The Monster That Challenged the World (1957)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Strong and Moving!

So much average

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

After an earthquake strikes California, giant 'mollusk' creatures erupt, attacking beach-goers, forcing a doctor and lieutenant to deal with the situation. The elements of the plot-line are well connected. There is no fault in the narrative, excluding of course that it is somewhat dry, and can seem a little tedious at some parts. The story is centered around the antagonists (which would be the mollusks) and their costumes are finely executed which could still suffice to this current day. The great design perfectly fits the contextual background surrounding the creatures. The acting is adequate, and does nothing to harm of improve the story-line.Overall, the movie is an enjoyable with good performances and an exceptional costume. Easily recommended.

For some reason,scientists,military guys and police standing around a room making up lies about a monster is a science fiction staple.I will never understand or accept that. This movie does just that and sprinkles in all the other clichés and tops it off with terrible acting. And of course the title isn't even close to accurate.There's several monsters and they barely challenge one town. At one point the authorities decide the monsters will move from the ocean into the canal,based on absolutely nothing.The police complain,saying "There's 700 miles of canal bank in this county". Really?700 miles in one county? At least they provided some chuckles by constantly having the military and police end radio talk with things like "I'll call you later" and "OK,Bye". You'd have a tough time finding a worse movie.

This movie is quite cheesy and appears to be low-budget in most respects. In some shots the monster resembles a sock puppet, the exposition by the film's scientist is really lame, and much of the dialog is awful and predictable. However the monster revealed at the end as it attacks the woman and her daughter is actually pretty good, with antennae, eyes, jaws and legs that move realistically; the thing must have been operated by several technicians. I found that sequence similar in some ways to "Aliens" - the creature is somewhat similar in appearance to the alien "queen", and the woman even says something like "Close your eyes, baby" to her child when it appears they are going to be killed. The hero subdues the monster with a fire extinguisher rather than a flame thrower, but that's understandable given the low budget. I can't help but wonder if Cameron was inspired by this film.

This is one of the many movies that were made in the '50s featuring "giant" prehistoric creature. Out of the bunch, this is quality made, and is a good movie to watch even today.The acting is good in this movie, and it's not about men standing around and philosophizing over what to do as many of the movies of this type are. There's real story, and monsters appear when you want to see them. Suspense and intrigue is palpable, and just when you think the story is coming to an end, there's the second cliff hanger.This movie was popular back in the '60s as reruns on TV. It was a good watch back then, and it still holds its quality over the years. A very rare case for '50s B sci-fi movie.