Rating summary
| Movie |  | 3.5 |
| Video |  | 4.0 |
| Audio | | 4.0 |
| Extras |  | 1.0 |
| Overall | | 3.5 |
The Magnetic Monster Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Brian Orndorf May 26, 2016
Throughout the 1950s, paranoia cinema reigned, though most threats emerged from the sky or from beneath the earth. In 1953’s “The Magnetic Monster,” the villain is radioactivity, though represented here as a growing physical threat capable of destroying the planet through sheer size. It’s cinema science executed with complete commitment by the production, joining 1954’s “Gog” and “Riders to the Stars” as a trilogy of terror that plays liberally with facts and figures to manufacture horrors the audience isn’t prepared to understand.
The menace is invisible for the most part, with “The Magnetic Monster” using titular imagery to unnerve viewers, watching something sinister grow in power as it leaves behind a trail of magnetized metal for the Office of Scientific Explanation to study. “The Magnetic Monster” often plays like a television procedural, opening as a “Dragnet” episode before giving itself over to a more expansive showdown between man and radioactivity, with the production borrowing footage from “Gold,” a 1934 German sci-fi film, to complete its vision of scientific control. To the picture’s credit, the material remains excitable, frequently rolling along to the next discovery. But it’s also prone to laborious exposition, watching men in suits confer with one another as tedium sets in. This is not a thriller, but there are moments when it feels as though one might break out, establishing an elusive enemy and its various handlers, most unprepared for the power of nuclear curiosity.
The Magnetic Monster Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
The AVC encoded image (1.37:1) presentation for "The Magnetic Monster" delivers a satisfactory viewing experience, with the newly remastered title supplying encouraging detail throughout. Granted, focal issues and age persist, but softness is largely avoided, bringing out textured close-ups and fibrous costuming, while differences between "The Magnetic Monster" and "Gold" are easily spotted. Delineation is tight and effective. The source is in decent condition, with only minor speckling and scratches. Some mild banding is detected.
The Magnetic Monster Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix supplies a straightforward listening experience, highlighting dialogue exchanges that maintain their dramatic urgency with little interruption from hiss. Age is apparent, but not crippling. Scoring is bolder and respectful of performances, only surging when called on to sweeten a moment. Atmospherics are limited, but office echo is preserved.
The Magnetic Monster Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
- Commentary features film historian Derek Botello.
- And a Theatrical Trailer (2:21, SD) is included.
The Magnetic Monster Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Sections of "The Magnetic Monster" are a real drag, with far too much time devote to tell, not show. However, the rest tends to play without breaking a sweat, and the film's 75 minute run time is helpful, easing the feature's need to pad mercilessly. "The Magnetic Monster" is largely entertaining and wisely ignores camp, trying to pass itself off as an MIT final that periodically indulges in pronounced ludicrousness.
