The Monolith Monsters is a 1957 American science-fiction disaster film from Universal-International, produced by Howard Christie, directed by John Sherwood, and starring Grant Williams and Lola Albright.

[2] The Monolith Monsters tells the story of a large meteorite that crashes in a Southern California desert and explodes into hundreds of black fragments that have strange properties.

Dave's girlfriend, teacher Cathy Barrett, takes her students on a desert field trip; young Ginny Simpson pockets a piece of the black meteorite rock, later washing it in a tub outside her family's farmhouse.

Back at the Simpson farm, both men notice a discoloration in the ground; tests show the black rock is draining silicon from everything it touches.

With little time left, and the telephone and electricity cut off, the monoliths continue to multiply and advance, soaking up water from the rain-soaked soil.

Through lab experimentation, Dave and Arthur discover the monoliths can be stopped with a simple saline solution, a part of Steve's silicon formula.

Dave comments on Martin's earlier assertion that the region's salt flat was "Mother Nature's worst mistake", pointing out that this near-disaster has proved otherwise.

The rugged landscape of the area has been used as a backdrop for many films, including Gunga Din, High Sierra, Maverick, How the West Was Won, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and Gladiator.

[2] The fictional California Medical Research Institute also features prominently in Universal's The Incredible Shrinking Man, which stars Grant Williams as well, and was released eight months earlier.

Alternate takes of effects created by Stine for Universal's It Came from Outer Space (1953) were used to depict the meteor crash in the film's opening sequence.

[4] CineOutsider observed, "Certainly it lacks the subtextual clout that distinguishes the best of these films, but its central concept, its pacing and its impressive production design and effects still put it on a par with its more widely seen contemporaries.