Another great 50's sci-fi film that seems to have slipped thru the cracks of this blog.
A meteor crashes to earth and breaks into millions of pieces out in the desert. These strange crystal-like objects, it is soon learned, are more than they seem to be.
In the opening 15 minutes we are shown that these "rocks" turn people to stone by draining them of all bodily fluids. Grant Williams is Dave Miller, a geologist who also discovers that these things grow into huge towers and then crash down making millions of more fragments that also start growing when exposed to moisture.
I have always liked this film a hell of a lot and it's because the threat to mankind is one of a kind and unique. This was directed by John Sherwood who handles everything perfectly and gets the best out of the cast which also includes gorgeous Lola Albright as Cathy Barrett, Les Tremayne, Richard Cutting, Phil Harvey and Trevor Bardette.
Bardette was a character actor whose career started in 1932 and went almost 40 years. His character of Prof. Arthur Flanders has always reminded me of the professors who used to appear in the old EC Comics of the 50's. I swear they used him as a model for those comic panels.
Universal has done a good job bringing this to DVD way back in 2006 and it has no Blu-ray release, but then again, this one is excellent in presentation. A Highly Recommended film.
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