Destination Inner Space is a 1966 sci-fi monster film directed by Francis D. Lyon (Castle of Evil; Cult of the Cobra) from a screenplay by Arthur C. Pierce (The Cosmic Man; Mutiny in Outer Space; The Navy vs. the Night Monsters).
The film is infamous for its aquatic monster, which looks like a cross between a piranha and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Its alternate title is the more suitable Terror of the Deep. It stars Scott Brady (Castle of Evil; Gremlins), Gary Merrill (The Mysterious Island) and Sheree North. James Hong (R.I.P.D.; The Vineyard; Shadowzone; Big Trouble in Little China) plays the comedy relief cook.
The film’s strident score is by Paul Dunlap, the composer for several horror and sci-fi films, such as I Was a Teenage Werewolf and The Angry Red Planet.
A group of researchers working in an underwater laboratory encounters an Unidentified Submerged Object (USO—an undersea flying saucer). The base is attacked by a monster that may be the vanguard for invading aliens. The researchers and the base’s military staff must deal with the creature and destroy the USO.
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Our review:
If only Francis D. Lyon, the director of Destination Inner Space had been more of the mindset of a Jacques Tourneur or a Jack Arnold. All were denizens of the drive-in B-movie depths, but filmmakers to whom it occurred now and then that sometimes showing less of your monster or fanciful set is more effective than showing more. If only that had been done well, we would have a more memorable film.
As it is, the full-colour aquatic environment and its serviceable amphibious beastie are lit brightly like automobiles in a mid-60s car dealership or swimming pool accessory promo film. And that goes well against the reality and potential suspense. Both exteriors of the glorious Sealab and the underwater UFO are painstakingly obvious as small models in a mere few feet of water, whilst characters aboard them strive mightily to convince us they are trapped on the ocean floor (except when they are not, of course) at the mercy of a horrific, scaly menace from the stars.
The bulk of the effects budget seems to have been spent on the alien monster – which, is introduced unconventionally not as an illogically psychopathic stargoing being from another world, but as a kind of bio-terror weapon, hatching from a slimy sort of egg/pupae (one of many) deployed via automation on an as-needed basis by the presumably remote-controlled or computerized USO.
Multicoloured and intricately detailed, the finned fiend could have served well in glimpses but is unfortunately revealed full-on most of the time, as it besieges the stalwart but squabbling military types (and genre vet James Hong as a comic-relief Asian cook – not the worst such stereotype old Hollywood would offer, but regrettable nonetheless) in the confines of the T-shaped Sealab.
See filmmaker Ed Cahn’s well-remembered It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958), with its deep-shadow cinematography and more genuine mood of claustrophobic jeopardy, for an indication of how Destination Inner Space might have gone.
On the plus side, there is some genuine vintage scuba gear appearing here that quite caught my fancy for such gadgets. I particularly enjoyed the dwarf two-person submarine carriage and the endearingly steampunk-like waterproof housing for a vintage twin-lens reflex camera, carried by swimsuit-clad starlet Wende Wagner. I still have my Rolleiflex. And I was so fond of my Rolleicord, but it vanished mysteriously. From a boat, forebodingly enough.
The annals have little positive to say about Destination Inner Space. It’s lumpen and just not as good as it should be. But I suggest, that, 
just as the goopy lozenge-egg things from the USO here metamorphose into an unquestionably costly space monster, so was this movie the embryo/fetus stage for James Cameron’s The Abyss, one of the few other times the silver screen depicted ETs who made the oceans rather than the atmosphere their preferred environment.
Charles Cassady Jr, MOVIES & MANIA
Other reviews:
“The great mass of warmed-over leftovers in the script never comes anywhere close to developing its own identity, and anybody who has seen The Thing, The Atomic Submarine, or Revenge of the Creature is likely to spend most of the mental energy he or she devotes to Destination Inner Space on ticking off the elements stolen from each. Most of what entertainment value it has can be traced to its deficiency in two major areas: acting and special effects.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
“The underwater models of the sealab are ridiculously small, and look exactly the size they are. The producers could at least have studied the TV series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea a little closer, for tips. Speaking of TV, this looks like an early TV movie, mostly a TV cast, TV-friendly aspect ratio, and tame on the violence…” Black Hole
“Low budget and average performances do not prevent director Francis Lyon from providing a first-rate entertainment. Nothing profound; just fun.” Jeff Rovin, A Pictorial History of Science Fiction Films
“The picture is unpretentious, quick-paced, and admirably unworried about putting the saucer and the monster on screen as often as possible. The monster looks like an exaggerated Creech with harsh accents and bright red fins.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
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“With the alien erupting from a pod on board an investigating submarine, there is a distinct affinity to It! The Terror from Beyond Space. Despite a rickety script and barely adequate performances, the movie is enjoyable of its type.” Alan Frank, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Handbook, Batsford, 1982
“For what is obviously a low-budget production, this is a splendid piece of hokum, with good sets and photography and a lively pace.” Monthly Film Bulletin
Trailer:
Free to watch on YouTube:
Cast and characters:
Scott Brady as Cmdr. Wayne
Sheree North as Doctor Rene Peron
Gary Merrill as Doctor LaSatier
Wende Wagner as Sandra Welles
Mike Road as Hugh Maddox
John Howard as Doctor James
William Thourlby as Tex
Biff Elliot as Doctor Wilson
Glenn Sipes as Mike
Richard Niles as Ellis
Roy Barcroft as Skipper
Ed Charles Sweeny as Bos’un
Ken Delo as Radio Man
Ron Burke as The Thing
James Hong as Ho Lee
More Francis D. Lyon movies:
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