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Creepy Classics Spotlight Movie - THE MONOLITH MONSTERS Every week, readers here are selecting a movie to view...then we all try to watch it together utilizing our DVD/video library. This past Saturday night, many of us watched THE MONOLITH MONSTERS (1957). This was suggested by by Kirk Smith, Twin Falls, Idaho. Details about movie nights to come are HERE. Please include your name and location after your comments, so we can see how we're all joining together from diffeent locals around the globe!
I was at the CHILLER THEATRE Expo in Parsipany, New Jersey over the weekend and viewed this one with Creepy Classics' friends Mike Adams, Bob Pellegrino (phone's for you), Dan Weber, and Leonard Hayhurst. This movie is an odd one....remembered because of how different the "monsters" are in this. Often referred to as the "big rocks" movie. A meteor falls to earth (footage cribbed from IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE) and its fragments have the bizarre property of growing to behemoth proportions when in contact with water. Of course, the rain comes. A bit talky at times, but cleanly shot by the ace Universal production team. What are your notes, or thoughts on it? Keep 'em brief and remember we're not in a classroom...just a bunch of friends hanging out watching movies! -Ron Adams, Ligonier, PA.
Hey Synchers!
What a great way to spend 77 minutes!!! Grant Williams and the always sexy Lola Albright try and find a way to stop towers of giant rocks from smashing a small desert town and eventually taking over the world.
Hi all,
Ron, The premise of the film, on the surface, sounds kind of goofy. Several factors, however, keep it from slipping into goofiness. One factor is the actors involved. I really like the principal actors involved. They are Grant Williams, Lola Albright, and Les Tremayne. After his fine work in the film The Incredible Shrinking Man, he turns around and gives another fine performance in The Monolith Monsters. He comes across believable in the film and, more importantly, likeable. His relationship with Lola Albright in the film also comes across as believable. Within the confines of the film, the viewer actually believes that they are actually in love. Another reason for my enjoyment of this film is Les Tremayne. He has starred in many sci-fi films including War Of The Worlds and The Monster Of Piedras Blancas. I best remembered him in a short-lived series he did in the seventies called Shazam. He played a character called Mentor. In The Monolith Monsters he played a newspaper owner who looked and sounded like a lifelong resident of the desert community.
Another interesting aspect of this film involve my two favorite sequences. None of them involve the monoliths themselves. One is where Grant Williams and a professor, played by Trevor Bardette, try to figure out how the rocks grow. I like how they volley back and forth different hypotheses until they figure it out. The same can also be said for the sequence involving Grant williams and Trevor Bardette trying to figure out how to stop the growth. I've seen this film several times, but I'm still sucked in to the suspense in those two sequences. Earlier, I stated that this film was the last gasp of the Universal sci-fi set of films. Essentially, it is. The Monolith Monsters was the last time Universal kept it's heart beating in a sci-fi film.
This week's movie was extra special because I too watched it with the Creepy Classics gang at Chiller. The only problem was that whenever the Monolith Monsters would come crashing down Bob Pellegrino would jump up yelling " my pool my pool!!!!" I can only imagine that he was having flashbacks to last winter when his neighbor's tree was blown down, crushing his pool. We had to constantly restrain him, and reassure him that his pool was fine. Other than that, I have to say that this story always struck me as being fairly original in it's premise. Universal did a pretty good job making a film about growing rocks watchable. Also it's always a pleasure to see Les Tremayne. I especially like when he rallies the paperboys to save the day! Looking forward to Target Earth this Saturday. I haven't seen that one in a while. Have a great week fellow viewers and meet me in front of the tv on Saturday night.
Ron & Creepy Classics Fans;
It’s always nice to see familiar faces like Grant Williams, Les Tremayne and Bill Schallert. Williams had a very likable screen persona. It’s a pity that his screen career didn’t go further. One the debit side of the equation, there’s a hint of formula that is starting to creep into the script. The narration in the film’s opening moments echoes the science lecture at the beginning of WAR OF THE WORLDS. The use of a little girl in peril reminds me of a similar ploy in THEM. And the “blow up the dam to save the town” finale calls to mind the ending of TARANTULA Today, the scenes of Ginny in the iron lung seem almost Disney-like in their appeal for audience sympathy. However, I imagine that they had a whole different meaning for audiences of the 1950s, when the threat of polio was still a recent memory in the minds of the general public. Other assorted thoughts: The meteor explosion in the opening reel looks like it might have been stock footage from IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE. If filmed a few years earlier, this film would have been a good candidate for 3D. Seeing the silica towers crashing down into the face of the audience could have been a real “wow!” moment in that format. I’m not sure if THE MONOLITH MONSTERS is the most appropriate title for this film. A title like this probably consigned it to the Saturday afternoon matinees right out of the gate. A movie as well crafted as this deserves a better title, although I can’t think of one off the top of my head. I’m glad that the silica meteor landed in the desert and not in my backyard. If it had, my county would have been long gone a few weeks back. All in all, I find THE MONOLITH MONSTERS to be a minor but effective film. For me, this one holds up better than many of the better known sci-fi films of that era. Favorite quote – “The desert’s full of things that don’t belong.” -Steven Thornton, LaSalle, Michigan Ron,
"I would give the following letter a round of applause, but my hand has turned to stone thanks to THE MONOLITH MONSTERS."
The Monolith Monsters, what a great choice for a Saturday night
It is a shame that Grant Williams did not have a bigger career- for he was a solid, dependable and very likable actor. He also was in the films "The Leech Woman" (1960) and of course his greatest role was as Robert Scott Carey- A.K.A. "The Incredible Shrinking Man". Lastly, pretty actress Lola Albright is always nice to see and she provides a nice love interest for our resident hero to confide in!! This is her only sci-fi/horror film of note but she has done lots of great TV work!!! My only question at the end of the film is: What happens when the water dries out along with the salt evaporating from the dam explosion covering the crystals! The salt water only temporarily halts the menace-doesn`t it, folks? Wouldn`t they start to grow again- Once the rains came back!!?? So From the thankful town of San Angelo, C.A. I bid all of you a good and peaceful afternoon until next week when we all watch and review the big city sci-fi drama that is "Target Earth" -- -Dan Brenneis-Strongsville,Ohio- Monster Bash Staff Member and LifeTime FilmFan Extroadinairre.
THE MONOLITH MONSTERS is available on the CLASSIC SCI-FI ULTIMATE COLLECTION DVD set from Universal. Get it at Creepy Classics in our Complete DVD Catalog under the "C" (for CLASSIC) section today.
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Creepy
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Creepy, Ben is a statue. Shades of Medusa! 
The portentious opening narration by Paul Frees really set the stage, and the movie didn't really slow down from that point on. Grant Williams and Lola Albright were solid as the romatic leads, but Les Tremayne stole the show as the somewhat whiney newspaper editor looking for a "scoop". The REAL stars of the picture were the monoloths themselves, who were announced by the second-greatest stinger since the Creature from the Black Lagoon. No surprise that Jack Arnold co-wrote this one! 
As with Tarantula, the secondary story of The Monolith Monsters is just as interesting as the main one. However, that's where the similarities between the two movies end. In fact, The Monolith Monsters stands alone as an anomaly among the sci-fi films made at that time. First, there are no living antagonists alien or otherwise in the film. The monoliths themselves are inanimate objects. Secondly, the love interest is kept to a minimum. When it did appear, it felt genuine and not cloying or sugary. Lastly, and more importantly, the viewer cares about the characters. No matter how strange the premise of a film is, if you establish a bond with the characters, then you establish a bond with the film. 
The core concept is less sensational, but more plausible, than other sci-fi thrillers of the era. Although the idea of giant silica crystals growing out of control is a wonky concept from a scientific point of view, it feels a lot more credible that the threat of giant spiders, scorpions or grasshoppers seen in other films.
The film has great a pace. It moves quickly and the tension builds steadily. All the technical attributes (cinematography, music, special effects) get the job done without screaming for attention. The shock scenes are simple but effective. The moments when we see Ben, the geologist, frozen as stiff as a statue in his office or Ginny walking zombie-like amidst the ruins of her house really stick with you. In fact, “simple but effective” might be the best way to describe this film.
Hello Ron and All Other Fellow Loyal Creepy Classics WebSynchers Out There!! This is Dan Brenneis writing to you from the just-saved town of San Angelo, California!! Wow!- We just survived an onslaught of giant mountains of continously growing silicate rock crystals brought to earth on a huge meteorite! With all of the terrible deaths and widespread destruction happening here-and our loyal heroes and townspeople trying to save countless lives along with trying to find a solution to the ever growing menace (our town being crushed by the hugh monoliths cascading through the valley)- Wouldn`t you know it?!- The solution to our problem(s) turns out to be SIMPLE SODIUM CHLORIDE or SALT!!! As in "The War Of The Worlds" (1953) the "littlelest" or "simplest" things that the Good Lord has put on the Earth helps mankind defeat his enemy and survive another potential day of ultimate destruction!! THE END. 
Seriously Folks- This is one of the most UNDER-RATED science-fiction films of the 1950`s and possibly the most ORIGINAL in terms of "CONCEPT" If filmmakers want to do remakes today (Which they do in spades!!) This is ONE film that I personally think could and SHOULD be remade- If done right with the right budget and people behind it- SAY STEVEN SPIELBERG??- Think how it could turn out! (Of course with today`s SPFX helping out the production!) That being said- The special effects in this little gem still stand the test of time! Great matte shots, miniatures and simple makeup work (by Bud Westmore) are used here exceedingly well! In my opinion the scariest scene in the whole movie is when Dave Miller (played wonderfully by Grant Williams) discovers his scientist friend Ben Gilbert (Phil Harvey) standing still in the hallway DEAD and PETRIFIED to stone!!--And the back of the laboratory is totally wrecked- with hundreds of pounds of the black silicate rocks laying around everywhere.Thus begins the mystery and suspense for our town`s (and film`s) protagonists! It is also always nice to see the solid character actors Les Tremayne {"The War Of The Worlds"} and the GREAT William Schallert do their work here as well. 
William Schallert plays an overzealous and extremely technically-speaking weatherman, who gets the "gruff" of our lead hero (Williams) because he can`t understand the weatherman`s scientific jargon and wants his info in "plain" terms!! (I.E. When will the rain stop and then start again!--The Answer(s): In the morning and then in 2 days) Look for William in these other sci-fi/horror films as well: "Mighty Joe Young" (1949) "The Man From Planet X" (1951) "Invasion U.S.A." (1952) "Port Sinister" (1953) "Tobor The Great" (1954) "Gog" (1954) "Them!" (1954) "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957) "Hanger 18" (1980) "Twilight Zone:The Movie" (1983)-where he co-starred in an episode with Kevin McCarthy!! "Gremlins" (1984) and "Innerspace" (1987) William is one of the greatest character actors of our time, NO QUESTION!!- and would be a great guest for the MONSTER BASH!!! 
