To start with, girls, I do not know if stool softeners were available, when this film was released, back in 1957. I expected more from it. Universal, who scored big with "Tarantula," and "The Deadly Mantis," designed a better poster than made a movie.
Where do I start? Well, when seen on screen, in black and white, the monsters look like giant, walking turds. Unfortunately, they don't do much, and that is the only bit of humor in the film. Grant Williams and Lola Albright, act like they are working with Kazan, when they should have been over the top, and their love scenes are as chaste as a sixth grade--in my day--dance. I am not saying clothes should have been ripped off, but show a little enthusiasm, guys!
The solution to the problem was so obvious, even David and I figured it out. And we are not in any science field.
There are constant shots of cars speeding over a highway alongside desert land that I swear was used in both "Earth Vs. The Spider," and "THEM!" In fact, it probably was. Those two were superior to this.
Not good enough to be quality, not campy enough to be fun, "The Monolith Monsters" stands alone. Even the most dedicated horror fan will not want to see this one a second time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eh, you're too harsh, RQ: we've seen WAY worse than this.
ReplyDeleteTrue, it doesn't have much in the way of camp value, so its stripped bare of any such trappings to hide in and must be judged as the "serious" movie it presents itself to be. While it fails the standards of today, at the time it slotted in seamlessly with several other similar films. Leaving aside the lack of tension in the threat for modern viewers, one has to admit the production value is remarkably good compared to other entries in the era/genre. The miniature work during the climactic flood scenes is flawlessly executed at a level difficult to accomplish even today (water is notorious as the hardest special effect to control: if your scale is off by even a hair, it gives the whole illusion away).
As I alluded in your earlier post for this film, it was the seminal horror film of my childhood: seeing the little girl turning to stone inside the artificial lung scarred my kiddie mind and gave me nightmares for years. It disappeared from circulation for nearly 30 years after TV wore it out, to the point I was beginning to think I imagined it until its recent re-release. If you saw Monolith Monsters as a wee tot on TV in the'60s, it was plenty effective and believable (to this day I approach my kitchen sink with trepidation, in sublimated fear a monolith might pop out of the drain to kill me).
So yeah: its kind of a bore, and has no camp cred, but at least its only an hour, and it gets an A for Effort in my book (if nothing else, they earned kudos for the cinematography and effects work during the last 10 mins). And of course if you were young enough for it to get under your skin when you first saw it, its unforgettable.
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence is the key;
had I seen this as a kid, it would
have made more of an impression.
The lack of romance would have gone
over my head, and I would not
have understood cheesiness, so it
probably would have seen me.
At said age, "The Crawling Eye"
had this impact on me!