Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)

User Rating:

2.9/10   

Director:

Roger Corman

Writer:

Charles B. Griffith (screenplay)

Release Date:

June 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Horror

Tagline:

This Gangster's "Single Partner" Isn't Even Human!

Plot:

A crook decides to bump off members of his inept crew and blame their deaths on a legendary sea creature. What he doesn't know is that the creature is real.

Plot Keywords:

Sea Monster | Boat | Cuba | Gangster | Gangster's Moll

Cast

Antony Carbone	...	Renzo Capetto
Betsy Jones-Moreland	...	Mary-Belle Monahan
Robert Towne	...	Sparks Moran / Agent XK150 / Narrator (as Edward Wain)
Beach Dickerson	...	Pete Peterson Jr. (Capeto's chief henchman) (as Beech Dickerson)
Robert Bean	...	Happy Jack Monahan (Mary-Belle's brother)
Esther Sandoval
Sonia Noemí González	...	Mango Perez (as Sonia Noemi Gonzalez)
Edmundo Rivera Álvarez	...	Gen. Tostada (as Edmund Rivera Alvarez)
Terry Nevin
Elisio López		(as Elsio Lopez)
Tanner Hunt
Blanquita Romero
Armando Rowra

Runtime:

63 min | USA:75 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Puerto Rico

Company:

Roger Corman Productions

Trivia:

The scene of the Cuban military officers saluting as the little boat they are floating in sinks was not planned; it actually began sinking as they were completing the shot. Roger Corman told the actors to stand and salute as the boat sank and filmed every moment, later stating that it 'wasn't very deep' there. He also gave high praise for the Mexican actors that played the officers for taking direction so well.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the monster attacks the ship at the end of the movie, you can see human skin where the costume sleeves didn't reach the gloves.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sparks Moran: [narrating] I had to go the Santo Domingo bar and I had to find Agent XK-120, whom I'd never met.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Horror Incorporated: Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) (#2.4)" (2003)

Moster movie and comedy with lack luster and budget

The picture is a monster-movie concerning about a Government Agent(Robert Towne)is chasing gangster Renzo Capeto(Anthony Carbone),a mobster likeness to Bogart who along with his fiancée(Betsy Jones Moreland) and underlings are aboard ship with a group of exiled Cubans. Renzo schemes a plot to invent a mythical sea monster to eliminate the Cubans and steal the national treasure .

The film is a horror comedy blending parody,humor and suspense.The comedy is absurd and cheesy but gets some moments here and there. The movie has storyline gaps and is an embarrassing mess badly narrated .However gets some amused gag as the animal imitator hoodlum and the phone cabin on the island.Incredible cheap special effects with ridiculous rubber monster is a man suited attacking the ship crew although also there are good submarine scenes.The principal actors(Towne,Carbone,Moreland),technicians(photographer,Jack Marquette)and writer(Charles B.Griffith)will repeat united with Corman in posteriors films as ¨A bucket of Blood¨and ¨Last woman on earth¨. Robert Towne is a famed director(Tequila sunrise and Without limits)and writer(Mission impossible,the firm,Two jakes,Days and thunder) The pic belongs to monster movies sub-genre which Corman directed during 50-60s as ¨Attack the crab monsters¨,¨It conquered the world(a Alien from Venus)¨Beast with a million eyes¨(other Alien),¨Wasp man¨,¨Viking women and great serpent¨ or even a carnivorous plant as ¨Little shop horrors¨ though also produced as ¨¨Night of the blood beast¨and ¨Attack of the giant leeches¨(Bernard Kowalski). Rating : Below average ,it's a real turkey.