Cinematography:
Ken HodgesComposer:
Edwin AstleyCast:
Gene Evans, André Morell, John Tumer, Leigh Madison, Jack MacGowran, Patrick Jordan, Max Faulkner, André Maranne, Leonard Sachs, Arthur Gomez, John Turner (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Radioactive waste dumped in the Atlantic Ocean awakens a prehistoric monster than can project electric shocks and radioactive beams. After the beast terrorizes the English coast, officials decide against attacking the creature with conventional weaponry because such a strategy would spread a dangerous amount radioactive contamination over the entire country. Meanwhile, the monster approaches London... (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Videos (1)
Reviews (4)
It's a shame that The Giant Behemoth didn't try to forge its own path but instead recycled what had been worn out throughout the 1950s. In the end, it turns out to be a rather mediocre piece that doesn't have anything to captivate the audience with. Even the monster itself isn't particularly original, but rather a product of its time's standards. On closer shots, maybe not even that. I hope that the next monster movie I see will be a bit more original.
()
The Brits have combined the American The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the Japanese Godzilla, and the result is something that is quite decent up to about halfway through but gets worse from the halfway point on. Behemoth doesn't even have the super fun gimmicks that Ray Harryhausen equipped the above first movie with, and its anti-nuclear appeal isn't nearly as strong and timeless as Godzilla's. It's just a generic monster movie.
()
A mildly amusing British response to the wave of American monster movies that follows trodden paths, doesn’t deliver any surprises and that technically it’s stuck in a quagmire of mediocrity. The final act is brisk, at least, and shows a pretty decent monster, but the endless exposition is boring and it is painfully clear that they didn’t have money for anything thrilling and visually convincing. On the other side of the pond they were better, really.
()
Poster tagline: THE BIGGEST THING SINCE TIME BEGAN!! The British low-budget answer, or rather rip-off, to the 6 years older classic The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Plot-wise, it’s exactly the same, but what else can you come up with in the tried and tested “radioactive monster has awakened and is attacking a city” kind of plot? The filmmaking itself, on the other hand, it’s lacking. While the stop-motion animation of the titular monster can be proudly compared to Harryhausen's Rhedosaurus (though much underused given the overall runtime), the special effects overall, though newer, fall far short. Behemoth's attack on the transport ferry in particular must have looked stupid even at the time, it looks like a small child playing rubber toys in a bathtub and bumping them into each other. Interesting in comparison is the moderate British approach, where they make do with a lightly equipped militia and one mini-submarine to fight the lizard, while the Americans would deploy a whole fleet armed to the teeth, supported by air. Although it's no horror masterpiece, I was surprised to find that even nowadays Behemoth has a certain place in the programmes of some British TV stations.
()
Gallery (13)
Photo © Allied Artists Pictures
![The Giant Behemoth - Lobby Cards](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/159/132/159132736_27f816.jpg)
Ads