An over-sized prehistoric preying mantis—trapped for millions of years in ice at the North pole—is released by seismic activity and proceeds to make its way south (to New York, of course), attacking US defence stations and military aircraft along the way. It's up to Col. Joe Parkman (Craig Stevens) to save the day, with a little help from paleontologist Ned Jackson (William Hopper) and his plucky assistant Marge Blaine (Alix Talton).
I had the 70s Aurora model kit based on this monster movie when I was a kid; it featured a cityscape diorama in which the mantis stood proudly over several crushed cars; now, 35 years later, I've finally caught up with the movie, and am pleased to say that the model they used for filming was far better than the one I built (try as I might, I would always get in a mess with the cement). But even though the big bug is well realised—a nicely detailed marionette with glowing eyes—the film itself leaves much to be desired: it takes an absolute age to get going, there's an over-reliance on stock footage to pad out the action, and the script is extremely talky.
Worse still, despite its terrifying appearance, the mantis proves to be a huge embarrassment to the atomic-era big bug fellowship, a lightweight in the chomping department, failing to chalk up the requisite number of human victims during its long journey south, and equally crap in the stomping department: having flown all the way to New York (suspended on clearly visible wires), the big bug neglects to go on a rampage in the streets like any self-respecting B-movie monster, instead opting to hide in the Manhattan Tunnel where a few well-aimed cans of pesticide soon put paid to his antics. Rather pathetic, eh?
I had the 70s Aurora model kit based on this monster movie when I was a kid; it featured a cityscape diorama in which the mantis stood proudly over several crushed cars; now, 35 years later, I've finally caught up with the movie, and am pleased to say that the model they used for filming was far better than the one I built (try as I might, I would always get in a mess with the cement). But even though the big bug is well realised—a nicely detailed marionette with glowing eyes—the film itself leaves much to be desired: it takes an absolute age to get going, there's an over-reliance on stock footage to pad out the action, and the script is extremely talky.
Worse still, despite its terrifying appearance, the mantis proves to be a huge embarrassment to the atomic-era big bug fellowship, a lightweight in the chomping department, failing to chalk up the requisite number of human victims during its long journey south, and equally crap in the stomping department: having flown all the way to New York (suspended on clearly visible wires), the big bug neglects to go on a rampage in the streets like any self-respecting B-movie monster, instead opting to hide in the Manhattan Tunnel where a few well-aimed cans of pesticide soon put paid to his antics. Rather pathetic, eh?