IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA d: Robert Gordon

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)
Direction: Robert Gordon
Screenplay: George Worthing Yates and Hal Smith
Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis, Ian Keith, Dean Maddox Jr, Harry Lauter, Chuck Griffiths, Richard W. Peterson
 

 

By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica:
I looked through one of my DVD sets, Columbia Pictures’ "The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen, Legendary Science Fiction Series," and plucked an old fave of mine to rewatch: the 78-minute, black-and-white, 1955 classic It Came from Beneath the Sea. While not one of the more hyped Ray Harryhausen productions, this sci-fi effort is still a cut above the usual drive-in fare of that era. As a plus — drum roll — it stars Faith [...]

GODZILLA d: Ishirô Honda

Gojira (1954) / Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956)
Direction: Ishirô Honda; with additional footage by Terry O. Morse for the American version
Screenplay: Ishirô Honda, Takeo Murata; from a story by Shigeru Kayama
Cast: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi, Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Toyoaki Suzuki. Also: Raymond Burr in the American version
 

 

By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica:
Heaven. When I came across the long-awaited release of the original 1954 Japanese monster film Gojira on DVD, I thought I had struck heaven. That it was accompanied by its Americanized cousin, Godzilla, King of the Monsters, only doubled the joy of expectation. And for once, I was not disappointed.
The mark of a good critic is admitting biases, so I will state up front that as a young [...]