The Monster That Challenged the World
          
Director: Arnold Laven
Year: 1957
Rating: 5.5
The World might be an exaggeration. Would you believe a country? No. How about a state? No? What about a little girl? That sounds about right. I mean it is only a giant mollusk, not Godzilla, and there is no stomping of cities or anything really. Would this fall into Kaiju territory? Not sure. How big do you have to be to be a Kaiju? This is certainly big for a mollusk - about 12 feet perhaps - Godzilla would stomp on it and not even notice. It does get kudos though for being ugly and scary. I will be staying away from mollusks in the future. Big bug eyes, lots of wiggly stuff. Let's pause for a lesson on mollusks from the Britannica.



"Mollusk, any soft-bodied invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca, usually wholly or partly enclosed in a calcium carbonate shell secreted by a soft mantle covering the body. Along with the insects and vertebrates, it is one of the most diverse groups in the animal kingdom, with nearly 100,000 (possibly as many as 150,000) described species. Each group includes an ecologically and structurally immense variety of forms: the shell-less Caudofoveata; the narrow-footed gliders (Solenogastres); the serially valved chitons (Placophora or Polyplacophora); the cap-shaped neopilinids (Monoplacophora); the limpets, snails, and slugs (Gastropoda); the clams, mussels, scallops, oysters, shipworms, and cockles (Bivalvia); the tubiform to barrel-shaped tusk shells (Scaphopoda); and the nautiluses, cuttlefishes, squids, and octopuses (Cephalopoda)." Now you know more than anyone in the film.



Ok, have that memorized? Some day in fact mollusks may take over the world with a few million more years of evolution but not quite yet. Unless of course they come into contact with radiation, but what is the chance of that. Unless there is an earthquake that releases mollusks that have been trapped with radiation. And sure enough. Three navy officers out in the water go out of contact and all they find is a white creamy residue, a man scared to death and another with his water and blood sucked out. Under the Command of Twillinger (Tim Holt getting away from his B Westerns) a few men go diving and find an egg. And a pissed off mollusk. The scientist (Han Conried) tells the Commander that if the mollusks make it to the waterways and canals and lays eggs, the world is over! That doesn't stop the Commander from trying to romance the scientist's secretary (Audrey Dalton) who has that little girl. Keep her out of the labs! Damn, mom. When our mollusk - I named him Henry - shows up the film is pretty cool and has some classic images - but in between there is way too much talking and a-hugging and a-kissing. Milton Parsons, one of my favorite character actors, is in this and not as a morgue or funeral director for a change. But still kind of creepy.