The Deadly Mantis

If you have to make a boring monster movie at least cast an attractive female lead.

Your standard 1950s creature feature - no more, no less.

It's pretty much The Giant Claw only with more budget. A lot more budget. And that's considering this to be very low budget Universal. They spend a lot of time here hiding the Mantis but make up for it with plenty of effect shots later on. I'd forgotten that the girl ends up with the military guy instead of the professor on this one. The Doc seemed rather pleased to get her off his back though so good for him I guess.

And remember, my fellow Americans, the only thing keeping you safe from the red menace are a bunch of perpetually horny radar operators unable to swat a bug, and scientists who think "animalogist" is a word.

Standard drive-in monster feature from the late fifties with an implausible giant insect confronted by America's fighting forces. Dragged down early in act two by a long lecture about prehistoric insects - that one would expect was educational content except that it bears no relationship to actual science. Not as good as the many other such movies it is copying. Sub par.

Slow, unintentionally hilarious creature feature that keeps forgetting it's not an educational film about the US military's defense systems. And it's not even good at that either, somehow trying to convince us that the air force wouldn't just absolutely bomb the shit out of anything entering US airspace. Mst3k episode is highly recommended.

Unbelievably slow-paced monster flick, which never really creates any atmosphere or energy.

Crappy pseudo-science dialogue delivered at a breakneck pace. The female reporter is a pretty strong character despite being sexually harassed nonstop.

That is not the sound I expected that mantis to make.

Surprisingly dull considering it's a giant killer mantis flick.

'Deadly' is right! One of the worst of the '50s sci-fi flicks.

D+

Quite cheesy and the mantis scream was so annoying. Just shut. the fuck. UP

Do praying mantises even have vocal cords to roar with?

Very dry and matteroffactly, but nice to look at.

Mst3k score: 8/10