Category: Monsters
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Quatermass 2
Professor Quatermass investigates alien body snatchers that have secretly taken over the British government in this 1957 sequel. The script is original but sprawling, and lacks the original’s claustrophobic horror 6/10.
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The Curse of Frankenstein
In 1957 Hammer rejuvenated the horror genre with an emphasis on blood and gore in bright colours. Somewhat flat and derivative story-wise, the film is more interesting for its legacy than for its qualities. 7/10
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The Deadly Mantis
The title of Nathan Juran’s 1957 Them! imitation is self-explanatory. Despite a decent monster and some glimpses of Universal class, this William Alland production is derivative and soulless. 4/10
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Kronos
A giant alien machine descends to Earth and proceeds to drain the planet of energy in this 1957 Fox B-movie. The script is creaky, but this is a fairly original and well designed low-budget effort from the mind of Irving Block. 6/10
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The Man Who Turned to Stone
Mad scientists run a women’s prison and kill the inmates in order to prolong their own lives in Columbia’s 1957 genre mashup. Bernard Gordon’s script has interesting ideas, but falls back on dated horror tropes. 5/10.
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Plan 9 from Outer Space
Ed Wood’s 1957 Magnum Opus is the epitomy of the so-bad-it’s-good movie. Far from the worst picture if all time, this is one of the most entertaining films in movie history, and unmistakingly a work of an auteur. 7/10
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Voodoo Woman
A femme fatale leads a gold hunt into the jungle and falls foul of a mad doctor turning women into voodoo monsters. Alex Gordon’s super-cheap AIP schlocker from 1957 is mildly entertaining as a so-bad-it’s-good film. 3/10
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The Incredible Shrinking Man
Jack Arnold’s crowning achievement from 1957 is as haunting parable about coping with a world that loses its meaning. An occasionally sluggish script is the only thing keeping it from masterpiece status. 9/10
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Not of This Earth
An alien infiltrates Earth in order to collect blood for his race that is dying from anemia in Roger Corman’s well-crafted but somewhat uninspired urban thriller from 1957. 6/10
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Attack of the Crab Monsters
Roger Corman’s 1957 monster movie is quintessential SF schlock. As a scientists are picked off one by one by telepathic giant crabs, an inventive script and lightning pace compensate for the shortcomings of the production values. 6/10
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Rodan
In 1956 Toho unveiled a brand new monster in its first colour kaiju movie. Direction by Ishiro Honda and special effectsare peak Toho, but devoid of social allegory, the script struggles to carry the sombre tone of the film. 6/10
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Man Beast
Connie Hayward leads an expedition into the Himalayas to find her brother, lost on a yeti hunt. Schlockmeister Jerry Warren’s debut movie is probably his best. Not that the bar is set particularly high. 4/10
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The Mole People
Archaeologists led by SF staple John Agar are captured by a lost underground civilisation in Universal’s 1956 movie. It’s not without its merits, but hampered by a weak script and a low budget. 4/10
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X the Unknown
A primordial radioactive mud creature threatens the Scottish countryside in Hammer’s taut and atmospheric 1956 Quatermass knockoff. As a film it is a footnote, but notable for gathering the Hammer Horror roster. 6/10
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The Beast of Hollow Mountain
Cattle ranchers feud over the mayor’s daughter while their cows mysteriously go missing in this ambitious US/Mexican B-movie. Beautiful colour photography and some adequate stop-motion dinosaurs partly make up for a sluggish script. 5/10
Scifist. 