LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Coventry Perhaps I've seen way too many overblown and pretentious would-be cult movies lately, but I really enjoyed "The Man Who Turned to Stone" a lot and therefore I reward it with a rating higher than it probably deserves… The plot of this modest '50s production – courtesy of the legendary Sam Katzman – is definitely interesting and compelling, albeit highly unoriginal and full of holes and illogicalness. Victor Jory leads a group of selfish scientists that discovered the secret to immortality and have been around since the 18th Century. In order to unnecessarily prolong their own precious lives, they need the life-extract of other human beings; preferably fertile young women. And what place is better to scout for fertile yet disposable young women than a women's prison? The administrative employee Carol Adams grows suspicious of all the sudden and unnatural deaths at the prison and receives help from an acclaimed state psychiatrist. Although close to getting caught the alchemists must continue their treatments, otherwise their skins literally petrify… The central idea is quite derivative, as the quest for immortality at the expense of innocent people is an often recurring horror movie theme, but the "turning to stone" aspect is a nifty little gimmick. The film also features the cool sub plot about one of the scientist group members – Eric – being a lot less resistant and in need of receiving the treatment more frequently than the others. It's Eric who often roams around the prison's dormitory at night with a half-stoned face and causing mayhem. The script naturally features many holes and dumb elements as well. Why aren't these alchemists relocating more frequently, for instance, or even more importantly, why aren't they sedating their victims in order to prevent them from screaming their lungs out? The filming location is very unconvincing, as the place doesn't look like a prison but merely resembles a campus college or an all-girls summer camp. At first I even assumed it was a summer camp because two of the leading ladies are talking about boxes of Girl Scout cookies… The acting performances are collectively wooden and uptight, but I admit that's also part of the '50s horror charm. The actor who depicts Eric, Friedrich von Ledebur, is menacing enough and the film never once bored me throughout its (short) running time of 70 minutes.

dbborroughs People running a reformatory are actually centuries old people draining the life out of their charges...if they miss a a treatment they turn to stone...a doctor and the daughter of the governor investigate.Okay but way too talky horror science fiction story. Its the sort of thing thats been done to death before and since---and it kind of works this time but the pacing is so slack any tension is washed out....Not bad- but more something to induce sleep...Watching the film I kept thinking that perhaps had the film been cut down by 15 minutes it might have played better. on the other hand commercials might have helped as well since it wouldn't have seemed like there was nothing going on.

Michael_Elliott Man Who Turned to Stone, The (1957) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Low key Columbia horror film about a 200+ year-old doctor who keeps himself alive by having his assistants kill off girls at a detention center. When his assistants try and turn against him, the man becomes a walking piece of stone and seeks revenge. This is a very low budget movie but it's pretty good throughout due in large part to some strong direction by Laszlo Kardos. The ending is very well done and there's a large amount of atmosphere throughout the picture even though it's really nothing original. The make up effects are also pretty good considering the budget and with the proper lighting the monster too comes off well.

preppy-3 This takes place at the LaSalle Detention Home for Girls. Quite a few healthy girls there seem to die suddenly of heart attacks. It seems the head of the school Dr. Murdock (Victor Jory) and associates are hundreds of years old and need to siphon the energy from young girls to stay alive. If not they petrify and turn to stone. Staff member Carol Adams (Charlotte Austin) and Dr. Rogers (William Hudson) try to find out what's going on.Pretty laughable. The detention home for "girls" is full of actresses who are obviously in their 20s and 30s and are all so cheerful and happy. The plot itself is pretty stupid and the dialogue is pretty hysterical. Still the cast plays this blessedly straight and nobody is really bad--Jory and pro Ann Doran give out the best performances. Also the makeup on people turning to stone is pretty effective. Not good but fun in a strange sort of way.Best line--"I'll bet you a box of Girl Scout cookies that somebody died last night!"