Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Rainey Dawn I really don't know what to make of this film - it's an odd but kinda okay to watch. The movie isn't quite as fun as I expected it be but it wasn't all that bad either. Just a so-so film I guess.What got to me was when Prof. Donald Blake first got his hand in the prehistoric fish's mouth, the hand was bleeding badly and he didn't dress the wound, instead he wanted to move the fish tank and his hand slipped into the dirty fish water then he started sucking on the wound with the dirty fish water. WTF? Not what I would expect from a professor at all. But it was funny.The creature the professor became is kinda cheesy looking but that's what made it fun. The story is average. There is one scene which surprised me a bit - when the forest ranger got it with the axe - that was unexpected! Overall, it's not bad - just not one of the better Universal sci-fi horror films I seen.5/10

ferbs54 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!

Scarecrow-88 When infected by a coelacanth fish fossil's blood, the unfortunate victims revert back to their prehistoric ancestrial form with anyone it the path of these beings placed in certain mortal danger.Science professor, and proud voice of evolution, Donald Blake(Arthur Franz, stern voiced and serious, even when others deem him perhaps bonkers for insisting his unpopular theories)suffers two encounters with the fish's blood entering his body causing him to shift into a ferocious, unhinged half-ape hominid who murders those that he might consider a threat. A German Shepherd dog is our first victim after it drinks some of the bloody water that leaked from the truck carrying the fish to the science lab from it's past location of Madagascar..the dog attacks it's owner in a bloodthirsty rage. Second is when Donald accidentally gets the dead fish's teeth imprinted in his hand, causing infection when some of the coelacanth blood seeps into his bloodstream. After one female victim dies of fright, the police find hominid footprints and hand prints which guide them away from the true suspect..Donald Blake. When a dragonfly draws blood from the coelacanth, it grows to an enormous size, with two of Blake's students bearing witness to this freak of nature. Blood from the dragonfly, after Blake murders it on accident with a knife, drips into his pipe infecting the scientist once again. After he kills a policeman on duty watching after him, Blake will dedicate his time to finding the killer. When he grimly realizes who the murderer really is, Blake will have to come to terms with the horrible fact and get proof for this discovery. The scientific community, and world at large, must learn the truth..will he sacrifice himself for that truth? Joanna Cook Moore is Blake's dish Madeline, Alexander Lockwood is Blake's doubting, worried boss Professor Gilbert Howard(..and Madeline's father), Phil Harvey is Sergeant Powell on the case towards finding the peculiar murderer, and great character actor Whit Bissell as Blake's non-believing "rival" Dr. Oliver Cole. The film often shows how Cole and Professor Howard clash intellectually with Blake and his far-fetched theories regarding atomic radioactive gamma rays causing the coelacanth's plasma blood to revert whoever comes in contact with it to prehistoric origins..the whole idea that a hominid is committing the crimes they find absurd.I realize that the plot gives one the giggles, but Arnold somehow directs this straight and the cast perform in it admirably. Rubbish that is beneath Arnold's standards, but it's a testament to the great B-movie director that it comes off so entertaining. The ape disguise at the end might remind many monster fans of the future "Planet of the Apes" franchise.

twanurit Blood of an ancient fish 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 only 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.