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The Monster That Challenged the World | Year: 1957 Classification: Science Fiction Directed: - Arnold Laven Classic 1950's Creature Feature With Good Story And Effects 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 th Killer Critters 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. Instant Terror...Just Add Water 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 eg Buy The Monster That Challenged The World at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Monster That Challenged The World Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Monster That Challenged The World This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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