The Deadly Mantis (1957)

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The Giant Mantis
The Incredible Praying Mantis
The Incredible Preying Mantis

Tagline(s):	This Was the Day That Engulfed the World in Terror!
	The most dangerous monster that ever lived!
	Out of a million years ago ... a thousand tons of horror!
	A Thousand Tons of Horror! From A Million Years Ago ...

Nomination Year: 1997

SYNOPSIS: A giant prehistoric praying mantis, recently freed from the Arctic ice, voraciously preys on American military at the DEW Line and works its way south.

IMDb.com

Smithee Award Nominations

Worst Special Effect
Bang. "You Scared it!" Mantis gets shot at while flying.	Sorry, this clip has not yet been made available!

Stupidest-Looking Monster
It's Deadly! It's...Uh...Nevermind. Best when it's flying. Best being used here as a relative term.	Sorry, this clip has not yet been made available!

Directors

Director	Claim to Fame
Nathan Juran	Won an Academy Award for art direction on How Green Was My Valley, then went downhill from there with directing mostly low-budget 50's westerns and sci-fi flicks, his most infamous being Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (which he filmed under the name "Nathan Hertz") and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.

Cast

Actor	Character	Claim to Fame
Craig Stevens	Col. Joe Parkman	TV's "Peter Gunn." And Walter Carson on TV's "The Invisible Man."
William Hopper	Dr. Nedrick Jackson	He was originally intended to play the title role in Perry Mason, but he swapped roles with Raymond Burr before shooting began.
Alix Talton	Marge Blaine	Myra on "My Favorite Husband" and Helen Parnell in The Man Who Knew Too Much; did a lot of TV.
Florenz Ames	Prof. Anton Gunther	Did a lot of TV in the '50s. Was Mr. Dithers on "Blondie."
Paul Smith	Corporal	Did a lot of TV, like bit cop parts on "Bewitched." Also was Will Scarlett in The Erotic Adventures of Robin Hood, for what it's worth. Which is nothing.
Phil Harvey	Lou	Died at 99 after a life of doing such films as The Monolith Monsters, I've Lived Before, and Touch of Evil.


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