(1957)
Directed by Nathan Juran
Starring Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, Donald Randolph, Pat Conway,
Florenz Ames, Paul Smith, Phil Harvey

“One of the worst SF films made by Universal.”

The above quote is from writer/film critic/historian Bill Warren. Granted, he makes a lot of valid points in criticism, but as much as I respect him and his work, I have to completely disagree with him on this one. Out of all the ’50s giant monster flicks, The Deadly Mantis remains one of my favorites. Maybe it comes down to the simple fact that I think this is one of the best looking creatures in these films. Or that I fondly remember this one as a kid and it has always stuck in my head. And I will say, that while Warren, and a lot of others, refer to this as a science fiction picture, let us get one thing perfectly clear. When you have a giant monster attacking cities and killing people, that right there, my friends, is horror, plain and simple.

The film starts out, like a lot of it’s kind of the time, with some science talk. Whether the facts hold water is always questionable since most of these writers were pulling terms and theories out of their asses, knowing that nobody watching something about a giant praying mantis was going to call their bluff in the details. We learn from screenwriter Martin Berkeley that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In the opening, because of a volcano explosion in the south pacific, it causes a glacier to collapse up in the arctic, releasing a giant praying mantis that had been frozen there for centuries. Warren seems to think this idea is “so ignorant it is almost fascinating.” Again, the point of these films wasn’t to break any scientific grounds, but to give some sort of explanation as to why the upcoming events could happen. Honestly, it is no worse than the anti-matter jargon in The Giant Claw that came out the same year. Let us also remember the kind of film that we’re watching, and take it for the time and era it was made. For me, it is very nostalgic, reminding me of my childhood, and still entertains me today. Maybe it comes down to the title terror just looks simply bad-ass and is so much fun.

The mantis was only about 20 inches long, built like a marionette and most likely controlled by special effects artists Cleo E. Baker and Fred Knoth. While it does tend to move a little slow, I think the shots of it attacking, either the military base or even the city bus, are effective and a lot of fun. Sure, a mantis might not make those roaring sounds we hear in the picture, but then again, if a mantis was that big… one never knows, do they?

Produced by William Alland, known for Creature from the Black Lagoon series, among other things, was always trying to make productions cheaper. One of those ways was to cut down on the amount of new footage, meaning using more and more stock footage. While there is a lot in here, I feel that it still works for the story they are telling, even if at times it seems more like a propaganda film for radar stations and early warning practices at the time. Once again, we are talking about a film made during the atomic age when there was still a lot of unknowns out there in the world, and where the next big threat might be coming from.

Now we viewers know right away from the title and what we see in the opening, but after the first couple of attacks, our heroes have to figure out what is doing all of these damage before they can figure out how to stop it. Let’s face it, nobody is just going to be dumb enough to raise their hand and suggest it is a giant insect. So we have to go through the scientific approach that always seems to rely on one or two people to come up with the answer. And that would be Dr. Ned Jackson (William Hopper) a paleontologist brought in to try and identify what they are dealing with, all from a piece of bone or cartilage found at one of the crash sites. Hopper had been working in the film industry since the mid-’30s, even having a bit part in 1939’s The Return of Dr. X with Humphrey Bogart. He also appeared in 20 Million Miles to Earth the same year as Mantis. Helping the scientist is Col. Joe Parkman (Craig Stevens), our military hero that does the physical battle once they know what they are up against. Besides being in Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953), he really didn’t appear in any other genre pictures. Kind of the same for the female lead, Alix Talton, who did appear in Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), but that was about it. Shame too, since they were both really good here.

Director Nathan Juran started his film career as an art director, even winning an Oscar for his work on How Green Was My Valley (1941). He eventually made his way to directing, with his first title being The Black Castle (1952), starring Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr. Granted, it was more of a gothic drama than horror, but five years later, when he tackled The Deadly Mantis, his career path changed. That same year, he also gave us 20 Million Miles to Earth and The Brain from the Planet Arous. Then the following year gave us 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Attack of the 50ft Woman! He would eventually move into directing a lot of sci-fi television series, like Land of the Giants, Lost in Space to Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. His last feature film was The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973).

Maybe Warren had a problem with screenwriter Berkeley, since he had more of a reputation for turning in the most names to the House Un-American Activities Committee than any other person, which got most of those people blacklisted in the industry.

No matter what, all the things that some complain about this film, the cheesy monster, all the stock footage, the plot taking its time to figure out what they are dealing with, all of that, for me, adds up to a lot of entertainment, and one that takes me back to my childhood. It is just pure ’50s giant monster fun.