The Deadly Mantis (1957)

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Directed by Nathan Juran.

Starring Patrick Conway, William Hopper, Don Randolph, Craig Stevens, Alix Talton.

This is the one in which the "villain" is a huge, carnivorous praying mantis. After the titular insect has attacked several people in a remote Arctic region, Col. Joe Parkham (Craig Stevens) swings into action. Parkham and his associates, Dr. Ned Jackson (William Hopper) and Ned's assistant Margie Blake (Alix Talton), track the predatory mantis as it heads southward to Washington DC (how did it get past customs?) The green monstrosity meets its Waterloo in "Manhattan Tunnel", where it is bombarded with poison gas (a little Raid or Black Flag might have come in handy). Some of the Arctic scenes in The Deadly Mantis were clumsily culled from the 1933 drama SOS Iceberg and a handful of Air Force training films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Re: They Creep Up On You...
by FroggyBaBe15876 in HORROR MOVIES 101

loved it.

"Yeah yeah yeah! Creepshow! The roach story was the whole reason I started this thread (and is the NAME of the thread, by the way) and I totally forgot about it! Silly me... It was also somewhat of an inspiration for a short story I wrote called "Roach" (clever, eh?). But yeah, to me, that guy must have been pretty brave to act with all those nasty roaches around. I don't mind bugs, but when they get near me I have to say, "Wait a minute. Lemme just scooch over to the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM for a minute while you creepy-crawl around for a while." Ew. I think one of my favorite "B" bug movies is Mosquito. I saw it on the Sci-Fi channel and damn near peed my pants laughing. I have to watch it again some time because it's a classic. Also on the Sci-Fi channel was Ticks which was just awesome. I remember it has Carlton from "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" in it, and he's what made me want to watch it. And, of course, for all you MST fans out there, there's The Dea ... " [More]

Re: Really Cheesy (a.k.a. Drive ...
by LateNighter in HORROR MOVIES 101

hasn't rated it.

"Is MST3K still on, June? I haven't seen it in ages. Also, I haven't seen all of the movies you listed, but I consider Creature from the Black Lagoon and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman to be true classics! Another one the MST gang used to laugh at, but is one of my all-time favorites, is Teenagers from Outer Space. Have you ever seen it? (Although, I'm going off-topic here, am I not? Sorry!) " [More]

Re: Really Cheesy (a.k.a. Drive ...
by divinemsjunebug in HORROR MOVIES 101

liked it.

"I absolutely LOVE Cheesey B movies. Especially watching old Mystery Science Theater 3000 movies, they say everything that I want to say. There are just so many fun movies with bad monster costumes and really bad acting and lots of bimbo women with pointy boobs. They consider Creature from the Black Lagoon kind of a B movie, but I really think it's pretty good. Also movies like Santa Clause vs the Martians, The Screaming Skull, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Attack of the Puppet People, Revenge of the Creature, Oh and Jesse James Meets Frankensteins Daughter, The Deadly Mantis, The Brain that Wouldn't Die...I can think of a MILLION of them. They are just such hilarious, Fun Movies...My friends and I have a B Movie night every once in a while (we usually turn it into some kind of drinking game or something like that to really liven it up)... " [More]

Tags: camp , cult , giant , monster , praying-mantis
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