthy geniuses who never age and live in a hidden dome complete with an artificial sun. Some dress in period clothing from their old homes centuries ago, while others use gold to fashion super fancy outfits. It's one or the other apparently. Why gold based fabric is both a fashion item and a high tech jumpsuit material isn't exactly clear, beyond the thematic idea that wealth doesn't exist in paradise. But it's all part of the kitsch charm.
Elsewhere things are less than peachy as evil mastermind Dr. Malic (Cesar Romero) plots to takeover Latitude Zero from his island lair Blood Rock. Did he name the place himself? I like to think it's just a coincidence. After the initial rescue he orders his own submarine to destroy McKenzie and his companions, resulting in a good bit of cat and mouse action as various torpedoes and devices are activated. Malic does a lot of moustache twirling but things are generally pretty low key at this stage, before we get to see what kind of maniacal schemes he's up to inside his home base. Apparently he lives there alone with his scheming lover Lucretia (Patricia Medina) at least while the submarine crew are away.
How will he conquer a much larger more advanced rival nation? It's never clear. It probably involves brain transplants and monster people. Did I mention the monster people? Well you see Malic is such a mad genius that he's perfected the technique of chopping up live animals before shoving in a human brain and stitching up the parts to make a new creation. McKenzie may have all kinds of top science bods being recruited to progress the betterment of the world, but what is he doing to push forward the science of insane Frankenstein style species crossing? Very little from what I can see. They don't seem to have much wildlife at all, perhaps it would be more interesting with a few giant rats roaming about.
The main action of the story involves Malic kidnapping a physicist before McKenzie can recruit him to his side, and a race against time before he spills his secrets and both he and his daughter become freakish bat monsters. All the usual tropes. There's a fairly sluggish mid-section to the narrative as lots of talk about their recruitment methods and ideals is listened to, but the third act as the rescue mission begins picks up the pace. There's a lot of vague information about living forever and becoming stronger and more disease resistant than normal humans, before they finally suit up and strap on the rocket packs, flame shooting gloves and other devices. They're all made of gold of course... not the most heat resistant material. Perhaps it's best not to worry about it.
In some way's it's very odd to see someone like Joseph Cotten from classics such as Shadow of a Doubt appear in these kinds of nonsensical genre movies, but it's always fun at least. The plot doesn't stand up to scrutiny and the effects range from great (check out the matte paintings) to ropey (check out the submarines on strings). There are several unexplained moments of weirdness towards the end and there's a lot of lengthy dialogue that should have been far snappier. But there's just something about the mixture of cartoonish villainy and secret continent story that makes it endearing instead of laughable. Much of it is chuckle worthy of course, and this is a film with griffins and rivers of acid, but it's a compelling kind of silliness.
3/5
BONUS REVIEW
GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN (1955)
The same kind of imaginative flare however cannot be found in the sequel to Honda's original 1954 classic Godzilla. This is a rushed by the numbers follow up that loses the serious tone of the first film immediately in favour of a basic b-movie storyline. It throws out any sense of drama by saying that the sacrifices made previously were in vain, and a new Godzilla can just appear out of nowhere. How is he raiding again? They should have called it Godzilla's Cousin. The whole thing is really cheap looking, and the monster effects are not even filmed in the dark to hide their rubbery nature. Godzilla stands around on a glacier in the finale waiting to be bombed like an idiot, in broad daylight. It's clearly just a model in some shots with no articulation.
It is of course the film that introduced the idea of two creatures battling. However his rival Anguirus isn't a great design, and the fighting lacks any scale or weight. In fact it seems kind of sped up in places. Elsewhere strategies are planned as scientists discuss how the new monster could be a relation of dinosaur Ankylosaurus. In the same breath they decide these two species must have been old rivals in the past, ruining their credibility. It's not a film with any real ideas or any solid writing at all, it's all just melodrama and shoddy kaiju effects. Godzilla's atomic breath doesn't even make his dorsal spines glow. It seems more like a cash grab than a real follow-up, though I suppose all the sequels from the original series stayed way from the more serious allegories.
The plot itself involves a fishing company spotter who crashes his plane on an island, conveniently just minutes before the two creatures appear. They're already fighting and they fall straight into the sea so they can head for Japan. There are no records of Dr. Serizawa's oxygen destroyer of course, and so plans to lure Godzilla away with flares is devised. It's not a great plan to begin with, but things immediately go awry when a prison truck randomly crashes into a factory; spoiling the city black out. The rest of the film is just romantic subplots and monster battling. It's hilarious to think Anguirus is supposed to be Godzilla's friend later when he gets so brutally trashed here. The usual military attacks are present and correct; though how the same fishing company pilots are suddenly in the airforce is unclear. Like so much of the film it's not well thought out.
2/5
