This takes place in the Salton Sea in California. There are radioactive slugs in the sea and they begin to feast on the population. They are rubbery things that are created on a low budget. Radioactivity was a constant during this time, especially after the bomb in 1945. I've always had a problem with monster from the sea attacking those on land. There was that giant octopus that went after San Francisco. Its tentacles flopped down on land, but all people really should have done was to walk a few feet away. These things remind one of some sort of insect but they are more like rubber discs. This movie is not up to some of its 1950's peers.

Yep back in the 50's (or more specifically 1957 it seems) they made horror chillers using every kind of bug they could think of, not even the simple mollusk was able to avoid this fate. Yes a sea snail or sea slug I suppose, only these were of course giant prehistoric versions released by yet another pesky earthquake. To note, the films title is again ridiculous as the monster in question isn't actually a monster, its a mollusk as pointed out in the film, and it didn't challenge the world. The films alternative titles were also kinda dumb, 'The Kraken' which is surely an entirely different mythological beast and 'The Jagged Edge'? eh?So anyway, do I detect a slight pattern in plots here? no no no no no...well yes, apparently so. As I already mentioned the sea beasties are released from their watery tombs by another earthquake, the beginning of all monster movies back then. Various military types are killed which triggers a big investigation...by the military...again. Yep the good old US of A just loved their military back then, every monster that emerged from a crack caused by an earthquake, was dealt with by the military...after it attacks the military. Suffice to say this leads to the usual crack team of smartly dressed, slick haired chaps, a scientist type (this time a youngish one) and the obligatory attractive woman (this time with a young female child). Guess what follows?I gotta be honest with this one, I found it pretty dull. For the most part this movie is purely dialog with little else happening. The cast go from room to room discussing stuff, from location to location looking at stuff, explaining scenarios to each other, lots of driving around and of course the other obligatory scene where everyone watches an old educational news film reel about their enemy and how it lives. In this case, the life of a snail and how it feeds.On the other hand this is also one of the most atmospheric of the giant bug movies I've seen, along with 'The Black Scorpion'. This movie genuinely had some really solid creepy sequences, when they actually turned up, mainly underwater and the finale. The underwater sequences actually reminded me of Spielberg's 'Jaws' with very similar shots and ideas in general. The way we follow the divers around almost as if it was from the creatures perspective, the fact we actually see dead bodies with minor jump scares, and the way a female gets dragged under the waves. I can well see this movie really terrifying people back in the day for sure, especially when they uncover shrivelled up, skinless bodies exposing muscle and bulging eyes. Another really well directed scene is the finale where we the towering mollusk in a laboratory attacking the female lead. This sequence kinda reminded me of Cronenberg's 'The Fly' at the end, the creatures posture, the eyes, the claws the camera angles etc...All this leads me to the creature itself, a simple yet large mechanical puppet. Now although this thing just looked like a giant slug, it did look very intimidating with its height and huge pincers. The two big round glaring eyes are also very unnerving and eerie, they gave off no emotion, just a cold blank stare, a pure carnivorous predator with one function. The slimy skin texture really boosted the creatures realistic appearance, you can't really see clearly but the black and white film does admittedly help cover any obvious rubber and seams. Overall its a terrific creature and very lifelike, accept for the exaggerated face I suppose, it didn't move much of course but the large puppet interacted very well with the actors.Its just a shame that we don't really see too much of the giant mollusk, though what we do get is pretty epic and classic I reckon, definitely one of the top Hollywood creatures. You could say that they were hiding the beast as much as possible, building up the tension for the finale, but that theory doesn't really add up. On top of that the rest of the movie is pretty uninteresting frankly, things only become fun and engaging when the creature pops up. All the discussions between characters is a really limp affair and you couldn't really care a less.5.5/10

By the time 1957 rolled around, Hollywood was just plain running out of things that looked scary under a microscope that could be made into a monster if irradiated by Plot-onium. (you see what I did there?) Other people having used Ants, Spiders, Praying Mantises the only thing they really had left to go with were snails. Yup. Snails. But they avoid using the term snails because frankly, who can be afraid of something served at French Restaurants? SO they called them Mollusks instead.So the plot is that radiation has gotten into the Salton Sea, and made these snails into people eating giants. There is one particular scene where a snail kills a diver I remember from creature features back in the 1970's...But mostly, this follows the 1950's formula. Something is mysteriously killing people and the Military and Science have to team up to stop it, because this was back in the day when we still trusted the Military and Science implicitly.The problem is that this movie moves so slowly with the typical stock characters we've seen in other movies who have all the dimension of cardboard.

The Monster That Challenged the World is set in California i a small inland named Salton Sea where a naval base have been conducting radioactive experiments, a large Earth tremor has recently stuck the area & during a routine pick-up of a parachutist contact is lost with the pick-up boat. Lt. Commander John Twillinger (Tim Holt) leads the search party & finds the boat with a dead man aboard & another dead, shrivelled up man in the water who seems to have had all his bodily fluid sucked out. The investigation to the cause of the death's is underway as naval scientist Dr. Jess Rogers (Hans Conried) leads the enquiry. When a local girl & a soldier from the base mysterious disappear near a lake divers are sent in to have a look at the bottom & are horrified to discover a huge sea mollusk with a taste for human blood, even worse is that it has laid eggs & there's a very real prospect of these giant monsters breeding in their thousands across the world & wiping out humanity...Directed by Arnold Laven this 50's monster film is quite good for it's type & while it has dated it's still a pretty good time waster in a nostalgic sort of way, there are better giant monster films out there but there are far worse too. While it does take itself quite seriously at times the script isn't that bad, a few of the minor character's have slightly more depth than one might expect with a strange store clerk getting a fair bit of dialogue & screen time. As you would expect the science on show here in The Monster that Challenged the World is dubious at best & ludicrous at worst with a lecture on mollusk's complete with footage of Snail's that basically contradicts everything I know about them! Since when were Snail's meat eater's & since when did they live mainly in water? The script also throw's in the standard 50's theme about the danger's of radiation & atomic testing just like all good 50's giant monster films do although after raising the issue it completely drops it by the end. One thing that surprised me a bit was the length of The Monster that Challenged the World, most of these monster films from the 50's only last for about 70 odd minutes but this lasts almost 90 & while the pace isn't great just about enough happens to sustain one's interest. Unfolding in fairly predictable fashion The Monster that Challenged the World has enough going for it to be worth watching if your a fan of these types of films & I can't recall another monster film that features giant sea Snail's either so at least the makers tried something a little different.The Monster that Challenged the World could have been a minor classic had a bit more time & care been put into it's set-pieces which are alright but a little lacklustre. The initial dive to the underwater & the discovery of the monsters could have been milked for more suspense, the divers destroy the remaining creatures & egg's far too easily at the end & even the climax in the lab seems a little half hearted with the monster just sort of rooted to the spot & not trying to do anything other than make it as easy for Twillinger to kill it as possible. The giant sea Snail's look pretty good actually, it's a shame there's not a little bit more movement but at least it's not just some guy in a rubber suit & it's pincers & stubby arms move to try & give it some semblance of life even if it is a little stiff at times. A couple of dead bodies are seen including one all shrivelled up.With a supposed budget of about $254,000 the production values are decent if unremarkable, the special effects are good for the time it was made. The acting isn't anything special, I can't say that I recognised anyone from the cast.The Monster that Challenged the World is a fun 50's black and white giant monster film with a good & fairly original monster but it lacks a certain something, it's definitely worth watching especially if your a giant monster film fan & I enjoyed it for what it is but I can't say much more than that.