Strange World of Planet X, The (1958)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Released in America as THE COSMIC MONSTER, this British flick is best remembered for being the country's only "giant bug" movie and we should all be thankful that they didn't make others. Dr. Laird (Alec Mango) and his assistant Gil Graham (Forrest Tucker) are experimenting with cosmic rays when they accidentally rip a hole in the ionosphere. Their mistake causes a hobo to turn into a raving maniac and we also get some insects who grow to large sizes and start attacking. Actually trying to think of the various logic problems in this film would be pointless but I was curious why only the hobo became a raging maniac considering countless people saw the "issue" that caused his transformation. I was also curious why the British thought it would be a good idea to make a "giant bug" movie and keep the bugs away until the 60-minute mark, which meant the viewer only gets fifteen-minutes worth of actual monster footage. There's really not much that makes sense here and perhaps that's a good thing because the film is so deadly dull and boring that we should all be thankful that they didn't try to explain anything else because that would have meant a longer running time. There's really not too many good things you could say about this dud because everything is bad, bad, bad. We can start off with the performances, which are beyond horrible and they're just as bad as anything you've seen in an Ed Wood or Al Adamson picture. The truly horrible performance goes to Gaby Andre who plays the love interest. She is suppose to be playing a French girl but her accent is constantly going in and out and there were several times where it seemed like we got three or four accents in one little sentence. Another problem is that her acting range isn't all that high and especially when she struggles to get through a single line. Mango plays the mad scientist who never goes mad and just comes off as boring. Tucker, who showed how good he could be in the genre film THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN, sleepwalks through this film and it really does appear as if he's embarrassed by this thing. The special effects are just as bad as any of the American "bug" movies and not for a second will you believe anything you're seeing. The giant lizard is probably the funniest of the bunch and it's certainly not good when you're laughing at the things that are suppose to be scaring you.