User blog:ShawnCognitionCP/Shocktober: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Hello, Creepypasta Wiki community, and welcome back to Shocktober. Today, we are doing to last film to be spoken about in Shocktober. Tomorrow is the finale, and I promise, I have something very special planned for Halloween. I won't say anything to spoil it, but I promise, it's something you wouldn't have seen coming without a clue.

It occured to me that I had done an entire horror movie list, without featuring the work of the legendary Ray Harryhausen. That was unacceptable.



Directed by Eugène Lourié (Behemoth, the Sea Monster) and released in 1953, focuses on a fantasy dinosaur species, titled the Rhedosaurus, is thawn out of its frozen slumber via nuclear bomb testing in Antarctica. Thomas Nesbitt, played by Paul Hubschmid (The Tiger of Eschnapur) and the rest of the scientists watch as the beast makes its way to the East Coast of America, wrecking havoc everywhere it goes.

Another good example of a film with a low-to-no budget finding success, this movie was created with just $210,000, and was met with $5 million in the box office, making it a box office success.

The stop motion for the Rhedosaurus is done by Ray Harryhausen, the master of the craft. He worked on everything from Mighty Joe Young, to Jason and the Argonauts, he ended up influencing John Lasseter, Peter Jackson, John Landis and Tim Burton. His stop motion effects on the Rhedosaurus are as fantastic as always, and is one of the best effects out of the 50s.

This movie's success helped spawn the giant monster film genre, and yes, it predates Godzilla by just over a year. Leaving an entire genre in its wake, that's true influence. It makes the film a very important piece of history, which is why this is often regarded as one of the best Science Fiction movies to date.

Immediately met with good reception, this movie's legacy is one that served to put an entire genre into place, and led to other famous films with just as much influence being created. For that, it is safe to say, this film is one of the, if not the, most important giant monster movie ever created.