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| Fetching poster, although nothing of the kind visualized here happens in Roger Corman's Creature From the Haunted Sea, where the monster has a normal human-sized hand (because it's a human in a terrible monster suit) |
QUICK REVIEW:
Creature From the Haunted Sea presents a really far out story about an undercover agent, a Cuban treasure and a homicidal sea monster. - It's a strange film!
Creature From the Haunted Sea is a hopelessly primitive genre hybrid, part horror, part spy movie, and part spoof comedy (of gangster and monster movies). It is made in an irreverent tone that makes a good deal of what happens amusing for people who are familiar with these genres and/or with filmmaker Roger Corman's (The Fall of the House of Usher (1960)) body of work.
This film has many weird and funny elements in it: A murder with a plunger. Two leading roles who throughout the movie communicate in animal sounds. The 'shocking' monster, which mostly looks like a person in a bad Halloween suit, (because that's what it basically is.) Underwater scenes with a lot of animals. And then of course the extensive dialog in Spanish, which is very funny.
Some may sit back after watching Creature From the Haunted Sea with a feeling of 'why?'. Corman probably would answer, 'why not!?!' - If you can make money making a movie like this, why the heck wouldn't you?!? (A very good point, I think.)
The film is in public domain now and available for free and legal watch here.
After a gif of the "unspeakable secret of the SEA OF LOST SHIPS", some hysterical trivia about the movie will follow:
The monster suit, on terrifying display up here, was reportedly devised from a wet suit, some moss, lots of Brillo pads, tennis balls for the eyes, ping pong balls for the pupils, pipe-cleaners for claws and oilcloth for slime effect.
Apart from the funny Spanish in the film, a lot of the English dialog is hilarious as well. Examples:
Sparks Moran: [as Carmelita embraces and kisses him] As a trained espionage agent I could tell that she was attracted to me.
Sparks Moran: [narrating] The first move in the great conspiracy had been made. The Cuban treasury was now in the gentle hands of Renzo Capetto, the most trustworthy man ever to be deported from Sicily. They thought they were home-free, but little did they know that I, Sparks Moran, was an American agent. Luckily, I had managed to work my way onto the crew by posing as a notorious gun machine burglar from Chicago. My real name is XK-15.
This often narrating character 'Sparks Moran' is played by Robert Towne, the later in life screenwriter legend of Chinatown (1974), The Firm (1993), Mission: Impossible II (2000) etc. (Towne is credited as 'Edward Wain'.)
The movie was written in three days, based on a script that Corman had already filmed twice before, as Naked Paradise and Beast From Haunted Cave. The film was shot back-to-back between The Last Woman on Earth and Battle of Blood Island, two films that Corman was shooting in Puerto Rico for tax incentive reasons.
The film was shot in 5 days, with Mexican extras being paid 1 $ to participate. The score for Creature of the Haunted Sea is by Fred Katz, another wild-man, who allegedly sold Corman the same score for seven different films, including Creature From the Haunted Sea, A Bucket of Blood, The Wasp Woman and The Little Shop of Horrors.
Related reviews.
Roger Corman: Philadelphia (1993) - AIDS and homosexuality acknowledged in great drama (actor)
The Wild Angels (1966) - Young biker rebels deliver a counter-culture punch in Corman's hands
House of Usher/The Fall of the House of Usher/The Mysterious House of Usher (1960) - Corman's exuberant first house pf Poeish horror
Watch the self-parodying, strange trailer here
Budget: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
Did you see Creature From the Haunted Sea?
What did you think?
What do you think of Roger Corman and his cheap, fast movies?
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