This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The acting in this movie is really good.

THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD may indeed move "at a snail's pace," but the payoff- the Giant Slug- is well worth the wait. I've been to "haunted houses" put together by movie industry professionals and very, very few (if ANY) of the Giant Monsters they concocted measure up to this guy. Not only does this guy LOOK like a Monster- imagine waking up to find this thing looming over you-, it's remarkably AGILE for a MECHANICAL Monster (as opposed to a stop-motion Creature that could "move around" more). Those weaned on commercial Television, with its constant, never-ending mood-breaking interruptions, may find the pace unbearably slow, but more PATIENT viewers won't mind the slow going. (For some of us, slower scenes offer us the opportunity to pick up a book and READ a couple of pages before the histrionics resume.)

Ranking as one of the best science fiction movies of the late 1950s, this film is stolen by a terrifically scary monster, one that must be seen to be believed. Movie monsters tended to look like giant pieces of rubber sewn together and added onto with ping pong balls pieces of Styrofoam or anything else that the film creators could get their hands on. Whoever set up the idea for this giant combination snail / caterpillar, went way out of their way to create a monster that is truly scary looking. It all takes place in a saltwater lake in the middle of California's deserts, and while the film takes forever to reveal with this preacher looks like, when it finally got here, it truly is a genuinely frightening moment. Once that happens, the film never lets up, showing the monster on the attack in several truly frightening segment. Some of them come out of nowhere and are truly graphically frightening. Hands Conreid, already a cult favorite after The 5000 Fingers of Dr T and The Twonky plays a serious role here, a scientist who explains the life of similar creatures who are much smaller than the one that appears here. For the most part, this is a very intelligent script but it did go astray towards the end when all of a sudden a little girl is introduced into the proceedings to create more flights out of sympathy for the little talk.In a way, I also feel sorry for the creature, because where it is living in the bottom of this apparently very deep lake is disturbed by human intruders, you know that it is going to incite the monster's wrath when they steal its eggs. When you see a caterpillar or a snail in public now after seeing this movie you'll want to observe their habits after how Conrad describes its voracious appetite. No detail is spared in making this frightening. Particularly nerve wracking for me was the scene where the caretaker of the dam, after having recently told off some children who were intruding where they shouldn't be, comes out to see if they're still around. He walks around the Deathly silent top of the dam and you know it's just a matter of moments before the creature will appear. To bring on more tension, the writers director and editor waited the perfect amount of time before they reveal what is going to happen and when it does, be prepared to truly jump out of your seat. That's what makes great science-fiction flash for, the unexpected. For an error that turned out much lock, I have to give this one credit for going further in creating a tense atmosphere, and while the film is certainly far from perfect, it deserves to be remembered as one of the better science fiction films of this

Yep back in the 50's (or more specifically 1957 it seems) they made horror chillers using every kind of bug they could think of, not even the simple mollusk was able to avoid this fate. Yes a sea snail or sea slug I suppose, only these were of course giant prehistoric versions released by yet another pesky earthquake. To note, the films title is again ridiculous as the monster in question isn't actually a monster, its a mollusk as pointed out in the film, and it didn't challenge the world. The films alternative titles were also kinda dumb, 'The Kraken' which is surely an entirely different mythological beast and 'The Jagged Edge'? eh?So anyway, do I detect a slight pattern in plots here? no no no no no...well yes, apparently so. As I already mentioned the sea beasties are released from their watery tombs by another earthquake, the beginning of all monster movies back then. Various military types are killed which triggers a big investigation...by the military...again. Yep the good old US of A just loved their military back then, every monster that emerged from a crack caused by an earthquake, was dealt with by the military...after it attacks the military. Suffice to say this leads to the usual crack team of smartly dressed, slick haired chaps, a scientist type (this time a youngish one) and the obligatory attractive woman (this time with a young female child). Guess what follows?I gotta be honest with this one, I found it pretty dull. For the most part this movie is purely dialog with little else happening. The cast go from room to room discussing stuff, from location to location looking at stuff, explaining scenarios to each other, lots of driving around and of course the other obligatory scene where everyone watches an old educational news film reel about their enemy and how it lives. In this case, the life of a snail and how it feeds.On the other hand this is also one of the most atmospheric of the giant bug movies I've seen, along with 'The Black Scorpion'. This movie genuinely had some really solid creepy sequences, when they actually turned up, mainly underwater and the finale. The underwater sequences actually reminded me of Spielberg's 'Jaws' with very similar shots and ideas in general. The way we follow the divers around almost as if it was from the creatures perspective, the fact we actually see dead bodies with minor jump scares, and the way a female gets dragged under the waves. I can well see this movie really terrifying people back in the day for sure, especially when they uncover shrivelled up, skinless bodies exposing muscle and bulging eyes. Another really well directed scene is the finale where we the towering mollusk in a laboratory attacking the female lead. This sequence kinda reminded me of Cronenberg's 'The Fly' at the end, the creatures posture, the eyes, the claws the camera angles etc...All this leads me to the creature itself, a simple yet large mechanical puppet. Now although this thing just looked like a giant slug, it did look very intimidating with its height and huge pincers. The two big round glaring eyes are also very unnerving and eerie, they gave off no emotion, just a cold blank stare, a pure carnivorous predator with one function. The slimy skin texture really boosted the creatures realistic appearance, you can't really see clearly but the black and white film does admittedly help cover any obvious rubber and seams. Overall its a terrific creature and very lifelike, accept for the exaggerated face I suppose, it didn't move much of course but the large puppet interacted very well with the actors.Its just a shame that we don't really see too much of the giant mollusk, though what we do get is pretty epic and classic I reckon, definitely one of the top Hollywood creatures. You could say that they were hiding the beast as much as possible, building up the tension for the finale, but that theory doesn't really add up. On top of that the rest of the movie is pretty uninteresting frankly, things only become fun and engaging when the creature pops up. All the discussions between characters is a really limp affair and you couldn't really care a less.5.5/10

The Monster That Challenged the World is a highly entertaining science fiction thriller from the fertile 1950s that retains its appeal many years after its initial release. The eponymous monster is actually a cluster of over-sized prehistoric mollusks that are released from their underwater slumber by an untimely earthquake. Predatory and surprisingly adaptable (despite their aquatic nature, the mollusks sometimes surprise their victims by sneaking around on land), the creatures threaten to turn all of nature on its head. Arnold Laven directs the picture with a sure and competent touch, and though the movie is certainly not blessed with a lavish budget nothing ever really looks cheap. The mollusks are surprisingly monstrous and scary looking, and several scenes are highly suspenseful, including an exciting moment when the lovely Gail (played by Audrey Dalton) and her daughter are cornered by a rogue mollusk that won't be deterred by barred doors. Acting is solid all round, and while Tim Holt is a somewhat unconventional leading man he plays the role of the no-nonsense but kind-hearted soldier well, and his romance with the attractive Gail is realistically developed. I can't vouch for the science in this science fiction movie, but the rationale behind the mollusks' re-emergence and the threat they pose to the world is plausibly written within the context of the script. The story moves swiftly with a satisfying climax. Not as famous as some other monster hits from the 50s, The Monster That Challenged the World is actually one of the best of its breed and is still a great way to spend a lazy weekend afternoon.