The Man Who Turned To Stone (1957)

Starring Victor Jory, William Hudson, Charlotte Austin, Jean Willes, Ann Doran
Directed by Leslie Kardos
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A social worker at a women's detention center learns the center's staff is performing deadly experiments on the inmates and covering them up as natural deaths. 

One of producer Sam Katzman's several 1950s science fiction pictures for Columbia, I've been rather fond of this film since I first saw it several years ago on a Goodtimes VHS tape.  Katzman was known for cheap productions, and although this science fiction film lacks any real special effects, Kardos directs effectively, making the most of some limited makeup and a quality cast to drive the story forward.  Jory, as the center's director, is wonderfully creepy while masking his crimes under a benevolent appearance, Austin is believable as the one member of the staff who wants to help the women under their charge, and the always welcome Paul Cavanagh adds gravitas and believability to the revelation of the staff's shocking secrets.  It's an entertaining chiller and one that's well-paced and fun to watch.

The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)

Starring Glen Langan, Cathy Downs, William Hudson, Larry Thor, James Seay
Directed by Bert I. Gordon
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An army colonel is caught in a plutonium explosion, and miraculously survives, but begins growing in size, eventually turning into a 60-foot giant. 

Not a great movie, and the special effects don't hold up very well, with Langan's immense figure in much brighter contrast than the backgrounds he's inserted in, but I'm still rather fond of this picture, and it's arguably Bert I. Gordon's signature film.  At times it's hard to take seriously, with Langan's bald half-naked figure making an awkward impact on the screen, but the actor does a reasonable job of delivering the character's pain and humiliation, and like many of Gordon's other pictures, there's a fun factor in seeing what effects he's going to deliver, and what's going to happen to his characters in the end.

Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman (1958)

Starring Allison Hayes, William Hudson, Yvette Vickers, Roy Gordon, George Douglas
Directed by Nathan Hertz
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A wealthy socialite, mentally suffering due to alcoholism and a philandering husband, encounters an alien being who infects her with radiation that makes her grow to a tremendous size.

Probably better known for its iconic movie poster in which a gigantic bikini-clad Allison Hayes menaces a city she towers above than for the actual content of the movie itself, this film has achieved a pretty trashy reputation over the years, which it doesn't completely deserve, despite poor special effects and a fairly thin storyline.  Don't get me wrong- a giant woman in her underwear wreaking havoc on a city is fairly trashy, but that actually makes up a pretty small portion of the movie, and the rest I found enjoyable, whether you take the plot seriously or not.  Hayes gives a sympathetic performance, Ronald Stein's music score is a good one, and if you do check it out, even if you find it to be a terrible movie, I think you'll still stay tuned to see what happens.