The Monolith Monsters

This was better than it should have been. It should have been a stupid, horrible Class B movie - killer rocks threatening a town? - but it was quite interesting. It wasn't frightening but it succeeded in keeping my interest, which was no mean feat considering the outrageous storyline.

I guess "pretty good" would be the best description of everything here: the acting, the characters, the special-effects and the story. One thing for sure: this certainly has a different premise. In a nutshell, rocks from a big meteorite that had crashed who-knows-when, suddenly begin growing when water hits them. As long as moisture touches them, they grow, multiple and crush everybody and everything around them. First a scientist loses his life, then a family loses the mother and day, the house, and almost their little girl. The girl is saved as they experiment and find out how to cure her. More experiments occur by the hour as the citizens in this small California desert town try to figure out what and why this is happening. An emergency erupts when a storm arrives and all the rain begins to cause those rocks (monoliths) to rise to huge proportions, fall, break up and then rise again and destroy everything in its path. It's course, of course, is the town and the race is on to stop them before the town is destroyed.

For a 'B' film, it's well-acted with Grant Williams, star of "The Incredible Shrinking Man," in the lead and Lola Albright of Peter Gunn TV fame as his girlfriend. It's always good to see the gorgeous Albright in her younger days: a classic beauty. The supporting actors in here were fine, too. Nobody sounded wooden. The monoliths - the special-effects - were well-done, too, for its day. They were interesting (not scary) and the sound-effects that went with them were effective.

In all, not something you'd watch over and over, but certainly worth one look and it is a worthy additon to the recently-released Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection pack. The DVD transfer is very good, too.

In many ways, this movie follows the classic pattern of so many sci-fi features from the 1950s -- a small, isolated desert town finds itself threatened by a strange series of occurences which seem to defy logical explanation. However, the threat here is not the usual giant insect or alien invader but rather a meteorite which has splintered into a number of small, shiny black rocks. What happens with these rocks is "absorbing" but audiences then (and now) seemed to want villains with emotions and personalities. Rocks with curious properties, (or inanimate machines such as in "Kronos"), don't provide the necessary thrill. Calling this movie "The Monoliths" would have been more apt since it can't deliver the shocks you'd expect from a movie with "Monsters" in the title. Besides, while the town of San Angelo is threatened, the movie never really convinces you that the world itself is also in danger.

Still, this is a brisk and efficient piece of entertainment that has been put together with a degree of care which belies its modest budget.

The story on which "Monolith" is based was co-written by Jack Arnold who also directed its lead actor, Grant Williams, in that sci-fi classic, "The Incredible Shrinking Man."

I always try to catch this movie when I can. When you run out of lizards and spiders and ants and octopus tentacles, is there another horror that you can unleash on the world. Yes, it's black rock crystals from outer space. At least I think they are black since the movie is in black and white. They grow fast, rise to an enormous height, and then fall over, crushing everything in their path. This sounds so stupid, yet the movie isn't all that bad. There is the obligatory scientist, the police officer, the young woman, and the small town in the path. What can they do? Can they outwit these rocks? As is usually the case, there is something that these things are vulnerable to. Now, can we deliver the goods and stop them. I have so much affection for these B science fiction movies that I just can't help myself. One thing about this one is that it has never been copied. Maybe it's time for Peter Jackson to do the new Monolith Monsters.

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.

The Monolith Monsters makes a pleasant change from all those giant animal and alien invasion movies. This time, we have giant crystals threatening the world, which multiply when in contact with water and make people turn to stone. Jack Arnold, who made the very enjoyable Tarantula (1955), was responsible for this eerie movie.

This movie stars Grant Williams (The Incredible Shrinking Man), Lola Albright as his love interest and Les Tremayne (The War Of the Worlds). Williams plays a good part and is normal size in this!

The special effects are very good and the desert settings make the movie rather eerie.

This movie is a must see for all 1950's sci-fi fans. Great stuff and interesting.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.