The Monster That Challenged the World :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

The Monsters that Terrorized the Canal System

2005-07-01
This is a suprisingly good sci-fi/horror entry in the 1950`s starring monsters(in this case a horde of giant vampire slugs) that are suprisingly creepy. This movie itself with horrific scenes of overgrown snails creeping up the canal system and sucking the blood of unexpecting people. Of course the Monsters are reawakened by an A-Bomb test and lay tons of eggs. In the chilling final one hatches and the huge mollusk inside battles the hero, heroine and her tiny daughter and three guards with riffels. The title gets its name because the monsters can lay thousands of eggs and if they all hatch could destroy Earth!

Everything except the flamethrower

2005-04-22
We get the classic 50's sci-fi introductory narration, a story of how the Salton Sea (southern California) was formed, and the possibility that giant creatures may have lived there at one time.

Then we switch to present day laboratory where they measure an earth quake. Mean while the navy is experimenting with Parachutes over the Salton Sea. The tester lands on the water and before the retrieval crew can get there he disappears. Looks like the retrieval crew is about to disappear.

From here all the standard situation to a creature/s unknown threaten to wipe out mankind. Don't let the thread distract from the parallel falling in love story between John (Tim Holt) and Gail (Audrey Dalton).

One of the redeeming features of this movie is the rebellious teenager that does not listen to her mother and gets sucked dry.

One disappointment is that with all the devices at their disposal they did not use a flamethrower.

The Monster/s looked like they took the old Japanese "Rodan" caterpillar and gave it a snail shell.

An added plus is noticing that they packed this film with many popular "B" actors come from old Charlie Chan movies. And the head scientist is Hans Conried the voice of Snidely Whiplash in "The Bullwinkle Show" (1961)

Escargot, anyone?

2004-11-11
Big mollusks from the 1950s. A bit too understated to offer any chills.

Mammoth Mutant Mollusk Monsters Maul Mankind!

2004-09-02
Gigantic prehistoric snails w/ huge piercing mouthparts are unleashed upon us, after an earthquake cracks open the tons of rock they're buried under! These monstrous mollusks begin killing humans right away turning boaters, swimmers, and beachcombers into tasty snacks. A nest of eggs is found and the war is on! We use depth-charges to eradicate the creatures. Alas, one egg has been saved by those pesky scientist-types, and kept in a tank in their lab that MUST be kept above 38°F. Of course, a little kid just happens to turn up the thermostat, causing the beast to grow into adulthood! Now the fun really begins! TMTCTW is an excellent sci-fi grabber w/ decent monster FX and plot. Well worth owning...

Classic 1950's Creature Feature With Good Story And Effects

2004-06-09
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".

SOLID 50'S SCI-FI WITH A MEMORABLE MONSTER! 2008-06-03
It's tough for me to be hard on these old Sci-Fi films. I loved them so much as a kid I just can't seem to pick apart these kooky monster movies. This film is better than the title suggest, but there are some plot points that are laughable! The "Monster Mollusks" are very cool looking and graced the interior pages of Famous Monsters magazine many times. It's a pretty solid flick with a very good cast.

The print looks pretty good, but it states it has been "modified to fit your TV screen". This is not true as this film was shot in this format. Back in the day most of these films were matted when shown at theaters giving it a widescreen appearance. So this is the correct aspect ratio. I'm glad to have this film in any form, but I wish there were some extra material. The creatures deserve a featurette and a complete restoration and remaster of the print would be nice. This film deserves better treatment. I see this has been re-released on DVD as a double feature with 'It The Terror From Beyond Space' which is another good film from the 50's. Buy the double feature and enjoy these old classics!

SCARED THE BE-JEEZUS OUT OF ME!!! 2007-06-12
I saw this as an impressionable young tyke & it's gastly images still hold root.
Played in a pretty straight-forward sombre tone this sci-fi thriller shocked me right off in the opening sequence when the Navy diver...well, no sense spoiling anything... And a wife's loss of her husband is certainly more touching than most of what this genre offers.
And it's these little touches that make this offering somewhat more realistic than let's say, THE GIANT CLAW.
Good acting, good direction and an interesting story keep this moving right along. Hero Tim Holt is not your ordinary military type; he's revealed to be more humanistic, awkward at times, uncomfortable in the romantic situations, unsure of his actions yet determined to put an end to THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD!
I fondly remember Holt with actor Richard Martin in an earlier series of B-Westerns in which they usually played Tim & Chito respectively. These were lots of fun and should be checked out by those who may be interested.
THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD is a very well-made example of 1950's Horror/Sci-fi.,competently made and executed on all levels.
And the MGM print is EXCELLENT!!
This is a must-have.

MERELY RIDICULOUS 2006-08-08
There are two glaring omissions in this movie that send it below the camp category to the merely ridiculous bin.

First, is that thoughout the movie, the U.S. Navy fights the monsters with no weapons. Even at a research lab you would think the Navy might have a spare .45 or M-1 lying around. Yet even when the sailors go out to find the monsters they carry no weapons. Here plot necessity drives reality. Since the mollusks are soft-bodied they are easy to kill. Therefore, the Navy has to be disarmed to sustain the tension. Even when it becomes clear that monsters are indeed challenging the world, no armed troops show up. Instead, the "hero" {Tim Holt} is reduced to throwing glass beakers at a mollusk threatening the love interest and her adorable daughter {Mimi Gibson}.

Moreover, the film makers did this on a shoe-string and a very frayed one at that. The Navy has no boats. Instead, the sailors float around on a couple of tacky looking wooden rejects, no doubt borrowed from the localfishing fleet.

You may enjoy the primitive amateurishness of this, but only if you keep your tongue very hard pressed against your cheek.

Blaine in Seattle.

much better than its title suggests 2006-02-16
This is not at all a bad movie. It is certainly not Mystery Science Theatre 3000 material. The special effects are decent for its era. The acting is generally commendable (the little girl who accidentally hatches the monster's egg in the laboratory being the sole exception). The story is sort of a combination of Them and Jaws (considering the impressive mandibles possessed by these giant irradiated mollusks, the film could have been titled Them Jaws!). Like Them, it deals with giant irradiated creatures (mollusks instead of ants). Like Jaws, a small seaside town is thrown into chaos when its beaches are closed after several mysterious undersea killings. Also like Jaws, we've got the sexually active girl who goes swimming at night and becomes one of the first victims of the underwater terror. And then there are the suddenly-appearing heads of underwater corpses, similar to the scene in Jaws where Hooper drops the shark tooth after being frightened by the bloated and decayed head of a dead fisherman. The production quality here is relatively high for a B movie. The dialog is intelligent if not terribly inspired.The story is livened by various oddball secondary characters -- a telephone receptionist who spends all her time talking to her mother, a rare-documents archivist who speaks 18 languages and spends all his time complaining about a ballot proposition whose defeat he laments. Don't expect a masterpiece, but this is a good solid piece of sci-fi filmmaking that still works as a suspense story. The monsters, though a bit cheesy, are nonetheless effective and frightening. You can find this film doubled up on the same disc with "It! The Terror From Beyond Space," the 1958 film that inspired the Alien franchise. Both are better than average examples of the 1950s creature feature genre. These are the kinds of movies that, during the 60s and 70s often played on the late show on TV, where they attracted more viewers than they ever got in the theater. This is not a movie that's so campy its funny. It provides a few unintended yuks (as well as many intended Yuck!s), but it will not disappoint fans of the genre.If you liked Them, War of the Worlds, It Came From Outer Space, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, you are sure to like this movie. I think it is even better than many much more highly regarded films, such as The Thing From Another Planet and Invaders From Mars.

A Monster or an Appetizer? You be the judge!, 2005-09-07
This movie gets high marks first, for the ability of the cast to keep a straight face and play this silly melodrama like it might really have happened. However, a funny thing starts to happen after the first boat/monster scene, it starts getting interesting. So well is this seriousness executed by the entire cast, that the cliche plot and low-tech special effects can be overlooked, making this movie a "reel" winner on that basis. Also, there are genuine tense moments both under and above the water and excellent pacing. Somehow when it is all said and done this B Creature Feature develops enough collective energy and tension to please most fans of "Atomic Era Creature Features." The 83 minute video buzzes by all too quickly somehow making me wish for more.

The star of the film is Lt. Cmdr. John Twillinger, played by Tim Holt who co-starred as "Curtain" opposite Bogart in, "The Treasure of Sierra Madre". Though he appeared in over 60 films, this was his last starring role. Also, Hans Conried as Dr. Jess Rogers co-stars and is best known as the voice of "Captain Hook", in Disney's "Peter Pan".

If you liked this movie try "The Giant Claw," and "Reptilicus." I liked all three, mostly for the same reasons.