The Magnetic Monster
Terror swoops through the heart of a city in the dead of night!
1953 | 76m | English
Popularity: 1 (history)
| Director: | Herbert L. Strock, Curt Siodmak |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Ivan Tors, Curt Siodmak |
| Staring: |
| The Office of Scientific Investigations tracks down the source of increased magnetism and radioactivity in Los Angeles, and discovers that a man-made isotope is consuming available energy from nearby mass every few hours, doubling its size in the process. Although microscopic, it will soon become big enough to destroy Earth; and how to stop it is yet to be determined. The film's Deltatron special effects footage is taken from the 1934 German sci-fi film GOLD. | |
| Release Date: | Feb 18, 1953 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Herbert L. Strock, Curt Siodmak |
| Writer: | Ivan Tors, Curt Siodmak |
| Genres: | Science Fiction, Horror |
| Keywords | radiation, pregnancy, magnetic field, black and white, stock footage, radiation sickness, hardware store, scientist hero, magnetism, energy absorption, office of scientific investigation |
| Production Companies | Ivan Tors Productions |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 02, 2025 Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Richard Carlson | Dr. Jeffrey Stewart |
| King Donovan | Dr. Dan Forbes |
| Leo Britt | Dr. Benton |
| Jean Byron | Connie Stewart |
| Harry Ellerbe | Dr. Allard |
| Frank Gerstle | Col. Willis |
| John Vosper | Capt. Dyer |
| Byron Foulger | Mr. Simon |
| Leonard Mudie | Howard Denker |
| Kathleen Freeman | Nelly |
| William Benedict | Albert |
| John Zaremba | Chief Watson |
| Douglas Evans | Pilot |
| Strother Martin | Co-Pilot |
| Michael Fox | Dr. Serny |
| Watson Downs | Mayor |
| Lee Phelps | City Engineer |
| Roy Engel | Gen. Behan |
| John Dodsworth | Dr. Carthwright |
| Charles Williams | Cabbie |
| Michael Granger | Kenneth Smith |
| Jarma Lewis | Stewardess |
| Elizabeth Root | Joy |
| Juney Ellis | Spinster |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Ivan Tors | Screenplay |
| Herbert L. Strock | Supervising Editor, Director |
| George Van Marter | Production Design, Art Direction |
| Victor A. Gangelin | Set Decoration |
| Charles Van Enger | Director of Photography |
| Blaine Sanford | Original Music Composer |
| Curt Siodmak | Screenplay, Director |
| Bill Naylor | Sound Effects |
| Harry Redmond Jr. | Special Effects |
| Jack R. Glass | Visual Effects |
| Richard Dixon | Assistant Director |
| Maxwell O. Henry | Second Unit Director |
| Howard Fogetti | Sound |
| Paul Beaver | Original Music Composer |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| George Van Marter | Associate Producer |
| Ivan Tors | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 3 |
| 2024 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 4 |
| 2024 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 2 |
| 2024 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 4 |
| 2024 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 3 |
| 2024 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 3 |
| 2024 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 3 |
| 2024 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 3 |
| 2024 | 12 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| 2025 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
| 2025 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Trending Position
Richard Carlson struggles to inject much life into this rather dry sci-fi adventure. He and his scientist colleague "Dan" (King Donovan) are called into investigate mysterious goings on in a small town where just about everything metallic appears to have become magnetised. Bizarre, eh? What's causin ... g it? Well that might have something to do with poorly scientist "Denker" (Leonard Mudie) who is travelling on an aircraft with a briefcase containing an highly toxic, radioactive, element that absorbs energy from adjacent metallic objects allowing it to expand exponentially. It's soon down to our intrepid duo to come up with a way of destroying it before it becomes huge enough to destabilise the Earth's orbit. This has one big problem for me - it has no object or creature for me to focus on as the danger. The film consists of loads and loads of dialogue, a bit of romance from Carlson and his wife "Connie" (Jean Byron) but until the last ten minutes, nowhere near enough actual action to keep the momentum going for what seemed like an over-long seventy-five minutes of haring about and chatter.