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.

"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.

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.