SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
InformationRap
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Brainsbell
The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.
JPfanatic93
Giant movie monsters, usually (though not necessarily) spawn or awakened by atomic experiments, that subsequently went rampaging through unsuspecting cities could be divided into two categories in the Fifties, the decade in which they were most prevalent. The first and most famous category was reptilian in nature, and hearkened back to Willis O'Brien's Brontosaurus crushing London in 1925's The Lost World, eventually giving rise to the famous ultimate atomic nightmare Gojira (1954) (though certainly not stopping there). The second category consists of the various types of creepy crawlies that together can be sided under the general moniker of 'bugs'. As notable creatures in this regard the giant ants of Them! (1954), the gargantuan 'sixtopus' of Ray Harryhausen's It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) and the oversized spider in Tarantula (1955) deserve honorable mention. Less well known is the tremendously large praying mantis from The Deadly Mantis, which is not surprising since it offers little that has not been seen in other bug movies, save a different monstrous creature threatening mankind. Nevertheless, it's a fairly entertaining atomic age flick.Surprisingly, the origin of the titular beastie is not actually atomic. In this case, a volcanic eruption is responsible for freeing a 200-ft long prehistoric mantis – since everybody knows that in prehistoric times every animal was stupendously big after all – from its Arctic tomb. The effect is all the same though. The creature travels southwards, wreaking havoc and killing many people in its path. The United States military soon responds to the loss of its polar outposts and sends a team to investigate, which includes a paleontologist, a handsome army officer and a beautiful woman. Of course, the latter pair predictably gets more involved with each other than with the big bug running rampant, as is all too typical for movies from this era. But when the mantis finally attacks Washington D.C. decisive military action is called for and the team searches for a way to annihilate their hideous opponent. But naturally not before it has had a decent opportunity to terrorize a few national landmarks, also an ever delightful genre staple.Nathan Juran, who would continue making similar pictures like The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) and the original cult classic Attack of the 50 ft Woman (1958), serves as a capable director for crafting an enjoyable monster movie out of a by this time already worn-out premise, which betrays his qualities that would later cause him to become a valuable collaborator on several excellent Harryhausen movies, namely the rather similar 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) in which a reptilian/humanoid Venusian threatens Rome, First Men in the Moon (1964) and of course, the wonderful 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). The obvious mantis mock-up doesn't look as phony as it could have looked under the instructions of a lesser director (though a far cry from realistic), while the cast plays their parts convincingly enough for this type of B-movie. While The Deadly Mantis proves less than a stellar entry into the 'creature' subgenre of the 1950s, it remains somewhat of a cult favorite among fans of the science fiction pictures of the era. However, it's also exemplary of the tail end of the decade, that witnessed the notion of big beasties trampling both civilization and audiences' interest to death in rapid succession in ever cheaper and worse movies, despite the decent start offered by all too similar pictures in the first few years of the First Wave of science fiction films. Don't blame the mantis for that though.
AaronCapenBanner
Nathan Juran directed this reasonably effective monster yarn that sees a giant prehistoric preying mantis being accidentally freed from its arctic glacier tomb to kill and terrorize first the local population, then the world. A knowledgeable informed scientist(played by William Hopper) and a determined Army Col.(played by Craig Stevens) lead the fight to defeat the deadly mantis, before the human population is extinct... Although the plot is familiar("The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" comes to mind) and characters unmemorable, the model F/X of the giant mantis are quite good, with tense direction and good pace(only slowing down for the obligatory romantic subplot with Alix Tilton). Exciting tunnel climax compensates in this OK thriller.
ferbs54
By the time the sci-fi shocker "The Deadly Mantis" premiered in May 1957, American audiences had already been regaled by a steady stream of giant-monster movies on the big screen, starting with 1953's classic "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms." In 1954, "Them!," with its monstrously large ants, kicked off a subgenre of sorts, the giant-insect movie, and "Tarantula" would follow in 1955. After "The Deadly Mantis," "The Beginning of the End" (giant grasshoppers), "Monster From Green Hell" (giant wasps), "Earth vs. the Spider" and "Attack of the Giant Leeches" soon appeared to stun and amaze moviegoers. Unlike most of those other films, however, "TDM" featured a giant monster that was not the result of radioactive bombardment or an H-bomb blast, but that was just naturally humongous; a prehistoric entity released via natural phenomenon.In the film, the viewer witnesses a volcanic eruption that takes place near Antarctica, while our narrator intones the ominous words of Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." And, implausibly enough, this blowup near the South Pole soon triggers an earthquake near the North Pole, almost 7,900 miles away (!), which releases.... Anyway, cut to the intrepid men working at the polar DEW line, where odd events soon begin to transpire. Colonel Joe Parkman (Craig Stevens) investigates the demolition of a weather station, the downing of a C-47, and some very odd tracks in the snow. Before long, noted paleontologist Nedrick (!) Jackson (William Hopper, who many viewers will recall from his roles in "The Bad Seed" and "20 Million Miles to Earth") and museum reporter Marge Blaine (Alix Talton; a great screamer, as it turns out) join the colonel near the North Pole to join in the investigation, and Jackson isn't long in getting to the bottom of things, declaring "In all the kingdom of the living, there is no more deadly or voracious creature...than the praying mantis!"Of all the giant-monster films mentioned above, "The Deadly Mantis" is most reminiscent of "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms," the granddaddy of them all and, in my humble opinion, the greatest dinosaur movie ever made. Like the 1953 film, it too opens in documentarylike fashion and with a dry, scientific narration. The monster in both films is first observed as a radar blip near the North Pole, and both pictures feature discussions regarding the thawed-out mammoth remains that had recently been discovered in Siberia. In both films, our prehistoric creature attacks a fishing trawler off the Canadian coast and is ultimately destroyed near a NYC landmark (Manhattan Beach in the former; in the depths of the "Manhattan Tunnel" in the latter). But whereas "Beast" had boasted the truly awesome stop-motion FX of the late Ray Harryhausen, "Mantis" had to make do with FX of a lesser-calibre, more traditional kind. Still, the creature looks impressive enough on the ground, if a tad silly while in flight. The film contains at least four memorable sequences: our first glimpse of the creature, from below, as it towers over a bunch of fleeing Greenlanders, who swarm away in kayaks out to sea; the creature's attack on the DEW station, repulsed by both rifle fire and flamethrower; the mantis' ascent of the Washington Monument; and finally, that Manhattan Tunnel windup, as Parkman and his men toss "3RG chemical mines" at the mantis in an already densely foggy environment. (This denouement might bring to mind the storm drain finale in "Them!") For once, the use of stock footage is well integrated; the footage used is crisp and clean and actually looks as though it had been shot for the film in question. Surprisingly, the first 1/3 of "The Deadly Mantis," before we even get a glimpse of our monster, might be the film's best section (an "Arctic tour de force," according to the "Maltin Classic Movie Guide"), slowly building suspense in an intelligent manner against its snowbound backdrop. The picture has been surprisingly well directed by Nathan Juran, although perhaps it is unfair of me to use the word "surprisingly"; Juran, after all, would go on to helm such cult favorites as "20 Million Miles to Earth" (released just one month later), "The Brain From Planet Arous," "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman," "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad" AND "First Men in the Moon" (those last two WOULD benefit from Harryhausen's participation). "TDM" also features a love triangle of sorts--seemingly obligatory in many of these '50s sci-fi films--that is a tad surprising, as pretty Marge does NOT wind up with the guy you might be expecting. In all, a satisfying, nicely realized and intelligent monster movie, and perfect fare for viewing with your 8-year-old nephew, of course.Further good news regarding "The Deadly Mantis" is that it comes to us today as part of Universal Studios' Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection, and is presented via a pristine-looking print. On the same DVD disc can be found the film "The Land Unknown," another B&W sci-fi outing from 1957 that also (strangely enough) clocks in at precisely 78 minutes and showcases prehistoric monsters in a polar setting. A perfect double feature, both films come highly recommended by this viewer, an admitted sucker for 1950s sci-fi. And speaking of that decade, back in the 1950s and '60s, I am old enough to recall, a NYC urban legend had it that there was a $1,000 fine for killing any praying mantis. Well, I'm sorry to report, baby boomers, that this popular myth just had no basis in reality, beneficial as these harmless, little insects might be. "Beneficial," "harmless" and "little"...three words, surely, that would NOT describe our "deadly mantis"....
Bloodwank
Curious breed, these old school monster films. Lapped up by the kids of their time, yet I can't imagine today's CGI glutted youth grooving to them, talkative, even educational, weaving together dry facts, ripe drama and a splash of romance and chuckles into their giant beast template. The Deadly Mantis is pretty much a textbook example of the genre, and as such I can say right here that if you enjoy the creature features of the 1950's you could do well in looking up this one. The plot deals with an enormous preying mantis revived in the Arctic by human activity. The film diverges from the standard nuclear portents in its explanation, in fact its explanation is a little fuzzy but it does tie into Cold War fears, the human activity in question being the development of Arctic early warning radar. There are tussles, tracks and development of mystery, then just under half way through the mantis rears its ugly head and the film locks down to classic shenanigans, delivering some nifty action, a few nice chuckles and a satisfying tense finale. Director Nathan Juran keeps a steady hand on events, fairly mastering the build up and release structure that sometimes undoes these films by opting less for destruction and more for journeying and pursuit. There is a little in the way of things being crushed or broken but the film never sets itself potential in those areas that it can't fulfil. The pacing is a little patchy though, with the film suffering from a dusting of dry spells in the first two thirds that keep it from being really great. A bit of off humour as well, but I didn't mind it so much as it comes with the territory. Acting is fair throughout, everybody plays pretty standard roles but they fill them out nicely, I never groaned at anyone though no one exactly sparkles. William Hopper makes for a good determined scientist and has a compelling intonation for proclaiming theories, Craig Stevens, Donald Randolph and others make for solid military men and Alix Taylor is an pleasing romantic interest. The cast work well together and have plenty of opportunity to do so, one nice thing about this film (typical of its type) is that the characters work together, they get along and once they realise what the enemy is, they embark on taking it out no matter what. Not much more to say, but it would be remiss of me to not mention the mantis itself. Its a terrific beast, bug eyed winged, fierce clawed and multi legged, a fine, looming antagonist. It doesn't look so hot in flying sequences, but when on the ground its pretty darned ace. Definitely worth a look for 50's monster buffs, as far as giant insects go its one of the best, even if it wasn't put together with Harryhausen expertise. All in all its a film worth a shot then, I certainly liked it and if you like this sort of thing you might well do too.
