It's been closer to 20 years that The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms or as it is identified in the movie a Rhedosaurus has been on my radar, and is one of the shining stars of Harryhausen's creations. And I gotta say even in the tried and true fashion of a monster movie where the monster isn't in it all that much, I was kinda surprised how invested I got in the human story. We start off kinda atmospheric and uneasy in the arctic as a hydrogen bomb is being tested, and maybe it was the pretty solid sets or the kinda doomy narrator voice but it really pulled me in! And of course in 50s B-Movie style atomic weapon equals giant monster, not of a mutated variety but a thawed out dinosaur from the Mesozoic era who slowly but surely makes his way from the Arctic Circle to New Yark Citah! But like I said the human story is interesting enough to keep you engaged with one of the arctic scientists who witnessed the monster deemed crazy and has to sway a paleontologist to prove it's existence and moreso how to stop the rampaging beast. Speaking of which, everytime this creature is on screen is instantly memorable even if you haven't seen the movie you know the lighthouse scene, the city rampage scene, and maybe even the ending. A very simple yet excellent design that is beautifully animated, seeing this thing smash buildings and munch on a cop is just so damn cool! Shit, seeing the walls cave in and crumble along with a literal ton of bricks crushing a group of people really makes me wonder how they did it with that good ol' movie making magic cause we don't have behind the scenes and in depth looks at this movie and I think that's one of the biggest charms of the horror/sci-fi genre from this older era, you don't know how they did it down to the nuts and bolts and it's intriguing! Sure we know some of the elements but me being the nerd I am I love learning about how any aspect of a movie is made. Nowadays movies are mostly fucking boring in terms of effects cause you don't even have to look and say oh it was done on a computer. I always champion practical effects but I really really champion movies where creative originality and new techniques had to be forged to make it happen. I was very happy to watch this at long last and while it's no masterpiece I'd be a fool if I said it wasn't a classic. I give it 3 stars, 7.5/10!
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