Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

gavin6942 An unusual radioactive rock on the sea bottom mutates the ocean life into a horrible monster. When charred, radioactive bodies begin to drift ashore a scientist and government agent investigate the phenomenon, and it's connection to a local marine biology professor.Producer-director Dan Milner may not be well-known, but the film's writer, Lou Rusoff, made quite a career for himself with American International (the company that American Releasing became shortly after this film was released). Although not known as a great writer, he was prolific and many of his films have gone on to be classics in their own right.Worth noting is the music of Ronald Stein. Not that it is anything special, but this was one of his first scores and he went on to quite a career with AIP. Stein never really escaped from their B-movie world, however, with his biggest credit being Coppola's "Rain People". Coppola was another AIP veteran, and "Rain People" is certainly not one of his celebrated releases.Though maybe not a great movie, "Phantom" is still fun and has a nice rubber suit for a monster. It can be easily found for cheap (or free) on public domain releases. The Mill Creek disc is faded, but still very watchable. I am not aware of a cleaned up release, but I am also not sure if it would be worthwhile.

JohnHowardReid "Nature has many secrets that man mustn't disturb. This was one of them!" Thus, we're blithely informed by the bored and boring Kent Taylor character right at the finish. In actual fact, however, this movie has no secrets at all. In fact, it's the movie you can't escape as it's currently available on just about half the DVD labels in the world including M-G-M, St Clair Vision, Alpha, Ventura, Retromedia. My copy is on a Hollywood House Video DVD – and an excellent copy it is too! A pity you can't say the same thing about the movie itself. The word I need is "inept". And that applies to all facets of the production including the acting, the direction, the script, the sets, the monster – especially the laughable monster! – the acting, the dialogue – especially the corny, instant information dialogue, and even the casting of the players. Mystery man hero, Kent Taylor, is as deadly dull as he usually is. And it's hard to believe that Michael Whalen (who seems as bored as he's boring) is not the brother of amiable heroine, Cathy Downs, but is actually supposed to be her dad! Not to be outdone by the beautiful Cathy, TV actress, Vivi Janis, treats us to a way overlong Sylvia Sidney impersonation. And as for the nondescript direction and the alleged $100,000 cost to make this excuse for a movie, who's kidding who?

hung_fao_tweeze Is it just me or is there something grating with a movie that has a title that has nothing to do with the movie?? There is no phantom. It's a creature that sits just offshore at the bottom of the ocean protecting a glowing radioactive substance for some reason. And the creature is not from 10,000 leagues. People are able to dive down to the creature without being crushed by the water pressure, after all. Taking this into account and the length of time to get from the creature back into that leaking generic rowboat that absolutely everybody is using, I would place the creature at about 30-40 feet. Of course, the movie would have probably not fanned interest with a title like 'The Thing From 5 or 6 Fathoms'. Oh, well. Yes, it's a low budget capsule of a movie - not particularly well-acted and motivations are not consistent. For example, knowing that a creature you created is killing people in a body of water your lovely daughter may decide to swim in doesn't motivate you to want to eliminate the creature, I don't know what will? But when confronted with these facts, the 'scientist' is unable to decide. Yes, let's let the creature live so it can kill even more people. Good idea! And then there is this 'secret agent' woman that has somehow convinced this young hot-head that he must break into the scientist's lab to discover the secret that is being worked on because there is a lot of money involved. One assumes that the hot-head's life is in peril and yet he cannot figure out a way to break down a single wooden door (despite the locks) to get at the secret. This was before 'big-brother, folks. Wait until after-hours and ax that baby down. Even the so-called fisherman casting his net at the beginning of the movie obviously doesn't have a clue how to actually cast a net properly. Somehow, nearly all of the men in this flick have nothing else to wear on the beach except dress shoes, suits and ties. Formal business attire on a beach is somehow disturbing. Keep an eye out for the '3 Stooges-like' stunt where hot-head gets a fist in the face from behind the beach umbrella he expects to find the lovely 'secret agent'. Okay, okay. It is a low budget release with almost 4 sets, 1 boat, a creature that sincerely tries to be threatening. Oh, yes, and there is radiation involved - so that should be a cause of some trepidation for the 1950s crowd living in the dread fear of the time. And the script was based on a story someone had actually written!!But I like bad movies. This one isn't entirely terrible and does have some entertainment value despite the gaps in logic and credibility. Good for a rainy day, young kids who aren't dismissive of movies without color and special effects, and popcorn.

Spikeopath The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues is directed by Dan Milner and written by Dorys Lukather and Lou Rusoff. It stars Kent Taylor, Cathy Downs and Michael Whalen. Music is by Ronald Stein and photography by Brydon Baker.Plot, for what it's worth, sees an amphibian like creature suddenly start killing any unfortunate human being that strays near its lair. And just what is that glowing thing down there? An absolute hack job attempting to cash in on the success of far better films of its ilk that were all the rage in the 1950s. It's the sort of Z grade film that gives the fans of creaky creature features and sci-fi schlockers a bad name. Right off the bat the makers commit a big error by introducing us to the man in the rubber suit straight away, a hopeless creation that's about as scary as the insipid dialogue that litters the production. Dialogue that's delivered by a cast of wooden actors who bring laughs on account of the fact they seem to be taking their roles seriously!Milner's direction accounts to being a number of similar scenes strung together at different intervals, with the creature's appearances being as rare as any suspense is. While the 10,000 Leagues aspect is rendered a big joke since the creature is in water that's only about 5 fathoms deep! I wonder if the makers realised that just one league is 3 nautical miles?!Is it in the "so bad it's good" category? Absolutely not! There's a modicum of science interest involving genetic tests and atomic energy dabblings, but this is lost amongst the laborious pacing as the characters do incredibly dumb things. While somewhat surprisingly Ronald Stein's foreboding music is decent and deserves a better movie. It also has a great title, with awesome poster art to match, but all told it's a major "league" clunker and only makes one cherish even more the likes of Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. 2/10