JLRVancouver And so the "The Deadly Mantis" was described by Cheech Marin in "It Came From Hollywood" (1982; a direct antecedent of MST3K, who also riffed on the film). "The Deadly Mantis" came out when big bug films were all the rage (and mostly all the same) and remains a pretty good example of the genre. The script is somewhat weak (especially the pseudo-scientific explanations of the biology/geology that lead to such a creature being at large) as is the extensive use of stock footage (most notably the brief documentary on radar at the beginning), but the star and main (only?) attraction of the film, the giant mantis, is great (for the times and the budget). A lot of clever practical effect work (including a huge model) went into creating the titular monster and it works well, both in the flying and the walking scenes (although the critter's consent 'roaring' detracts from the overall effect (e.g. much less effective the chittery sounds the giant ants made in "Them", 1954)). Overall: a good, watchable '50s monster movie and a must see for fans of the giant-bug cycle.

JPfanatic93 Giant movie monsters, usually (though not necessarily) spawn or awakened by atomic experiments, that subsequently went rampaging through unsuspecting cities could be divided into two categories in the Fifties, the decade in which they were most prevalent. The first and most famous category was reptilian in nature, and hearkened back to Willis O'Brien's Brontosaurus crushing London in 1925's The Lost World, eventually giving rise to the famous ultimate atomic nightmare Gojira (1954) (though certainly not stopping there). The second category consists of the various types of creepy crawlies that together can be sided under the general moniker of 'bugs'. As notable creatures in this regard the giant ants of Them! (1954), the gargantuan 'sixtopus' of Ray Harryhausen's It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) and the oversized spider in Tarantula (1955) deserve honorable mention. Less well known is the tremendously large praying mantis from The Deadly Mantis, which is not surprising since it offers little that has not been seen in other bug movies, save a different monstrous creature threatening mankind. Nevertheless, it's a fairly entertaining atomic age flick.Surprisingly, the origin of the titular beastie is not actually atomic. In this case, a volcanic eruption is responsible for freeing a 200-ft long prehistoric mantis – since everybody knows that in prehistoric times every animal was stupendously big after all – from its Arctic tomb. The effect is all the same though. The creature travels southwards, wreaking havoc and killing many people in its path. The United States military soon responds to the loss of its polar outposts and sends a team to investigate, which includes a paleontologist, a handsome army officer and a beautiful woman. Of course, the latter pair predictably gets more involved with each other than with the big bug running rampant, as is all too typical for movies from this era. But when the mantis finally attacks Washington D.C. decisive military action is called for and the team searches for a way to annihilate their hideous opponent. But naturally not before it has had a decent opportunity to terrorize a few national landmarks, also an ever delightful genre staple.Nathan Juran, who would continue making similar pictures like The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) and the original cult classic Attack of the 50 ft Woman (1958), serves as a capable director for crafting an enjoyable monster movie out of a by this time already worn-out premise, which betrays his qualities that would later cause him to become a valuable collaborator on several excellent Harryhausen movies, namely the rather similar 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) in which a reptilian/humanoid Venusian threatens Rome, First Men in the Moon (1964) and of course, the wonderful 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). The obvious mantis mock-up doesn't look as phony as it could have looked under the instructions of a lesser director (though a far cry from realistic), while the cast plays their parts convincingly enough for this type of B-movie. While The Deadly Mantis proves less than a stellar entry into the 'creature' subgenre of the 1950s, it remains somewhat of a cult favorite among fans of the science fiction pictures of the era. However, it's also exemplary of the tail end of the decade, that witnessed the notion of big beasties trampling both civilization and audiences' interest to death in rapid succession in ever cheaper and worse movies, despite the decent start offered by all too similar pictures in the first few years of the First Wave of science fiction films. Don't blame the mantis for that though.

Masticina Akicta Monster Movies out of the 50ties how enjoyable.Okay lets be fair it is yeah one of those and you know the monster effect is actually quite acceptable. There are problems like certain moments fall dead, the begin is way to slow.. allot of stuff about Radar. And more Radar and more..And yes stock footage allot, but the acting is good. The story is very acceptable. I can't call it bad it is enjoyable for its faults and its good part.I would say it isn't as good as the thing from outer space 1951 I belief. But it has good moments, basic fun giant monster movie moments and isn't that what you want. To be entertained. It could do with cutting out some slower passages, it isn't as if these 50 movies really do allot with developing characters anyway. Some areas of this movie easily could be cut. But you know So you know popcorn time, I put it somewhere in the middle of the movies of that age. Not super great neither really bad just average.So yes watch it!

sol1218 **SPOILERS** The movie "The Deadly Mantis" has the identical storyline of that of "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms". In that the big bug has been frozen alive in an arctic glacier and released by a violent geological shift, in the case of the "Beast" a nuclear explosion, under the earth's surface.Coming to life the mantis starts to fly south in search of food that's almost nonexistence in the arctic's frozen wasteland. Attacking boats planes and even an Eskimo village on its trip it's not until Washingto D.C Museum of Natural History paleontologist Dr. Nedrick "Ned" Jacksonn, William Hooper, positively identifies a broken off five foot appendage of the mysterious creature as that of a praying mantis that the USAF and Army goes into action in trying to bring the big bug down! That's before it destroys everything that's in its path on its flight down south! Which includes Boston Philadelphia Washington D.C and finally the Big Apple" itself the city of New York ! After the mantis was injured in an air to air combat confrontation with a USAF combat jet it hid itself inside the Holland Tunnel in New York City where the final battle between man and mantis was to take place in the movie. A battle that the very fate of mankind's existence hinged on with the US Army using it's most deadly and destructive WMD, Weapon of Mass Destruction, in its entire arsenal: A super powerful bug-bomb that it kept under lock and key as a last resort to finally stop and kill the thing!Despite it's gigantic and threatening size, some 200 feet long, the deadly mantis was more comical then scary. On the ground the big bug could barley walk and just slumped along barley being able to stand up straight. It's as if the mantis was still suffering from the frostbite that some 2,000,000 years of being frozen in ice caused it. When airborne the mantis seemed to be immune to rocket and missile attacks from attacking USAF jet planes, even knocking down a number of them, but for some reason a USAF pilot got a lucky shot at it and ended up bringing it down! That's after dozens of other rocket attacks had absolutely no effect on the mantis. It was also puzzling why the mantis choose to barricade itself in of all places the sealed off, from the both New York and New Jersey side, Holland Tunnel when it has so many other and safer places to hide in!P.S The most interesting thing in the movie was the face of the mantis itself that in the many closeups of the bug looks exactly like the descriptions and drawings of alien, with their wrap around eyes, from other space by those who claimed to have been kidnapped by them!