monolith monsters review
In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin described the feature as a "promising idea" but noted that it was not supported by either the acting or the script. And to confer its classic status, it has a story from Jack Arnold, the finest director working in 1950s science-fiction with the likes of One of the few to make an impact was the more cost effective SuperScope. That the young and good-looking male and female leads are in love is no surprise (let's face it, if they weren't at the start then they would be by the end), but they're given precious little time to express it on screen. There may not be much in the way of extras, and some will have issues with the 2.0:1 aspect ratio, but in other respects Anolis Entertainment have done The Monolith Monsters proud. Although The Monolith Monsters, as far as I know, has never been released on DVD in the UK, it did get an American DVD release back in 2008 from Universal as part of the 6-disc The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection. The Monolith Monsters belongs firmly in the second category. Directed by John Sherwood and written by Norman Jolley and Robert M. Fresco, The Monolith Monsters features strong special effects from Clifford Stine, who previously blew minds (in a visual sense) with his extraordinary work in The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Mole People, and, as cinematographer, It Came From Outer Space. With no blast and no signs of an explosion, The Monolith Monsters, with a memorable introduction narrated by THE Paul Frees (Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show) has an interesting premise that it never truly capitalizes on. Of course, they are wrong. And it will be Dave Miller (Grant Williams) and his discovery of a rock-hard corpse who tells them that there is definitely something strange about this particular meteorite that broke wide and far over Southern California. When a storm exposes these fragments to water, they grow into skyscraper-sized monoliths which then topple and shatter into thousands of pieces that grow into monoliths themselves and repeat the process. I've had all sorts of copies, VHS, Laserdisc, DVD and the new Blu-ray is the best looking one so far. There were, effectively, two styles of science fiction film narratives at that time. When fragments of the rock are discovered in Ben's office, Cathy recognises them as being similar to the one that Ginny picked up on the field trip. A speaker that I’m really interested in from a manufacturer I’m oh so curious about. They crush all that stand in their path! Monsters- Dark Continent Official Trailer #2 (2014) - Sci-Fi Monster Movie HD. The dialogue is always clear and the bass response is solid enough when the monoliths crash to earth to really kick off the subwoofer if you choose to engage it. It’s a story of an average American town overcome by outlandish circumstances and how those average people … And, thanks to the work of Scream Factory, the film looks better than it ever has before. Find out why in The Monolith Monsters, now available on blu-ray thanks to Scream Factory. Essential fifties scifi. It seems almost absurd that this often undervalued gem of 50s American science fiction cinema should be brought so vividly to life on a German Blu-ray, but then again why not? Factory presents The Monolith Monsters on blu-ray with fine results. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. In “The Monolith Monsters” the monster is something that, normally on earth, would be innocuous. The sound is restored in a strong English 1.0 DTS-HD MA track. I've been a fan of The Monolith Monsters since the 60s when I first saw it on TV. 2:09 . The Monolith Monsters does not mean "monsters living close to monoliths," it means "monsters that are actual monoliths." We thus know before anyone in the film figures it out that these rocks are from outer space, that they're deadly to humans, and that like Joe Dante's Gremlins, you must never get them wet. The Monolith Monsters marks itself out as the opposite of a paranoid thriller like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, so, while contemporary, this is not about a community being torn apart from within but from an outside source, with the result that the townsfolk do an admirable job of banding together to face the crisis when it becomes clear those rocks are growing to skyscraper size. A strange black meteor crashes near the town of San Angelo and litters the countryside with fragments. // ]]>, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German SDH. Monolith Monsters movie Description. The movie remains entertaining even after 50 years and a couple of dozen views. A meteor crashes in the desert outside of the small town of San Angelo in California, shattering into a multitude of small black crystalline fragments. The aspect ratio there was 1.33:1, yet here the image has been cropped down to 2.0:1. And boy does the narrative move, barrelling through a series of incidents, encounters and revelations with nary a pause for breath, the savvy economy of John Sherwood's direction keeping everything clear without ever letting us feel we've fallen face-down into an exposition soup. Seriously, this is a mother of a piece of set design, the work of art directors Alexander Golitzen and Robert E. Smith, and one that by rights belongs in a gallery on prominent display. In all other respects the film looks better here than I ever imagined that it would. Such films always had a universal appeal (no studio pun intended), something I was made even more aware of when a friend who is a few years my senior revealed to me that it was one of her favourite films as a child in her native Japan. Preview of a classic scifi about rocks that grow and multiply. To complicate matters further, there appears to be a little more picture information at the sides on the Blu-ray transfer. We don't see exactly what happens to Ben, but we, and we only, know just what led to it. The really cool thing is that when I got to revisit these same films as an adult, many of them were every bit as great as I remember. like get really big and grow nasty-looking tails. During the 1950s, the CinemaScope format was proving a hit with audiences and, inevitably perhaps, a number of rival processes appeared its wake. When I was a child, the scariest place on earth was the desert region of the American Southwest. Although Arnold directed from other people's scripts, he did co-write the story for Tarantula, plus one other film that he didn't direct and that precious few people I've met seem to have seen, the 1957 The Monolith Monsters. Sie finden Rezensionen und Details zu einer vielseitigen Blu-ray- und DVD-Auswahl – neu und gebraucht. What if you could make a Monster film without a monster? "The Monolith Monsters" is a horror film from Universal with the original story of rock monsters from outer space. {googleads}. The Monolith Monsters on Blu-ray? Imagine 2001: A Space Odyssey if the monolith killed the monkeys instead of making them smart. They joke that there is nothing new under the sun. And while it might be stretching it to suggest that Simpsons creator Matt Groening may be a fan just because a family named Simpson figure in the story, it's hard not to break into a knowing smile when the professor who comes to Dave's aid turns out to be called Flanders. For fans of 50s science fiction cinema, enthusiastically recommended. Ordinary aggregates? I have never heard of 'Monolith Monsters' but was familiar with other classics like 'The Forbidden Planet', the original bw version of 'The Thing', 'When Worlds Collide', 'This Island Earth', and such like. Created from an HD master provided by Universal Studios, the image is lovely in every respect, boasting a fine tonal range, nicely judged contrast with inky blacks, and a level of detail that leaves Universal's earlier DVD in the dust. There are lots of sumptuous looks at the desert. and widespread. It should have been a stupid, horrible Class B movie - killer rocks threatening a town? But I digress. And once I started learning the names of directors, it didn't take long to realise that the genre had its own master in the shape of the aforementioned Jack Arnold. Too a degree this movie like many of this time were the beginnings of a new era of Sci Fi.......much like "Forbidden Planet" in 1956. The story is the standard 50s alien invasion tale with an intriguing twist. and Jack Arnold's 1953 It Came From Outer Space. Growing skyward until toppled by the force of gravity, they crash down through farm holdings and shatter into thousands of smaller crystals that then also begin to grow, a cycle that looks set to repeat and expand until they reach the valley floor and lay waste to the town and everything beyond. Criminally undervalued by many people when discussing science fiction and horror cinema produced by Universal Studios throughout the 1950s, The Monolith Monsters (1957) would have to rate as one of the true eclectic genre gems from that wondrous decade. Which of course makes it hard to look for it. Presented in two aspect ratios (1.85:1 and 2.00:1), Shout! Monolith is a tabletop game publisher striving to create fun, epic and beautiful games crafted for ambitious & discerning players. On the local doc's advice, Dave and Cathy drive her to the California Medical Research Institute in Los Angeles, where the professorial Dr. Hendricks discovers that whatever killed Ben is slowly transforming young Ginny into stone. 857 talking about this. Review by onemarathon ★★★ 2. In his enthusiasm he became responsible for a handful of favourites. Being scared by such films remains one of the fondest memories I have of my childhood. But it's when the rocks grow into huge monolithic crystals that the film really delivers on the promise of its title. No part(s) of this site may be duplicated or used without permission. A warm greeting, a kiss and a reassuring word and they're back into action, their encounters never slowing the flow of the narrative for more than a few seconds. There is some minor flickering, but this is never distracting. The picture is also supremely clean, with hardly a dust spot to be seen and no trace of damage or frame instability. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The Monolith Monsters [DVD] at Amazon.com. Her sensible mother refuses to let Ginny bring such a dirty object in the house, prompting a sigh of relief that is cut sharply short when Ginny takes her at her word and drops it in a bucket of water to clean it up. At one point the characters even speculate on how quickly and far the effect of the crystals will spread if unchecked, a favourite cornerstone of pandemic fiction. Filmow. The Monolith Monsters Review. MargaliMorwentari. Having said all that, as far as I know The Monolith Monsters was not shot in SuperScope, but like all the major studios, Universal were experimenting with a number of aspect ratios at the time, and word has it that this film was composed with both widescreen and open matte projection in mind. And it's not just been slapped out with whatever print German distributor Anolis Entertainment could get their hands on, but properly restored. and Scream Factory, The Monolith Monsters arrives to once again stomp out all those poor souls unfortunate enough to run into (or over) strange, black fragments of meteors that have fallen to earth. It is not quite an alien invasion film, nor quite a monster movie – but almost certainly draws from elements of either. Sure, it is NEVER frightening, but the film does manage to find shock in its rock schlock. The Monolith Monsters Synopsis: A strange black meteor crashes near the town of San Angelo and litters the countryside with fragments. Indeed, watching the 2.0:1 framed version without making direct comparisons, hardly ever did the image feel cropped or uncomfortably cramped. The Monolith Monsters could almost be a template for the generic 50's monster threat movie. Geologist Ben Gilbert (Phil Harvey) thinks not and so he takes one of the fragments to his office where he and the local newspaper publisher Martin Cochrane (Les Tremayne) wax poetically about its unlikely properties. Thus when Dave's schoolteacher girlfriend Cathy (Lola Albright) takes a group of kids on a field trip to the very same spot at which Ben found his sample, we're on edge even before young Ginny Simpson picks up one of the rocks and takes it home to her parents' farmhouse. My vote is seven. Not a lot here, but still of interest are the American Trailer (2:02), which includes footage from the climax and assures us that this is "the most startling science fiction concept ever brought to the screen," and the German Trailer (2:02), which is essentially the same thing but with a sonically mismatched German dub. MPAA Rating: Unrated.Runtime: 77 minsDirector: John SherwoodWriter: Norman Jolley, Robert M. FrescoCast: Grant Williams, Lola Albright, Les TremayneGenre: HorrorTagline: Now The Amazing Monolith Monsters Reveal Powers Shocking Beyond Belief!Memorable Movie Quote: "Those old bones from our attic turned out to be from his wife. A very weird and unique angle to the "alien invasion story". Director John Sherwood worked primarily as an assistant director and only helmed three films as director, the second of which was The Creature Walks Among Us and Return of the Creature, the follow-up films to Arnold's The Creature From the Black Lagoon. Fans get a theatrical trailer and a still gallery. The Monolith by Monoprice M-215 (Mfg Part# 38543) Dual 15” THX Ultra Certified subwoofer. Synopsis. Their arrival on the planet was accidental, and their growth, multiplication and effect on the human population is the result of a chemical reaction that is part of their organic makeup. Turns out that her recovery is essential to figuring out to best deal with these space invaders! Note also the extra picture information on the sides of the new transfer. My … God forbid they ever pick up on of these rocks as a souvenir. Quite an interesting plot and pace and a few "so bad it's so good" moments make this movie a real joy. Monolith also deserves points for the monsters themselves. Posted on November 26, 2016 by dreager1. The cast and their faces are perfectly captured by the black and white photography; lines and imperfections add great character to the story, too. Creepiest of all, these deserts had a noise, a kind of high-pitched, unearthly theremin whine. That said, this movie is as good as its premises allow him to be. There's never any doubt that you're watching a Blu-ray. From man made to nature made a monster is a monster. It's a spectacularly realised vision, thanks to some excellent model work and over-cranking the camera by just the amount required to convince us of the monoliths' gargantuan size and weight as they fall. I particularly enjoyed the little cartoon of a pile of rocks with a sign above them stating, "These stones seem harmless, but BEWARE of the rocks in Monolith Monsters. with which they come in contact, as well as expanding when exposed to water. Subscribe for new reviews every Tuesday. Check Out the Trailer Now, THE MARK OF THE BELL WITCH Will Haunt Audiences December 15 - Movie Trailer, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Name NOMADLAND Best Picture of 2020, Director Rene Perez Has Been Working on a SNAKE EYES Fan Film: Check it Out Now. The following morning, geologist Ben Gilbert (Phil Harvey) finds one of the rocks and takes it back to his office, where water spills on it and prompts it to grow. Compare the 1.33:1 framing on the DVD (above) with the 2.0:1 framing on the Blu-ray (below). Monolith Monsters review Trailer. The movie remains entertaining even after 50 years and a couple of dozen views. We don't see exactly what happens to Ben, but we, and we only, know just what led to it. But, for one small desert town, these fragments are far from cool. Addeddate 2010-02-08 09:16:00 Ia_orig__runtime 2 minutes 5 seconds Identifier TheMonolithMonsters-Trailer Run time 2:05 Sound sound. A few of the elements here were genre stalwarts even back in 1957, but are dealt with and moved on from at unusual speed. 7 years ago | 53.1K views (1957) A small town on the edge of the southwestern desert is suddenly Ground Zero for an worldwide threat when a meteor shower's crystalline fragments begin absorbing silicon from everything (and anyone!) When head of the San Angelo district geological office Dave Miller (Grant Williams) drops round to see him the next day, he finds the office wrecked and Ben's body hardened as if turned to stone. Monolith Monsters. The Monolith Monsters | Trailer | 1957. There are a few occasions when the 2.0:1 framing does feel a little tight by comparison to the 1.33 version, notably the opening credits (although nothing is clipped here), a 3-shot in which Ginny is cropped at the neck, and the wide shots of the giant crystals towering above the valley. But I'll get to that after the aspect ratio issue. My … They could turn you into stone." The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono soundtrack is also in better shape than I was expecting. I've been a fan of The Monolith Monsters since the 60s when I first saw it on TV. Certainly it lacks the subtextual clout that distinguishes the best of these films, but its central conceit, its pacing and its impressive production design and effects still put it on a par with its more widely seen contemporaries. . . They will then topple over, … I loved them to bits. I watched the german bluray release this time and the special effects are still pretty good. They left me in no doubt that the New Mexico deserts were home to monstrous ants, and that skulking away in the Arizona Badlands were slug-like, cycloptic blobs that could shape-shift into humans and replace my loved ones. In a sense, the film uses the term monster not as its literal definition of a monster, but as something large and scary. 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The dynamic range is inevitably not up to that of a modern day feature, but it's not half bad and even above average for a film of its age. All rights reserved. The Review Cool, I thought! An All-new Original Scooby-Doo Movie Coming to Digital and DVD This October - HAPPY HALLOWEEN, SCOOBY-DOO! The black-and-white photography is ripe with details and depth, highlighting the underground scope of the production. So what's going on? From Shout! Home Video Distributor: Scream FactoryAvailable on Blu-ray - June 18, 2019Screen Formats: 1.85:1 and 2.00:1Subtitles: English SDHAudio: English: 1.0 DTS-HD MA trackDiscs: Blu-ray Disc; single discRegion Encoding: Locked to Region A. The farmhouse engulfed in black rocks is especially memorable, especially when the unexplained rocks leave a little girl, Ginny (Linda Scheley) traumatized by its turn-to-stone lasting effects upon her parents. Shock can be a merciful thing. It's also worth noting that the ties with Jack Arnold go beyond his credit as the co-story writer. - but it was quite interesting. Monsters Dark Continent Trailer 2 (2014) Sci Fi Monster Movie HD. Histats.track_hits();} catch(err){};
It’s time for a really old monster film, but a fairly unique one. While CinemaScope was an anamorphic process (the scope image was squeezed up by the camera lens and unsqueezed by the projector), with SuperScope you shot you film in the regular Academy ratio of 1.33:1, then the image was cropped to 2.0:1 at the printing or projection stage. Qualifizierte Bestellungen werden kostenlos geliefert. They also come in all types. I've heard about this movie a couple of years ago but somehow I forgot what the title was. . Here, he turns men into solid states of mass as a black substance creeps and crawls across the desert floor. [CDATA[
As a young man, Arnold had fallen in love with science fiction and leapt at the chance to direct genre movies. I'd never been there, at least not in person, but childhood fascination with American 50s science fiction films had convinced me that just about anything could be lying in wait for those foolish enough to wander off the dusty main road. However, when it comes from outer space there are no guarantees. The crisper sound quality of the dialogue here suggests that this was added at a much later date, and no attempt has been made to sonically match it to the soundtrack of the film. Ginny's parents are dead, but Ginny herself is still precariously in the land of the living, albeit in a comatose state. Reviewer: rapco46 - favorite favorite favorite - June 7, 2016 Subject: Monolith Monsters Haven't seen that movie since the 60's....it was good to see it again. A giant meteor crashes to Earth near the small town of San Angelo and local geologist Ben Gilbert (Phil Harvey, The Deadly Mantis) brings a fragment back to his lab for testing. The Monolith Monsters Movie (1957) Teaser Trailer. When a storm exposes these fragments to water, they grow into skyscraper-sized monoliths which then topple and shatter into thousands of pieces that grow into monoliths themselves and repeat the process. I've had all sorts of copies, VHS, Laserdisc, DVD and the new Blu-ray is the best looking one so far. World Movies. But there is also a good deal of space above the heads of characters on the Academy famed print, more than would normally be compositionally ideal, and in this respect the 2.0:1 framing feels far more appropriate. DVD review: The Monolith Monsters. With the aid of a loyal and patient girlfriend type, a young scientist (or scientist wannabe) eventually discovers the real truth of the … They are deadly . Monolith also has much more solid "science" than most films of the genre, especially those from this period; it's not 100% successful in that area (e.g., the petrification effect should not continue once a person is removed from the monsters' silicon-sucking range), but it's for the most part on the plausible side. Copyright© 2003, Reel Reviews. Follow. Hand-wringing in Hollywood: When Covid Killed the Cinema Star, Death of a Princess - The Story of Grace Kelly's Fatal Car Crash, Joaquin Phoenix 911 Call - River Phoenix - Viper Room, Screen Legend Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79, Suicide and the Hollywood Sign - The Girl Who Jumped from the Hollywood Sign, The Black Dahlia Murder - The Death of Elizabeth Short, The Death of George Reeves - the Original Superman. The screenplay is well-developed and highly entertaining but the rushed conclusion disappoints. There were those that kept you in the dark about just what was happening until the truth was uncovered by the lead characters and colleagues, and those that clued you in from an early stage, so that you might fret when anyone inadvertently makes a move that will worsen the situation or place them in danger. Thanks for the warning. Art Gallery (1:49) is a slide show of posters and promotional stills, not all of them American in origin. try {Histats.start(1,1097651,4,511,95,18,"00000000");
I genuinely couldn't believe it when I first heard about it. We'll just have to dig it out. So, the arrangements were made and the only thing to do was sit back and wait for delivery! The spread of these rocks from space could be astronomical. 11 October 2006 | by ccthemovieman-1 – See all my reviews This was better than it should have been. American Advertising Advice (7:45) is a rolling gallery of material from the film's campaign booklet which the camera zooms into and scans for interesting detail, a technique I rather liked. Bangla Media. She, Dave and Police Chief Dan Corey (William Flaherty) thus head out to the Simpson farm, which by then has been transformed into an astonishing expressionist sculpture of twisted wood and black crystal. The Monolith monsters is a damn fine movie, short and sweet with neat visuals and a great cosmic menace in the shape of waterabsorbing silicon monoliths. comment. Usage Public Domain Topics trailer, scifi, monolith. 2:09. Fine film grain is visible and I could see no obvious signs of edge enhancement. playlist 2016. But in my recent visit in London I was at HMV browsing through the horror DVD section and finally found it. 1:57. //