EDITOR’S NOTE: The Monster That Challenged the World was on Chiller Theater on Sunday, November 3, 1963 at 11:10 p.m.
Director Arnold Laven went from the mail room at Warner Brothers to producing The Rifleman and The Big Valley, as well as directing other movies. With a script by David Duncan and Pat Fielder (The Vampire, The Return of Dracula), this finds an earthquake opening the ocean floor and unleashing prehistoric giant mollusks. Only Lt. Cmdr. John “Twill” Twillinger (Tim Holt) can stop them, along with Gail MacKenzie (Audrey Dalton), her daughter Sandy (Mimi Gibson) and Dr. Jess Rogers (Hans Conried).
Shot in 16 days, this features an actual-size monster, which helps the movie. It’s based on fact: in 1955, freshwater shrimp appeared in a once-dry Mojave Desert lake. This has it all, and by all, I mean slime and giant eggs, as well as people being eaten by these huge monsters. Will the hero win the widow’s heart? Will a morgue doctor eat food over the dead body he’s doing an autopsy on? Will giant snails blow up real good?
You know it.
You can watch this on YouTube.
