Phantom From 10,000 Leagues, The

1771. THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES (195&-usa). With Kent Taylor, Kathy Downs, Michael Whalen, Helene Stanton. A solitary man has rowed a boat to the middle of a lake, where he hopes to pass a peaceful day catching fish. He does not know that lurking directly underneath him is the ugliest of monsters, which summarily tips over his boat and tries to gobble him up for lunch. So begins this solemn, stupifyingly idiotic melodrama/science ficÂtion fantasy which will be good for many a laugh as it moralizes about “nature’s many secrets which man mustn’t disturb.” It seems that radiation exposure has caused the creation of the monÂster, a “sea serpent, a hideous beast that defies description.” This mutation watches over what may be best described as an atomic light ray, lying underwater off the California coast. A United States Defense Department investigator has commenced snooping around in the wake of several mysteriÂous deaths that have occurred in the area. Among the key players are a stubborn, paranoid oceanography professor (whose research, which he gushingly describes as “breathless experiÂments,” has resulted in the radiation exposure), the scientist’s pretty, naive daughter and nosy secÂretary, his assistant (who looks and acts more like a hood in a gangster film), a blackmailing vamp, and a fellow scientist (with an agenda all his own, who is on to the professor’s twisted madness). He understands the need to destroy the mutation, before it can destroy mankind. 72 minutes. Horror