is a 1966 science fiction

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Hajime Sato. An international co-production of Japan and the United States, it stars Sonny Chiba,

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, Franz Gruber, Andrew Hughes, Tadashi Suganuma, and Hideo Murota.

Plot

The story follows reporter Ken Abe and photographer Jenny Gleason as they attend a missile test and stumble upon a mysterious swimming creature with a human silhouette. Their investigation leads them to a cave inhabited by individuals clad in absurd silver fish-man suits. These suits may be one of the film's most entertaining aspects, as they are elaborate but don't fit very well, leading to comedic situations. The pair is eventually taken to the underwater base of the enigmatic Professor Moore, who has created these fish-men or "water cyborgs." Moore's plan is shrouded in mystery, but it appears to involve transforming people into fish-people and launching a global war. The film introduces the underwater Illuminati, who seem to have a plan even if it's unclear what that plan is, aside from world domination. They have successfully built an underwater base and created the mindlessly obedient fish-people. The process of transforming ordinary humans into these creatures is shown in detail, with moments that are effectively gross, if not entirely convincing.

Cast

* Sonny Chiba as Ken Abe *

as Jenny Gleason * Franz Gruber as Lieutenant Colonel Brown * Andrew Hughes as Professor Howard * Tadashi Suganuma as Nishida * Hideo Murota as Navy Base Engineer A * Osamu Yamanouchi as Navy Base Engineer B * Ichiro Mizuki as Navy Base Engineer D * Beverly Kahler as Luisa * Mike Daneen as Dr. Josef Heim * Enver Altenbay as Reporter A

Release

''Terror Beneath the Sea'' was released in Japan on July 1, 1966. The film did not receive a theatrical release in the United States, instead being released directly to television by

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Home media

Reception

International response

Critical response outside of Japan has been mixed to negative. Jon Condit of

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

rated it two out of five stars, writing "''Terror Beneath The Sea'' is the epitome of a disposable movie. It's utter nonsense from beginning to end and never takes the time to develop any characters or allow for the story to build naturally".

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * 1966 films 1960s monster movies 1960s science fiction horror films 1960s Japanese-language films Japanese mystery films 1960s science fiction adventure films Films scored by Shunsuke Kikuchi Natural horror films Underwater action films Toei tokusatsu films Japanese science fiction horror films Toei Company films Mad scientist films American science fiction films 1960s fantasy adventure films 1966 horror films Tokusatsu films 1960s American films 1960s Japanese films {{1960s-Japan-film-stub