Review – The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Ray Bradbury (source story) and Ray Harryhausen (in his first feature as special effects chief) are quite a combination. Unfortunately the rest of the movie is standard nuclear radiation paranoia from the 1950s. A bomb test in the Arctic thaws out a dinosaur, and the beast heads back to its old stomping ground, which turns out to be New York City. As often occurs with Harryhausen’s work, the monster is so interesting and the humans so lackluster that it’s hard not to feel sorry for the city-destroying beast when he gets it in the end. Though this isn’t the height of Dynamation’s glory, it’s still a heck of a good start. Mildly amusing