"SFP308." The footage of the Inuit village was taken from Universal's 1933 film S.O.S. Iceberg. Release The film was released in 1957 as a double feature with the spy film The Girl in the Kremlin. The Deadly Mantis received mostly negative reviews upon its debut. TV Guide awarded it one out of four stars, calling it a "lame rip-off of the sci-fi classic Them!". Retrospective criticism Andrew Smith from Popcorn Pictures gave the film a score of 4/10, writing, "Devoid of anything fresh, featuring a tired storyline, an overuse of stock footage and peppered with lifeless characters, it’s no surprise to see this drop off the radar whilst true classics Them! and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms reign supreme." On his website Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings, Dave Sindelar criticized the feature's unmemorable characters, clumsy story, and occasionally poorly handled scenes. However, Sindelar noted, "despite all this, the movie is fun and quite energetic". The website Atomic Monsters looked at the film in a somewhat positive light, giving it a "radioactive rating of 5 atomic blasts out of 5". Home media Universal released The Deadly Mantis on DVD in a boxed set called The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Vol. 2, which includes four other films: Dr. Cyclops, The Land Unknown, Cult of the Cobra, and The Leech Woman. Shout released The Deadly Mantis on Region 1 Blu-ray on March 19, 2019, with an audio commentary track by Tom Weaver and David Schecter. Legacy In February 1997, The Deadly Mantis was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. See also List of American films of 1957 References Citations Bibliography Halliwell, Leslie. Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide. New York: Harper & Roe, 1989. . Rajewski, Genevieve. Introducing the Deadly Mantis. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2006. . External links MST3K Episode Guide: The Deadly Mantis 1957 films 1950s science fiction films Universal Pictures films 1950s monster movies Giant monster films American black-and-white films American disaster films American aviation films Films about insects Films directed by Nathan Juran 1950s English-language films 1950s American films