Tarantula (1955)
Genre: Horror / Scifi
Duration: 80 minuten
Alternative title: Tarantula!
Country:
United States
Directed by: Jack Arnold
Stars: John Agar, Mara Corday and Leo G. Carroll
IMDb score:
6,4 (11.763)
Releasedate: 14 December 1955
Tarantula plot
"More terrifying than any horror known to man comes a creeping crawling monster whose towering fury no one can escape!"
dr. Matthew Hastings is tasked with investigating a corpse in Professor Deemer's lab. Deemer tells a muddled story and Hastings becomes suspicious. Deemer turns out to be working on a growth serum and his psychotic assistant injects Deemer with the serum and a tarantula has escaped from the lab. Deemer slowly but surely changes as the spider continues to grow, crushing everything in its path. Hastings and a biology assistant rush to warn the people in the area.
Actors and actresses
Dr. Matt Hastings
Stephanie 'Steve' Clayton
Prof. Gerald Deemer
Sheriff Jack Andrews
Joe Burch
Josh
Paul Lund / Eric Jacobs / Airport Workman
Barney Russell
Dr. Townsend
Andy Andersen
Reviews & comments
Roger Thornhill
-
- 6011 messages
- 2445 votes
Also looks remarkably nice, with a fairly "lived-in" town and a beautiful desert (I've always had a soft spot for, long live Tremors).
Wouldn't the "designer" of the DVD cover have been tempted? Well, that poster is full of things that aren't actually in the movie, like the heroine in the "arms" of the tarantula, and the hero waving a machine gun like Rambo, and all the apartment buildings falling down - - then we can also put on something that is actually in the film? STARRING CLINT EASTWOOD!!!"
Translated from Dutch · View original
Collins
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- 7282 messages
- 4306 votes
Fine director that Jack Arnold. In my past, many of his films have already been shown on German TV as a dubbed version. I think The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) (containing an exciting scene with a spider by the way!) was the first one I ever saw as such. viewed. This 'Tarantula' also belongs as one of the first in that German list. Watched the film in the original English language for the first time today. That was good.
Nice 50s monster movie. An overgrown spider that roams the desert and makes victims. Delicious.
Good story. The filming is exciting. Good structure in which the viewer knows more and more than the characters. That intellectual advantage very effectively generates tension.
The characters are rather flat. Yet they captivate just enough to evoke something of sympathy. Pretty good if that is achieved in a film with a duration of only 80 minutes. After all, they are not given much depth, but they are nevertheless typified in such a recognizable way that it is easy to identify with them, I think. Anyway, at least it works.
Nice score. Exciting 1950s film music that emphasizes the exciting moments. Pleasantly recognizable.
The spider is convincingly pasted into the film. The zoomed spider looks scary. Certainly seen in the sfx light of those years. a little more spin would have been nice though.
The only thing I missed in the movie were the police sirens. In films from those years they have such a typical howling sound. Very outspoken and very penetrating. Always good for an extra bit of sensation. A pity.
Fine movie.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Brix
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- 19675 messages
- 5112 votes
Jack Arnold was a hero, made entertaining films with little money.
Mara Corday a beauty, good for the top 10 (or even top 5) of Hollywood beauties of the fifties and sixties.
She could also act, although she was not given the opportunity to do so often.
Strange that she never achieved more, although it was reportedly her own choice to call it quits early.
I found the special effects of this film convincing enough, and the story is well structured.
I have no problem with the acting either.
The performance in more recent films in this genre is not or hardly better.
Nice atmosphere with that typical western town and the desert around it.
Nice to have seen the film again via the Blu-ray (from 101 Films)
The first time was a long time ago, during a Jack Arnold cycle on German TV.
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