- Retroactive Recognition: Two of the film's stars went on to successful TV series: Craig Stevens played the title role in Peter Gunn, while William Hopper was cast as Paul Drake in Perry Mason.
- Romantic Plot Tumor: The awkward romance.
- The Scrappy: Corporal "Donny Most"'s supposed-to-be-funny awkwardness when a woman shows up is so cartoonish that it's kinda painful to watch. Thankfully he's only briefly on scene. Hopefully the mantis got him.
- Special Effects Failure: Any number, but the one that really stands out is a weird inversion that worked too well, namely a ridiculously thick patch of fog which obscures what is supposed to be a camera focus on a giant mantis footprint.
- Visual Effects of Awesome:
- The life-size model of the dead giant mantis itself in the tunnel, which looks pretty good for a movie from that era.
- Likewise, a very brief long-shot of the mantis climbing the Washington Monument (a live mantis climbing a detailed model of the monument) is genuinely impressive.
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