Streetfighter-cum-sea-diver Sonny Chiba and Peggy Neal are one step ahead of the TERROR BENEATH THE SEA.
VSoM’s copy of this anamor-
phic film is derived from a 16mm pan&scan source. The picture is a bit fuzzy, at its best in closeups and medium shots, and the sound is recorded at low levels. The evocative mu­ sic score was written and per­ formed by the folk rock group Pentangle. —TL
TERROR BENEATH THE SEA
1966, Sinister Cinema if SI 63, $19.00 ppd., 70m 38s
This is the domestic release
version of Hajime Sato’s Kaitei dai senso (“Battle Beneath the Sea”), a Toei production that sup­ posedly ran 15m longer in its overseas theatrical release. Fu­ ture STREETFIGHTER Shinichi
“Sonny” Chiba and Peggy Neal (THE X FROM OUTER SPACE) star as Ken and Jenny—two re­ porters who, while witnessing a demonstration of torpedo-di­ verting devices, happen to glimpse a humanoid shadow swimming at great depths without an aqualung. An inde­ pendent investigation uncov­ ers the existence of a race of silver-scaled, cross-eyed “wa­ ter cyborgs,” bred by the scientifascist Dr. Rufus Moore (Erik Nielson) to inhabit his underwater totalitarian city of the future. Aware of Ken’s standing as “a specialist in propaganda” (huh?), Moore tries to solicit his help; when Ken refuses, he and Jenny are subjected to the early stages of cyborg transformation.
On the one hand, this is a
poorly-acted and distinctly un­ ambitious retread of WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP and similar sea­ faring sci-fi, yet it should be given credit for perfectly capturing in live action the look and verve of Japanese anime from its time period. Its villain is a grinning thug in large sunglasses, Kazuo Shimomura’s camera angles are archly expressionistic, our heroes are glamorously shallow, and the cross-eyed cyborgs seem appro­ priately ill-drawn. The score by Shonsuke Kikuchi runs the gamut from peppy, mobilizing marches to swirling, colorful keyboard runs, completing the effect. Two memorably delirious scenes: the surgical creation of a water cy­ borg (a man’s lungs are replaced with a weird, rubbery apparatus
23
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84