**
Good Ray Harryhausen stop-motion special effects fail to generate much excitement in film with overwrought premise of giant octopus attacking San Francisco. Includes a wonderful scene of a lady scientist (Faith Domergue) berating a Navy Commander (Kenneth Tobey) for not appreciating her value in the field, whereupon the monster appears and she screams like a girl. Tries to be both "documentary" and monster movie and ends up as merely impersonal. Tobey, a bright spot in 1951's The Thing From Another World, tries hard, but is undercut by a script that has him sharing time -- time this movie hasn't got -- with a rival for the lady's affections. For stop-motion fans only.
Good Ray Harryhausen stop-motion special effects fail to generate much excitement in film with overwrought premise of giant octopus attacking San Francisco. Includes a wonderful scene of a lady scientist (Faith Domergue) berating a Navy Commander (Kenneth Tobey) for not appreciating her value in the field, whereupon the monster appears and she screams like a girl. Tries to be both "documentary" and monster movie and ends up as merely impersonal. Tobey, a bright spot in 1951's The Thing From Another World, tries hard, but is undercut by a script that has him sharing time -- time this movie hasn't got -- with a rival for the lady's affections. For stop-motion fans only.