War-Gods of the Deep (1965)

Original title: The City Under the Sea

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Writers: Charles Bennett, Louis M. Heyward, David Whitaker, Edgar Allan Poe

Composer: Stanley Black

Starring: Vincent Price, David Tomlinson, Tab Hunter, Susan Hart, John Le Mesurier, Henry Oscar, Derek Newark, Roy Patrick

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They Became Pawns In A WAR Beneath The WAVES!

Plot: Set on the Cornish coast in 1903, the film features a group of people discovering an underwater society of smugglers who never age living in a lost underwater city along with their gill-man slaves.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I always get excited when I see one of the grand fantasies that came out in the 60s and 70s.  I'm sure I would dig them more if I were 6 but... The movie posters and trailers tend to promise more than they can deliver and this is no exception.  Vincent price is the real draw here, let's face it.  He doesn't enter the picture until about a half hour in and he does his usual mysteriously sinister thing.  He's perfect for these types of roles and it almost doesn't matter that he's not doing anything different.  He's doing exactly what's needed.  The special effects are fun.  I dig the sets and models.  I could have done without the chicken bringing the cheesy comic relief.  The underwater fight goes on far too long (at 10 cruel, boring minutes) and the closeup shots of Price in his diving suit, looking from side to side are unintentionally hilarious. I'm probably being generous giving this a 6 but there is enough to like (that 10 minute underwater sequence dreadfully brings the picture to a screeching halt) to recommend for those who want some Jules Verne-esque fantasy.  It'll do in a pinch.