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The Monolith Monsters follows the efforts of the citizens of the desert town of San Angelo, California to stop the threat that comes from the fragments of a large meteorite. As the residents try to figure out what's going on, the fragments start growing and spreading nearby town petrifying those that come in contact with it.
Had this on my watchlist for a while, not sure where I picked it up, but I was always intrigued by the premise. As goofy as it might sound, I thought there was something to seeing the different elements of small town America, from the small newspaper and paperboys to local construction workers and law enforcement, unite forces against an atypical threat that – despite the movie title – is not necessarily a monster, but more of a threat of nature.
Sure, the actions of the people doesn't really make much sense, and the film takes a while to get things going as we see our main characters go from here to there trying to figure out what's happening for about half of the runtime. But despite those flaws, the film has that 50's sci-fi/disaster/creature film charm to it that comes from scientists spewing dubious scientific mumbo-jumbo, a square-jawed leading man saving the day, and some miniature houses being destroyed.
The film features an ensemble cast, with square-jawed geologist Dave Miller (Grant Williams) and his teacher girlfriend Cathy (Lola Albright) at the center of things. But there's also a professor, a journalist, a doctor, the chief of police; again, all the different layers of small town America properly represented. None of them excel, but they're all competent. Les Tremayne and Trevor Bardette as the journalist and the professor were particularly fun to watch.
The Monolith Monsters is far from perfect. Its premise walks a fine line between silly and unique, and the way the threat is sometimes handled doesn't make it feel like a real threat. But if you can tolerate a slow moving disaster/creature film about the threat of slow moving rocks with a group of characters racing around the clock to find out how to stop it, then there's no need to dig anymore.
Grade:
THE MONOLITH MONSTERS
(1957, Sherwood)
(1957, Sherwood)
"Dave, if it is a meteorite, chances are it's been hurtling around our universe for a good many centuries. The answer to your question lies buried in those centuries. We'll just have to dig it out."
The Monolith Monsters follows the efforts of the citizens of the desert town of San Angelo, California to stop the threat that comes from the fragments of a large meteorite. As the residents try to figure out what's going on, the fragments start growing and spreading nearby town petrifying those that come in contact with it.
Had this on my watchlist for a while, not sure where I picked it up, but I was always intrigued by the premise. As goofy as it might sound, I thought there was something to seeing the different elements of small town America, from the small newspaper and paperboys to local construction workers and law enforcement, unite forces against an atypical threat that – despite the movie title – is not necessarily a monster, but more of a threat of nature.
Sure, the actions of the people doesn't really make much sense, and the film takes a while to get things going as we see our main characters go from here to there trying to figure out what's happening for about half of the runtime. But despite those flaws, the film has that 50's sci-fi/disaster/creature film charm to it that comes from scientists spewing dubious scientific mumbo-jumbo, a square-jawed leading man saving the day, and some miniature houses being destroyed.
The film features an ensemble cast, with square-jawed geologist Dave Miller (Grant Williams) and his teacher girlfriend Cathy (Lola Albright) at the center of things. But there's also a professor, a journalist, a doctor, the chief of police; again, all the different layers of small town America properly represented. None of them excel, but they're all competent. Les Tremayne and Trevor Bardette as the journalist and the professor were particularly fun to watch.
The Monolith Monsters is far from perfect. Its premise walks a fine line between silly and unique, and the way the threat is sometimes handled doesn't make it feel like a real threat. But if you can tolerate a slow moving disaster/creature film about the threat of slow moving rocks with a group of characters racing around the clock to find out how to stop it, then there's no need to dig anymore.
Grade: