Deadly Mantis, The

The Deadly Mantis is an American feature film of the science fiction and horror genres, with an emphasis on the "giant monster" film trope. The movie was directed by Nathan Juran with a screenplay written by Martin Berkeley based on a story treatment by William Alland. it was produced by Universal International Pictures and released theatrically in the United States in May, 1957. The movie stars Craig Stevens as Colonel Joe Parkman, William Hopper as Doctor Nedrick Jackson, Alix Talton as the female lead, Marge Blaine, Donald Randolph as Major General Mark Ford, Pat Conway as Sergeant Pete Allen, and Florenz Ames as Professor Anton Gunther.

The premise of the movie involves a giant preying mantis insect that frees itself from the Arctic and ends up doing battle with the United States military.

Notes & Trivia

 * Copyright holder: 1957, Universal Pictures Company, Inc..


 * The original working title for this film was The Giant Mantis.


 * The tagline for this film is "A thousand tons of horror! From a million years ago...".


 * Deadly Mantis, Deadly Mantis (1957), The Deadly Mantis, and The Deadly Mantis (1957) all redirect to this page.


 * The Deadly Mantis was re-released theatrically in 1964.


 * Film editor Chester W. Schaeffer is credited as Chester Schaeffer in this movie.


 * This is the first sci-fi genre work for director Nathan Juran. He has also directed 20 Million Miles to Earth, The Brain from Planet Arous, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and First Men in the Moon.


 * This is the first sci-fi genre work for actor William Hopper. Hopper also played the role of Colonel Robert Calder in 20 Million Miles to Earth.


 * In February of 1997, The Deadly Mantis was featured as an episode of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Recommendations

 * 20 Million Miles to Earth
 * Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
 * Attack of the Giant Leeches
 * Black Scorpion, The


 * Brain from Planet Arous, The
 * Monolith Monsters, The
 * Monster That Challenged the World, The
 * Tarantula