Monster on the Campus (1958) User Reviews

Fun 50's Sci-Fi!

[rosscinema · 7/10 · 28 November 2002]

I've always enjoyed this film that turned out to be Jack Arnolds last horror film and I really do not understand why some people think this is awful. There are some flicks that you don't have to take seriously and all you have to do is sit back and have fun watching. Sure, its silly but most 50's sci-fi is. Why is this worse than others? The music that is used is from other Arnold films most notably "Tarantula" and I'm sure Universal used the same score for countless other movies. A lot of Arnold regulars pop up like Whit Bissell, Phil Harvey, Ross Elliott, Richard Cutting and of course Mr. Ziffel, Hank Patterson! Eddie Parker plays the monster here in make-up, not Arthur Franz and Parker was also in "Tarantula" in two roles. Both as lab assistance who die of that deforming disease. Troy Donahue in one of his early roles is Jimmy and he's especially wooden. But Arnold knows exactly how to tell a story no matter how silly and the scene with the giant dragonfly is fun, so is the whole movie.

Another Feather In Arnold's Already Crowded Cap

[ferbs54 · 7/10 · 13 December 2011]

In the five-year period 1953-'57, director Jack Arnold brought forth five sci-fi/horror classics that are still beloved by psychotronic-film fans today: "It Came From Outer Space" ('53), "Creature From the Black Lagoon" ('54), "Revenge of the Creature" ('55), "Tarantula" (also '55) and one of the all-time champs, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" ('57). Following up Arnold's string of crowd-pleasing entertainments came the lesser-known "Monster on the Campus" in 1958, a picture that, as it turns out, is just as much fun as the others. In the film, we meet a likable and soft-spoken professor at fictitious Dunsfield University, in California; a biologist named Donald Blake (a name that perhaps influenced Stan Lee four years later when selecting a moniker for Thor's alter ego!). When we first encounter Blake, he is very excited about the arrival of the school's latest prize acquisition, a preserved coelacanth from the seas off Madagascar. (It should be remembered that the coelacanth, a fish believed to have gone extinct 65 million years ago, was initially caught off the coast of South Africa 20 years previous to this film, in 1938.) But problems arise when it turns out that this fish had been preserved with pesky gamma radiation, and that its blood has a tendency to revert those who touch it or drink it (or, as happens in the film, even smoke it!) to their earlier evolutionary form. Thus, before long, a prehistoric dog, a giant dragonfly and a decidedly simian maniac are all terrorizing the area around Dunsfield U....

"Monster on the Campus," cheaply made as it is, is an efficient little thriller, compactly told (the whole thing clocks in at 77 minutes) and often fairly exciting. Arthur Franz is very ingratiating as Blake, and the creature that he turns into both looks and sounds pretty frightening. While some have complained about Blake's overly slow realization of his own transformations, this fact did not bother this viewer as much as the film's ending; without giving anything away, let me just say that I wish the picture could have concluded otherwise. Joanna Moore, future mother of Tatum O'Neal, is quite good as Blake's fiancée here, and displays convincingly real terror when confronted by the titular killer. The picture boasts any number of memorable scenes, my favorite being the initial appearance of that giant dragonfly as it beats against a windowpane; somehow, this sequence brought to mind the scene with the giant bugs on the supermarket windows in Frank Darabont's 2007 horror masterpiece "The Mist." Director Arnold keeps his film moving along nicely, and if the picture's FX don't match those in some of his earlier sci-fi films (especially those to be found in "The Incredible Shrinking Man"), they are nonetheless cheesily endearing; I love the look of that dragonfly in repose! In all, a wholly likable '50s sci-fi/horror outing, surely deserving of a greater renown. I would like to add here that 1958 also saw the release of another Jack Arnold sci-fi film, "The Space Children," which I have never seen, as well as the Arthur Franz sci-fi picture "The Flame Barrier," which I haven't seen since the early '60s on NYC television. Both have never appeared on either VHS or DVD and both are films that really ought to see the light of the digital day soon. Studio heads, please take note!

Fun B Horror, but not Arnold's best

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 10 November 2002]

Jack Arnold's last sci-fi horror for Universal isn't as good or as much fun as most of his previous efforts (including the oft-overlooked "Tarantula") but it has its own virtues to recommend it. The story is a clone of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" -- except that in this case, we have a college professor who keeps accidentally coming into contact with chemical agents which transform him into an aboriginal "throwback."

Not much killing, or action at all for that matter, and in retrospect the film's manner in general is too straight and serious for its flimsy materials. Not much sympathy or interest is generated before the film runs its course, but an audience may get a few laughs from some of the stilted dialogue and from the oversized "throwback" creatures that appear from time to time to terrorize unsuspecting coeds and jocks.

The female lead was written to have a very unappealing personality -- for one thing, when the scientist she supposedly loves is getting really interested in his work, she goes over his head to his boss (who "happens" to be her father) to have him investigated for insanity! Maybe he just wasn't paying enough attention to her.... anyway, I don't think many in the audience would have minded if she HAD gotten hers from the monster in the end....

Classic 50's low budget Sci-Fi with strong performances.

[dsturgil · 14 January 2004]

Ah yes! The good old days when Sci-Fi was simple. All you needed was a little radiation and most anything was possible. This movie was one of the last 50's Sci-Fi movies from Universal coming out in 1959-same year I did. Audiences then were not as sophisticated as they are now and quicker to give a movie the benefit of the doubt. This was the day of the Drive-In movie. Anyone my age or older should enjoy the simplicity of this film and the nostalgic quality of it. Good solid performances by Arthur Franz and especially Joanna Moore (whom would later become notable as one of Andy Taylor's girlfriends on TV). Plenty of the good old character actors from Universal's other Sci-Fi films give it a familiar feel. This movie doesn't ask you to think too much; when I was a kid watching Shock Theatre on a Saturday afternoon I didn't want to. Sure, the make-up could have been much better but from a distance the monster is quite scary.You don't have to look close to find a few blunders: lace-up shoe or loafer? You'll hear music from practically all of Universal's Sci-Fi and horrors movies: Tarantula, Frankenstein, the Mummy movies.This movie is probably not very entertaining to the younger generations of viewers other than finding it quite campy. How far we've come as an audience. But this movie tries hard and with its budget I've got to give it credit. It holds a warm spot in my heart and a solid place in my video library.

The Devolution of a Man

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 21 September 2018]

When the student Jimmy (Troy Donahue) brings a coelacanth to the science professor and scientist at Dunsford University Dr. Donald Blake (Arthur Franz), his dog licks the water thawed from the freezer in the van. It is encaged in Sr. Blake´s laboratory and soon it turns into a primitive species. Dr. Oliver Cole (Whit Bissell) asks a sample of the dog´s saliva to Dr. Blake and sends his Nurse Molly Riordan (Helen Westcott) to take it. Meanwhile Dr. Blake scratches his hand in the coelacanth´s mouth and touches into the water where the fossil is and when Molly arrives, she drives him home. Dr. Blake passes out and Molly calls Dr. Cole, but she is attacked. When his fiancée Madeline Howard (Joanna Moore) arrives, she finds Blake with ripped clothes and Molly murdered. Who might have attacked Dr. Blake and Molly?

"Monster on the Campus" is a horror film from Universal with a story of the devolution of a man that turns into a caveman. The plot has many similarities with "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and the conclusion recalls "The Beauty and the Beast", but the film is highly entertaining. My vote is seven.

Title (Brail): "O Monstro Sanguinário" ("The Bloody Monster")

All things considered, it has a certain respectability

[hung_fao_tweeze · 7/10 · 27 July 2019]

Made in 1958, here is a general reworking of all the came before. It's Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde married to any werewolf movie. Yet, it never entirely verges into camp or silliness. The performances are strong, even from the dog. The music, though borrowed from other movies like 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' and 'Tarantula', is used effectively giving the action a boost where needed.

The special effects were nothing special. The transformation from man to beast and back again were smoother than 'The Wolfman', but the resulting creature was almost too obviously a rubber mask. Closeups do kill the effect somewhat so they filmed him at a distance which pulled the visuals back into plausibility. Much of it works well.

But why was this made? As noted, there's nothing new. It is played as a very straight forward no nonsense monster movie. It has its moments of real horror but it also doesn't even try push boundaries. If you had to judge it against all other of this genre, it's a C+.

A good solid movie for a rainy day and popcorn.

Uneven but entertaining Fifties horror movie from Jack Arnold

[mlraymond · 5/10 · 25 March 2009]

This movie has some good performances and suspenseful sequences, alternating with unintentionally funny moments. There's something irresistibly humorous about the scene where earnest college professor Arthur Franz's lovely fiancée confides to her college president father, in what sounds like a genuine Southern accent, " I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help overhearing him talking to Madagascar about a fish!" The scenes where the partially glimpsed monster stalks people are effectively done, especially the moment when a horrified couple discover the body of a victim hanging from a tree by her hair. The darkened campus at night as a place of potential terror is contrasted effectively with the opening daytime scenes of students strolling around. There are plenty of nicely done character roles such as the genial grounds-keeper, Helen Westcott as a nurse who has a thing for the Professor, and Judson Pratt as a worldly-wise police detective. Whit Bissell as a disbelieving colleague and the grumpy university president are also effective.

Arthur Franz carries the movie as the dedicated scientist who can't get anyone to believe in his strange discoveries, or his theory about a prehistoric man being the killer the police are searching for. He plays his role so seriously that it risks becoming unintentionally humorous at times, especially the moment when he puffs on his pipe without realizing he's ingesting some pretty strange stuff that got into it by accident.

This movie isn't too bad, taken all together. It's a bit dull in spots and could have used some more action of the monster, but there are compensations in the form of classic Fifties automobiles on display ,along with beautiful women wearing very becoming Fifties fashions. Good fun for fans of Fifties science fiction and those who enjoy a bit of camp humor.

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (Jack Arnold, 1958) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 1 July 2007]

To begin with, I had missed out on this one a couple of times on Italian TV in the past – so I was glad to finally get around to watching it for the first time via the Universal DVD as part of their "Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection" set.

While a lesser effort overall coming from Arnold, this slow-starting, then thought-provoking film references several well-worn horror formulas – particularly of the Wolf Man/Jekyll & Hyde variety (with the prehistoric amphibian element, presumably, a nod to the director's own earlier Universal success CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON [1954]!) – and even takes care to include an anti-Nuclear message. Despite being lensed by renowned cinematographer Russell Metty, the film's look isn't especially interesting – nor is the monster one of the most memorable creations of the sci-fi era (though it's received a fair degree of exposure in the various books on the genre I own, frankly, the monster looks better in stills than it does on film).

The catchpenny title suggests a teen-oriented venture, but the only such character to get a considerable amount of screen-time is heart-throb Troy Donahue. In fact, protagonist Arthur Franz' role here is perhaps the most substantial of its type that he played – doing well enough as both the obsessed scientist and the 'throwback anthropoid' he inadvertently turns into (especially effective in the scene where it dawns on him that he's the monster everyone's looking for). His girlfriend, played by Joanna Moore, is slightly above average as vintage sci-fi leading ladies go – while solid support is provided by Judson Pratt as the heavy-set police detective and the ubiquitous Whit Bissell as a conservative medic.

An interesting point regarding the metamorphosis is that it only happens after exposure to the blood of an extinct fish that had been subjected to radiation – which rather makes the situations behind his subsequent 'regressions' not a little contrived! The climax can't resist having the monster run off with the leading lady a' la the Gill Man from the "Black Lagoon" films; besides, the final transformation (which Franz does in order to prove his point – clearly in direct imitation of the Jekyll/Hyde prototype – that a Neanderthal man is responsible for the killing spree which has gripped the campus and the surrounding area) does feel, perhaps, like one too many trips to the well…and it's further marred by the heroine idiotically remarking at one point that the monster is wearing Franz' clothes!!

I've yet to watch German émigré director E.A. Dupont's solitary horror effort on similar lines, THE NEANDERTHAL MAN (1953); that said, the intermittent presence in MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS of mutant animals (namely, a vicious dog and a giant dragonfly) also reminded me of the fact that it's high time I reacquaint myself with the likes of THE FLY (1958) and THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE (1959) – the former is supposed to be re-issued by Fox around Halloween as part of a Box Set (along with its two inferior sequels), while the latter is available on a bare-bones but affordable DVD (incidentally, also from Fox). By the way, I'm now left with only THE SPACE CHILDREN (1958) to catch up with from Arnold's numerous genre outings...

A strange creature runs amuck on a quiet campus.

[michaelRokeefe · 4/10 · 31 May 2001]

No doubt not the best from director Jack Arnold, but very watchable. A college professor(Arthur Franz) nicks his hand on the teeth of a prehistoric fish and turns into a murderous man/beast. Parts of this movie can be very chilling and then a few moments later you want to shout "That's pretty funny". Watch this in tandem with one of Arnold's better flicks TARANTULA and you will have a fun and thrilling evening.

Franz gives a great performance compared to the rest of the cast that includes: Joanna Moore, Nancy Walters, Whit Bissell and pretty boy Troy Donahue.

Fast, cheap and satisfying

[commander_zero · 6/10 · 26 March 2014]

Minor as Monster on the Campus might be as an entry in the Universal horror series (it is evidently the last such Universal film to be produced in the USA), it offers the pleasures of a minor production done with thorough professionalism. There is little of the Jack Arnold atmosphere that made The Incredible Shrinking Man one of the great 1950s science fiction films, and that make Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came from Outer Space worth watching today. It is as if Universal wanted the box office success of those films, only this time done fast and cheap. The science-fiction element—the blood of a deep-sea coelacanth, when ingested, induces short-term reversion to a "prehistoric" state (apparently "they," in the past, were much more bloodthirsty then than "we" are now) is tacky even by '50s sci-fi standards. The hapless scientist, Donald Blake played by Arthur Franz, falls victim to it by the sloppiest set of laboratory standards imaginable—he lifts the coelacanth carcass by its teeth, rinses his hand in the tank's meltwater … the poor goof even manages to get blood into his pipe tobacco. Next thing you, know, Blake suffers fainting spells during which he transforms into a hairy, muscular ape-man—primitive in every way except for a marvelous knack for hatchet-throwing. Worst of all, discovering that the mysterious killer terrorizing the (strangely-deserted) campus of Dunsfield University is none other than himself Blake, not to offer any more spoilers, takes actions that bring the film to a rapid conclusion. Fast and cheap. If the screenwriter, David Duncan, had been given the time to do a re-draft, who knows what Monster on the Campus could have offer us? Time for a remake—this time bringing out the submerged tensions of Blake having to work for his fiancé's father, of the nurse who makes no secret of her attraction to the handsome professor, of the bland teenage lovers who emerge from these horrors curiously unscathed. David Cronenberg, who once said (and demonstrated in The Fly) that it is bad films rather than good films that merit remakes, should chuck his current boring and talky art films and do what he does best by remaking Monster on the Campus!

Extremely boring and stupid.

[13Funbags · 2/10 · 6 January 2019]

This movie is only 77 minutes and it felt like an eternity. The only good thing about it is that the scientist didn't have a gun. That's rare for these terrible movies.

Great, rare movie

[StevenFlyboy · 10/10 · 23 June 2006]

If you're a 50's "B" movie fan like I am, this is a gem. I saw this film back when i was a kid, something like 1962 or so, and it hasn't been on T.V. in years. I have a VHS copy of it but would love to find it on DVD sometime in the future. When a caveman throws a hatchet and it hits a cop square in the face, it leaves an impression on you when you're 10 years old. Of course, by today's standards, it looks kinda hokey, but you have to keep in mind that movies like this one "pioneered" this type of movie. I wouldn't trade a 50's "B" flick for all the new garbage in the world. Like, what could measure up to movies such as the transparency of "The Amazing Colossal Man" and "War Of The Colossal Beast?" Ah yes, those were the days. Back when sci-fi movies didn't have to be VULGAR to be entertaining. The special effects didn't even have to be good - we STILL loved it! I sure wish the Time Tunnel was a reality - I'd go back there in a new york second!

Laughable In Spots; A Typical Hokey '50s Sci-Fi Film

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 11 October 2006]

Here is another movie offered in the recently-released Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection that, like the others, offers a good DVD transfer. This story isn't quite up to a few of the others, but it's still interesting which is the main thing. A boring sci-fi film would be inexcusable.

This one is almost laughable in spots because it does have a Grade-B feel to it. The main actor, Arthur Franz, sounds like a wooden in spots and is a bit too serious. The rest of the cast, except for wooden-voiced pretty boy Troy Donahue, is fine.

The story is totally ludicrous and a feeble, shameless attempt to promote evolution. Only a leftist loony would believe this stuff. It's presented so

I wish they had at least put in more tension in the earlier "monster" scenes. What the monster looked like was totally left up the viewer's imagination, until the final dramatic scene when he was "exposed." That was cool; a kind of wolf-man look. Earlier, the super-sized dragonfly was so poorly done it was funny.

It's decent, nothing notable but a okay part of the five-movie Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection DVD that was released in the fall of 2006. I've seen three of these so far and have been impressed with the transfer on these discs.

A decent idea for a story...and about $9.99 in makeup!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 17 August 2009]

Professor Blake has a new toy. It seems that his university has just purchased a coelacanthe--a primordial fish species that was discovered to still be alive in the 20th century. Unfortunately for the Doc, he doesn't realize that the fish was preserved using Gamma rays!! This combination causes the fish to have horrible properties--if anyone touches the blood of this dead creature, they, too, become primordial--and dangerous! First, a dog licks the water that the fish came in when it arrived on campus. Because there was blood in it, the dog became vicious and its teeth elongated--almost like sabre-teeth. Later, the professor scrapes his hand on the teeth of this dead fish and he becomes....well, we really don't see exactly what he becomes until later in the film--but we do know he's mean and looks a bit like Lancelot the Missing Link.

Oddly, while this professor is supposed to be super-smart, it took him a long time to figure out what was happening. You see, after becoming a monkey-man, he would later turn back to himself--with no memory of his bestial transformation. Later, when he did seem to understand what was happening, he actually deliberately injected himself to see if it was true--without really providing much in the way of safety of others. Sure, he went to a lonely mountain cabin to conduct this experiment, but sure enough, someone was nearby and ready to be killed. And, by the way, the killing was a dandy (pretty cool stuff) but sadly the makeup job wasn't. The monster we'd been waiting so long to actually see consisted of a cheap rubber mask and rubber gloves and lots of hair. It was very disappointing and showed that the budget for makeup must have been about $9.99--which is sad because the basic story idea and much of the acting was actually very good. Oddly, while the mask was cheap and crappy, the transformation process at the very end of the film was excellent--who'd have figured?

Overall, a decent story idea as far as 50s horror films go. It's very creative and unusual. It's just too bad the creature looked so stupid and the professor behaved, well, like an idiot on multiple occasions.

By the way, in a clever bit of writing, the Professor makes a phone call to a "Dr. Moreau" who lives on an island. This is obviously a reference to the H.G. Wells story about a crazy doctor who dabbles in making primitive creates very human-like (and vice-versa).

Well worth watching if you like scary fun

[pmsusana · 28 January 2001]

Although this film reportedly wasn't one of director Jack Arnold's favorites, I personally have enjoyed it very much through many viewings. The story is a Jekyll-Hyde variation, but it offers real suspense and some genuine scares from a director that knows how. The only (minor) disappointment is the creature's makeup (not seen 'til near the end), which unfortunately is revealed to us in a brightly-lit room; makeups like this are more effective when glimpsed fleetingly in the dark. That small quibble aside, this film offers lots of scary fun for those in the mood. (The same can be said of Arnold's earlier films for the same studio, "It Came From Outer Space" (1953) and "Tarantula" (1955).

Interesting, Maybe Silly

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 22 May 2011]

The blood of a primitive fish exposed to gamma rays causes a benign research professor (Arthur Franz) to regress to an ape-like, bloodthirsty prehistoric hominid.

I cannot believe how daft Professor Blake is. He does not realize that all the evidence points to one man for the murders, and he even knows how, but fails to recognize it. I am also sort of surprised how light this film is given the subject matter -- a deranged killer is loose on campus and no one seems too terribly upset.

I liked the idea of the de-evolution blood. Even if it made a dog wear fake teeth. And even if the professor's name is Donald Blake, which means that he was also the Norse god Thor...

Not director Arnolds' best, but fun for this type of movie.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 23 September 2015]

In "Monster on the Campus", the excellent character actor Arthur Franz plays Professor Donald Blake, who receives an interesting package one day. His new prize is a coelacanth, a hideous prehistoric fish unchanged for centuries while other species have evolved. He accidentally cuts his hand on its teeth, and this effects horrible changes in his own body. He periodically turns into a throwback, or primitive man, that goes out and kills.

The script by David Duncan doesn't bring anything really new to the table in terms of the monster-on-the-loose formula, but typically good direction by sci-fi expert Jack Arnold helps a lot, as well as the efforts of an engaging cast. Franz is especially fine in the lead. Much like many a protagonist in this type of story, he does earn our sympathies, and it's still compelling watching the character come to learn what we in the audience already know.

The creature design by Jack Kevan and makeup by Bud Westmore are decent. Stuntman Eddie Parker takes over for Franz once Blake is transformed into the monster. Joanna Moore is a pretty and appealing leading lady, Judson Pratt does well as the detective on the case, Arnold regular Whit Bissell is solid as ever as Blakes' disbelieving colleague, and Troy Donahue is reasonably likable as student Jimmy Flanders. Use of stock music is adequate throughout, and the finale is good, albeit with a VERY familiar resolution to fans of these kinds of scary movies.

Seven out of 10.

Dumb Scientist.

[AaronCapenBanner · 3/10 · 31 October 2013]

Jack Arnold directed this inferior science fiction thriller that stars Arthur Franz as college professor Donald Blake, who, after foolishly coming in contact with a recently discovered carcass of a prehistoric fish, transforms into a murderous Pre-human monster that terrorizes the campus, bringing in the local police to investigate, though only Donald can solve the recurrent transformations; that is, if he ever wises up... Film may contain the dumbest scientist in film history, let's see: First he puts his bare hands in the filthy water containing the fish, cuts himself, then sucks on the infected wound! A transformed dog that drank the watery(and irradiated) blood apparently doesn't clue him in any sooner about the change; Later, he carelessly smokes from a pipe also contaminated with the radiated blood, and only puts things together after many deaths, never contacting the police or colleagues, but stubbornly going alone, which leads to more deaths! Oh boy, what an idiot!

Not one of Universal's best monster movies

[vtcavuoto · 6/10 · 31 May 2006]

"Monster on the Campus" wasn't as good a film that I had hoped for. It features a good cast and Director(Jack Arnold) but there just isn't enough atmosphere and thrills. I may have been spoiled by Jack Arnold's previous films("It came from Outer Space","Tarantula" and "Creature from the Black Lagoon").The film isn't on the same level as the previously mentioned films. The actors did a good job with the script but that's about all I can say. It does feature some "B" movie vets in Arthur Franz, Whit Bissell and Ross Elliot plus a young Troy Donahue. The music was borrowed from other Universal films. If you listen carefully, you can hear music from "Tanrantula", among others. If you are a fan of Jack Arnold's other films, you may be a bit disappointed. Still,it's a decent film if you're a fan of Universal Studios' Sci/Fi series.

Silly but watchable

[preppy-3 · 5/10 · 14 May 2001]

Blood from the remains of an extinct fish make animals and people revert to their prehistoric ancestors. Director Jack Arnold hated this film and it's easy to see why. The script is pretty dumb but it's done very seriously and there is a good performance by Arthur Franz. There's also a little surprising amount of extreme (for the time) violence when a man gets hit with an axe. Unfortunately, the monster makeup in this film is terrible--the prehistoric dog just had big fangs...the giant dragonfly was so obviously a plastic dummy...and Franz (or a stuntman) is very obviously wearing a cheap, ridiculous-looking rubber mask at the end. So, it's OK but you're not missing anything if you skip it.

A couple of the scenes are so funny..I could die.

[boss-11 · 7/10 · 28 January 1999]

This film falls into my criteria of a cheap 50's sci-fi trying to be serious and in the process making you laugh at it's...cheapness. When you finally do get to see the monster it's a guy in an extremely cheap rubber mask moshing his mouth around. He's got hairy shoulderpads on that exude through his torn shirt. In one scene the monster gets so MAD after looking at a tape recorder and then a camera (why?) that it begins throwing things at them. It misses by 5 feet..even though it's standing only six feet away from them. It finds an axe and begins jumping around like a chimp with a new toy. Later it throws the axe in anger and nails a cop right between the eye's at 40 paces! I can split a gut laughing at this one. See also my review on "The Amazing Colossal Man".

To Revert To The Primitive

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 21 September 2013]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde gets yet another theme variation in this Universal Pictures monster epic Monster On The Campus. Will these scientists ever stop all these wild and crazy experiments.

Arthur Franz plays a biology professor who is rejoicing in the fact that he's gotten for his college a preserved specimen of an old lung fish, the kind that millions of years ago had both gills and lungs and would leave the water periodically and walk about on land for food. The specimen is irradiated with gamma rays to kill bacteria. What that does is cause anyone exposed to revert to the primitive. Troy Donahue's dog becomes a prehistoric wolf, a modern dragon fly becomes its ancestor which had a two foot wing span and Franz goes Hyde on everybody.

A little King Kong is thrown in here as well as Franz as man or beast has a real hankering for Joanna Moore. Who wouldn't.

Poor Arthur Franz his career hit bottom with this one. A nice cast of real professional players who had some solid film credits really look pained trying to breathe life into this Thanksgiving special. And to think Troy Donahue playing one of Franz's students was only a year away from his breakout role in A Summer Place.

For men and beasts, this one's a dog.

Altered States

[twanurit · 9/10 · 13 October 2006]

Blood of an ancient fish, treated with Gamma radiation to preserve it, transforms those infected with it into a vicious dog, giant dragonfly or monstrous Neanderthal entity. Arthur Franz is very convincing as an archaeological college professor, teaching Troy Donahue and Nancy Walters, while romancing Joanna Moore. Jack Arnold ably directed this somewhat maligned film; it's actually creepy and well-shot, succeeding in delivering the shocks, especially in the last act, where we finally see the title creation and it's a startling effect. Helen Westcott is memorable in two scenes, as the school nurse, conveying some romantic attraction to Franz, all with a dose of humor. It was recently released to DVD as part of the "Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection", which includes "Tarantula" (1955), "The Mole People" (1956), "The Monolith Monsters" (1957), and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957), all on par: great title sequence, fine musical score (some patchwork), beautiful monochrome photography, well-scripted, capably acted, always intriguing, with "Shrinking Man" the jewel of the crown.

A solid vintage horror sci-fi film

[noblepuker · 7/10 · 29 May 2019]

I watched this in 1977 at 8 yrs old. A scene stuck in my head for the nest 40 yrs, so i researched it. BAM, this was the movie. I figure if a scene stayed with me that long, it deserved a re-watch from an adult point of view. I wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed it, again at 50 yrs old. I think what i said speaks for itself. A good, family horror film. Watch it with your kid, but, like all horror, they're best watched alone.

Fun but silly movie

[tamstrat · 4/10 · 22 February 2005]

This movie, "Monster on the Campus" is a very enjoyable, silly movie from Jack Arnold, made in 1958. The basic premise line is that a scientist played with stoic charm by Arthur Franz, is studying evolution and is accidentally bitten by a million year old fish which then causes the good professor to run amok on campus. The movie has some scary moments and some silly moments, the monster in a flannel shirt comes to mind, but overall it is good fun on a rainy night. The lovely leading lady is played by Joanna Moore, Tatum O'Neal's late mother, she showed promise in this movie, but I can't recall seeing her in any thing else. Enjoy this movie in all it's simplicity.