An attack on an arctic weather station and a USAF transport plane has the Air Force puzzled. Their scientists make little headway but Col. Joe Parkman enlists the aid of a paleontologist, Dr. Ned Jackson (William Hopper), who may have the answer: the culprit is a giant praying mantis. The creature is traveling south, and it’s a race against time to capture or kill it.

Welcome to the first of our coverage of three creature-features in a row! The 1950s and the atomic age introduced a plethora of these big-bug type films, and The Deadly Mantis (1957) is a prime example. Join us as we discuss our history with this film and how it holds up the modern age. Listen, as Johnny Has the Keys tracks a giant monster from the arctic to DC, and finally, New York… bearing witness to the path of destruction it leaves.
SHOW LINKS
- The Deadly Mantis (1957)
- original trailer
- Nathan Juran
- 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- King Kong (1933)
- Godzilla (1954)
- Them! (1954)
- Tarantula (1955)
- The Host (2006)
- The Munsters (1964)
- The Fly (1958)
- Letterboxd (social film discovery)
- Get Tim’s Book THE DEAD NEXT DOOR
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