The Monster That Challenged the World

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.

A classic of its genre, this well-paced and tightly-scripted movie actually gave me a few shocks, which is not common with 50s monster cinema when viewed nowadays. It has good production values and above-average acting. Recommended for any fan of the genre. 7/10

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.

An earthquake out in the Salton Sea awakens the creeping dread, gigantic vampire water snails are on the loose and they are hungry for human fluid!.

Just about the right side of good, The Monster Who Challenge The World holds up well because of it's well constructed creatures and a bit of care and attention to the boffin discussions. Far too many 50s creature features just used a basic premise of creatures obliterating mankind because they were in an odd mood, but much like The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, this picture at least takes time to give us a bit of a nature heartbeat to help us understand the methods of a mollusc, and that alone should be applauded, learn while we have fun so to speak. The cast ooze B-movie standards, and that is in no way a bad thing here, whilst the Catalina Island locale sequences are pretty nifty to help salt the beef as it were!

Good honest fun that isn't short on creepiness, and top marks to the makers for introducing a very ingenious creature to a truly wonderful genre. 6/10

"The Monster That Challenged the World", in spite of its long winded title, is not a bad movie of its kind. The film was one of a series of "giant creature" movies popular in the fifties.

The monster of the title is a giant mollusk/snail type creature (that actually looks more like a caterpillar) that is awakened by an earthquake. It then sets about attacking people and laying eggs. Commander Tim Holt of the U.S. Naval Intelligence Service then sets about to destroy it. Assisting him are scientists Hans Conried (playing it straight for a change) and Casey Adams (aka Max Showalter) and sheriff Gordon Jones. Audrey Dalton is Holt's love interest. Veteran character actor Ralph Moody (a true what's his name?) plays one of the monster's victims.

Director Arthur Laven gives us a believable monster(s) for the 50s and builds the suspense by not showing it until well into the film. Some of the victims look like papier mache but all in all it makes for a pretty good monsters film with high production values on a modest budget.

Holt, who had left films when his excellent "B" western series ended in 1952, came out of retirement for this film, apparently as a favor to director Laven. After this, he made only one more film before forsaking Hollywood for good.