The MONOLITH MONSTERS

   Film (1957). Universal. Dir John Sherwood, starring Grant Williams, Lola Albright, Les Tremayne. Screenplay Norman Jolley, Robert M. Fresco, based on a story by Jack ARNOLD, Fresco. 77 mins. B/w.

   In this rather good little film, crystals from a meteorite that has fallen near a small desert town grow and multiply rapidly when wet. They also cause death by absorbing all the silicon from any living thing that touches them, paradoxically turning the victims to stone. There is a rainstorm: the outstandingly surreal sequences of the crystals rearing up and crashing down, in their inexorable march towards the seemingly doomed town, are memorable. Then it is discovered that ordinary salt will stop them. Sherwood's debt to Jack Arnold is obvious, especially in the moody desert landscapes. The idea ofthe marching crystals may well have been borrowed from "White Lily" (1930) by John TAINE.

   JB/PN