bean-d "War-Gods of the Deep" (1965)--cool title, dumb movie. Rarely does a movie fail this badly. Nearly everything this movie tries falls flat on its face. For example, David Tomlinson (from "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" and "Mary Poppins") is supposed to provide comic relief with his pet chicken from this otherwise serious story. Maybe we would have needed comic relief had the events been even remotely exciting, but they're not. But even if they had been exciting, Tomlinson's quirky character is not funny, just annoying. His attachment to his chicken is not endearing, it's foolish. Every plot line that is remotely interesting--an impending volcanic explosion, men who live forever underwater, an ancient civilization, a woman who looks like the captain's dead wife--are all inexplicably dropped. It's almost like the director and cast accidentally got hold of the outline of the movie rather than the actual script. Not fun, not funny, not exciting.

ma-cortes WAR GODS OF DEEP contains fantastic adventures full of sea-monsters in a lost continent placed underwater . Set on the Cornish coast in 1903, the film starts when a body is washed ashore on a remote seacoast little town , it originates an investigation by an American named Ben Harris (Tab Hunter). He goes to the home where the dead had been an advocate and encounters tracks that indicate that the gorgeous Jill (Susan Hart) may be in deadly risk . Establishing menace and seeing off a suspicious strange monster like a gill-man who he trapped in the act of robbing a portrait of Jill but he gets escape . In the overnight Jill is abducted and Ben and Harold (David Tomlinson ) chase him. Finding a tunnel system going under the sea they walk across a dangerous rout . The duo discovering an underwater band of smugglers who never age residing in a lost underwater city along with their gill-man slaves . The group of people find inhabitants of the lost world that are ruled by one megalomaniac named Sir Hugh (Vincent Price)who has discovered the secret of eternal life but is desperate to avoid his world being destroyed by an eruption caused by a relentless volcano . Sir Hugh governs over the gill-men as slavers and wishes to rule the human beings and the creation a totalitarian state.Based on Edgar Allan Poe writings with interesting screenplay by Charles Bennett . This fantasy picture packs thrills, weird sea monsters, lively pace and fantastic scenarios located undersea . Vincent Price is the real star of this production and its chief attribute such as Robur the conquer . The tale is silly and laughable but the effects and undersea scenes are quite well. Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are a deeply shrouded caverns full giant sculptures in Persyian style . Some illogical parts in the argument are more than compensated for the excitement provided by Vincent Price acting and the sea-monsters appearance , though sometimes are a little bit shoddy . Cheesy underwater city with mediocre matte painting .Filmed in glimmer cinematography by Stephen Dade on location in Cornwall Coast, Cornwall, England, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK (studio). Colorful and stirring musical score by Stanley Black . The motion picture is produced by American International (James H Nicholson , Samuel Z. Arkoff) in average budget and middling directed by the classic director Jacques Tourneur in his final feature . He is an expert on terror cinema (Cat people , Curse of the demon, I walked with a Zombie) and adventures (Flame and the arrow ) . ¨City under the sea¨ will appeal to youngsters who swallow whole and sit convulsed in their armchair and of course Vincent Price fans.

MartinHafer After seeing "City Beneath the Sea", I can understand why this is among the lesser-known films Vincent Price made during the 1960s. The problem is that although the idea for the story is pretty cool and it's filmed in color, there really isn't much energy in the film and it never manages to rise above mediocrity. It's a real shame, as I was anxious to enjoy this film.The film is set near the beginning of the 20th century in Britain. Oddly, despite the British location, three of the four leads in the film are Americans--something they never really explained very well. Following a spate of odd occurrences and a dead body washed ashore, a woman (Susan Hart) is kidnapped by some sea creature. Tab Hunter and David Tomlinson set off to find her--begging the viewer to wonder if perhaps they could have found a more formidable search party had they just looked a bit further! Eventually, their search takes them to a swirling pool of water in a cave. The pair accidentally fall in and are sucked into an undersea city where Vincent Price rules with an iron hand. This might no be so bad if it weren't for the fact that Price seemed pretty irrational and blood-thirsty. Plus they discover the lady who'd been spirited away--it turns out she looked like some old lady that Price was in love with so he ordered his goofy sea monster friends to kidnap her.There are two huge problems in this underground paradise. First, there is increasing seismic activity that appears ready to destroy the city. Second, Price is so irrational that there is no way they'll die from the underwater volcano--Price is sure to have them killed sooner. So, Hunter, Tomlinson and Hart escape using primitive looking diving outfits. Naturally, Price, his henchmen and the sea monsters all give chase. Will the trio survive or be doomed to nutty old Price's mercy? This basic story isn't bad. The problem is that there is just not much energy in the film despite the story idea and a few nice special effects and underwater cinematography. In addition, Tomlinson was simply dreadful in the film, as his character was annoying, impossible to believe and a bit of an idiot. How anyone could be expected to rely on him is beyond me! Plus, I rather hoped that he would die--he was just not particularly good as a character. As for Price, his character's motivations seemed vague. He was bad and mad...but why?! In his films such as the Dr. Phibes films or "Theater of Blood", you clearly understood what made him tick and why he HAD to kill. Here he just seems like a jerk...and rarely is that sufficient motivation for a film. Overall, it's worth watching if you have nothing pressing to do or if you MUST see every film Price made.

Theo Robertson From what I know about screen writing the more credited writers a film has the worse the narrative is supposed to be . I genuinely think this is nonsense and perhaps CITY UNDER THE SEA is proof of this . It's a movie that has three people involved in he screenplay but is far more entertaining and involving than a great number of films I've seen that have only one screenwriter First of all let's get the bad points out of the way . You don't need a University degree to know that there's no volcanoes off the coast of Cornwall which seems to be included to set up the ending and the back story of the gillmen are conspicuous by its absence . Also if you're a fan of Poe and you watched this movie expecting it to be an accurate adaptation of one of his works then you'll almost certainly feel cheated . The casting of two American characters in two lead roles to appeal to an American market does seem forced , especially when you've already got a well known American actor as the film's villain . Hammer films didn't bow to this type of casting so I've no idea why it's done here In fact CITY UNDER THE SEA plays very much like one of the better Hammer productions concentrating on atmosphere rather than gore . When the film concentrates on this aspect it is genuinely frightening as early in the film when one of the gillmen prowls around the house . I must have been about seven years old when I saw this scene and remember being terrified by it . I saw this scene again earlier today and was not disappointed which is a great compliment coming from me . It's a film that is not Oscar worthy but is great entertainment nonetheless