The Monolith Monsters (1957)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

John Sherwood

Writers:

Jack Arnold (story) and
Robert M. Fresco (story) ...

Release Date:

December 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

Mammoth skyscrapers of stone thundering across the earth!

Plot:

Rocks from a meteor which grow when in contact with water threaten a sleepy Southwestern desert community.

Plot Keywords:

Water | Rock | Desert | Saline | Schoolteacher

Cast

Lola Albright	...	Cathy Barrett
Grant Williams	...	Dave Miller
Les Tremayne	...	Martin Cochrane
Trevor Bardette	...	Prof. Arthur Flanders
Phil Harvey	...	Ben Gilbert
William Flaherty	...	Chief Dan Corey
Harry Jackson	...	Dr. Steve Hendricks
Richard H. Cutting	...	Dr. E.J. Reynolds
Linda Scheley	...	Ginny Simpson
Dean Cromer	...	Highway Patrolman
Steve Darrell	...	Joe Higgins

Also Known As:

Monolith (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

The meteor crash is footage of the spaceship crash from _It Came From Outer Space (1953)_ which Universal produced four years earlier.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the camera dollies in on the comatose Jennie, it’s shadow appears on her.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: From time immemorial the Earth has been bombarded by objects from outer space. Bits and pieces of the Universe piercing our atmosphere in an invasion that never ends. Meteor, the shooting stars on which so many earthly wishes have been born! Of the thousands that plummet toward us...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Son of Svengoolie: The Monolith Monsters (1957) (#1.81)" (1981)

Science fiction thriller with a different kind of menace.

The main thing I found appealing about this science fiction thriller from Universal was the films unique menace: deadly crystals from space that arrive with a meteor. When one one thinks about it, a meteor containing some deadly or destructive element or mineral causing havoc on Earth is more likely than destruction by alien invasion. The menace here are crystals that expand to enormous proportions when they come in contact with water. The crystals are also deadly if touched by someone when they are expanding.

The film has good but obvious special effects. The crystals rising and expanding are done simply by pushing them up through holes in the table top miniature sets. Grant Williams, fresh from THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, gives a good performance despite the fact his role is the standard scientist type found in most films of this nature from this period.

Film historian Bill Warren correctly described THE MONOLITH MONSTERS as Universals last "adult" science fiction of the 1950's. After THE MONOLITH MONSTERS every horror/science fiction film PRODUCED by that studio were lackluster quickies (THE LEECH WOMEN; THE THING THAT WOULDN'T DIE etc.) thrown out to support much better imported (Hammer films like HORROR OF DRACULA) or independent acquisitions (THE 4D MAN.) I would also like to note this was 1957's second "deadly mineral" film, the other being Columbia studio's THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED. I would also like to mention I found the scene where Grant Williams tries to get a weather forecast from weatherman William Schalert pretty funny.