Today,as promised I will be writing about the 1953 movie The beast from 20,000 fathoms! As all you animation and film buffs know, this was technical wizard Ray Harryhausen's first solo outing as a special effects artist for a feature film and although time has dimmed the fact, was actually the first "monster on the loose" film to be released in the US and across seas. Although in previous posts I have given a long and admittedly drawn out explanation of the plot of the movie I'm reviewing, today I have elected to simply discuss the brilliant special effects of the film, ignoring the majority of the effective story giving only a brief summary: An atomic bomb test in the Arctic circle thaws and revives a fictional prehistoric diapsid dubbed the "Rhedosaurus", which as expected eventually makes it's way to the Big Apple and causes quite a bit of mayhem until It is killed by a fire at Coney Island amusement park. this story was suggested by the late brilliant science fiction author Ray Bradbury, Ray's best friend. Now on to the effects! The Beast from 20,000 fathoms was the first film to utilize a new animation process, coined "Dynamation" in which the articulated model is inserted into the live action via a rear projection screen ( a sheet or piece of canvas stretched tightly over a strong wooden frame with a camera projecting the needed scene onto the sheet so it can be clearly seen through) positioned behind the animation table and a painted matte glass and camera in front of it. This was all spliced into the live action sequences to create the awe inspiring monster movie we see today.In some scenes a rubber hand puppet was used for closeup shots as opposed to the articulated model. As for the numerous destruction sequences all of the scenes with the Beast in them were accomplished by using nearly invisible wires to manipulate the pre-cracked building pieces frame by frame to create the desired illusion, while the scenes without the Beast were shot using (light weight artificial if coming into contact with actors) life size rubble and stone pieces. Shown below is a photo of the original Beast model in its miniature and composite set. The miniature model was constructed from a steel posable steel skeleton machined by Ray's father, and a rubber exterior built up layer by layer and then textured and given glass eyes and resin teeth finally ending with the painting of the skin. In conclusion The Beast from 20,000 fathoms is marvel of technical achievement and should be recognized as such. And now on to the score! Effects:5 story:4 dialogue:4 visuals:5 Up next : Life of PI !
