Customer Reviews

The Monster That Challenged the World

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of the best cold war flicks. It has all the traits THEM, BEGINNING OF THE END, IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, and has all the warmth of TARANTULA, an THE GIANT BOHEMOTH. Misunderstood creatures from a past age whom are suddently unleashed on a present day world. the victom count is low but well placed. The last sceen comes right out of Norman Rockwell. this is the 50's lest we forget. what is nice about this film is that your told why every thing is happening. this is a very enjoyable title, this is one of my collection, and is top shelf. I think you will enjoy this as much as I do.

I first saw this movie on TV, late one night when I was working in Mexico and living in the southern California town of El Centro. Yep, right smack dab in the center of where the Monster decided to challenge the world! I started looking at the local canals a lot more closely at night!

The DVD version has crisp video....much nicer than the VHS version. It was a MUST HAVE for my collection.
Okay, the flick is a little on the lame side....but it's still one of the most fun of the genre. Those mighty mollusks are simply too funny for words. And our hero is so busy chasing women, he almost lets the Imperial Valley and all of Baja Norte fall into the evil mollusk mandibles (do mollusks have mandibles?).
Absolutely essential viewing if you've ever lived in Baja or the Imperial Valley, or even in Southern California. And essential if you are at all into the B monster flicks of AIP and the like.
And it makes the Salton Sea look so very large! It is also fun to see the place as it looked in the late 50's.

Jack Stinson

You're not likely to be frightened by MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD, but as 1950s sci-fi/horror programmers go it is better than most. The story, which resembles everything from THEM! to THE THING to BLACK LAGOON, concerns prehistoric eggs that are irradiated by atomic blast and then released by earthquake into a saltwater sea by a military station--where several military men go missing as a result.

The cast, script, story, and monster are all okay but nothing special and never rise above the "B Movie" level, but the movie is an enjoyable way to spend a rainy evening. It's also mild enough for use as a "family night" film with older kids, and would be a good way to introduce them to the genre without giving them fits; younger kids, however, will either be bored or genuinely frightened, so you might want to prescreen it just in case.

Despite it's grandiose title which screams out "B movie for the drive in circuit!", "The Monster That Challenged the World", is a good piece of 1950's science fiction, offering capable performances, an interesting, if not totally original storyline and an interesting "creature on the loose", in a giant mollusk that proceeds to drain all the blood from its victims in its quest for nourishment. The creature when it is eventually seen in its entirety is quite horrific and far more sophisticated than the usual rubber suit or tentacled fur balls employed in alot of Sci Fi films of this period. All of this is presented in a pleasing and (for this genre) largely non sensational manner and benefits greatly from some very effective locations filmed in and around Florida's famed Salton Sea.

"The Monster That Challenged the World", starts off with an explanation of the curious history of the Salton Sea and introduces us to the scientific base where most of the action develops from when it is rocked by a tremor which in itself is not serious but which with time is revealed to have created a "hiccup" with some of the "dormant", forms of life in the sea. All seems well until some of the military performing routine parachute jumps into the sea strike trouble with two men completely disappearing and the third being literally scared to death by some horrific vision. Put in charge of the investigation into what happened to the men Lt. John Twillinger (Tim Holt), finds one of the bodies rising to the surface which has been strangely drained of all of its blood. Meanwhile swimmers in the local area also begin to disappear and it becomes obvious that something is lurking in the sea that is unlike anything encountered before. Equally mystifying is that at each of the sights where a death has occured is found a strange sticky substance which when examined by the base scientist Dr. Jess Rogers (Hans Conried), is revealed to come from a prehistoric form of sea Mollusk that supposedly had been extinct for millions of years. During a further expedition out into the sea the divers discover strange egg sacs of a size never seen before and then encounter the creature in broad daylight as it attacks them in their boat. It appears that the prehistoric sea mollusk had lain dormant for millions of years below the sea and was shacken out by the tremor. Affected by elements of radioactivity present in the sea the mollusk had grown to a huge size with a decidely hostile manner. Beaten off by the men the gravity of the situation is revealed in that these creatures multiple rapidly and have a consuming appetite for other creatures blood. One of the egg sacs is taken back to the lab where it is kept at a neutral temperature to stop it from hatching so that it can be studied. In the lab Lt. Twillinger makes the acquaintance of lab assistant Gail Mackenzie (Audrey Dalton), a young widow with a child and they begin a romance. Closing off the sea's beaches patrols are set up of all the loch's leading from the sea. When one of the loch watchmen is killed in the same way as the divers, being drained of his blood, emergency measures are taken. The team manages to find the main nesting place of the creatures and divers proceed to blow them all up. It seems like the threat has now been removed however at the base Gail's young daughter has played with the temperature control on the observation tank and the creature hatches trapping both Gail and her daughter in a storage room. Not able to reach her on the telephone and sensing something is wrong Lt. Twillinger races back to the base and is confronted by the creature just as it is breaking down the door where Gail is trapped. The military then move in and destroy the creature with fire. The conclusion sees John and Gail happily reunited outside the burning base building.

For this kind of film the screenplay surprisingly presents the material in a fairly intelligent and well thought out manner. The creature of the title doesn't exactly threaten the whole world however its general look and the explanation of how it has got to the size it is is dealt with in an interesting manner. Performances are generally good for this type of effort. Tim Holt had had a long busy career appearing in many Hollywood "A" efforts prior to this film and indeed "The Monster That Challenged the World", was almost his final film performance. He looks decidely unfit in the unlikely role of the male romantic lead however he combines well with Audrey Dalton to make a fairly believable couple. The direction by Arnold Laven, is capable without being spectacular for science fiction. He keeps the action moving along and the old technique of not revealing the monster until the story is well set up is a standard one in 1950's sci fi which works well here. His direction of Audrey Dalton is probably the best part here as he doesn't reduce her character to the standard screaming damsel in distress as is normal. Gail is a resourceful and intelligent woman and when she is put into a crisis situation at the films conclusion proves herself to be level headed and capable of good judgement when faced with the sea mollusk on the rampage.

Certainly not top grade science fiction "The Monster That Challenged the World", however makes great viewing if like me, you are a fan of the "creature features", of the 1950's. I think its most appealing feature apart from the terrific monster is the fact that it has an almost at times low key, non sensational approach to the material. The earnest performances by Tim Holt, Audrey Dalton and Hans Conreid in particular give this film a certain credibility that is missing in some of its "B" cousins from the same period in Hollywood. Enjoy a nasty blood sucking creature awakened from its slumber after millions of years in United Artists "The Monster That Challenged the World".

This is a wonderful to revive those days of Saturday night "Creature Features" on tv. The movie is well done, the special effects are good and movie has a charm that's truly lovable. This is not a cheesy sci-fi film though. It's fun and intelligent and the monster is great. I would recommend this one as a double feature with "Them" or "Tarantula". Bring on the popcorn!!!!!

Yes, this is an oldie, but a goodie. One of the best of the 50's. If you can travel back in time to the days of 25 cent movies and 10 cent popcorn, then you would enjoy such a treat as The Monster That Challenged The World. Pitted against today's horror specials, this one holds it own. It certainly was a shocking film during the 50's and is well remembered by those brave enough to view it alone. So, on a dark evening, lock your doors and windows, get out the popcorn and cuddle up for a trip back in time and enjoy one of the best from the 50's.

A well-done, enjoyable 1950s "giant menace" thriller. The documentary-like use of real locations and military procedures makes it almost believable. Slightly unusual for the period is the fact that the menace (giant slugs in snail shells) are unleashed NOT by radiation, but merely by an earthquake which rouses them from hibernation beneath the Salton Sea. The big slugs are portrayed by full-size mechanical mock-ups (well, probably only one) and are more-or-less convincing. A bit too much time is spent on the romantic sub-plot. Worth seeing.

I really wanted to give this movie four stars, but a few things got in the way, which I will go into later. The Monster That Challenged the World (1957), wow, that's a mouthful, is actually a smidge better than lots of other films of this type produced around the mid to late 50's.

The film stars Tim Holt as Lt. Cmdr. John 'Twill' Twillinger. I best remember Holt from the Humphrey Bogart classic Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) but he's been in a ton of other films including My Darling Clementine (1946) and Swiss Family Robinson (1940) to name a couple. The movie also stars Audrey Dalton as Gail MacKenzie and Hans Conried as Dr. Jess Rogers. If you don't recognize Conried's face, you may recognize his voice, as he did voices for various cartoon shows like Woody Woodpecker, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Tom & Jerry, Dudley Do-Right, and narration on the Dr. Suess classic, Horton Hears a Who! (1970).

The film opens on the Salton Sea, a lake that occupies a desert basin in southern California. A military base, located near the body of water, regularly performs parachute testing, with the jumpers landing in the sea. After a recent tremor, a routine pickup from the waters turns into a horrific nightmare, with three men dead, two drained of all their fluids, and one scared to death. An investigation turns up more questions than it answers. A diving expedition reveals a new cavern has opened at the bottom of the lakebed, and some curious egg-like sacs are present. The expedition also reveals a large, monstrous creature with large, sharp pinchers that proceeds to gobble on one of the divers. The men on the boat come into contact with the beast, poking it in the eye with a big stick. Dr. Rogers puts forth the theory, based on the evidence collected, that these are prehistoric mollusks that had been dormant for many years, and have been revived due to the tremor and traces of radioactive materials in the waters due to atomic testing (At least the creatures size wasn't solely attributed to atomic 'embiggening' as was common with films of this type at the time). Anyway, thus begins the chase to hunt down all the creatures, as there are more than one, and with the distinct possibility that these creatures may navigate their way into a series of channel locks and end up in open waters causes the military to hasten their efforts to track down the human fluid draining monsters. The fear is that due to the size and appetite of the creatures, and their capacity and efficiency for reproduction, they would deplete the oceans rather quickly and move onto land for human sustenance.

As I said before, I enjoyed the film, but there were a few flaws. One being when Dr. Rogers, keeping one of the eggs in a temperature controlled tank in a fairly unsecured and unguarded area tells everyone that the egg won't hatch as long as the easily accessible temperature dial isn't changed from its' setting. Well guess what? Someone fiddles with it, and the egg hatches. I mean, given how much Dr. Rogers went out of his way to tell us how important it was that this dial remain where it was, one couldn't help but wonder not if but when it was going to be changed, as such a clunky piece of exposition rarely is for naught in films like this. Also, I thought Tim Holt's portrayal of his character made him look like a real brown noser jerk. I'm sure it was written that way, and a softer side was shown at times, but it was still off putting and really didn't endear the character to me much. I will say the creatures looked really spectacular, especially the scene where the egg hatches in the laboratory and the monster terrorizes a couple of people. Imagine a giant, slobbery, snail-like monster, voracious for your fluids and you get the picture. The shells the creatures used for homes also looked very good and realistic. The creatures did have a good amount of screen time, allowing for the viewer to get a good look at them, which wasn't always the case in movies like this, especially cheaper ones, limiting the screen time due to costs.

The print used here was okay, but did show a number of signs of wear and tear, with speckling and a few scenes with vertical lines on the print. Also, the film has been modified to full screen format, which I try to avoid, if possible. Given the quality of the film and lack of any special features (I would have loved a featurette on the creatures), I would be hard pressed to give this the 3½ to 4 stars it deserves. All in all, a really good movie with a sub par release, and one that reinforces the necessity to obey the `no swimming' signs when posted as you never know if the reasoning is because of high E Coli counts or prehistoric mollusks intent on draining your precious bodily fluids through your neck. You've been warned.

Cookieman108

In the atomic age '50s, there were giant ants, prehistoric scorpions, one or two giant spiders, an over-sized preying mantis, and at least one giant octopus. Not to mention various radioactive dinosaurs and invaders from space. Now it's time to trot out giant mollusks. The usual elements are present in this B movie: hideous giant creatures, grimly determined heroes, innocent victims, mysterious deaths, suspense, and pseudo-scientific explanations. The pace of the story is herky-jerky. Sudden bursts of action are followed by dull analysis and investigation. Some of the action takes place under water. The special effects are okay, if nothing special. Giant snails are a little, er, sluggish, regardless. Sometime Western actor Tim Holt is a strictly business Navy officer until he meets Audrey Dalton working at Hans Conried's lab. We conclude that Uncle Tonoose was a scientific egghead before "The Danny Thomas Show." Dalton's little girl can't leave the lab equipment settings alone, and that leads to more terror. It seems there is a giant mollusk egg preserved in a tank of temperature controlled water. The DVD edition includes Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio. The movie is in glorious B&W. The full screen DVD image is sharp and clear, if a little dark toned in places. Optional Spanish and French subtitles are available. This flick is not a classic, but it's worth a look. ;-)

A somewhat past-his-prime Tim Holt stars as the tough-but-compassionate military guy (okay, I admit, I don't know a Captain from a Majorette) who comes up against malevolent mollusks in the Salton Sea.

Hans Conreid is always fun, even when he's playing a serious scientist with a major denial problem when it comes to the effect of radiation on snails. Could it possibly turn them into man-eating creatures that will take over the world? Naaaah...!

The Monster That Challenged the World is an intelligent film (remember that this is a relative term), rather low-key but with great monsters that do not actually shoot laser beams out of their eyes, despite what the cover art depicts.

I like this one a lot and the DVD is bargain priced.