Terror Beneath the Sea Film Review

This co-production from Toei and an American company is wonderful. Not in the usual sense of wonderful - but wonderful in that it was made, is ludicrously absurd and has some totally cool scenes in it. I watched the dubbed international version but there is a Japanese version somewhere in this world. Would be happy to see it. Toei barely dipped their toes into sci-fi since their bread and butter were stars like Junko Fuji, Ken Takakura and Koji Tsuruta playing heroic roles in Yakuza and Samurai ninkyo eiga films. Their attempts at sci-fi such as Prince of Space and Invasion of the Neptune Men were more for children than adults. This is considerably better than those with some fine models of submarines and an underwater city, a fun Dr. No type of villain, creepy cyborgs, maniacal bad guys and good colorful interior designs. The film still comes in for its share of derision, but it hit my soft spot. In my brain. The final twenty-minutes is insane fun.

Sonny Chiba and Peggy Neal are reporters invited on an American submarine to witness a test. Chiba was enormously busy as an actor - not yet in the top group of Toei stars but he was in fifteen films in 1963, twelve in 1962 - in all types of films. Peggy was an American who went to Japan to study and managed to act in three films - the other big role was in The X from Outer Space. She is a stunner but never tried to make acting her career. In the test that blows up another submarine, they both think they saw a creature on the screen.

So, they do what reporters always do - snoop. With diving gear, they go exploring and come across a cave that allows them to walk in. They soon come face to face with these creatures - cyborgs - that are all silvery and slimy with gills and able to breathe in the water. Our first sighting of them is actually quite startling and horrifying. But that isn't all. There is a sun-glassed mad scientist who is creating a society under the sea of humans but also these cyborgs. The cyborgs were once human as well and there is a great scene of them being transformed into something hideous and mindless.

His goal? Well, to take over the world some day. Isn't that what all mad scientists aim for? He even has the evil laugh down. He wants Sonny and Peggy to join them but when they refuse, it is time for a little skin work. Peggy doesn't take to that so well and has a few fine screaming moments. The cyborgs are controlled by the humans, but it gets fun when they lose their ability and the cyborgs turn on them. Most of the cast are Westerners - at least in this version - but the director is Hajime Satô who was to direct Chiba in The Golden Bat the following year. Sonny still looks like a babe in the woods at this point and for much of the film keeps his action skills under wraps, but they finally let him go in the finale.