The Magnetic Monster (1953)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Instant Favorite.

As Good As It Gets

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

. . . THE MAGNETIC MONSTER are WATCHING OLD PAINT DRY and SEE THE GRASS GROW SOYLENT GREEN. Despite little backing from a U.S. film industry quaking in its boots over the prospect of potentially offending America's Northern Bully (Canada), THE MAGNETIC MONSTER does the best job it can--given its extremely limited resources--of revealing the True Story about an otherwise covered-up Real Life incident in which a rogue Canadian scientist suffering from tunnel vision nearly enabled Earth to be spun out of the friendly confines of our Solar System to become a wandering Dead Planet. At the time of this imminent Human Extinction Event, U.S. "A-Men" operating out of the Office of Scientific Investigation, were poised "on call" in nearly every American city. A-Man "Jimmy Stewart" finds a murderous molecule Hell-bent upon Earth's destruction at THE MAGNETIC MONSTER opens. After four slayings and many more close calls, Jimmy finally corners Hedwig's angry nanometer deep down a Nova Scotian mine. But as Jim's closing in for the final kill, crazed Canadian "Dr. Benton" begins shouting "Soylent green is people!" Oh, the horror, the horror!

Purportedly a 'hard' science fiction film, "The Magnetic Monster" (1953), presents little 'science' and even less 'fiction', as the film is mostly voice-over exposition and stock footage. The story starts intriguingly: pockets of inexplicable magnetism appearing that a special team of scientist-detectives (the OSI) are brought in to investigate. The story then slides downhill into endless pseudo-scientific chatter about magnetic monopoles and new elements. As it turns out (spoilers hereafter), the 'monster' is an element capable of direct conversion of energy to mass that will, if allowed to continuously 'feed', consume the planet. The answer, of course, is to overfeed it until it explodes, which necessitates a trip to Nova Scotia (of all places) where it can be exposed to some borrowed footage of a BDO from a pre-WW2 German science fiction film. Superimposed on the monster-hunt is a tedious and unnecessary 'relationship drama' concerning the lead investigator and his pregnant wife. What I disliked the most about this film was its inability to be true to its 'hard science' premise: the replicating element could have been treated as a completely lifeless yet existential threat (perhaps like the crystals in the "The Monolith Monsters" (1957)) but instead, in keeping with the misleading title, the script was full of silly anthropomorphising with references to the element being "hungry" or that it will "reach out its magnetic arm". This kind of dialogue just seemed ridiculous coming from the ostensibly hard-boiled scientists investigating the phenomena. Overall, neither clever enough to be interesting nor silly enough to be entertaining, IMO "The Magnetic Monster" is not worth the time spent watching by anyone other than hard-core fans of the genre.

This is very good 1950's science fiction. At the center is Curt Siodmak, a pretty good writer who involves us in a tale where the use of a particle accelerator causes magnetism to go crazy. It results in implosions that could eventually end all life on earth. It's up to Richard Carlson and King Donovan, staples in the movie genre of the time, to come up with a solution. This is post atom bomb time and we are treated to a lot of moralizing about life and its preciousness. This could have gotten out of hand but is reined in pretty well. I thought the science was reasonable and the acting quite good. Stereotyping was kept to a minimum and allowed the principles to do their thing. Very good scene in an appliance store at the beginning.

Ivan Tors made a few Interesting Low Budget "real" Sci-Fi Movies in the Early to Mid 1950's with the Emphasis on Scientific Explanation and Rational Crime Solving in lieu of Giant Monsters, Aliens, Flying Saucers and Mutants. The Goal was to bring "Down to Earth" some of the more Fantastic Ideas of Science Fiction and Present them with an Adult Tone that turned a Sense of Wonder into a Sense of Dread. Radiation, Computers, the Hydrogen Bomb, Space Travel. These were all Things that We were Creating or Endeavoring to Create. Some were saying that we were letting the Technology Grow Faster than Our Ability to Understand (let alone control) it. Therein lies the Scary part and it was right Here in Reality among Us just Waiting to Devour and Destroy.In this one it is the Exponential Growth of Energy wanting to Feed and be Fed Continuously as it Grows Beyond Sustainable Proportions. This is shown in Striking Lab Visuals through Screens and Electron Microscopes that have a Surreal Appeal. The Over-Sized "Weapon" We use to finally End it all is also Visually Impressive and Exciting. With a Low Budget and High Concepts these few "Realistic" Scientific Movies from the Era are a welcome Diversion from the Latex, Insects, and Space Invaders.