THE DEADLY MANTIS (1957)
Tagline: This Was the Day That Engulfed the World in Terror!
(Sci-Fi, Horror, Giant Bug) [PG]
Note: This movie was not given a rating by the MPAA. Because this doesn’t fall in the typical [G] rated in my opinion I am just throwing an arbitrary [PG] on it.
In all the kingdom of the living, there is no more deadly or voracious creature than the praying mantis.
In this one basically, an arctic iceberg melts and it’s got a giant freakin praying mantis in it. It decides it’s had enough of an arctic outpost, military installations, Eskimos, your grandma’s house, and finally decides to head south for a warmer more tropical climate. Can a paleontologist named Dr. Nedrick Jackson and the military might of the United States finally take this giant menace down?
So first off back in the 6 grade I actually did a study on crickets. In this movie, they say that praying mantis unlike grasshoppers and crickets are not carnivorous. I know for a fact from experience this isn’t true because I started out with like 10 crickets, gave them plenty of food, but still ended up with 1 after a few days. This one was fat because he or she had eaten all the other crickets. I can’t say I have seen the same thing with grasshoppers, but I didn’t see a reason to check them out because I didn’t have any more science classes after that demanding bug observation. So regarding that statement in the movie made by a so-called expert, it’s just not the case.
Getting back to the movie what we do have here is one of the more well-known “giant bugs will eat your face off” movies. This thing does not shy away from showing you they know how to film giant bug movies. There is just tons of giant praying mantis in this movie and it’s all pretty awesome. In that regard and in the acting department Universal crushed it with this film, which also leads to some modern-day annoyances. You can get most of Universal's classic monster movies for about $12.99 for 6 to 8 movies as parts of collections. If you want something with THE DEADLY MANTIS in it, expect to pay over $50.00 for a collection with this in it, or about $19.99 for a BLU-RAY copy. This movie is good but it is not without its issues.
One negative with this film is that it’s loaded with stock footage. This was a cost-saving measure, but we see footage from movies like S.O.S. Eisberg that came out over 2 decades before this was made. The other issue is that the story is actually pretty bland. We don’t really get a full plot. It’s more of a giant follow the giant bug story with a tiny bit of meaningful dialog between Dr. Nedrick (played by William Hopper) and Alix Talton (played by Marge Blain). Having said that, I didn’t watch this flick for any of that crap. I just wanted to see a giant praying mantis jack up a bunch of buildings and climb the most pointy monument in Washington, D.C., we get all that.
In spite of the price, this is definitely a movie I would like to own at some point. The praying mantis effects are solid and overall this movie reminds me of my childhood’s better moments. For fans of old 1950’s sci-fi, this one hits the spot. I give THE DEADLY MANTIS a solid 5 out of 7.
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