The Coelacanth was thought to have gone extinct 65 million years ago.
I’m having a little problem with this one. You want me to believe that a prehistoric Coelacanth fish that has been treated with Gamma rays and with blood dripping from it makes a professor at a college, Professor Donald Blake (Arthur Franz), turn into a Neanderthal Wildman when the fish’s blood gets into his system through a cut on his hand. Hmmm.
And then after a few hours the effect wears off and he changes back into a mild mannered professor. At least until he accidentally smokes some blood and it happens again. And then he injects the blood on purpose and it happens again. And again. Hmmm.
Professor Blake is not the only victim of this dead decaying fish. Jimmy's dog Samson licks some of the blood from it and grows really big fangs. It then attacks everyone around. After that a dragonfly drinks some of the Coelacanth's blood and turns into a giant pre-historic insect.
"Monster on the Campus" was released in 1958 and was directed by Jack Arnold. It’s a fast paced movie. And it’s fun. But not the stuff of major blockbuster plot twisting OMG moments. And I understand that Science Fiction means stretching the science once in a while but there needs to be at least some science to stretch. When Universal Pictures asked Jack Arnold to direct this little gem what possessed him to say yes? Perhaps he had been licking a Coelacanth that day. Even though it’s not the strongest premise for a Science Fiction movie, it is entertaining.
The make-up was done by Bud Westmore and it is not exactly his best work. The Neanderthal was played by Eddie Parker.
So where does this fall on our “How to Create a Monster” list? Normally I would label it number 4. “Other man made disaster such as pollution or in this case blood treated by Gamma rays that alters the normal structure of a creature creating a monster.” In this case, however, I may have to go with our new number 7. “The Tingler effect. Something so far fetched that there is no explanation for it to come to pass.” It’s a toss up really.