The 1950s ushered in an entire decade filled with monster movies that are now highly regarded cinema classics. Through the years, many of them have inspired filmmakers and film studios to produce motion picture projects of similar themes and formats. A number of influential monster movies of the 1950s still get parodied or copied by other cinematic works even many decades later.
“Attack of the 50-Foot Woman” (1958)
“Attack of the 50-Foot Woman” features an attractive lady who transforms into a beautiful 50-foot monster. Capitalizing on the appeal of a human significantly growing beyond a normal size, this movie spins the classic tale of a scorned wife who literally grows to outlandish proportions. This becomes a turning point in her life, inspiring her to seek revenge on her husband.
This campy, neo-feminist monster movie got a makeover with a 1993 motion picture, also titled “Attack of the 50-Foot Woman.” Keeping the basic plot of the original film, this remake showcases a woman who gains self-confidence after aliens turn her into a 50-foot giant. From here, she goes on a rampage against her womanizing husband.
“The Blob” (1958)
Since the 1950s release of “The Blob,” its monstrous title character has become an iconic creature, inspiring many horror, suspense, and sci-fi offerings. The original film features an alien lifeform that looks like a mass of viscous substance. This creeping, leaping, gliding, and sliding gunk starts consuming everything in its path, causing it to grow uncontrollably.
This also spawned a 1972 sequel titled “Beware the Blob.” This movie follows the accidental thawing of the infamous monster blob, which causes it to terrorize mankind once more. The original picture was remade into the 1988 sci-fi flick “The Blob.” It tells the story of an experiment gone wrong, which causes a jello-like mold to grow and feed on human flesh.
“The Thing” (1951)
“The Thing,” also referred to as “The Thing From Another World,” is about an alien creature discovered near an Arctic outpost and how this monstrous presence starts terrorizing other living things. It turns out the thing is a form of vegetable life that reproduces like plants and feeds off flesh, including those of humans. One of the scientists at the research station gets torn between it being a valuable scientific discovery to be protected and a fatal threat to the world.
The original movie spawned two remakes in a span of 50 years. The first remake, also titled “The Thing,” was released in 1982. Its story revolves around the discovery of an alien lifeform by a research team in the Antarctic. They soon realize that the alien has the ability to take over other living things’ bodies. Apart from becoming a threat to their lives, they are also confounded by the fact that any person in the area may already be its victim.
The second remake keeps the title “The Thing.” This 2011 movie follows a group of scientists as they stumble upon an alien ship buried in ice. The supposedly lifeless organism housed inside becomes a subject for their research. However, it soon comes to life and starts menacing the area as a shapeshifting being that can turn itself as an exact replica of any living body.
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