Latitude Zero (aka Ido Zero Daisakusen) (1969)

When an underwater volcano erupts, the inhabitants (Richard Jaeckel, Akira Takarada, Masumi Okada) of a bathysphere are rescued by the residents of a massive underwater city. Based on the book by Ted Sherdeman and directed by Ishiro Honda, who brought us such creature features as GOJIRA, RODAN and MOTHRA. An enjoyably cheesy movie but with a certain charm, this Japanese sci-fi film plays out like a live action Saturday afternoon cartoon. The film is the handiwork of both Japanese and American interests. The leader of the underwater community is played by Joseph Cotten, who looks embarrassed in a silk blouse open to his navel with gold chains, a gold lame belt and a green silk scarf around his neck. The film's villains are a hammy bug eyed Cesar Romero (who transfers human brains into animals) and an evil Patricia Medina as his paramour. The outrageous costume design is by Linda Glazman and Kiichi Ichida who go overboard with the gold lame. As a nurse, Linda Haynes has a uniform consisting of a backless gold lame dress with white leather go go boots! The cinematography is by Taichi Kankura and the score is by the great Akira Ifukube. The movie's "monsters" are clearly people in animal costumes and look more cuddly than scary. The Japanese version is some 15 minutes shorter than the American language cut.