The Giant Behemoth review: 1950s America radiation fears spawn phallic monsters

The Giant Behemoth followed in the wake of Godzilla. TOHO’s jolly green giant won the hearts and minds of the world while inspiring a slew of copycats from every corner of the globe. Now, Allied Artists saw the chance to play upon English speaking fears with Asian style Kaiju. Due to a variety of factors, the push was to shoot the movie in the United Kingdom. To make up for the lack of American familiar locations, FX Legend Willis O’ Brien was hired to build a monster for a new age. What audiences got was the Godzilla version of the Loch Ness Monster. Sporting a similarity to a dinosaur like eel, the creature rose from the sea angered over recent radiation poisonings. The kicker is that the same radiation poisoning is also killing our paleosaur friend. Now, he fights and fights to get back to the place where he was born. The Brits won’t close the River Thames, but American scientists fight the military and government to try and save lives. For a film that plays under 90 minutes, I still feel like 10 minutes could’ve been cut from the film. It’s a thin premise that needed a little boost to get over the hump. Still, I quite enjoyed the Behemoth design.

The Giant Behemoth is out now!