1957

In many ways, the year 1957 was building towards the high-water mark for the decade. It was the year that saw man's first successful spacecraft: Sputnik. On earth, it was the beginning of Detroit's big tail fin craze.

Space Race and Big Fins

In theaters, there were no big sci-fi hits or classics as the years before had produced, but there were more sci-fi films released in '57 than any of the previous years. 50s sci-fi was building to a crescendo. Below are the many sci-fi films of 1957, in roughly chronological order:

Not Of This Earth -- An obscure Roger Corman film, but an interesting tale of alien infiltration, a prelude to conquest. Double-billed with Crab Monsters.

Attack of the Crab Monsters -- Roger Corman monster flick about radiation-mutated giant crabs who absorb the intellects of those they devour.

Kronos, Destroyer of the Universe -- A giant robot comes to earth to earth's steal energy for energy-starved aliens.

The Incredible Shrinking Man -- One of THE top 50s sci-fi classics. Radiation causes a man to shrink ever smaller. The normal world becomes a nightmare landscape.

The Deadly Mantis -- Earthquakes free a giant prehistoric mantis from arctic ice. It moves south, attacking and eating along the way.

X, The Unknown -- A British movie about a blob-like monster from the earth's core which rises to consume energy, killing all in its path.

20 Million MIles From Earth -- A Ray Harryhausen gem about a lizard-man creature brought from Venus, which grows to monster size.

Invasion of the Saucer Men -- A camp-classic in which big-headed alien midgets invade, but plucky teens find their weakness.

The Beginning of the End -- Radiated food experiments mistakenly create a swarm of giant grasshoppers who converge on Chicago.

The Unearthly -- A 'mad' doctor experiments on patients at his remote sanitarium, trying to find anti-aging formula.

The Monster That Challenged the World -- Radiation causes lake mollusks to grow into carnivorous caterpiler-like beasts. They threaten to break out into the open ocean and beyond.

The Giant Claw -- A giant ugly bird with an anti-matter shield comes from space comes to earth to lay its egg. Sam Katzman's worst movie for special effects.

The Night the World Exploded -- Minerals from deep in the earth rise up. When they contact water, they expand and explode. Earthquakes and volcanos abound.

The 27th Day -- Aliens who want the earth cleared out, give five people capsules that can kill billions of people. They're given 27 days to use them or not.

The Cyclops -- Precursor to B. I. Gordon's Amazing Colossal Man. Radiation makes a lost pilot grow into a 30' tall one-eyed giant.

The Unknown Terror -- A 'mad' doctor in a remote Mexican jungle experiments with rapid-growing fungus and local villagers.

The Brain From Planet Arous -- A criminal brain being possesses a rocket scientist in order to make earthlings create a fleet of revenge ships. A 'good' brain being comes to stop him.

The Invisible Boy -- A precocious boy gets a brain boost from a sinister supercomputer which is trying to rule the world. The boy's father and Robby the Robot, intervene.

The Black Scorpion -- Giant prehistoric scorpions are released by a Mexican volcano. The largest, a black one, attacks Mexico City.

The Amazing Colossal Man -- Exposure to a nuclear test makes Colonel Manning grow uncontrollably. As his mind goes, he becomes a rampaging monster in Las Vegas.

Monolith Monsters -- Strange meteor fragments grow to enormous size when wet. Towers of rock fall destructively, their fragments growing into new towers. Nothing stops them.

The Astounding She-Monster -- A dark blend of Day the Earth Stood Still premise seen through a Film Noir lens. An alien messenger comes, but touch kills instantly.