THE MONOLITH MONSTERS
The Stone Rises
released 15 february 1957 | PG | DVD
Director John Sherwood
Cast Grant Williams, Lola Albright,
Les Tremayne, Trevor Bardette
One thing about this ’ 50s SF movie makes it essential viewing for all fans of the period: the highly original nature of the menace.
There are no animals mutated to gigantic size by radiation here – and no alien invaders either. Instead, the heroes are pitted against the remnants of a meteorite strike near a desert town. When these strange black rocks get wet, they grow by absorbing silicon from the ground. One rainstorm later, crystalline towers are advancing on San Angelo, multiplying exponentially as they sprout, topple over, and smash into fragments.
The film’s desert setting recalls Them! and It Came From Outer Space ( whose meteorite footage it recycles), and in many respects it feels formulaic. But the fantastic premise is treated with high seriousness, and there’s something powerfully eerie about the Monoliths’ mindless, implacable advance – it helps that the effects are decent. There’s also something satisfying about the way science is used to save the day; compared to many of its contemporaries, The Monolith Monsters feels surprisingly plausible.
Extras Trailer. Ian Berriman
In John Carpenter’s They Live, some homeless characters are seen watching The Monolith Monsters on TV.