5/10
So-so Sci-Fi about O.S.I., the Office of Scientific Investigation to find out weird magnetism and strange atomic forces
19 December 2018
The astounding story of the "thing" that came alive deals with the discovery of an atomic power , then the government has set up a special group, the Office of Scientific Investigation or OSI , to look into rare phenomenon . Those who work there are known as A-Men (similarly to G-Men) , they are detectives for science and they are called in perilous missions as A-Man (A as in Atom) led by the brave agent Jeffrey Stewart (Richard Carlson) and his partner Dan Forbes (King Donovan) are sent to a local hardware store where they find a strong magnetic field has magnetized every metal item in the store and other bizarre phenomena .There they find the local appliance store owner that explain them all of their products have become highly magnetized and the things came alive . As they start a number of tests to establish what the source of the magnetism . The scientists are puzzled but their investigation leads them to a scientist who has invented a new element of extraordinary power. Unless they can find a way to stop its growth, it will destroy the Earth. As terror sweep through the heart of a city in the dead of night and this one man , the brave scientific , stands between the earth and doom! , battling a monstrous being that terrorizes Earth! A Cosmic Frankenstein monstrosity terrorizes earth and there is an only Man That Dared To Track The Monster To Its Lair!

A main candidate for the strangest and nuttiest Science Fiction of all time along with ¨Red planet Mars¨ by Harry Horner , including a surprising premise and plenty of twists and turns . This in an incoherent movie overburned with various messages about atomic danger and risks on the sub-atomic particles . As the picture narrates how a new danger faces man, sound waves that kill, atomic isotopes searing flesh, even pilotless planes that break the sound barrier , and to combat these threats a new agency has been created, The Office of Scientific Investigation (OSI) the men who work for this agency are known as ¨A men¨ similar to the classic ¨G-Men¨. The script involves a valiant scientist , his helper , his pregnant wife and their fight against a giant magneto-dynamo with tremendous power .The best parts of the movie are the thrilling final scenes ; however , using stock footage of the underground magneto-dynamo from the German science fiction thriller Gold (1934).It stars the always agreeable Richard Carlson . His film debut was The Young in Heart (1938). At the beginning he played forgettable second features, such as the supernaturally-themed Beyond tomorrow (1940), or commercial failures, like the nostalgic Anna Neagle musical No, No, Nanette (1940). There was, however, one stellar performance: his newspaperman David Hewitt in William Wyler's brilliant adaptation of Lillian Hellman's southern melodrama The Fox (1941). This was followed by another decent role in the fruity -but highly enjoyable- melodrama White Cargo (1942), and the lead in a cliched, run-of-the-mill crime picture, Highways by Night (1942). Then , Richard found renewed energy for his third-billed appearance in MGM's lavish Technicolor remake of King Salomon's mines (1950). Perhaps surprisingly, this did not lead to further roles in A-grade features. Instead, Richard Carlson found himself the unlikely star of several sci-fi features, which have attained cult status over the passing years. Pick of the bunch was Jack Arnold's seminal It came from outer space (1953) , based on a story by Ray Bradbury , with Richard in the role of a well-meaning, rather arcane astronomer, witness to an alien presence which turns out to be benign. The sincerity of his performance led to similar parts in The magnetic monster (1953) with similar moralistic undertones and the atmospheric Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). He is accompanied by an unknown support cast such as : King Donovan , Michael Fox , Byron Foulger , Jean Byron who plays his wife , she was billed the third , but the filming was so tight that she shot her scenes in one day . Look for two notorious secondaries giving brief interpretations : Kathleen Freeman and Strother Martin .

It packs an atmospheric musical score by Sanford and Paul Beaver . As well as an evocative cinematography in black and white by Charles Enger .This Sci-Fi film from another age that was ahead of its time was written and produced by Ivan Tors , being regularly directed by Curt Siodmak and Herbert L. Strock . Although credited to Curt Siodmak, most of the film was actually directed by Herbert L. Strock, who was hired by Ivan Tors for his skills as an editor, which were viewed as essential for a film that relied so much on stock footage. Curt Siodmak was a good writer and filmmaker who had a long career . One of Siodmak's first film-writing assignments was the screenplay for the German sci-fi picture F.P.1 antwortet nicht (1932) (US title: "Floating Platform 1 Does Not Answer"), based on his own novel. Compelled to leave Germany after Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took power, Siodmak went to work as a screenwriter in England and then moved to Hollywood in 1937. He got a job at Universal through his director-friend Joe May, helping write the script for May's The Invisible man returns (1940). Because the film went over well, Siodmak says, he fell into the horror/science-fiction "groove" . As he directed : Bride of the Gorilla , Slaves of the Amazons ,The Devil's Messenger , Curucu, Beast of the Amazon and 13 Demon Street . While director Herbert L-Strock made a lot of terror and Sci-Fi movies such as : Witches's brew , Monster , Men on the run , The crawling hand , How to make a monster , Flood of Drácula , Rider on a Dead Horse and I was a teenager monster . Rating : 5.5/10. Acceptable and passable .
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