The Magnetic Monster

The Magnetic Monster

18/2/1953 1h 16m 5.6/10

Overview

The Office of Scientific Investigations tracks down the source of increased magnetism and radioactivity in Los Angeles, and discovers that a man-made isotope is consuming available energy from nearby mass every few hours, doubling its size in the process. Although microscopic, it will soon become big enough to destroy Earth; and how to stop it is yet to be determined. The film's Deltatron special effects footage is taken from the 1934 German sci-fi film GOLD.

Director

Curt Siodmak

Top Billed Cast

Richard Carlson

Richard Carlson

Dr. Jeffrey Stewart

King Donovan

King Donovan

Dr. Dan Forbes

Harry Ellerbe

Harry Ellerbe

Dr. Allard

Frank Gerstle

Frank Gerstle

Col. Willis

Jean Byron

Jean Byron

Connie Stewart

Leo Britt

Dr. Benton

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

5/30/2023

5/10

Richard Carlson struggles to inject much life into this rather dry sci-fi adventure. He and his scientist colleague "Dan" (King Donovan) are called into investigate mysterious goings on in a small town where just about everything metallic appears to have become magnetised. Bizarre, eh? What's causing it? Well that might have something to do with poorly scientist "Denker" (Leonard Mudie) who is travelling on an aircraft with a briefcase containing an highly toxic, radioactive, element that absorbs energy from adjacent metallic objects allowing it to expand exponentially. It's soon down to our intrepid duo to come up with a way of destroying it before it becomes huge enough to destabilise the Earth's orbit. This has one big problem for me - it has no object or creature for me to focus on as the danger. The film consists of loads and loads of dialogue, a bit of romance from Carlson and his wife "Connie" (Jean Byron) but until the last ten minutes, nowhere near enough actual action to keep the momentum going for what seemed like an over-long seventy-five minutes of haring about and chatter.

Similar Movies

Village of the Damned

6.1

Village of the Damned

1995

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

7.5

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

1956

Bride of Frankenstein

7.5

Bride of Frankenstein

1935

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy

6.0

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy

1955

The Astronaut's Wife

5.6

The Astronaut's Wife

1999

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

7.9

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

1920

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle

6.1

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle

1963