The Giant Behemoth (1959) – Review

Clones are not an uncommon subject matter when it comes to science fiction or monster movies, but in the case of director Eugène Lourié and his film The Giant Behemoth, we don’t so much have a movie about a clone, but more a movie that is a clone. In 1953, Eugène Lourié was the director and production designer on the Ray Harryhausen monster feature The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, but then six years later, he was over in Britain making the exact same movie only now it would be called The Giant Behemoth. Question: Is it still theft if you were involved with the original?

The hero of The Giant Behemoth is marine biologist Steve Karnes (Gene Evans) who lectures his fellow members of the scientific community about the hazards of atomic waste, whether it be from the testing of atomic bombs or the dumping of nuclear waste, and the dangerous effect it poses to marine life. He is heckled for being an alarmist but is quickly justified when a fisherman in Cornwall is killed, suffering from what looks like radiation burns, and his dying words are, “From the sea… burning, like fire! Behemoth!” Portends of the dangers to follow. Karnes quickly begins to suspect that this supposed “behemoth” is some kind of large marine mammal that has been mutated as a result of contamination from nuclear testing.

”I say old chap, have you read this script?”

After dead fish start washing ashore, Steve consults with Professor James Bickford (André Morell) and the two begin their investigations, which takes up the bulk of the film until the title creature is finally allowed to appear. As monster movies go, The Giant Behemoth had a rather low budget, so the creature’s limited screen-time was to be expected, but it could have been worse; originally, the threat wasn’t some giant radioactive dinosaur, but a mysterious radioactive substance found floating around the sea. Fortunately for monster fans, the British producers wanted a more clear threat rather than something like glowing seaweed, thus, we get a rampaging Palaeosaurus-type creature instead of glowing gunk bobbing in the surf.

I’d say that was a good call; this definitely beats glowing seaweed.

The bulk of the film works as a science mystery with Karnes and Bickford investigating various locations and then going over their findings in the lab, with very little monster action to be found, but when the monster does eventually make an appearance, it reminded me of the classic Brontosaurus attack on London from the 1925 silent film The Lost World, but with the added threat of the creature emitting radiation to the point of killing anyone in close proximity. This additional menace is another element “borrowed” from The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, as in that film the dinosaur’s blood was radioactive and made those coming in contact with it sick, while in The Giant Behemoth, the radiation it emits is more of in an attack rather in the fashion of Godzilla’s atomic breath.

Soldiers meet their gruesome end at the hands of the Behemoth.

Stray Observations:

• Like in The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, there is an eccentric paleontologist for our hero to consult. Sadly, he doesn’t have an attractive assistant for him to fall in love with.
• Like Ray Harryhausen’s Rhedosaurus, the Behemoth is a completely fictional dinosaur, one that has electric eel properties for some reason.
• Stock sound effects were borrowed from the original King Kong, including Fay Wray’s scream.
• Whenever the Behemoth attacks ships on the water, a simple puppet is used rather than a stop-motion version of the creature.

I’ve seen more thrilling action in my bathtub.

The stop-motion animation special effects were supervised by the legendary Willis O’Brien, who worked on the original King Kong, but the budget he had available on this project was minuscule in comparison and this hampered the end result. The Giant Behemoth ends up being something he’d probably leave off his resume, as even the attack sequences come across as rather repetitive and boring. When the Behemoth eventually does get his “rampage” on, the result is rather fun, with it stomping through the streets of London, crushing and/or irradiating all things in its way. Unfortunately, it’s a case of too little too late and thus, it makes this a hard film to recommend. If you have a thing for stock actors staring thoughtfully at X-rays and maps, this film should be right up your alley, but if it’s amazing dinosaur action you’re looking for, stick with films like The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms and give The Giant Behemoth a pass.

I sentence this beast to the Lost World of cheap monster movies.