** 1/2        It's a Big Mantis Whose Deadly!

Monster movies, especially ones based on giant bugs, where really popular back in the 50's. This was just another one of them…

The movie starts with a rather boring introduction featuring maps and military plus disaster stock footage. What they are trying to say that a big praying mantis from a million years ago popped out of the Arctic ice, and attacked military radar places up there. It then went south to Washington DC. It got blasted by the military, hid in a subway of New York City, and got killed when a group of people with silly helmets went in and blew it up with gas bombs. Ta da, end of story!

First of all, this isn't the best movie around. It's good points greatly outweigh it's bad. For one thing, it's unoriginal. It rips off of "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" more than the rest of the movies of the era. The special effects are quite lacking. The big mantis was made with a little model, and it comes off as very ineffective. It only has a few scenes in the beginning where it looks good, and then for the rest of the movie, it is hidden in fog, probably to hide the lame effects work. The mantis itself doesn't even act like a mantis. Preying mantises don't hunt down their prey, they lay in wait and when it comes they snap it up. It did that once in the movie, but in the rest it acted very unmantis-like, especially when it flew around all over the place. Sure, this is based on an unknown variation of mantis, but it could have been a little more true to form. It didn't put up too much of a fight, either. It only took a small barrage of military stock footage to take it down.

Still, it had its good points. The plot was pretty good. Well, in the beginning it was boring, and it did have that one strange scene when that female reporter went into male-only radar complexes. Still, it was pretty good in comparison to some movies of the era. There was also a few cool-looking mantis attack sequences. However, it still wasn't all that great. But, it would make a nifty double feature with "Tarantula" or "Them". Final verdict: not too great, but not too bad either.

Good plot.

O.K. special effects.

A few good scenes.

So lame it's funny at times.

Nifty double feature with "Tarantula" or "Them".

Rip-off!

Ineffective monster.

That is not a mantis!

What's with all these maps?

Too much military stock footage.

The deadly mantis isn't deadly enough!

Since when does a mantis roar before it "sneaks" up on something?

Credits