1955 Directed by Jack Arnold
A rogue scientist near a small desert town arouses the suspicion of the town's doctor when his lab assistant is found dead from a case of acromegaly, which took only four days to develop. As the doctor investigates, aided by the scientist's new female assistant, they discover that something is devouring local cattle and humans in increasingly large quantities.
Тарантул, Tarántula, Tarántula!, Tarantola, Tarantula !, Tarântula, טרנטולה, Óriáspók, Giftspindeln, 狼蛛, Tarântula!, 타란튤라, Taràntula
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I’m a simple man. I see a giant spider attacking an Atomic Age desert town, I hear inconsequential human side characters spouting overly serious wooden dialogue, I detect laughably gaping holes in their surface-level discussions of science jargon, I’m happy. Now, if you make me wait over 50 minutes to see the titular bug finally squelch a dude, then I’m less happy.
The majority of this movie is then instead spent watching a sweet old doctor slowly suffer and deteriorate from the side effects of taking his own experimental “super nutrient” formula, which also happens to be—you guessed it—what the spider was initially injected with. The results though are some pretty great perspective-based special effects that expertly utilize darkness to…
Tarantula is much better than a lot of the other B-movies I have seen from this era. The visual trickery they used to make the tarantula (and other animals) look massive was super impressive. There is also a lot less of that pre-1960s staleness found here than in similar movies.
A pleasant surprise.
"Tarantula" is simple, formulaic atomic age 50's movie fun. Brought to the screen by director Jack Arnold, who most notably delivered the infamous "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), but also endeavors like "It Came from Outer Space" (1953) and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957), "Tarantula" is a perfect blend of schlocky science fiction kitsch mixed with elements of shock horror in a time when going to the movies was full of pure escapism. Retrospectively, there is actually an elegance to these somewhat "can do mentalitied" post WW2 efforts that are done in repetition for pure enjoyment. They carry with them a weight of opportunity, a unique sense of "we fought the battle and now let's have some fun", leaving…
Geoff T's Hoop-Tober 8.0 Challenge
Jack Arnold Double Bill #1
Tarantula (1955)
Figures that in the end, it was Clint who stopped it.
A giant-insect romp from the guy who brought you Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tarantula more or less gives you what you'd expect based on it's title, and then some.
In the town of Desert Rock, Arizona, Dr. Gerald Deemer, has developed a serum that causes lifeforms to grow to exceptional size. When a work partner of his turns up dead under mysterious circumstances, Dr. Matt Hastings (John Agar) is called in by the local sheriff to investigate, with Deemer's new lab assistant Stephanie soon following after. Meanwhile, an injected tarantula spider has escaped from Deemers lab,…
"Give women the vote and what do you get? Lady scientists!"
-Dr. Hastings,
AND
"You can't second guess the desert" - Dr. Hastings....what?
- Scavenger Hunt #62 (3/31): boxd.it/5mXrg
"Watch a film referenced in Cabin in the Woods"
Ew... Clint Eastwood showed up in this movie I like.
Pretty simple plot here, a giant Tarantula created by a rogue scientist attacks civilization but there are some fun subplots involving a local doctor who is on to the rogue scientist, random animal sciences conducted in the laboratory, and a "very female assistant" the doctor gains after his first assistant dies. This is a classic giant monster format but executed very well.
My family has a pet Tarantula named Fluffy (8 years…
Desert Horrors list-
boxd.it/jPRGo
This is a very effective entry in the 1950s "Big Bug" cycle started by Them! in 1954. The law of diminishing returns saw most of the entries after these two films being increasingly uninspired though not necessarily without interest.
The acting isn't what commends this one. John Agar is our lead and plays the only doctor in a small desert town. It's a stretch to accept the affable but lightweight actor as an M.D. but here we are. The assured performance of co-star Mara Corday is a different story. She did a handful of science fiction and was always full of charisma and a welcome addition to a genre that did not boast colorful and distinctive…
⛄Daily Horror Hunt #31 (Jan. 2021)⛄
[21] Watch a giant monster movie not featuring Godzilla.
💀HORRORx52 (2021)💀
[11] 1950's.
Jumpin' Jupiter! Now I'm not a big fan of spiders, but OMG, if they had let that big ol' adorable guinea pig go loose on a rampage... five stars all day, every day!
But yeah, this was a solid 50's radioactive creature feature. A giant spider roaming through the Arizonian desert, devouring cattle and innocent farmers, while leaving behind goopy piles of venom wherever he goes. What's not to love? I've always been a fan of Jack Arnold's other 50's era sci-fi films, and Tarantula is no exception. He keeps the story compelling with some interesting characters, while always knowing the…
Three stars for the genuinely impressive visual effects and the fact that the tarantula roars.
Watched this simply because Clint Eastwood shows up at the end of it and I'd like to see every movie he shows up for.
But I wound up getting one of the more fun and creatively filmed B-movies of the 50's.
Fun Fact: In this movie they worry about overpopulation, so they try to come up with a food source that won't become scarce, and the scientist man says the world population in the year 2000 will be 3.5 billion!
Luckily in the year 2000 the population was actually only over 6 billion.
What a relief!
January Horror 2021, Day 11, challenge #4 - something last month's host Robert Berlin rated 4+
Big roaring rats! Lady scientists named Steve! Big 50s men in big hats! Oh and a very big tarantula. Excuse me, a Tarantula! Jumpin jupiter!
When you think of a 50s giant creature movie, this is probably what you're thinking of. I enjoyed this because it's tight and well-paced, I wasn't bored for a moment. I always love a desert setting in horror. Mara Corday was really charming as Steve, I'll be checking out more of her films. Even though they do the corny "A Lady Scientist??!" joke as if she were "A Talking Cat??!" I still appreciate when the leading lady in old…
