Tarantula (1955)


Most people know about the 1955 creature feature Tarantula from the line in "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Indeed, along with Them!, this is one of the more recognizable big bug movies of the 1950s.  It's a genre known for laughable effects and general silliness but, when done right it provided some thrills, especially for the younger crowd it was aimed toward.  

After a man is found wandering in the Arizona desert with acromegaly, a rare pituitary condition he appears to have developed within days, Dr. Matt Hastings (John Agar) tries to figure out why.  It turns out that it is due to experiments Prof. Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll), who is doing experiments with growth hormones.  While successful on animals the results on humans have been questionable at best and fatal at worst.  When his other assistant injects him and burns down his lab a tarantula that has been injected with the serum escapes.

Stephanie "Steve" Clayton (Mara Corday) comes to town to work with Deemer to help perfect the new drug, but he starts to go down the same road as his assistants.  Even worse, the tarantula has continued to grow and to terrorize the countryside.

It's a pretty simple story enhanced by Jack Arnold's capable direction.  It contains some unexpected twists in addition to giving the audience a giant spider and, though it is a regular tarantula superimposed on the landscape and often shot in silhouette, there are the occasional models that are well done and make for some classic scenes.  It doesn't look as goofy as it does on the poster.

It is still a low-budget feature and, because of that, the effects can be ropey at times, even for the 1950s.  There are also some inconsistencies in the size of the beast.  Still, it is one of the more entertaining and intelligent scripts of its type.

Tarantula (1955)
Time: 80 minutes
Starring: John Agar, Leo G. Carroll, Mara Corday
Director: Jack Arnold

 

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