It always amazes me how so many can be so critical of a SCI FI film from the fifty's that really only meant to offer an hour or two of entertainment and escapism not to throw a world of facts at you and so what the dialog may be long and the effects corny IT'S THE FIFTYS!!! I love the DEADLY MANTIS ,growing up myself in the fifty's this film used to scare me now it's just fills me with fond memories of a simpler time. DON'T try to read too much into this film just enjoy it for what it is, a simple 50's SCI FI film with decent acting and a fun monster. It's no CASABLANCA but it never meant to be. Enjoy and escape back in time to a simpler period!!!ZD

Summer 1978 or 77, and I'm with a friend at his parent's old Victorian home in a quiet part of town. It's late, and soon midnight rolls around. And that means Creature Features with Bob Wilkins.A giant insect rampages across the US and finds its way into what my friend then described as the BART tunnel. Only the film takes place in 1957, so it couldn't be that, or if it was, then apparently no one had laid down any tracks. Go figure.Usual 1950's monster fare. The acting is okay and solid, but nothing to write home about. It's a B-movie that was given an A-quality gloss like a lot of other scifi and monster films out of the 1950s.I'm not sure I'd recommend it or not ... I fell asleep when the final scene came ... it was close to 2AM, so take that for what it's worth.

Giant movie monsters, usually (though not necessarily) spawn or awakened by atomic experiments, that subsequently went rampaging through unsuspecting cities could be divided into two categories in the Fifties, the decade in which they were most prevalent. The first and most famous category was reptilian in nature, and hearkened back to Willis O'Brien's Brontosaurus crushing London in 1925's The Lost World, eventually giving rise to the famous ultimate atomic nightmare Gojira (1954) (though certainly not stopping there). The second category consists of the various types of creepy crawlies that together can be sided under the general moniker of 'bugs'. As notable creatures in this regard the giant ants of Them! (1954), the gargantuan 'sixtopus' of Ray Harryhausen's It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) and the oversized spider in Tarantula (1955) deserve honorable mention. Less well known is the tremendously large praying mantis from The Deadly Mantis, which is not surprising since it offers little that has not been seen in other bug movies, save a different monstrous creature threatening mankind. Nevertheless, it's a fairly entertaining atomic age flick.Surprisingly, the origin of the titular beastie is not actually atomic. In this case, a volcanic eruption is responsible for freeing a 200-ft long prehistoric mantis – since everybody knows that in prehistoric times every animal was stupendously big after all – from its Arctic tomb. The effect is all the same though. The creature travels southwards, wreaking havoc and killing many people in its path. The United States military soon responds to the loss of its polar outposts and sends a team to investigate, which includes a paleontologist, a handsome army officer and a beautiful woman. Of course, the latter pair predictably gets more involved with each other than with the big bug running rampant, as is all too typical for movies from this era. But when the mantis finally attacks Washington D.C. decisive military action is called for and the team searches for a way to annihilate their hideous opponent. But naturally not before it has had a decent opportunity to terrorize a few national landmarks, also an ever delightful genre staple.Nathan Juran, who would continue making similar pictures like The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) and the original cult classic Attack of the 50 ft Woman (1958), serves as a capable director for crafting an enjoyable monster movie out of a by this time already worn-out premise, which betrays his qualities that would later cause him to become a valuable collaborator on several excellent Harryhausen movies, namely the rather similar 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) in which a reptilian/humanoid Venusian threatens Rome, First Men in the Moon (1964) and of course, the wonderful 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). The obvious mantis mock-up doesn't look as phony as it could have looked under the instructions of a lesser director (though a far cry from realistic), while the cast plays their parts convincingly enough for this type of B-movie. While The Deadly Mantis proves less than a stellar entry into the 'creature' subgenre of the 1950s, it remains somewhat of a cult favorite among fans of the science fiction pictures of the era. However, it's also exemplary of the tail end of the decade, that witnessed the notion of big beasties trampling both civilization and audiences' interest to death in rapid succession in ever cheaper and worse movies, despite the decent start offered by all too similar pictures in the first few years of the First Wave of science fiction films. Don't blame the mantis for that though.

Better than average 50's sci-fi, thanks mainly to producer Alland, who put together such drive-in gems as Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and This Island Earth (1953), to name a couple. This creature feature doesn't reach that level but is very well mounted and acted. The use of arctic scenes combined with well-constructed sets gives the setting more believability than usual. Plus, we get not just one leading man, but two. Both of which went on to successful TV careers—Hopper and Stevens.The plot is pretty standard. A thawed out giant mantis decides to wreck what it can of human civilization and dine on those responsible. Needless to say, the Air Force and its citizen allies take a dim view of such anti-social antics, but the flying insect is tough to incinerate, especially when our pilots look like they need more target practice. Anyway, you can guess the outcome, especially when the comely, but slightly stiff Alix Talton, serves as a prize.Unfortunately the monster element suffers from two drawbacks. First, it's ugly as heck but not especially fearsome. The script should have shown it doing something really bad to an unfortunate human, then we could really loathe not just its looks but also what it does. The script depends too much on ugly close-ups to really instill fear. Nonetheless, the special effects are really quite well done.All in all, it's a drive-in feature I would have actually paid to see instead of using a buddy's car trunk. And, oh yes, to those folks finding fault with the technical details--- who is it, anyway, that goes to movies to be educated. Hollywood has never let fact stand in the way of story, good or bad.