Creature From the Haunted Sea (1961)
Director - Roger Corman
The Plot
Gangster Renzo Capeto is hired by a band of exiles to smuggle both them and the stolen treasury from a Cuba in the midst of revolution. He kills the general and his fellow exiles and blames their deaths on a legendary sea monster. But when the real beast appears it's tropical mayhem for the survivors.
Film Notes
Foreshadowing Chinatown
Robert Towne, who wrote Chinatown, stars as Secret Agent Sparks Moran in this Roger Corman quickie movie. The beginnings of Towne's Chinatown themes can be seen here. Betrayal. Corruption. Deception. Greed. Water.
The Creature Itself
The Creature itself is beyond description. But he does literally have tennis balls for eyes. Seemingly just a measure of the budget constrained production, but then again, it could very well be a striking sliver of a critique at the heart of American capitalism. ¡Viva la Revolución!
-- Ed Schneider
Ingmar Ozu-Bresson on Creature from the
Haunted Sea
"L'eau représent le passage entre la vie et la mort. L'oeil du monstre égale l'oeil de Dieu. Moissonnez le tourbillon. Répandez le vin. Creusez ce monstre."
("Water symbolizes the passage between life and death. The eye of the monster equals the eye of God. Reap the Whirlwind. Spill the wine. Dig that monster.")
Cast & Production Credits
| Anthony Carbone | Renzo Capeto |
| Betsy Jones-Moreland | Mary-Belle |
| Beach Dickerson | Pete Petersen |
| Edmundo Rivera Alvarez | Col. Tostada |
| Edward Wain (Robert Towne) | Sparks Moran |
| Robert Bean | Happy Jack |
| Sonya Noemi | Mango |
| Roger Corman | Director / Producer |
| Monte Hellman | Asst. Director |
| Charles Griffith | Screenwriter |
| Jacques Marquette | Cinematographer |
| Fred Katz | Composer (Music Score) |
| Angela Scellars | Editor |
