Monster on the Campus (1958)

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

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writer:

David Duncan

Stars:

Arthur Franz, Joanna Moore, Judson Pratt

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Arthur Franz	...	Professor Donald Blake
Joanna Moore	...	Madeline Howard
Judson Pratt	...	Police Lt. Mike Stevens
Nancy Walters	...	Sylvia Lockwood
Troy Donahue	...	Jimmy Flanders
Phil Harvey	...	Police Sgt. Powell
Helen Westcott	...	Nurse Molly Riordan
Alexander Lockwood	...	Professor Gilbert Howard
Whit Bissell	...	Dr. Oliver Cole
Ross Elliott	...	Police Sgt. Eddie Daniels

Storyline

A college professor acquires a newly discovered specimen of a prehistoric fish. While examining the find he is accidentally exposed to it's blood, turning him into a murderous Neanderthal.

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Plot Keywords:

fish | professor | gamma rays | fingerprints | campus | 

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Taglines:

Chills! Thrills!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

All the principal vehicles are 1957-1958 Chrysler Corporation cars; Madeline Howard (Joanna Moore) drives a 1958 DeSoto convertible.

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Goofs

Just before sergeant Daniels encounters the monster, he is talking on a police phone box. He tells the person that he is at call box B-26. However, in very large letters, the box is identified as E-26.

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Quotes

Professor Donald Blake: Jimmy, did you know your dog is a throwback?
Jimmy Flanders: Throwback? He's a German Shepherd.

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Crazy Credits

The one-sheet poster lists "The Beast" as the sixth cast member.

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Connections

Featured in The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection: Volumes 1 & 2 (2008)

User Reviews

The Fish Strike Back

A college professor obtains an ancient life-form whose fluids soon turn deadly.

Looks like Universal just couldn't give up their werewolf franchise. So they reworked it, replacing full moons with prehistoric "coelacanth" fluid. Seems the stuff turns modern creatures into vicious prehistoric counterparts. So a sophisticated modern guy like Prof. Blake (Franz) turns into a hairy, monstrous hominid, and Hollywood 1958 scares drive-in kids the way necking teens hoped.

You gotta give actor Franz credit. He treats the drive-in material like it was Ben Hur. There's not a hint of camp in the sometimes campy material. But then it's got not only studio backing, but ace sci-fi director Jack Arnold ( e.g. The Incredible Shrinking Man {1957}) at the helm. So the camera never falters even when the cardboard monsters do. (Please, couldn't they have re-worked that awful dragonfly.) Thus, the results suggest eye-level Hollywood professionalism at its most challenged. All in all, it looks like the studio was aiming for respectable sci-fi on the order of Arnold's previous It Came From Outer Space (1953). In my view, Universal only half succeeds, no thanks to the generally poor special effects. Anyway, give actor Franz a combat Oscar for pressing on fearlessly under adverse circumstances. And give director Arnold a Lifetime Achievement Award for excelling in a genre generally bypassed by snooty media critics.

(If memory serves, the coelacanth talked about in the movie was a "missing link" first discovered in the 1930's. Its fish-like body crucially contained fleshy fins, indicating it could move about on land, thus confirming scientific hypothesis that life evolved from the sea.)

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Monster in the Night

Filming Locations:

Occidental College -1600 Campus Road, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1