The Magnetic Monster (1953) User Reviews

Sci-Fi classic in the same league as the Outer Limits

[CelluloidRehab · 7/10 · 20 January 2005]

Jeff Stewart (Richard Carlson, also in Creature from the Black Lagoon & It Came from Outer Space) is an A-man working out of the Office of Scientific Investigation (OSI). He narrates this story regarding the discovery/creation of a new unstable radioactive isotope.

The movie is part MacGuyver, part Mr. Wizard and part Golden Age Radio program. This movie entertains while it educates. I haven't learned as much from a movie since the Miracle of Life in high school health class. Dr. Stewart explains theories and principles of chemistry, physics and even earth science through the use of simple everyday items (God bless you Mr. Wizard). He also manages to make these "models" by combining everyday items (God bless you MacGuyver).

The special effects are simple and hardly believable, yet still effective in conveying the science of the story. This movie reminds me of a golden age radio program when a chicken heart grows so large as to destroy the earth. This movie follows in the footsteps of that program.

The same can be said of the Outer Limits. It was a show that was severely limited in budget, yet still managed to convey some poignant stories about science and humanity. The thing that all these things have in common is the realization that there are unknowns out there that can kills us. Science will either saves us from the unknowns, or be the Pandora's box to our destruction.

There is a pretty good selection of stars in this movie : Kathleen Freeman (best remembered by me as the woman at the supermarket with the silver revolver from Innerspace), Michael Fox (whom I remember as the announcer from the Longest Yard - 1974) and Leonard Mudie (whom one will remember as one of the survivors from the Star Trek episode The Cage).

The science seems a little hokey, but one has to remember the movies of the time. I mean having a terminal computer called the Brain and a data mainframe called MANIAC is quite silly. Yet it is still believable. This is a very good science fiction movie (especially when one takes in account when it was made and the obviously limited budget). I recommend this movie for anyone who is a fan of classic science fiction.

Interesting and different 50's sci-fi

[chris_gaskin123 · 7/10 · 19 June 2013]

The Magnetic Monster was another movie I'd been after for years and recently obtained a copy on E-bay.

Nuclear scientists and physicists (The A-Men) are called in when all the metal appliances in an electrical store suddenly become magnetic. They discover this is being caused by a scientist who has invented a new element. But this new element absorbs energy, expanding every 11-12 hours and the A-Men have to find a solution of stopping it before it is too late...

This is different to a lot of 1950's sci-fies, no giant monsters or aliens.

The cast includes sci-fi regular Richard Carlson (It Came From Outer Space, Creature From the Black Lagoon), King Donovan (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Jean Byron (Invisible Invaders).

I quite enjoyed watching The Magnetic Monster, recommended.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Unique monster, unknown classic

[sdlitvin · 2 July 2003]

"The Magnetic Monster" was a superior sci-fi B movie of the 1950's. Rarely seen these days, it hasn't gotten the appreciation it deserves as an unusual sci-fi classic.

Two scientist-detectives from the Government "Office of Scientific Investigation (O.S.I.)" are sent to investigate some bizarre events, like some guy found dead of radiation poisoning in an apartment building where metal objects have become magnetized. They eventually discover the cause: somewhere there's a new, accidentally created radioactive isotope with the unique property to "grow" by assimilating surrounding energy into itself. As it grows geometrically, its magnetic field and radioactivity increase too, potentially threatening the very existence of Earth itself. Our heroes race to find and destroy the thing somehow.

For its time, the plot tried hard to be realistic, with realistic-sounding science and a semi-documentary style reminiscent of detective movies. Even a deliberate bit of comic relief as the detectives are initially stymied by false leads. ("Some guy phoned to complain that the battery in his hearing aid burned out and he wants us to look into the matter." "Oh, fine!")

With the new crimes of computer hacker attacks and bioterrorist attacks, the notion of detectives with scientific training is no longer science fiction. When the Government started investigating the deaths of people from anthrax in October 2001, I thought O.S.I. had finally come to pass.

It works because the writers and directors made it seem possible.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 1 November 2021]

"The Magnetic Monster" is a much better than average sci-fi/horror film from an era known for schlocky films in this genre. It works well because they manage to make the story seem possible...and much of it is because its told in a semi-documentary style.

When the story begins, some investigators from the OSI are looking into strange phenomena....and a really weird one comes to them. It seems a business is magnetized and all the clocks are broken. When Dr. Stewart (Richard Carlson) tosses some metal washers into the air, they are sucked onto the ceiling as some magnetic power is THAT strong and appears to be coming from the floor above. There, they find a dead man....killed from radiation. In fact, the whole place is very radioactive. What has happened here? And, where is the source of the magnetism, as it appears as if someone took the source with them...meaning that some object is MUCH more magnetic and dangerous than what the OSI team just found. What ttey don't realize is that the powerful substance is so powerful that it threatens to destroy the planet unless something is done quickly.

As I already mentioned, the style of the film makes it work well. Giving the story a seemingly credible scientific explanation also works well. Overall, an entertaining story which is surprisingly literate and enjoyable.

Cause of Death: Element with Hunger

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 13 May 2013]

Ivan Tors made a few Interesting Low Budget "real" Sci-Fi Movies in the Early to Mid 1950's with the Emphasis on Scientific Explanation and Rational Crime Solving in lieu of Giant Monsters, Aliens, Flying Saucers and Mutants.

The Goal was to bring "Down to Earth" some of the more Fantastic Ideas of Science Fiction and Present them with an Adult Tone that turned a Sense of Wonder into a Sense of Dread.

Radiation, Computers, the Hydrogen Bomb, Space Travel. These were all Things that We were Creating or Endeavoring to Create. Some were saying that we were letting the Technology Grow Faster than Our Ability to Understand (let alone control) it. Therein lies the Scary part and it was right Here in Reality among Us just Waiting to Devour and Destroy.

In this one it is the Exponential Growth of Energy wanting to Feed and be Fed Continuously as it Grows Beyond Sustainable Proportions. This is shown in Striking Lab Visuals through Screens and Electron Microscopes that have a Surreal Appeal. The Over-Sized "Weapon" We use to finally End it all is also Visually Impressive and Exciting.

With a Low Budget and High Concepts these few "Realistic" Scientific Movies from the Era are a welcome Diversion from the Latex, Insects, and Space Invaders.

So-so Sci-Fi about O.S.I., the Office of Scientific Investigation to find out weird magnetism and strange atomic forces

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 19 December 2018]

The astounding story of the "thing" that came alive deals with the discovery of an atomic power , then the government has set up a special group, the Office of Scientific Investigation or OSI , to look into rare phenomenon . Those who work there are known as A-Men (similarly to G-Men) , they are detectives for science and they are called in perilous missions as A-Man (A as in Atom) led by the brave agent Jeffrey Stewart (Richard Carlson) and his partner Dan Forbes (King Donovan) are sent to a local hardware store where they find a strong magnetic field has magnetized every metal item in the store and other bizarre phenomena .There they find the local appliance store owner that explain them all of their products have become highly magnetized and the things came alive . As they start a number of tests to establish what the source of the magnetism . The scientists are puzzled but their investigation leads them to a scientist who has invented a new element of extraordinary power. Unless they can find a way to stop its growth, it will destroy the Earth. As terror sweep through the heart of a city in the dead of night and this one man , the brave scientific , stands between the earth and doom! , battling a monstrous being that terrorizes Earth! A Cosmic Frankenstein monstrosity terrorizes earth and there is an only Man That Dared To Track The Monster To Its Lair!

A main candidate for the strangest and nuttiest Science Fiction of all time along with ¨Red planet Mars¨ by Harry Horner , including a surprising premise and plenty of twists and turns . This in an incoherent movie overburned with various messages about atomic danger and risks on the sub-atomic particles . As the picture narrates how a new danger faces man, sound waves that kill, atomic isotopes searing flesh, even pilotless planes that break the sound barrier , and to combat these threats a new agency has been created, The Office of Scientific Investigation (OSI) the men who work for this agency are known as ¨A men¨ similar to the classic ¨G-Men¨. The script involves a valiant scientist , his helper , his pregnant wife and their fight against a giant magneto-dynamo with tremendous power .The best parts of the movie are the thrilling final scenes ; however , using stock footage of the underground magneto-dynamo from the German science fiction thriller Gold (1934).It stars the always agreeable Richard Carlson . His film debut was The Young in Heart (1938). At the beginning he played forgettable second features, such as the supernaturally-themed Beyond tomorrow (1940), or commercial failures, like the nostalgic Anna Neagle musical No, No, Nanette (1940). There was, however, one stellar performance: his newspaperman David Hewitt in William Wyler's brilliant adaptation of Lillian Hellman's southern melodrama The Fox (1941). This was followed by another decent role in the fruity -but highly enjoyable- melodrama White Cargo (1942), and the lead in a cliched, run-of-the-mill crime picture, Highways by Night (1942). Then , Richard found renewed energy for his third-billed appearance in MGM's lavish Technicolor remake of King Salomon's mines (1950). Perhaps surprisingly, this did not lead to further roles in A-grade features. Instead, Richard Carlson found himself the unlikely star of several sci-fi features, which have attained cult status over the passing years. Pick of the bunch was Jack Arnold's seminal It came from outer space (1953) , based on a story by Ray Bradbury , with Richard in the role of a well-meaning, rather arcane astronomer, witness to an alien presence which turns out to be benign. The sincerity of his performance led to similar parts in The magnetic monster (1953) with similar moralistic undertones and the atmospheric Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). He is accompanied by an unknown support cast such as : King Donovan , Michael Fox , Byron Foulger , Jean Byron who plays his wife , she was billed the third , but the filming was so tight that she shot her scenes in one day . Look for two notorious secondaries giving brief interpretations : Kathleen Freeman and Strother Martin .

It packs an atmospheric musical score by Sanford and Paul Beaver . As well as an evocative cinematography in black and white by Charles Enger .This Sci-Fi film from another age that was ahead of its time was written and produced by Ivan Tors , being regularly directed by Curt Siodmak and Herbert L. Strock . Although credited to Curt Siodmak, most of the film was actually directed by Herbert L. Strock, who was hired by Ivan Tors for his skills as an editor, which were viewed as essential for a film that relied so much on stock footage. Curt Siodmak was a good writer and filmmaker who had a long career . One of Siodmak's first film-writing assignments was the screenplay for the German sci-fi picture F.P.1 antwortet nicht (1932) (US title: "Floating Platform 1 Does Not Answer"), based on his own novel. Compelled to leave Germany after Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took power, Siodmak went to work as a screenwriter in England and then moved to Hollywood in 1937. He got a job at Universal through his director-friend Joe May, helping write the script for May's The Invisible man returns (1940). Because the film went over well, Siodmak says, he fell into the horror/science-fiction "groove" . As he directed : Bride of the Gorilla , Slaves of the Amazons ,The Devil's Messenger , Curucu, Beast of the Amazon and 13 Demon Street . While director Herbert L-Strock made a lot of terror and Sci-Fi movies such as : Witches's brew , Monster , Men on the run , The crawling hand , How to make a monster , Flood of Drácula , Rider on a Dead Horse and I was a teenager monster . Rating : 5.5/10. Acceptable and passable .

Quite an Attraction

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 9 July 2015]

This is very good 1950's science fiction. At the center is Curt Siodmak, a pretty good writer who involves us in a tale where the use of a particle accelerator causes magnetism to go crazy. It results in implosions that could eventually end all life on earth. It's up to Richard Carlson and King Donovan, staples in the movie genre of the time, to come up with a solution. This is post atom bomb time and we are treated to a lot of moralizing about life and its preciousness. This could have gotten out of hand but is reined in pretty well. I thought the science was reasonable and the acting quite good. Stereotyping was kept to a minimum and allowed the principles to do their thing. Very good scene in an appliance store at the beginning.

Not nearly as good as it was when I was 10

[petrelet · 4/10 · 26 July 2015]

When I was a kid I thought this was a great movie! I was impressed by how it was more a straight sci-fi story than a monster movie at all. I liked the way it showed how exponential progression takes you from interesting lab effect to massive destruction with surprising speed. And I loved the energy of the climactic scene in the power plant.

Well, through the magic of Youtube I just today saw it again after a space of 40 years at least. And the wonder wasn't there. On the science side ... what a jumble. I mean, science fiction pretty much automatically involves made-up stuff. But it ought not to involve throwing existing science into a blender. In MM, terms like "atom", "molecule", "electron", "monopole", and "nucleus" are interchangeable. Magnetism and radioactivity are confused throughout. At one point we are given to understand that nuclear fission can be induced by an electric current. And it's never clear to me why the dangerous aspects of the substance are so variable and unpredictable. Why is it ever possible to transport it, for example.

On the plot side, scientists act very strangely. At one point an apparently British scientist puts a safety regulation ahead of the survival of the planet. The "A-men" of the Office of Scientific Investigation apparently have Lensman-level powers; at one point one of them orders all planes in the country grounded "on my authority." And then the action is interrupted here and there with discussions of whether Dr. Stewart's wife has gained enough weight in her pregnancy and whether they can get a house. I confess I had forgotten that whole subplot.

On the other hand you may like it if you are willing to put up with these flaws for the sake of a scene with cool sound effects and electric arcs...

Decent B-movie

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 17 June 2021]

THE MAGNETIC MONSTER (1953) is another fun effort from writer/director Curt Siodmak, the man responsible for many of the Universal classics in the 1940s. This one sees Richard Carlson cast as a prototype Fox Mulder with the Office of Scientific Investigation, sent to check out an unusual event at a hardware shop which has caused the whole place to become magnetised. They soon discover that a scientist's experiments in radiation have gone awry, creating a force that absorbs energy and transforms it into matter, causing it to grow regularly. The treatment for this film is decidedly literate, moving away from cheesy monster suits and women-in-peril in favour of an off-screen entity with the potential to destroy the world. Plenty of nuclear threat to fill up the short running time, with an in-depth story that keeps moving forward until the edge-of-the-seat climax, and it doesn't even matter than the budget is obviously low on this one.

When the world is in danger, call on the MANIAC!

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 30 June 2011]

Richard Carlson stars in this earnest, cautionary sci-fi as an agent from Boston's Office of Scientific Investigation discovering to his horror that a renown scientist has independently developed an artificial radioactive element which has taken on a life of its own. This isotope feeds on the energy around it, which doubles its size, and in time will harvest enough power to knock planet Earth right off its axis! Not-bad suspense thriller--with both textbook physics and non-textbook logic--smoothly incorporates footage from the 1934 German film "Gold" for its rousing conclusion. A low-budget entry in the man-made monster genre, but certainly an enjoyable one. ** from ****

One of the best sci-fi B-movies of the Fifties!

[Dejael · 8/10 · 16 November 2002]

One of the best sci-fi B-movies of the Fifties! Stalwart hero-scientist Carlson is really terrific and convincing too; stock footage of dynamo is realistically intercut with new footage of a movie set built to look exactly like the one in the German film GOLD (1934), in which stock footage from the 1934 film is intercut with new footage. The film succeeds on all levels, made for an adult audience, and although a 'modern' American film, it had a film crew with a heritage in German impressionist cinema of the 1930s. Highly recommended! Great Science Fiction! Probably the only Fifties SF film besides ON THE BEACH (1959) to show the nuclear radiation problem realistically; especially chilling is the scene on board an airliner where the nuclear scientist who had a hand in creating the monster (Leonard Mudie) is dying of nuclear radiation and his gums are bleeding while he holds onto a briefcase in his lap containing the radioactive isotope. Rushed to a hospital after the plane lands, he dies in isolation. And a formidable, unknown, unseen monster! Badly dated now, but an effective, well-written thriller featuring the TV star of I LED THREE LIVES and the movie star of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, Richard Carlson gives another fine performance.

Something a little different for devotees of 1950s science fiction.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 17 June 2016]

Our heroes in this yarn work for the O.S.I. That's the Office of Scientific Investigation. And their latest case is pretty staggering: looking into the incident of magnetized items in a hardware store, they discover something unexpected upstairs. It's a laboratory, in which a mad scientist, Dr. Denker (Leonard Mudie), had developed a radioactive element. Of course, now this element is unstable and could cause problems for many Americans if guys like Jeffrey Stewart (Richard Carlson) and his associate Dan Forbes (King Donovan) don't do something about it.

"The Magnetic Monster" won't be to everyones' taste. This is due to depending more on talk than action for its impact, and relatively little spectacle. (Even a key explosion is only mentioned rather than shown.) It IS pretty intelligent, offering a scenario (concocted by producer Ivan Tors and director Curt Siodmak) with an unusual and interesting "monster". The screenplay does offer convincing dialogue centered around science fact more than fantastical science fiction. Siodmak directs in a matter of fact, no nonsense style that helps to sell the realism of the story. There are some scenes of domestic bliss with Stewart and his pregnant wife Connie (Jean Byron) that do interrupt the flow of things, but there aren't an excessive amount of them. The big action climax actually consists of stock footage lifted from a 1930s German sci-fi feature titled "Gold".

There's a fair amount of recognizable actors in this earnest and rock solid cast. Good work by Carlson and Donovan is supplemented by fine performances by people like Harry Ellerbe, Leo Britt, Byron Foulger, Roy Engel, Frank Gerstle, William 'Billy' Benedict, Kathleen Freeman, and Strother Martin.

Fairly enjoyable overall. Tors' O.S.I. trilogy also consists of "Riders to the Star" and "Gog".

Six out of 10.

Definitely a relic of it's time

[JoeB131 · 4/10 · 7 November 2021]

This movie is so obviously an artifact of the the 1950's, from the technology that seems laughable (The "Maniac" computer probably had less computing power than the cell phone you keep in your pocket.) to the attitude towards the female lead, whose only function seems to be to make babies...

So the plot is a rogue physicist bombards an element with protons and through the magic of technibabble, it is able to self-replicate and grow on a constant basis. So it's a race against time to destroy it before it consumes the world. Or something.

It's not dull, but I imagine modern audiences would find it so.

One of my favorite minor Science Fiction films from the fifties!

[youroldpaljim · 8 July 2001]

Two agents from the Office of Scientific Investigation are sent to investigate high levels of radiation and magnetism centered above a hardware store. They discover that a scientist, who has since fled with the element, has invented a new highly dangerous radioactive element that is able to "grow". If the element is not found and destroyed or contained, it could continue to grow until it sends the Earth off its orbit. The OSI men must locate the element and then find a way to destroy before its to late.

THE MAGNETIC MONSTER is one of the best low budget films from the 1950's. The story is intelligent and the science at least seems authentic. Ivan Tors deserves praise for trying to make a serious, realistic science fiction film. This is probably his best. His other science fiction films and T.V. series "Science Fiction Theater" also aimed for this kind of realism, but they were often to talky and slow moving. This film moves at the right pace and builds up to an excellent climax.

A few stray facts: Most of the special effects at the end were taken from the 1935 German science fiction film GOLD. This explains the outdated overcoat and fedora that Carlson wears at the the climax, to match the one worn by the German actor in the older film. Also Ivan Tors is said to have aped this films structure from the "Dragnet" TV series. The fictitious government agency The Office of Scientific Investigation turned up in Tors GOG (1954) and some episodes of "Science Fiction Theater."

They go deep under ground off Nova Scotia? That sounds familiar....

[lewis-51 · 6/10 · 2 April 2018]

An interesting but rather odd and contrived story. Yes it's nice to see a serious attempt at authentic science. But it really fails rather badly at that -- even though it has the aura of authenticity.

Why did the writers of the movie feel it was necessary to go to Canada? Did audiences of the time accept the oddly dressed workers as Canadians? They were, of course, Germans acting in a movie from 1934.

As I write this in 2018, I wonder if other new viewers had the same thought as me -- they are going 1700 feet underground along the coast of Nova Scotia? My God -- it's Oak Island!!

Energy is the monster here.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 6 October 2020]

It's a monster you can't see, basically something that once created the universe but now threatens to destroy it. Nuclear energy, exposed by man, now has become the enemy of man as all the elements of it gather together to create one giant big ball of destructive energy. Veteran actor Richard Carlson is the leading scientist of the film, made aware of this threat through such insignificant situations like all clocks stopping, magnetic objects sticking together, and a city plunging into darkness in an attempt to weaken it.

Complex and talky yet interesting in a non-pretentious way, this builds in tension as everything is revealed in a way which will easily make sense to the viewer. The film mainly concentrates on the plot at hand, only dealing briefly with Carlson's personal life with a pregnant wife. Look for veteran character actress Kathleen Freeman as the secretary at the science lab work Carlson works. This is quite unique on the list of 1950's science fiction films, and it certainly stands out on its own.

Exponential feeding cycle

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 29 April 2013]

The Magnetic Monster is an earnest, but essentially below average science fiction film from the paranoid Fifties. In fact it's not a living creature at all.

It is in fact a new atomic element, we started getting a few them as a result of the Manhattan Project back in the day. And here was the problem I had with the film. What kind of a nuclear scientist walks off with a piece of some radioactive stuff with apparently no security precautions. Yet this is what we're asked to believe that Leonard Mudie went and did. They locate him on a flight with a leadlined briefcase with the stuff.

What to do with it? In sober documentary fashion scientists Richard Carlson and King Donovan try to stop this thing from growing. When it's on a feeding cycle it feasts on all things metallic, magnetizing them in the process. Carlson has an additional problem, wife Jean Byron is expecting and the world may get destroyed before Carlson and Byron contribute to the population.

It's a sincere film and the idea of a monster that's not animal or vegetable, but radioactive mineral is appealing to science fiction intellect. But I could not wrap myself around the concept of Leonard Mudie just walking off with the stuff to do some homework with.

Hard-Science SF Gem

[henrytj · 7/10 · 24 January 2008]

This is one of those odd movies that in one was is low quality, but in concept it is a rare gem. This is not one of the many "guy in a rubber suit" monster movies. In fact, you never really see the monster. Unless you are a fan of hard-science science fiction you may not like, or even understand what this movie is about.

The movie certainly has a low budget quality, including portions with a voice-over narration. Also, given the time it was made (1950s), stock footage and special effects were very limited. If made today, special effects could make the monster more appreciated by a general audience and not just us science nerds.

But, here's the idea, just what if some experiment gave rise to some new form of life based on magnetic fields which got more powerful in a geometric growth, life cycle kind of way. Say it doubles in strength once a day. In only ten days it will be a thousand times more powerful than it was the first day. Another ten days it will be a thousand-thousand, or a million times more powerful. In a month it will be a billion times more powerful than it started out. Unlimited geometric growth is scary and that is partly what this movie tries to get across to the audience. The scientists in the movie are in a race against time to try to find it, transport it, and stop it before it is unstoppable.

Again, maybe not a movie for most people, but a gem for those who appreciate the scientific concept of this story.

Not nearly on par with the best 50s American scifi movies

[ebeckstr-1 · 3/10 · 6 January 2014]

MM suffers from the same problems as a good many scifi films from its era. It is filmed in a documentary style, which also characterized some of the lesser film noir of the same time period. Exposition is handled mainly through very boring voice-over narration. In this way, instead of conveying information through interesting character interactions or suspenseful plot reveals (The Thing from Another World provides perfect examples e of how it should be done), we have to listen to the protagonist drone on and on in sci-babble through his voice-overs.

In addition, the movie makes liberal use of Air Force stock footage leading up to the climax. The climax itself consists largely of re-used footage from what I believe is the 1935 scifi movie, Trans-Atlantic Tunnel (worth a look, BTW).

All of the above alludes to the main problem with MM: a bland, uninteresting script which never draws the viewer in after the fashion of better scifi movies from that decade. It's just not on par with the best the 50s had to offer by way of American scifi flicks, like Them, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing, The Monolith Monsters, Forbidden Planet, It Came from Outer Space, and others. Most of these movies make a sincere attempt to present entertaining dialogue, and those with less complex scripts still create suspense through competent pacing and editing. Some of them, such as Them and The Thing, inject some humor into the script, thus investing the movie with another level of entertainment, while also fleshing out the characters a bit more. MM possesses none of these attributes, which is somewhat surprising, given Curt Siodmak's involvement with the film. He was both a competent writer and a reasonably talented director (perhaps not coincidentally, he conceived the story for Trans-Atlantic Tunnel).

Magnetic Monster is worth a look if you are a connoisseur of 50s American scifi; but I suggest you go in with low expectations.

Seen on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater in 1964

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 2 April 2019]

1952's "The Magnetic Monster" was the first of the Ivan Tors trilogy depicting the OSI (Office of Scientific Investigation), and easily the standout, followed by "Riders to the Stars" and "Gog." This was the only one directed and cowritten by German émigré Curt Siodmak, author of classics like "Black Friday," The Wolf Man" and "Invisible Agent," and by far the best movie he directed, galloping at an energetic pace that its two sequels could not match, bogged down as they were with so much scientific jargon. Making his science fiction debut is Richard Carlson, as Jeffrey Stewart, lead investigator partnered with King Donovan's Dan Forbes, kicking things off at a hardware store where the clocks all stopped running at the same time, and everything is now magnetized. They find a dead body on the second floor, a victim of radiation poisoning, but the element responsible missing, transported to the airport for a flight that could end in disaster if the isotope affects the engines. A dying 'lone wolf' scientist (Leonard Mudie) confesses to giving birth to the magnetic monster by bombarding serranium with alpha particles, causing it to grow in magnitude and become unstable. The problem is how to stop its growth and keep it from feeding on electrons, doubling in size at regular intervals until it could cause a shift in Earth's orbit. The climax takes place in an underground facility in Nova Scotia where they hope to stabilize the element with an excess of 9 million volts, represented by stock footage that Tors had acquired from the 1934 German feature "Gold," and though the seams are obvious the execution is spectacular. Carlson would cement his brief stardom with his next role in Universal's "It Came from Outer Space," here playing a no nonsense man of action with a pretty wife (Jean Byron) four months pregnant with their first child (Michael Fox would be the only actor to show up in all three OSI titles, and Strother Martin can be seen as a copilot). Everything works so well that Siodmak's subsequent efforts behind the camera ("Curucu Beast of the Amazon" in particular) make one wonder if editor Herbert L. Strock might have played a major part in this picture's success (he later made an unsubstantiated claim that Siodmak walked off the production, which lasted 11 days). Tors completed his theatrical trilogy (and the 1956 documentary "Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers") before television beckoned with SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE, SEA HUNT, RIPCORD, FLIPPER, GENTLE BEN, and DAKTARI.

SciFi but no real science and nonsense fiction

[kodaiborn · 1/10 · 19 May 2017]

The script of this low budget (no one could afford a scientific adviser) film consists of an incoherent jumble of misused terminology with a side story that the main character's wife is going to have a baby (no mystery here - we know how that happens). The plot says that Denker created this thing (it's called an element in the script) by bombarding serranium (a fictitious element name) with alpha particles for 200 hours. Note that this was done in his clandestine laboratory above the local appliance store. Now we find that magnetism and radioactivity, two unrelated phenomena, are the result of this creation. It magnetizes stuff around it but the magnetized stuff behaves in odd ways. The source is found to be above the ceiling but the metal objects move horizontally across the floor or counter. So they catch up with Denker with the stuff in a briefcase and store it in the cyclotron for safe keeping - wrong. That's not what one does with a cyclotron. Supposedly, this thing has the ability to absorb energy and convert it to mass (a great misapplication of the Einstein equation E = mc(squared) and so the cyclotron gets destroyed when it goes through one of its energy absorbing episodes. Whether it is one atom getting bigger or one atom making other atoms we are not told, only if no one can stop it the Earth will be ejected from its orbit. This is so bad. Never mind the ending. Along with the misapplication of scientific terminology the makers of the film want us to believe that the plane carrying the thing to Canada changes from a T-33 Trainer on the ground to a F-86 Saber jet after takeoff in the air. It shouldn't take much to realize that error and to correct it but no. In conclusion, don't pay money to see it or the time for that matter unless you get your kicks out of watching things that Mystery Science Theater 2000 would pan. I can't believe that so many reviewers actually thought it was good.

great movie just don't expect to 'see' any monster

[colin-69 · 8/10 · 22 January 2001]

this film will appeal to the sci-fi buff that enjoys the type of movies with scientific and electronic equipment and the hunt for a radioactive isotope on the loose. well produced, well acted and good script! AND a good ending.

An enjoyable early sci-fi film which explores a lot of interesting ideas

[christopouloschris-58388 · 7/10 · 29 August 2019]

The Magnetic Monster (1953) is an intelligent & well-paced film that contains plausible-sounding science and which builds up to an excellent climax.

The films allows us to consider at what point does science cross over into areas where some people believe it should not and cannot cross.

In the area of science, there is a certain unease of the times being reflected in the film. After all, it was scientific research that produced an element that even in the initial stages resulted in the production of radiation that was "strong enough to kill us or wipe out a few city blocks." Whether done independently or not, science had created something new that "turned out to be unstable," that was "monstrous" and capable of "reaching out with invisible fingers" to kill!

The unease of the times is further highlighted by the fact that the element created by Dr. Denker appears to be as Forbes exclaims, "a live thing!" Instead of the usual monsters from space, the ocean depths or from under the ice, we have an impersonal, apparently indestructible and unseen monster.

Plodding, low-budget science fiction

[jamesrupert2014 · 3/10 · 1 July 2017]

Purportedly a 'hard' science fiction film, "The Magnetic Monster" (1953), presents little 'science' and even less 'fiction', as the film is mostly voice-over exposition and stock footage. The story starts intriguingly: pockets of inexplicable magnetism appearing that a special team of scientist-detectives (the OSI) are brought in to investigate. The story then slides downhill into endless pseudo-scientific chatter about magnetic monopoles and new elements. As it turns out (spoilers hereafter), the 'monster' is an element capable of direct conversion of energy to mass that will, if allowed to continuously 'feed', consume the planet. The answer, of course, is to overfeed it until it explodes, which necessitates a trip to Nova Scotia (of all places) where it can be exposed to some borrowed footage of a BDO from a pre-WW2 German science fiction film. Superimposed on the monster-hunt is a tedious and unnecessary 'relationship drama' concerning the lead investigator and his pregnant wife. What I disliked the most about this film was its inability to be true to its 'hard science' premise: the replicating element could have been treated as a completely lifeless yet existential threat (perhaps like the crystals in the "The Monolith Monsters" (1957)) but instead, in keeping with the misleading title, the script was full of silly anthropomorphising with references to the element being "hungry" or that it will "reach out its magnetic arm". This kind of dialogue just seemed ridiculous coming from the ostensibly hard-boiled scientists investigating the phenomena. Overall, neither clever enough to be interesting nor silly enough to be entertaining, IMO "The Magnetic Monster" is not worth the time spent watching by anyone other than hard-core fans of the genre.