Pretty Good

Perfect cast and a good story

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

You really have to admire the marketing expertise of Samuel Z. Arkoff and the good people at American-International Pictures (AIP)! They had only just finished exploiting Edgar Allen Poe's Gothic horror stories via a hugely successful film series starring Vincent Price and directed by Roger Corman, and not even a year later they're back already to cash in on more Poe-related themes and monsters, only this time in combination with the fantasy and Sci-Fi elements of Jules Verne ("20,000 Leagues under the Sea", "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Around the World in 80 Days"). Now, in case you're thinking that the works and styles of Edgar Allen Poe and Jules Verne form a rather bizarre and illogical mix, you are quite right and thus "City in the Sea" is a primarily preposterous and dumb adventure film! Vincent Price depicts "The Captain"; a villain too obviously modeled after the charismatic and mysterious Nemo in "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" and the relentless leader of a smuggling network that operates from an cavernous city-like lair underneath the sea, just outside the coast of Cornwall. The Captain and his henchmen have been there for more than 100 years, but they're not ageing as long as they remain in their underwater hideout because – and I quote – "it has something to do with the oxygen-composition here below". That's the type of blurry explanations we have to settle for in the script of this film… The Captain may be a tough and sinister bastard, but he's also heartbroken over the loss of his true love and hence he kidnapped her lookalike; the local beauty Jill Tregellis. American engineer Ben Harris, also in love with Jill, goes after her, along with a cowardly artist and his pet chicken (!) named Herbert. They have to rescue the girl from Vincent Price's army of gill-men, and in time before the underwater volcano erupts. It's always even more difficult to acknowledge that a movie is bad when there are so many potentially good story lines. Based on the synopsis, you'll agree with me that "City in the Sea" features several interesting ideas – even if they are all derivative of other stories – but for some reason the whole film is rather dull and exaggeratedly talkative. There are plenty of nice set pieces and imagery, but they are hardly being used. The dialogues are tacky and the acting performances are quite dismal, with the exception of Vincent Price and – of course – Herbert the Chicken. Jacques Tourneur was definitely one of the most important horror directors of the previous century and he made several hugely influential classics, like "Cat People", "Out of the Past" and "Night of the Demon". It's a bit unfortunate that his career had to end with this seedy horror/Sci-Fi hybrid that can't even be referred to as entertaining.

CITY UNDER THE SEA seems to have been tacked on to the end of the Roger Corman/Vincent Price Poe cycle, featuring Price narrating a few passages of the author's work over a vista of some choppy waves. It's supposedly based on some of Poe's writings, but it has more in common with same-era sci-fi flicks like DR WHO AND THE DALEKS and THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT.It's a fairly enjoyable little movie, but it has zero depth and absolutely nothing going on beyond the action-adventure template. Vincent Price is at his hammy best as an age-old smuggler ruling over an undersea kingdom, and Tab Hunter is the square-jawed but wooden American hero. In terms of entertainment value, David Tomlinson (and his chicken!) and the cut of Susan Hart's dress supply most of that.This movie certainly has a good pedigree in the form of Jacques Tourneur, the famed director of much fantastic fare, including NIGHT OF THE DEMON. He doesn't have a great deal to work with here, but he does ensure the sets look just that - fantastic - and he manages to incorporate some stock disaster footage fairly well.The biggest flaw, I found, were the interminable underwater scenes that last for about twenty minutes towards the end. As in the same year's THUNDERBALL, they consist of people wandering around aimlessly for what feels like an age. Not much fun, although the monster masks are. The US title, WAR GODS OF THE DEEP, may be a bit of a misnomer for what is a genteel and completely old-fashioned sort of film.

Undersea adventure is reminiscent of "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (complete with a feathered friend named Herbert) and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", when Hunter and Tomlinson venture into a mysterious subterranean lair after their female companion (Hart) is abducted and taken captive by an aquatic man-best (looking much like the gill-man from "Creatures from the Black Lagoon"). They soon encounter an underwater civilisation led by the maniacal doctor (Vincent Price), obsessed by a painting of a mysterious woman, and with a somewhat reluctant crew who have inadvertently discovered a fountain of youth. But the city is rocked by frequent volcanic shocks that threaten to sink the undersea world.Inferior retread of the formula undersea sci-fi adventure features pedestrian performances by a capable cast that also includes John Le Mesurier as a long-held captive rector, who has seemingly lost the incentive to contemplate escape, let alone survive the impending volcanic disaster.Widescreen underwater inserts look photographically disjointed, and there's even a brief scene in which a member of the crew in scuba diving apparatus is clearly visible above a pair of agitated gill men. A rousing finale somewhat redeems the picture, but it was too little, too late in my opinion. Dated effort might still appeal to older kids, and mercifully at barely 80 minutes, it narrowly avoids becoming a soporific experience.

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