Giant Behemoth surprised me. Catching the film really from the first frame for the first time in years I was shocked by just how damn good the movie is. Owing more to the British thrillers such as the Quatermass films and the stark black and white horror films of Hammer (X The Unknown) or things like the Day the Earth Caught Fire (which while released 2 years later has similar feel) or Corridors of Blood, this is for a good chunk of the film a dark detective story of sorts as the monster remains hidden and the scientists try to figure out whats going on. There is complexity of the story, fish kills, radiation and a sense that this is a larger problem, that is lacking from most American films of the time period and the genre.<br /><br />Strangely, the monster, which always bothered me, actually looked pretty good. If you look at the monster itself I think you'll see that compared to the Beast from 20000 fathoms, this is the better monster. if you look at the design and the skin texture the monster actually looks realer than Beast which seems to be more a block of clay. the problem here is that O'Brien's animation isn't very good at times. A throw back to his 1920's work on the Lost World (watch the way the neck and head move), its clear that O'Brien was regressing from his peak on King Kong (Mighty Joe Young doesn't count, Harryhausen actually animated most of that). To be certain part of the problem is that speed was required, Behemoth had a limited budget so it had to be done fast as possible, but ultimately O'Brien wasn't that creative an animator (he may have been the father of the technique but his children made it into something). Luckily the monster is shown in shadow and darkness frequently so we can't always see whats going on, which is good since it adds a sense of mystery to the proceedings that Beast is lacking.<br /><br />By no means a "great film" behemoth is actually a better film than I think its given credit for. I think had the monster been changed or better handled this would have had a reputation beyond the earlier Beast.<br /><br />For a great double feature watch Beast from 20,000 Fathoms after this for a nice follow up (Events in Beast are kind of mentioned in the final fade out)