La Cité pétrifiée

Poster tagline: LIVING SKYSCRAPERS OF STONE THUNDERING ACROSS THE EARTH! Directorial legend Jack Arnold (author of the story) worked it out nicely. I've seen a lot of pieces from the Golden Age of 1950s Hollywood sci-fi and this is one of the most original in terms of the premise. There are no living extraterrestrial entities, no lost civilizations or mutated large (or small) creatures, just a fallen rock from space, which after contact with water becomes enormously large, and when touching it human skin loses its elasticity, turning the body into a kind of immobile shape. I'm surprised at the below-average rating here, because with a bit of tolerance (necessary for watching this kind of films) we can say that the filmmakers played their cards right. Quality actors, decently paced plot and very good special effects, lifelike and believable, even if there are not many of them. The sight of the countryside with its houses, behind whose walls menacing black massive crystals grow and crumble to the ominous sound of thunder, is a sight worth all the money. Within the sci-fi B-movie genre, the few FX sequences are unusually good, including the one at the end, which escalates the whole story, so I don't hesitate for a moment with an above-average rating this time. (29/12/2012)