Nessie (partially found cancelled sci-fi film collaboration between Hammer and Toho; 1976-1979)

A promotional Nessie poster

Status: Partially Found

Nessie was a cancelled sci-fi movie that would have been a collaboration between Hammer, a horror movie giant, Carreras, and Toho, famous for creating Godzilla. The film was being directed by Bryan Forbes as well as Michael Anderson. The special effects was also going to be made by Teruyoshi Nakano, the same man who made the effects to Godzilla during the 70s. The movie was cancelled due to the financial troubles Hammer was experiencing during the time and the competition with Jaws and the remake of King Kong. The things that remain which is known as a script for the film and storyboards, both of which are currently lost. The only excerpt that is found from the original script is the following:

I have to tell you that we have irrefutable evidence that not only does the Loch Ness Monster exist, it is at present at large on the high seas.

Plot

The plot of the film would stretch from England to Japan and would feature Japanese actors. The plot would start by the Loch Ness Monster growing after being exposed to a toxic chemical called Mutane 4. Nessie would then attack a northern sea oil rig and a hovercraft. The military would try to fight back by attempting to fight Nessie off on Gibraltar and by launching a submarine destroyer, but both attempts would fail. Nessie would finally be killed on the Sunda Strait. Additionally, there would have been a treasure hunt and an underwater city involved, not much is known about what this would lead to.

Reception

In August 1976, Carreras sent a copy of the film's script to Martin Wragge. Martin described the film being robust due to the story being thin and the dialogue being terrible. He also said that the only way for the film to be a success is if the special effects were any good. The book, The Hammer Vault called it a combination of both the remake of King Kong and Jaws.

Resurface

Somewhere in 2010, the movie's script was resurfaced on mypdfscripts.com. However, going to the website today shows a page stating that the domain is up for sale.