The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

Near the Arctic Circle, an atomic bomb is detonated. This disturbs the sleep of a giant rhedosaurus (a fictional dinosaur) encased in ice for over 100 million years and sends it southward on a destructive, deadly rampage. Loosely based on the short story THE FOG HORN by Ray Bradbury and directed by Eugene Lourie (GORGO). A relatively low budget sci-fi movie that became a huge hit and a landmark (it was released one year before the Japanese GODZILLA) in the "giant creature on a rampage" genre of the 1950s. The legendary Ray Harryhausen created the special effects. Although critical response was lukewarm upon its original release, the film is now considered a classic in the creature feature genre. It's a tight, economical film that holds up very well. The creature is the star of the movie but among the human cast are Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey, Donald Woods and Lee Van Cleef.