The Monolith Monsters (1957)

When it comes to disaster movies, you tend to think of something Irwin Allen did in the 1970’s.

The Towering Inferno! A movie about a burning building that wants to kill you.

The Poseidon Adventure! A movie about a sinking ship that wants to kill you.

But, in 1957, Universal Pictures came up with a disaster movie well before Irwin Allen became Irwin Allen.

It was called “The Monolith Monsters” and it was about giant rocks that want to kill you.

That’s right.

Giant rocks.

That want to kill you.

The Episode

Words From Warren

I like to quote from one of my favorite reference books, the late Bill Warren’s “Keep Watching The Skies: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties”. Mr. Warren does not suffer fools gladly, and does not mince his words when it comes to either praising a film or flaying it alive.

The Monolith Monsters is an example of the rational exploitation of a theme, in this case, the growth of crystals. I suspect the story derived from someone having seen crystals grow in a chemical solution – kits for doing this were advertised in the comic books of the period – then deciding huge crystals would make an interesting menace. The Monolith Monsters is a decently film with an interesting premise and some good effects. It isn’t a classic, but it is one of the better medium-budget SF films of the 1950’s.

The Links

Lola Albright Obituary – Chicago.com – The Hollywood Reporter

Lola Albright – Wikipedia

Glamor Girls of the Silver Screen – Lola Albright

Major Smolinski website – Lola Albright

The Monolith Monsters Wikipedia

Bobby Rivers TV – Lola Albright

The Famous People – Lola Albright

The Monolith Monsters iMDB; full movie, Archive.org; trailer, YouTube; DVD, Universal Vault Series

The Credits

I am very grateful to be able to use the music and sound effects of so many wonderful creators.

You can find a list of all music used, and all sound effects used, and links, here, on our Credits page.

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