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.

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.

"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?

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.