Monster from the Ocean Floor Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.0

Monster from the Ocean Floor Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 12, 2025

They say "mighty oaks from little acorns grow", but "they" probably never saw Monster from the Ocean Floor. Roger Corman, who left us last year at the venerable age of 98, is undoubtedly one of the "mighty oaks" of at least one "grove" in the film industry, one whose influence and legacy is covered in some detail in some of the supplements included on this release. That said, Monster from the Ocean Floor, the first film that Corman produced, may not even be worthy of "little acorn" status, though as commentator Tom Weaver mentions early in his discussion of the film, this 1953-54 production actually beat a number of other, probably better remembered, movies to the screen in terms of offering a number of what later became, well, oft utilized plot tropes. Those include a female leading character in the typically male dominated science fiction realm, a mutant spawned by atomic radiation rising from the depths of the sea, and an actually kind of hilarious use of "product placement", in this case a one man mini-submarine that according to Weaver is actually "responsible" for the film, in that Corman evidently saw an early demonstration of it and thought it would be a cool addition to a movie.

The "plot" of Monster from the Ocean Floor, a film which runs barely over an hour, is minimal by any standards, but involves a tourist named Julie Blair (Anne Kimbell) who suspects there's something out there in the water off of a Mexican village. She teams with one man sub operator Steve Dunning (Stuart Wade) to figure out what's going on. It's completely ridiculous, probably not helped much by a patently goofy looking monster crafted by Bob Baker (see below for more information on Baker). Still, the film features rather accomplished cinematography by the inimitable Floyd Crosby, and it is certainly brief enough not to overstay its welcome. The "Mexican" (actually Malibu and Catalina) location supposedly provides a bit of "local color", something that's most noticeable in the casting of some of the supporting players and probably especially with regard to the score.

Monster from the Ocean Floor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Monster from the Ocean Floor is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Masters with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Film Masters tends not to provide a ton of technical information on its releases, but the front cover of this outing states this is a "newly restored 4K scan from the original 35mm camera negative". The results are really appealing, though due to the lo fi nature of the film, this doesn't have the pristine, crystalline quality that can attend other 4K restorations off of original camera negatives. There is still some very minor damage that can be spotted throughout the presentation, mostly in the form of very small scratches and nicks (you can make out one of the admittedly minor scratches in screenshot 6, running through Kimbell's face). The underwater material can look pretty rough and frankly doesn't offer much in the way of detail (maybe a good thing, considering the wonkiness of the Baker "monster"), as well as offering an at times noisy looking grain field. The "topside" material looks great for the most part, with appealing detail levels and tightly resolved grain. My score is 4.25.

Monster from the Ocean Floor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Monster from the Ocean Floor features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track which encounters just a bit of distortion in some of the kind of quasi-mariachi cues in Andre Brummer's score, but which otherwise offers dialogue without any issues. The watery sound effects are admittedly hokey, but are properly, well, liquid sounding. Optional English subtitles are available.

Monster from the Ocean Floor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Tom Weaver is accessible under the Setup Menu. This is another appealing free for all with Weaver utilizing archival recordings he made with Corman years ago, as well as a number of voice actors recreating various interview statements. Film Masters continues its commendable tradition of offering separate subtitles for the commentary for those who need them.


• Bob Baker: From Monsters to Marionettes (HD; 8:42) is a neat little feature honoring a lesser remembered craftsman whose most iconic creation was the snippet of alien seen in the climax of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. However, those who have picked up either of the Puppetoon releases I've reviewed, Baker evidently cut his marionette teeth working for George Pal on the series.


• Roger Corman: Becoming a B-Movie Maker (HD; 8:42) is a somewhat abbreviated but still interesting overview of Corman's career (weirdly omitting the whole Poe franchise).


• Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:54)


• Re-cut 2024 Trailer (HD; 1:54)


• Gallery of Stills (HD; 2:12)

Film Masters also provides a really nicely appointed insert booklet with an essay by Tom Weaver and some (intentionally) funny stills.

Monster from the Ocean Floor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It may or may not be salient to note that a little film called Creature from the Black Lagoon premiered a few months before Monster from the Ocean Floor, which could suggest that maybe Roger Corman was inspired by more than simply seeing a one man submarine being demonstrated. This is one of those releases where the actual film may take a back seat to some of the appealing supplements, and the two short featurettes and commentary by Tom Weaver on this disc will certainly be of interest to a wide range of fans. Technical merits are generally (maybe even surprisingly) solid (video probably more than audio) for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.