The Monolith Monsters
The Monolith Monsters
NR | 01 December 1957 (USA)
The Monolith Monsters Trailers

Rocks from a meteor which grow when in contact with water threaten a sleepy Southwestern desert community.

Reviews
Rainey Dawn

This has got to be one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen: Killer Alien Rocks. I hated it but kinda liked it to a degree. It was pretty good up until the ending which was predictable and extremely lame. The first two-thirds of the movie was the best part to me - having elements of suspense and a few surprises to but the last third of the film was a let down - to me.I don't understand the real attraction to this movie with this really lame ending. The movie isn't good but it's not completely awful - it's weird. I really don't know how to feel about this film overall, neutral I guess.If you like weird, off the wall 1950s sci-fi movies then you might like this movie - just remember it's a meteor that crashed and it's about killer growing giant alien rocks.4/10

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JMG62

Of course, I wasn't born yet for first run viewing, but I watched it one day my mother was busy and I was tension filled and afraid. When the monoliths were approaching what I call the "last redoubt", growing, crashing, ever moving towards them - I was like "HURRY!" they're "COMING"! Whatever "They" were. They seemed to have an alien motivation and in some manner needed to touch humans not only for moisture - but for "Human Moisture". Seems it was better for "them" in some way.I haven't seen it since and wish they would play it again. I think even now - so many years later - it would still put a good fear in me. "RUN"!

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cstotlar-1

This is really quite well done. The musical score is excellent as are the sound effects. The acting is quite decent throughout and the premise makes good sense. There are no monsters in the classical sense but there are monstrous things going on. The plot twists are ingenious and keep the audience guessing and the film itself doesn't outstay its welcome. I saw this as a kid and enjoyed it. As an adult there is still very much to like. I think it stands on its own merits quite well without being tethered to another film. The special effects are wonderful, by the way.Curtis Stotlar

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Paul Andrews

The Monolith Monsters starts as a meteorite crash lands near the desert town of San Angelo & shatters sending shards of black rock everywhere, the next morning & geologist Ben Gilbert (Phil Harvey) pick a piece of it up & takes it back to his laboratory to examine it. Later that night the wind knocks over a beaker of water which lands on the fragment of rock which then starts to grow. Ben's partner Dave Miller (Grant Williams) finds the laboratory wrecked with pieces of the rock everywhere & Ben dead, stiff as a board. Trying to work out what killed Ben leads Dave to discover that the rock is activated by water & grows to enormous heights until it cannot support itself & falls over & shatters in a thousand pieces each of which then also grow in a never ending cycle, then suddenly Dave realises that it's raining outside & all the other pieces of the meteorite start to grow & advance towards the town crushing everything in their way...Directed by John Sherwood this was yet another Universal monster film from the 50's that they churned out, to be fair to Universal they usually produced decent films & The Monolith Monsters is no exception thanks to a unique alien threat even if the basic story doesn't deviate too much from the stand small town comes under attack from some sort of alien or monster scenario. I must admit that I love the concept of the alien rock that simply grows like a skyscraper until it topples over & shatters in hundreds of shards each of which then goes through the same process as the alien rock just multiplies & engulfs anything that gets in it's way. It's a great idea, sure there's still some subplot about how it causes people to turn to stone by sucking the silicone out of them but otherwise The Monolith Monsters avoids the usual men in rubber monster suits & dopey science although some of the dialogue between Miller & the Professor is a bit dry & doesn't entirely convince. Once again The Monolith Monsters is a real product of it's time, it's amazing how polite & helpful everyone is here with a real post war community spirit where all the young kids in town decide to help out by delivering warning posters, the army, politicians, Doctor's & scientists all work together seamlessly without any arguments & even the local reporter decides not to cash-in on the story & keep it under wraps to avoid a panic. It feels a little naive when seen today but it's not a huge problem. At a brisk 77 minutes the plot takes no longer than it needs to & it moves along at a decent pace, the climax is a little rushed & everything works a little too well but the ending still works.With no aliens or monsters the special effects people had to somehow create huge rock formations that grow, fall over & shatter & start all over again & they do a fine job with some good model work & effects. The iconic scene of the huge monolith crashing to the ground & destroying the farm is still quite an impressive special effect. Less effective is the dam being blown up & the subsequent stock footage of gushing water. Apparently originally released by Universal as a double feature with Love Slaves of the Amazons (1957), the footage of the meteorite crashing during the opening sequence was taken from It Came from Outer Space (1953) which Universal made four years earlier.Probably shot on a low budget the makers did the best they could with decent production values & surprisingly good model effects work. Mainly shot on the back-lot at Universal studios like most of these sorts of films were. The acting is alright, it always seems a little wooden to me in these quick & cheap 50's sci-fi films but no-one really embarrasses themselves.The Monolith Monsters is an enjoyable slice of 50's sci-fi horror with a great central concept & some impressive effects work, for the time anyway. You could do a lot worse than spend an hour & a quarter watching this.

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