The Monster That Challenged the World

Of course The Monster That Challenged the World is slowly paced. With a budget of about twenty dollars there's a lot of filler. But what little budget there is, is well used in creating a great animatronic monster.

The story is basic but well-structured and it works. I can watch this one over and over without wanting to throw things at the screen or yell at the characters for doing stupid things. My intelligence is more seriously insulted by modern horror films and their idiot protagonists than it ever is by The Monster That Challenged the World.

Among low-budget sci-fi flicks of the 1950s, The Monster That Challenged the World ranks near the top!

Jan Strnad (aka J. Knight)

A small naval base by the Salton Sea is under attack from some ancient mollusks freed by an earthquake through the floor of the sea. The film starts out in typical 50's sci-fi manner, and the first encounter between one of these caterpillar-looking creatures and a couple of sailors is rather good. The creatures leave some gooey stuff, apparently saliva, by each victim. The head of the base, a Twillinger, begins to try and find out what killed his men with the aid of scientist Hans Conried. Tim Holt, the fella that played Curtain in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, plays Twillinger(Twill), a brusque, by the book, no nonsense guy. It wasn't till near the end of the picture I realized it was Holt(having missed opening credits) as he was like a balloon compared to his early western films. Nonetheless Holt effectively takes charge of this "sticky" situation. Hans Conried excels as the scientist. The film is not a great sci-fi film, but it is an exciting one with a good pace, good acting, and decent special effects.

This tidy little "B" thriller features all the usual elements common to genre films of the fifties; a lantern jawed hero determined to get to the bottom of all the trouble, the stern scientist who provides the rationale for the beastliness and the comely love interest who provides the distaff side of the equation. That "The monster that challenged the world" succeeds in delivering an at times genuinely frightening experience is due, I think,to a great script and film makers who treat the material with respect. To do any less is a betrayal of the audience,in my view. The film is peopled with understated performances, especially those of Hans Conreid in a rare dramatic role and Tim Holt,a stalwart of "B" westerns, as the no nonsense Commander Twillinger. The monster of the title may not be as menacing as, say, Alien, but it provides enough creepy moments to satisfy all but the most jaded film goers. Nice photography and crisp editing add to the overall effect. "The monster that challenged the world" made almost fifty years ago, remains a fresh and satisfying example of the genre. Recommended.

Fairly standard atomic monster fare bolstered considerably by a cool looking monster and a pretty good cast. Also, the script is a bit funnier than usual, without in any way being a parody or farce. It includes more characterization and human interest (in a genuine sort of way) than most such films. In this case, the military must hunt giant mollusks that supposedly can walk on land or swim in water, but we only see it in the water and sticking its head out of the water. Amusing, but dry, fun. Holt holds up well in the lead role, although the years were not kind to his midsection.

I found this film about giant snails on the loose in the Salton sea area slightly better than most programmer monster films of the late 1950's. The giant snails are a believable menace in that they are presented as no more dangerous than any other large aquatic predator such a shark or crocodile. They put a fight but can be killed with several well aimed shots from a pistol or a heavy axe. The real danger as pointed in the film, is that snails are extremely fecund, and if they were to enter the ocean , they could reproduce in enormous numbers thus creating ecological havoc. Anyone who has ever had a fish tank knows once you introduce one tiny snail, in a matter of couple of weeks you have hundreds. One odd aspect everyone seems to comment on is that snails look like caterpillars in snail shells. There is a type of aquatic insect larva that uses a discarded snail shell as armour, much like a hermit crab does. Perhaps someone involved with the film had seen these insect larvae and mistook them for snails.