GIANT MONSTERS OF 1955: TARANTULA, IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, & KING DINOSAUR!!

TARANTULA (1955) d. Jack Arnold (USA)
IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955) d. Robert Gordon (USA)
KING DINOSAUR (1955) d. Bert I. Gordon (USA)

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Tonight, we step back seventy years to 1955—the cusp of the golden age for giant monster cinema, as atomic anxiety crept from the headlines onto the silver screen, mutating into monstrous metaphors that stomped, crawled, and slithered into our collective imagination. We’ll look at three emblematic 1955 films - Tarantula, It Came from Beneath the Sea, and King Dinosaur - and explore how their monsters weren’t just fanciful products of science fiction, but also reflections of Cold War fears, rapid technological advancement, and the uneasy relationship between scientific progress and military might.

THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955) Blu-ray Review

This Island Earth (1955) d. Joseph M. Newman (USA) (86 min)

After a series of unique scientific instruments are delivered to his lab’s doorstep, atomic scientist Cal Meacham (Rex Reason) is invited to take part in a top-secret research experiment in a remote lab, working with the odd-featured inhabitants of the planet Metaluna and an international assembly of renowned scientists such as Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue) and Dr. Steven Carlson (Russell Johnson).

Though the purpose of the collective, as stated by their Metalunan employer Exeter (Jeff Morrow), is to end war, Meacham’s suspicions that things are not what they seem are soon born out when he, Ruth, and Steven try to leave the facility… with dire consequences. Attempting to escape their fate, they jump aboard a nearby airplane and are promptly whisked away in a flying saucer to Metaluna, where the planet’s energy shield is slowly failing due to attacks by its sworn enemy, the Zahgons.

THE ATOMIC MAN (aka TIMESLIP) (1955) movie review

Atomic Man, The (aka Timeslip) (1955) d. Ken Hughes (UK)

A reasonably effective sci-fi programmer, although the conceit of a man’s mind having slipped into the future – such that he is answering questions 7.5 seconds before they are asked – isn’t really put to much use and plays out only as a device to sustain the mystery surrounding a Cold War spy plot. Adapted by Charles Eric Maine from his novel, the story revolves around a nuclear scientist Stephen Raymer (Peter Arne) who is fished out of the Thames and, despite the bullet in his back and a brief moment of flatline, revives in hospital but absent any memory. Further complicating matters is the fact that the scientist’s doppelganger is continuing his experiments without anyone being the wiser!