Kronos is one of the somewhat forgotten science-fiction gems of the 1950s, serving as a great example of a low-budget sci-fi thriller done right.

As much a product of the Cold War as the Golden Age of science fiction, it doesn't possess the scare factor that those who first saw it as children upon its release in 1957 talk about, but the story itself still remains a compelling one. Kronos is actually one of your more subtle and subdued "alien monsters," and I think the stark simplicity of the thing serves the movie well all these years later. It's basically just a big metal box on legs rather than some prehistoric creature reborn or exotic-looking extraterrestrial, and it has only one purpose -- namely, to absorb energy in massive quantities. You might say it was ahead of its time in terms of its warning against man's potential over-use of energy and the Earth's natural resources.

Character-wise, the film doesn't make any waves (which means, yes, there is a romantic link between a male scientist and one of his female colleagues), but the acting is above average and convincing. The special effects are fairly decent as well (especially given the fact that this low-budget film was filmed in just a couple of weeks), minimizing the cheese factor (well, as long as you don't count the robotic walking business).

Dr. Leslie Gaskell (Jeff Morrow) is rather excited about his discovery of a new asteroid, much more so than his partner Dr. Arnold Culver and his colleague and girlfriend Vera Hunter (Barbara Lawrence) -- until, that is, Gaskell figures out that the asteroid is heading on a collision course toward Earth. With only 16 hours until impact, the military works to intercept and hopefully destroy the unwelcome intruder as it enters Earth's atmosphere. Those efforts turn out to be fruitless, but fortunately the asteroid comes down in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Mexico.

That's just the beginning of the story, though. Convinced that something is amiss, Gaskell and his gang fly down to check out the impact area for themselves, and so it is that they are the first to see the giant robotic creature that emerges from the ocean and eventually starts moving in search of energy sources, destroying everything and everyone in its wake.

The Mexican Air Force (all four planes) can't stop it, the Americans refuse to believe that their plan to clobber the thing with a H-bomb will only make it stronger, there's no time to import an annoying little Japanese kid to "befriend" the monster, and Jeff Goldblum is unavailable for consultation (largely because he was only 5 years old in 1957). Can anything stop this rampaging robot before it sucks the Earth dry of any and all power? They don't call it the Destroyer of the Universe and Ravager of Planets for nothing, you know.