The Deadly Mantis (1957)

It always amazes me how so many can be so critical of a SCI FI film from the fifty's that really only meant to offer an hour or two of entertainment and escapism not to throw a world of facts at you and so what the dialog may be long and the effects corny IT'S THE FIFTYS!!! I love the DEADLY MANTIS ,growing up myself in the fifty's this film used to scare me now it's just fills me with fond memories of a simpler time. DON'T try to read too much into this film just enjoy it for what it is, a simple 50's SCI FI film with decent acting and a fun monster. It's no CASABLANCA but it never meant to be. Enjoy and escape back in time to a simpler period!!!ZD

Nathan Juran directed this reasonably effective monster yarn that sees a giant prehistoric preying mantis being accidentally freed from its arctic glacier tomb to kill and terrorize first the local population, then the world. A knowledgeable informed scientist(played by William Hopper) and a determined Army Col.(played by Craig Stevens) lead the fight to defeat the deadly mantis, before the human population is extinct... Although the plot is familiar("The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" comes to mind) and characters unmemorable, the model F/X of the giant mantis are quite good, with tense direction and good pace(only slowing down for the obligatory romantic subplot with Alix Tilton). Exciting tunnel climax compensates in this OK thriller.

Better than average 50's sci-fi, thanks mainly to producer Alland, who put together such drive-in gems as Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and This Island Earth (1953), to name a couple. This creature feature doesn't reach that level but is very well mounted and acted. The use of arctic scenes combined with well-constructed sets gives the setting more believability than usual. Plus, we get not just one leading man, but two. Both of which went on to successful TV careers—Hopper and Stevens.The plot is pretty standard. A thawed out giant mantis decides to wreck what it can of human civilization and dine on those responsible. Needless to say, the Air Force and its citizen allies take a dim view of such anti-social antics, but the flying insect is tough to incinerate, especially when our pilots look like they need more target practice. Anyway, you can guess the outcome, especially when the comely, but slightly stiff Alix Talton, serves as a prize.Unfortunately the monster element suffers from two drawbacks. First, it's ugly as heck but not especially fearsome. The script should have shown it doing something really bad to an unfortunate human, then we could really loathe not just its looks but also what it does. The script depends too much on ugly close-ups to really instill fear. Nonetheless, the special effects are really quite well done.All in all, it's a drive-in feature I would have actually paid to see instead of using a buddy's car trunk. And, oh yes, to those folks finding fault with the technical details--- who is it, anyway, that goes to movies to be educated. Hollywood has never let fact stand in the way of story, good or bad.

Universal was known to milk its formulas dry and, so, we had this middling return to TARANTULA (1955) territory – itself inspired by the superior THEM! (1954); in all fairness to them, other studios also contributed to what came to be known as 'atomic monster' cycle – such as Allied Artists' ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, Warners' THE BLACK SCORPION and United Artists' THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD; coincidentally, all three were released the same year as the film under review and I guess I should mention that the first and third will also be included in this year's Halloween challenge. Anyway, this is yet another William Alland production and, as was his fashion, gives a documentary feel to the proceedings; alas, this only resulted in a deadly {sic} first half – especially since there was no one among the bland (and anonymous) principals with whom to empathize...and, what is even worse, the obligatory love interest feels particularly intrusive here! However, once the creature turns up, it becomes your standard 'bug' movie with much the expected mayhem and thrills and, therefore, fairly entertaining if hardly surprising (down to the climax where the mantis is cornered inside a tunnel). It is a big plus, then, that the design of the monster here is pretty good – looking appropriately menacing in close-up. By the way, this is another title issued by Universal in their second DVD set of Sci-Fi 'Classics' and one that I opted to acquire through ulterior sources (in fact, the copy I ended up with did not even seem to be culled from this latest edition – unlike CULT OF THE COBRA {1955; another upcoming viewing}, THE LAND UNKNOWN {1957} and THE LEECH WOMAN {1960}).