There are strange goings on in the office of scientist Michael Whalen who keeps his laboratory locked tighter than the hatch on a submarine. His secretary (Vivi Janiss) is suspicious of the goings on and pays dearly for her defiance. It appears that a sea monster of some kind is guarding an undersea stash of uranium and tips over any boats which pass by. Is this some man in disguise, or is it some small sea creature turned huge by man-made mutation? Fortunately, you get to see the monster pretty early on in the film, so there's no waiting around to catch sight of it. The monster is pretty gruesome, too, but like many other sea monsters in science fiction movies of this time, it's definitely a cousin to "The Creature From the Black Lagoon".Of course, the government is called in to investigate the strange goings on, and by coincidence, the agent (Kent Taylor) happens to walk along the beach on his first day there only to discover a body of one of the victims. I thought at first that the monster was kind enough to its victims to drowned them quickly before biting into them with their razor sharp teeth, but I guess this monster has an aversion to human flesh because all that happens to the victims is the obvious radiation burns found on their bodies. Then, there's the scientist's assistant who has something up his sleeve as well, stalking the beach in secret with a spear gun which he isn't above using. It's a rather strange plot, not fully explained, but giving the audience the message that mankind should leave some of God's secrets alone, that nature should be left to fend for itself and that we are not meant to know everything. A bit of comedy concerning the romance of Taylor and the scientists's pretty daughter (Cathy Downs) is thrown in, but all that does is add running time to the virtually plot less film.

Handsome, stolid Kent Taylor plays Dr. Ted Stevens, a scientist investigating unusual activity in a seaside community. What he discovers is a radioactive light emanating from the ocean floor...and a goofy marine monster guarding the thing. There's no shortage of dubious types involved, as there are those who would seek to profit from this weapon. Ted, a real multi tasker if ever there was one, also finds the time to romance Lois King (Cathy Downs), the daughter of local oceanographer Professor King (Michael Whalen).One would hope, based on the poster art and that great title, that this would make for tasty schlock movie viewing. Alas, it's not to be, as this is a fairly dull affair, with not much of interest ever happening. Lou Rusoff, the screenwriter, tried to spice things up with the intrigue subplot, but everything is boringly handled. The filmmakers, led by director Dan Milner (who went on to do the more memorably awful "From Hell It Came"), establish their "credentials" by showing off their monster less than a minute into the movie! It's a funny looking beast, to be sure; audience members may be chuckling quite a bit every time it makes an appearance. It does kill a few people, but mostly it just stands there looking silly.Taylor is a rather stiff but not unlikable hero. Downs is lovely but doesn't have a very good part with which to work. Whalen is passable as our well intentioned antagonist. Phillip Pine is a non-threatening, would be villain. Rodney Bell is not bad as the government agent who collaborates with Dr. Stevens. Vivi Janiss does what she can in the role of Professor Kings' nosey secretary, who's motivated to find out more about what her boss does. The very sexy Helene Stanton has her moments as a conniving woman prodding Pine to produce results for certain interested parties.Best of all is Ronald Steins' score, which is good enough to deserve to have been in a better movie.Five out of 10.

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.

This _unambitious, even messy Sci Fi thriller has some nice sexy touches—like a beach scene, a shower scene-- which even give it a slight resemblance to the old TV shows; in a word, after a few mysterious deaths on a peaceful shore, two investigators are fooled to take over the case, one is a regular cop, the other a handsome scientist whose books' covers look like those of the movie stars'. In a few ordinary shots, we are subtly given to fathom that there was a creepy connection between the unexplained deaths and a presumably hideous underwater floating toy.All the characters are basically uninteresting and even ugly—perhaps even the two sexy ladies who try to enchant us with their shapes; instead, these characters are many. Ugly, but many. There's the handsome scientist—and there's also the frankly old one; there's the oldster's daughter, and there's the evil woman who plots one knows not what; there's the cop—and there's the treacherous villain associated with the mentioned vamp. There's also an ugly toy—the underwater floating toy.For me, The Phantom from 10000 Leagues was basically and fundamentally boring—for reasons of lack of style, and a little skill could have enlivened it; but do not feel disheartened and annoyed. Maybe you will like The Phantom.