War Gods of The Deep (1965) Jacques Tourneur

1903: The Cornish coast. Dashing mining engineer Ben Harris (likable Tab Hunter) and jolly artist Harold Tufnell-Jones (an amusing David Tomlinson) discover a crumbling underwater society ruled by the ruthless Sir Hugh (the always terrific Vincent Price) while poking around a cave in search of sweet fair damsel Jill Tregillis (fetching Susan Hart). The former smuggler inhabitants never age and exploit gill-men creatures as slave labor. Moreover, there’s an active volcano which threatens to erupt at any moment.

Director Jacques Touneur, working from a fanciful and eventful script by Charles Bennett and Louis M. Heyward that’s loosely based on an Edgar Allan Poe poem, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, evokes a pleasingly eerie and mysterious atmosphere in the opening third, elicits sound acting from a game cast, and stages the lively and exciting last twenty-five minutes depicting the inevitable climactic eruption of the volcano and our protagonists being chased underwater by Sir Hugh and his flunkies with considerable brio.

Moreover, there’s a nice sense of imagination evident throughout, the amphibious seaweed-covered humanoid fishmen are pretty gnarly looking, the sets are fairly lavish, and the special effects might be crude by today’s more sophisticated standards, but still possess a certain funky charm just the same. Stephen Dade’s sumptuous widescreen cinematography gives the picture an impressively expansive and picturesque look. Stanley Black’s moody and robust score likewise hits the bull’s eye. A fun flick.

War Gods of The Deep (1965)

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