A different way of telling a story

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Of all the giant insects flicks of the 1950s, this is probably the worst. But as a low-budget sci-fi flick with a modest mystery, it's not so bad. First, the good news: Forrest Tucker and others are conducting magnetic experiments, which leads to a problem: the experiments allow cosmic rays to bombard the land, resulting in giant insects, reptiles and spiders. And they're all very hungry. A strange individual (Michael Benson) shows up to help. He's from another planet, naturally. Now for the bad news: the giant insects and reptiles and whatnot are simply regular creepy crawlies poorly enlarged through the camera lens. The one exception is a spider that tries to eat the obligatory helpless heroine (Gaby Andre). There's a bit of gore, but not enough to keep the kiddies away. Tucker is solid, as always, and Benson is oddly believable as the friendly alien. It has been suggested his performance was based on Michael Rennie's alien visitor in "The Day The Earth Stood Still."

Well, it's all a bit strange. Here's an old British low-budget (wheren't they all?) science-fiction thriller, and all the commentators are American.That won't do.I saw this little treasure as a kid at the local flea-pit. It had an A-rating, meaning that a child could see it if accompanied by an adult. I think it perhaps should have been an X-rating. It certainly scared the pants off me.In Britain, it was actually screened as simply 'The Strange World'. The 'Planet X' bit was omitted until it appeared on television some years later.Stray radiation has been up to no good (ain't it always the case). We are warned by some know-it-all that it will have the effect of 'making things smaller. Or very much bigger'. Oh-dear. The worst effects appear to be concentrated around a little corner of England called 'Brierley Wood'. Some things seem to have got bigger big-time. We're talking insects here. There are no giant bunnies or anything else monster-cute. Unpleasant deaths begin happening to solitary people, especially after dark. 'It isn't very good in the deep, dark wood, in the middle of the night, when there isn't any light' - Enid Blyton. This is no time for nocturnal mushroom pickers. We humans are helped by a friendly alien who has turned up to warn us about our meddling - alas, too late. Well, almost.Eventually a company of soldiers are dispatched to sweep the wood and a battle takes place between over-grown bugs and the army, a bit like the earlier movie 'Them'. Humans come out on top, but there are some grisly killings.Evidently made with a budget about equal to today's family shopping-bill, special-effects are almost non-existent. Ordinary insects are filmed in huge Attenborough-like close-up. But the plot is well paced, there is some decent acting, and an adequate script. Skillful lighting and location create suitably spooky ambiance.We made a few nice little black-and-white scarers back in the good old days. Fans should check-out the original and best 'Village Of The Damned', based on John Wyndam's 'Midwich Cuckoos'.

I enjoyed Cosmic Monsters on DVD recently, and Forrest Tucker has never disappointed in such films (The Crawling Eye; Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas). It has those British science aspects that I really, really like in black & white films from the 1950's (Professor Quatermass comes to mind). The science of the plot is believable to a point, and the UFO Planet X elements work for me. Special effects are limited, and I did not care for the insects near the end, nor was I impressed with the numerous scenes of soldiers shooting bugs. However, the titular "spider in the web" scene is quite effective. Simplistic, well-paced, and enjoyable. Two points off for special effects & ending.

As a very young lad in the late 50's with an older sister who had a car, I spent many a Saturday with her and her friends at the local movie theater watching the latest horror movies.She says this was my choice because I did'nt like Westerns. Well I can't remember that but I do vaguely remember a certain double feature that scared the hell out of me. When I got home I did not want to go to bed(our house was in the country with woods all around). I thought the real frogs,crickets, and other bugs I heard outside were giant insects coming to get me. Since that night some 45 years ago I have seen countless 50's SF and horror movies hoping to find out what those 2 movies were. Many were similar and some had similar names ie."Thing From Another World", "Monster That Challenged The World"(I also saw it when I was a little older but it did not scare me quite as much),"X The Unknown","The Beginning Of The End" etc. but none were exactly "right".I began to think these movies did not exist or had gotten lost so I just gave up ever finding them, especially since no tv station we get ever shows any old SF or horror movies anymore.Since I had no idea of their titles(if they did exist) or actors in them , I logged on to the imdb and starting reading reviews of some of the movies and BINGO!!!There they both were. I could not believe it.Thanks to the great descriptions by your reviewers I finally found them. Needless to say they have both been ordered. The scariest to me was "The Strange World of Planet X", probably called "Cosmic Monsters" or "Crawling Terror". I can't give a a decent review of either movie because it has been 40+ years. By the way the other goodie was "The Trellenberg Terror" aka "The Crawling Eye" or "The Creature From Another World" . Now my life will be even more complete (ha ha) when someone comes out with a DVD or VHS of "Caltiki ,The Immortal Monster".I did catch it on tv as an "adult" of about 14 years of age but have not seen it since.