When I was in college during the early 1990s, I stepped out the door of my apartment and was startled when I suddenly felt something clawing the side of my face. After I recoiled and brushed at the intruding presence with my hand, I realized that a large praying mantis was the culprit. It had apparently jumped onto my face from above when I had opened the door. Not wanting to escalate the situation and get into a battle that I might not win, I simply watched as the insect disappeared into some nearby shrubbery.
The praying mantis is generally recognized as one of the fiercest predators on Earth, with its strong forelegs that allow it to crush its prey with lighting speed and with its sharp mandibles that allow it to eat all types of animals, even small lizards and frogs. These are fascinating-looking creatures, but the peaceful appearance that earned them their name belies their reputation as relentlessly formidable carnivores.
It is easy to imagine that a giant 200-foot prehistoric mantis would really be able to jack up someone. In the 1957 sci-fi monster B-movie classic,
The Deadly Mantis, several unfortunate military soldiers learn the hard way what happens when an insect that is already designed by nature to be the perfect killing machine is revealed in a massively oversized incarnation. A military outpost that monitors the radars of the Distant Early Warning line in the Arctic proves to be no match for the menace when it is unfrozen from the polar ice caps. An entire country is brought to its knees as the huge mantis migrates from one feeding ground to another, eventually facing humanity in a final battle in a Manhattan tunnel.
The praying mantis may be the most flawlessly designed natural predator around, but, sadly, this film does not step up to the same level of perfection. Several seemingly endless minutes of stock footage introducing the Distant Early Warning radar system set the stage for a rather sleepy affair, where sporadic shots of the titular villain are placed between stretches of dry dialogue. William Hopper (
20 Million Miles to Earth,
Rebel Without a Cause) and Craig Stevens (
Peter Gunn) are engaging enough in their respective lead roles as a paleontologist and a colonel who are are tasked with identifying and pursuing the monster, but, aside from the depiction of a deductive reasoning investigation process that is good for younger viewers to see, the screenplay does not allow them to shine as protagonists. There is a hint of romance between Stevens's character and a photographer played by Alix Talton (
The Man Who Knew Too Much), but onscreen sparks are dead in the water, quite possibly because the filmmakers sensed that a premise about insects known for biting off the heads of their mates might be a buzzkill when it comes to sensuality and eroticism.
Fortunately,
The Deadly Mantis, which was directed by Nathan Juran (
20 Million Miles to Earth,
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad), redeems its pacing shortcomings during the epic tunnel showdown in the final 10 minutes. The monster, which is revealed up close in all its special effects glory, is a creation that rises above the low budget of this endeavor.
This movie is not the best that the monster craze of the 1950s has to offer, but it's solidly entertaining despite its languid dialogue stretches.
I would love to see a present-day remake of this film, since the capabilities of the actual insects are potentially conducive to outstandingly violent and gory screen mayhem if done well. A new movie with a generous digital effects budget could devote the bulk of its story to a giant mantis that tears its way across a major city laying bloody waste to countless people.
The Deadly Mantis was famously spoofed on the
Mystery Science Theater 3000 series. I will be watching that episode later tonight, since it appears as an extra on the Blu-ray.
This Scream Factory Blu-ray, like
Tarantula, looks and sounds great. I'm having a good old time right now with the commentary track by Tom Weaver and David Schecter.
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with a better transfer and lots of extras and maybe even the commentary from the U.K. Dvd, although I have read it isn't that great. This movie is wicked....
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