I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

As Good As It Gets

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

There's obviously no point in claiming that this is anything like a good story. And yet... There is a strange emptiness that hovers over this film. Consider the opening shot of of a desolate boat in the middle of nowhere and the sound of bells tolling. Or when the body is found on the beach the odd poses of the people investigating the scene. 'Investigating' is not the right word. They stand like figures in a De Chirico painting. And then there is a sense that everyone is under observation. People watching each other. Then silent moments of anguish fill in the blanks. Milner holds reaction shots curiously long. Uncomfortably long. And it's fascinating. Were this film in a European language it might be seen as an existential statement.

An unusual radioactive rock on the sea bottom mutates the ocean life into a horrible monster. When charred, radioactive bodies begin to drift ashore a scientist and government agent investigate the phenomenon, and it's connection to a local marine biology professor.Producer-director Dan Milner may not be well-known, but the film's writer, Lou Rusoff, made quite a career for himself with American International (the company that American Releasing became shortly after this film was released). Although not known as a great writer, he was prolific and many of his films have gone on to be classics in their own right.Worth noting is the music of Ronald Stein. Not that it is anything special, but this was one of his first scores and he went on to quite a career with AIP. Stein never really escaped from their B-movie world, however, with his biggest credit being Coppola's "Rain People". Coppola was another AIP veteran, and "Rain People" is certainly not one of his celebrated releases.Though maybe not a great movie, "Phantom" is still fun and has a nice rubber suit for a monster. It can be easily found for cheap (or free) on public domain releases. The Mill Creek disc is faded, but still very watchable. I am not aware of a cleaned up release, but I am also not sure if it would be worthwhile.

I watched this mainly because Cathy Downs was in it. I'd always thought she was quietly sexy in "My Darling Clementine" and that Victor Mature was a fool. Besides, she was a trained nurse. Nurses can make a good living and she could have supported me, I mean Victor Mature, while he lay around getting drunk and gambling. She couldn't act but she had a mellow and very feminine voice.Here she is, still an attractive woman, but older and stuck in the role of "the scientist's daughter," which all science fiction movies seem to have. (Sometimes they're "the scientist's assistant.") The very nervous scientist here is Michael Whalen, who's doing some suspicious stuff to the sea water somewhere around Laguna Beach. Kent Taylor is a familiar face, and is the visiting oceanographer who comes poking around, his face a handsome mask of make up.It's putting it mildly to say that none of the roles scintillate because, in fact, nothing in the movie is worth paying any attention to. It's all so crudely done that a viewer is forced to ask who the intended audience was. Certainly nobody over eight years old. Maybe some tribe in the New Guinea highlands who had never seen a film before.Of course there are budget constraints to be taken into account, but a talented director can work around these weaknesses with a decent story. I'm not thinking of Val Lewton at RKO because he had the advantage of being able to use standing sets and, unquestionably, a better budget. This production couldn't afford any extras, and only one bit part -- a single officer from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office. But take a look at something as cheaply made as "The Little Fugitive" to see how an engaging minor film can be made for practically nothing.Dan Milner, the director, commits the first botch even before the credits roll. We see a man in a rowboat. (We'll see that rowboat again.) A man-sized monster -- meaning a man in a ridiculous monster suit -- rises up from the depths, overturns the dinghy, and attacks the occupant, who washes up on the beach later with radiation burns. The monster can hardly move under the water, what with the actor encased in all that flabby rubber. Val Lewton was too tasteful to show a shabby monster openly. And how can any director allow Kent Taylor to emerge from the ocean with his hair gelled and perfectly combed? It doesn't call for genius.I don't think the plot deserves any scrutiny. I don't think the movie deserves much further comment. It isn't bad enough to be funny. It's just plain bad.

A mysterious monster terrorizes humanity in THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES. This is one of the many public domain monster movies that I would always find at Walgreens for about $1.00 or less. To be honest I only bought a lot of these movies because of their DVD covers, and this is one of them. Let's start with the positive aspects of the film.......I got nothing. Now on to the negative aspects. Well first of all the story is badly paced and hardly memorable. Next the Characters are not memorable either, especially not the monster. The Monster isn't even a good special effects creation. Even the title makes no sense, it's not a phantom it's a Frankenstein-like creature that looks like a lizard. So in the end, this is a very boring film. Not worth checking out what so ever, so avoid it at all costs.