The Deadly Mantis - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Deadly Mantis

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I have a weakness for 1950s horror films. There is a natural charm and kitsch to them makes them a blast to watch, even if they are wildly dated in today’s modern horror genre. It was the post nuclear age and everyone was scared spitless of radiation and the effects. This spawned an entire generation of films that were based off of mutated bugs and normal creatures that would spiral out of control into mega monsters that would terrorize the landscape. Or it would be about some prehistoric creature from the deep dark ages of the past that would be unearthed in some sort of archaeological discovery (which was a huge money maker for film makers) and the same thing would be replicated. Giant monster, handsome scientist, his lovely female assistant, and the military failing to shoot down big baddie. Rinse and repeat a hundred times and the audience lapping it all up. That is until the 60s when a film about mutant bunnies and a film about killer mosquitoes pretty much killed the killer animal genre for quite some time. This go around with have The Deadly Mantis, which kind of is a spiritual successor to Scream Factory’s Mole People from last month in the sense that it includes the old Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode in the extras (which is a HILARIOUS watch by the way).

The Deadly Mantis preys on your fear of unknown invasions, showing us the creation of the radar systems that America and Canada used to create an early warning system in case anyone decided to invade North America via the frozen north. However, the military unleashed something from the frozen snow. A giant preying mantis thousands upon thousands of times bigger than any we have in the modern ages. At first no one noticed it’s escape from it’s frozen hibernation, but soon outer rim outposts and supply planes fall victim to a mysterious buzzing sound that leaves no survivors. The military finds the broken off spur of the giant mantis, but can’t seem to make heads nor tails out of what it can be, until Paleontologist Dr. Nedrick Jackson (William Hopper) is called in with his lovely assistant Marge Blaine (Alix Talton) to figure things out.

Jackson correctly deduces that this is a bug of some sort, and being that the bug is a meat eater and leaving no survivors, there can only be one logical explanation. A giant prehistoric preying mantis that wreaking havoc in the frozen north lands. Going up north to investigate, they naturally find what they’re looking for, which is the perfect excuse for the military to get involved and start driving it towards populated areas in their efforts to kill it and stop the monster from killing more people.

The Deadly Mantis is a hilarious fun film by itself, as it embodies all of the goofy 1950s monster movie mayhem that I grew up on. Sure the monster is a guy in a rubber suit, but the powers that be did a fantastic job with the lighting and cinematography, actually making it appear almost alive at some spots. It’s amazing what could be done with limited budgets back then, but that also brings us to one of the banes of those old 1950s films. Stock footage. The Deadly Mantis is no less copious with its use of stock footage in order to save money, and the interspersed narration bits with the stock footage can be a bit grating. However, this is kind of part of the charm and kitsch of these films, and is less obtrusive than some of the other 1950s films of that era.

The new restoration of the film is pretty great in and of itself, but one of the biggest boons to the film is Scream Factory sourcing the MST3K episode to put in the special features (sadly only in SD), which makes it the second film that they’ve done this for (at least in my experience, as they may have done this for a few older films I’m not familiar with). The episode is one of the better episodes I’ve seen, and eclipses The Mole People in terms of hilarity.




Rating:

Not Rated By the MPAA




Video:

Scream Factory has touted this one has having a new 2K scan from the original film elements, and it looks very impressive for a 1950s monster movie. The clarity is sharp and clear, and the film’s grain structure is quite apparent. Some of the stock footage shots show some wear and tear (they were probably in mediocre shape before being spliced into the movie). Depth is strong and black levels appropriately inky. There’s some black crush here and there and some issues with uneven grain levels, but over all this looks much better than any presentation I’ve ever seen of The Deadly Mantis.








Audio:

Presented in the original mono mix that it came with theatrically, The Deadly Mantis sounds quite good on Blu-ray. The dialog has a little bit of harshness to it with a few scratches, but overall it’s a fairly clean mix. Dynamics aren’t too wild, but the action comes through cleanly and clearly when the monster starts buzzing around for a mysterious kill. Or the roar and smashing as the beasts tries to eat people. The mix is fairly simple and straight forward, so there’s nothing wild and exciting there, nad the hisses and mild scratches don’t mar up the sound a whole lot, making it a solid recording all around.






Extras:

• BRAND NEW 2K REMASTER OF THE FILM
• NEW Audio Commentary with film historians Tom Weaver and David Schecter
• Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode "The Deadly Mantis" (02/22/97)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Galler

Final Score:
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The Deadly Mantis is like many of the 1950s horror films. You’re either a fan of the cheesy nature of these old monster movies, or you’re not. There’s usually very little middle ground with some audiences hating the old cheese, while others adore it as part of a nostalgic bit of film history. I fall into the latter camp and embrace the cheese with open arms, so I can give this one a solid thumbs up as one of the better one in that genre as well. The new transfer is great, and while the audio could use some work, the extras are solid and the inclusion of the MST3K episode is a must for any collection. Very solid watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, Phil Harvey, Donald Randolph, Pat Conway, Florenz Ames, Paul Smith, Helen Jay, Paul Campbell, Floyd Simmons
Directed by: Nathan Juran
Written by: Martin Berkeley, William Alland
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 79 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 19th, 2019

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Very Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I might have seen this in the past but can't remember. Either way, will look for it.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Sometimes the cover/poster art for these movies is far better than the flick itself. Kind of reminds me of the Atari 2600 game cartridge boxes. I like it, because the images allow the mind to wander.

This movie though... I doubt I'd be able to survive a full viewing. ;-)

 

[Jack]

Cool review, have never heard of this movie before, but I have now.