Villain(s)  Giant octopus

Actor(s):  Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis, Ian Keith

Brief Description  It Came from Beneath the Sea is a classic 1955 American black-and-white science fiction monster film produced by Columbia Pictures, directed by Robert Gordon, and featuring the legendary stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen. Capitalizing on the 1950s atomic-monster craze, the movie tells the story of a colossal, radioactive octopus that is driven from its deep-ocean habitat by hydrogen bomb testing and proceeds to terrorize the Pacific Coast, culminating in an iconic assault on San Francisco.

Plot:
During a routine shakedown cruise in the Pacific Ocean, a nuclear submarine captained by Commander Pete Matthews (Kenneth Tobey) encounters a massive, unknown sonar return. The vessel is temporarily disabled by a colossal force but manages to break free and return to Pearl Harbor. Upon inspection, navy crews discover a massive hunk of biological tissue jammed into the submarine's dive planes. The military recruits a pair of elite marine biologists to investigate the matter. Dr. Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue) and Dr. John Carter (Donald Curtis). After intensive laboratory analysis, they identify the tissue as a piece of a gigantic octopus. The scientists deduce that H-bomb testing in the Mindanao Deep has heavily irradiated the monster, killing off its natural food supply and forcing it out of its trenches in search of new prey.

The Navy Command initially scoffs at the theory, but they are forced to take it seriously after reports emerge of missing swimmers and several ships being dragged underwater. Commander Mathews teams up with the scientists to track the beast while simultaneously pursuing a romantic relationship with Dr. Joyce. The monster eventually breaches the California coast and enters San Francisco Bay. In the film's climax, the creature attacks the Golden Gate Bridge, wrapping its massive tentacles around the structure and smashing buildings. To defeat the beast, the military uses an electrified net, but the creature traps the nuclear sub on the harbor floor. Finally, the heroes launch a specialized torpedo and stab the octopus directly through its eye into its brain cranium, destroying it and saving the city.

Due to severe budget constraints, producer Sam Katzman only gave Ray Harryhausen enough money to build a model with six tentacles instead of eight [. Harryhausen skillfully animated the creature so that it was always partially submerged or framed in a way that audiences could never tell it was missing two limbs [. Fans later affectionately dubbed the creature "the Hexus". The city of San Francisco refused to give the production crew permission to film on the Golden Gate Bridge. To bypass this, the crew shot background footage using hidden cameras from the back of a moving delivery truck, which Harryhausen later composited with his stop-motion model.