Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

The Monolith Monsters

1957 1h 17m Sci-Fi List
Tomatometer 3 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A geologist (Grant Williams) and a schoolteacher (Lola Albright) evacuate a desert town attacked by thirsty giant crystals.

Critics Reviews

View All (3) Critics Reviews
Rob Humanick Suite101.com For genre buffs, climate change advocates and science junkies, The Monolith Monsters is a pitifully overlooked classic. Rated: 4/5 Oct 24, 2011 Full Review James O'Ehley Sci-Fi Movie Page Probably one of the most misleading movie titles in film history . . . Feb 4, 2009 Full Review Shane Burridge rec.arts.movies.reviews One of the few monster movies you'll see where you feel nothing whatsoever towards the monster Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (50) audience reviews
Ted B 3.5 stars; I can remember seeing this movie as a kid and thinking it was very silly—rocks multiplying. What a concept! Now, watching this movie as an adult, I can appreciate a certain level of sophistication in this movie in the 1950s science fiction genre. There was an actual attempt to incorporate science, as it was understood then, into a drive-in-level film. I like the technique of using the innocence of a very young girl in shock to amp up the mystery of what was terrorizing the town. The same technique was used in "Them." Given the low budget of these films, I'm surprised more film aficionados aren't as appreciative of the 1950s science-fiction genre. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/09/24 Full Review Evan D A very creative premise for a science fiction movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/19/23 Full Review Monsol E I love that the concept for this is just "rocks are multiplying" and they made it into an interesting and tense story, with some nice destruction. I really enjoyed this one! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review georgan g Very unique plot with "scientific" rationale. Special effects weren't the high point, but still acceptable for 1957. Same lead actor as in The Incredible Shrinking Man. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Just as the town is overwhelmed by the monsters, the movie itself sinks quickly into trite B-movie time-filler. Things start out promising enough. Beautiful desert surrounding a town as we meet the people, see a meteor fall. There's a deceptively simple yet brilliantly done scene, full of fateful foreshadowing, with a child talking with her teacher on a field trip. When the scientist and his lady (Grant Williams and Lola Albright) race to the girl's house later that night, it's downright spooky and near horrifying. But after these scenes, it's lots of ineffective second-banana actors talking endlessly about science that we know isn't real, since gigantic crystallized monsters don't really overwhelm towns. Grant Williams shows the powerful acting he did in "The Incredible Shrinking Man" was no fluke. Lola Albright is achingly beautiful and believable early on, but she's increasingly called on to portray emotions she can't quite do. What seems to be a lack of experience on her part is exposed, sacrificing believability. Things seem to be done in more of a hurry the longer the movie goes on. The biggest monster they could not defeat is there just wasn't enough material to pad it out to a full-length show. There's too many talking scenes and too little action, delivering the death blow to this science fiction film's hopes. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the reasons why I am a big fan of the great Svengoolie is because it gives me a chance to see movies that I would never get a chance to see otherwise in many cases. One such example is "The Monolith Monsters". While the movie is not spectacular, it is very entertaining and actually better than I expected it to be. The cast does very well in their respective roles. The late Grant Williams, better known as The Incredible Shrinking Man, does well in the lead role of Dave Miller. The late Les Tremayne is just as good as Dave Miller's partner in the fight against the alien invaders Martin Cochrane. The special effects are surprisingly good and even in my opinion hold up well even by today's standards. The story was done well and the dialogue between characters was well written. Basically "The Monolith Monsters" is a very well made and entertaining movie. I believe it is worth your time. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Monolith Monsters

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis A geologist (Grant Williams) and a schoolteacher (Lola Albright) evacuate a desert town attacked by thirsty giant crystals.
Director
John Sherwood
Producer
Howard Christie
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 6, 2016
Runtime
1h 17m