Undersea City

 

 (wikipedia)

WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS-1978-A British exploring vessel sponsored by an English prof. Aitkin (Donald Bisset) and his son Charles (Peter Gilmore) and commanded by Capt. Daniels (Shane Rimmer) get more than they bargain for when they go exploring in a special diving belt designed by American Greg Collins (Doug McClure). When a gold statue is found, the crew decides to mutiny and strand Charles and Greg underwater. But before that can happen the ship is attacked by a giant octopus. The duo, Daniels and a few others are "rescued" by Atmir (Michael Gothard) and his troops. They are taken to "the fourth city" where many English speaking people reside. No sooner do they get there when Greg starts a fight after meeting Delphine (Lea Brodie). Later, after they are put in prison, Charles is introduced to Atsil (Cyd Charrisse), who shows him the real hidden Atlantis because she admires his intellect. She explains how her race came from another planet (Mars). Delphine's father Briggs (Robert Brown) explains that he and everyone else are from other missing ships (his was the Mary Celeste) and they are controlled because of an operation performed on them. King Atraxon (Daniel Massey) says "the ruling class must always survive" while everyone else battles giant lizard-like creatures. He wants to create a utopia on Earth using science and force. 

Not the greatest sfx but overall, it's good. Director Kevin Connor was an old hand at this kind of production having already made THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (1974), AT THE EARTH'S CORE (1976) and THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT (1977) (all three featuring McClure).

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Underwater Antics

 

THE NEPTUNE FACTOR-1973-Navy commander Blake (Ben Gazzara with Southern accent) commands a special submarine to try and rescue some scientists trapped in an undersea lab after an earthquake. Dr. Andrews (Walter Pidgeon) and Dr. Janssen (Yvette Mimieux) work above water. Two divers Mack (Ernest Borgnine) and Bob (Donelly Rhodes) accompany him. They check it out but Blake thinks it's useless to try and returns to the surface. Mack convinces him otherwise and they return to the sea, this time taking Janssen with them. Following a trail and some pinging they go very deep and find huge coral and plants plus giant fish. Mack is almost eaten by a fish and a giant crab menaces the ship. They manage to rescue the scientists who are trapped by giant eels. 

The SFX are laughable. Footage of normal fish blown up and a toy sub in a fish tank! Director Daniel Petrie later made THE BETSY and FORT APACHE THE BRONX. 

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Not A Poe Film

WAR GODS OF THE DEEP-1965-After Ben Harris (Tab Hunter) finds the body of Mr. Penrose washed ashore, he's attacked by a scaly creature. Later a sailor talks about an undersea city called Lyonese. Ben meets Penrose's daughter Jill (Susan Hart) and her eccentric friend Harold (David Tomlinson who complains about a sketch he made of Jill having disappeared. Ben thinks it's all connected somehow. At night Jill is captured by the same creature that attacked Ben. Following, Ben and Harold find a secret passage that leads to some caves and they see a man chained to a pole who drowns when the cave fills with water. Later they meet The Captain (Vincent Price) who rules over an underground city threatened by a volcano. He and the rest of the populace are all over 100 years old! They live near the legendary lost city where the sea creatures are the last inhabitants. To top it off The Captain thinks Jill is his late wife. The trio want to leave but aren't allowed. They plan their escape which leads to an unusual and long underwater chase/fight in clunky diving suits. They make it back to the surface but The Captain and his gang follow them. The volcano makes some statues break up and fall trapping them and The Captain. After another encounter with “the gill men”, they get to the surface. So does The Captain who quickly ages and dies. The volcano erupts and destroys both cities. 

These days WAR GODS OF THE DEEP is known CITY IN THE SEA. British writer Charles Bennett, who wrote several films for Alfred Hitchcock, wrote the original screenplay which was heavily rewritten by producer Louis Heyward in England where this was filmed. It seems to try and capitalize on the AIP-Poe films Vincent Price was starring in at the time and uses lines from the poem “City In The Sea” by Poe at the beginning and end. 

This was the last film directed by Jacques Tourneur (CAT PEOPLE, I WALK WITH A ZOMBIE) who had worked previously with Price on THE COMEDY OF TERRORS in 1963.

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