It Came from Beneath the Sea has about as many good qualities as bad ones. It has a great premise but a mediocre execution, awesome special effects but little tension, an adequate subtext but too much downtime. If you've read any of my other reviews of films featuring special effects by Ray Harryhausen, this probably sounds familiar to you. The visuals are great as usual, but there is not enough substance for them to be much more than simple fun.

We begin in a Naval submarine, commanded by the main character, Pete Mathews. Everything is going well until something large appears on the radar, approaches quickly, and wraps itself around the sub, shaking it violently. Upon analyzing a tissue sample the creature left behind, Professor Lesley Joyce discovers that the creature was in fact an octopus. When one character says that "[i]t'd take an enormous number of those to disable a Navy submarine," Joyce responds, "Or just one of enormous size." That's right, we have a giant octopus on our hands. After a couple more random attacks, the creature surfaces to take on the city of San Francisco. Now Mathews and his crew have to kill the creature to save the city.

The film is meant to be a warning against atomic weaponry. Just as it happens in Godzilla (1954), H-bomb tests have disturbed the creature's natural habitat in the deepest depths of the ocean and forced it nearer the surface. It is man fighting the consequence of his own works, a common staple in science fiction. The problem is that the film never scares you into caring enough for the message to be effective. There are a handful of scenes in the second half of the film that may have frightened audiences in the 1950s, but most of the movie is spent with characters simply trying to convince others that the creature really exists and then with the military just trying to find the monster. There is nothing during this time to provide tension or a sense of urgency. It is purely "sit and wait" time. The movie's message, therefore, amounts to a mom telling her child, "You'll poke your eye out with that thing," trying too hard to tell us that these things are bad; we never actually experience the horror of it.

Where It Came from Beneath the Sea thrives, though, is in its symbolism. Also as in Godzilla, this monster can represent a subconscious force awakened from its suppression. Not only does it come from beneath, but the octopus, semi-amorphous as it is, also embodies well that abstract though ever-powerful part of ourselves. Always moving, often lacking defined physical characteristics other than the extremities that roam around feeling, grasping, and thrashing at things, occasionally rising from the depths to explore the world and attack it purely out of pleasure, it is fully representative of the things one's id might do if it happened to escape its sea of superego. At the same time, it is undeniably fun to watch the tentacled creature attacking people and destroying structures such as the Golden Gate Bridge. By enjoying these moments, we prove the monster's symbolic accuracy; we're often having just as much fun as the octopus is. Our id is allowed to roam for a little while.

All of this symbolism is acheived by the visualization of the monster, which is perfect, thanks to special effects icon Ray Harryhausen. The giant octopus moves as realistically as you could ask for, an impressive feat considering the fluidity of such a creature's natural movements. Making giant monsters walk through cities knocking down buildings is one thing, but successfully creating an aquatic creature that has six flaccid yet powerful appendages (the filmmakers didn't have enough money for the last two), no skeleton, and no actual method of walking -- now that's something else. The dispassionate look of octopuses in general also helps out. Compared to your typical angry monster wreaking havoc, there's something slightly more unsettling about a monster that doesn't look like it has any feelings about what it's doing. Harryhausen captures this look with precision. I have never been disappointed by his special effects, and thisfilm is no exception.

It Came from Beneath the Sea is good for a rental. It's competent enough, with its special effects and psychological symbolism, but it probably won't leave you wanting seconds. What this movie needed was a bit more substance. Too much of it is spent trying only to get from point A to point B when it could be examining its characters, building tension, or, heck, even giving us more monster mayhem. I would have liked to see what a director like Jack Arnold would have done with a movie like It Came from Beneath the Sea (which actually gets its name from Arnold's lauded classic It Came from Outer Space). When Arnold had a great monster, like the Gill Man from Creature from the Black Lagoon, he was often able to incorporate it into an equally good story. This movie is yet another example of filmmakers hoping special effects are enough to draw people in. It will do that once, but for most viewers, one viewing gives you everything this film has to offer.