Watching this film always reminds me of the much superior “The Thing (from Another World)”, the wonderful 1951 Howard Hawks movie about an alien terrorizing an Arctic base. Here, the setting is an underwater research lab, staffed by naive scientists and accompanied by the steel-jawed Commander Wayne (Scott Brady).

The gill-man alien does a great job of menacing the crew throughout the whole movie. Naturally, Commander Wayne knows it’s a kill-or-be-killed situation, while the befuddled scientists sort of stand around. The alien tries to duplicate itself (a la “The Thing”) but the Commander of course saves the day at the end.

The shopworn script borrows heavily from “The Thing”, the gill-man is less than convincing (you can see where the air tank is hidden), and the special effects–if you want to call them that–are just horrible. The miniatures are among the most unconvincing in movie history.

Besides Brady, well-known stars Gary Merrill and Sheree North are among the cast, along with several unknowns. The stars must have needed the money, I guess. Watching this film is better than a trip to the dentist, but that’s about it.