Format: Internet video on Fire!
There’s an entire genre of giant monster movies, many of which appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Movies like The Killer Shrews, The Deadly Mantis, The Giant Leeches, The Giant Gila Monster and more were all over the 1950s. Them! is one of the original greats, taking a normal creature and growing it to gigantic proportions. Even humans got into the act with The Amazing Colossal Man and Attack of the 50-Foot Woman. Tarantula is naturally in the same vein, and the monster in this case is not a surprise.
It’s also worth noting that Tarantula feature the talents of one John Agar in the main role. Agar originally made what bones he had playing second fiddle to John Wayne in films like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Sands of Iwo Jima and by being married to Shirley Temple for a few years. On his own, as a leading man, Agar was typically in B-movies, often as a scientist who knew everything and, more often than anything else, spouted a bunch of nonsense. Bluntly, most of his movies were terrible, or at least dumb. It’s hard to take someone seriously when the sweet spot of his career includes films like The Mole People and Attack of the Puppet People.
We’re going to start with a hugely deformed man faceplanting in the desert. This will lead us to our introduction to Dr. Matt Hastings (Agar). It was evidently in Agar’s contract that he had to be Joe Cool and not only know all of the science stuff but be the epitome of 1950s manliness and action-ready. What this means for us is that we’re going to be introduced to him as he flies himself into a remote Arizona airport in a small plane. See? He’s not only a doctor; he’s also a pilot.
We learn that the dead man in the desert is Eric Jacobs, a man Matt knew in passing. Importantly, he is the partner of one Professor Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll), who is doing unknown research out in the desert. Deemer says that Eric Jacobs died of acromegaly, which is what killed John Merrick, and that his symptoms developed over four days, which is essentially impossible for a genetic condition like acromegaly.
It turns out that Deemer is working on a formula to greatly increase the size of animals as a way to prepare for a world with as many as 3.5 billion people (one of the fun things about science fiction films from this era are the doom pronouncements like this one). In his lab, he has giant mice and rats, a giant guinea pig, and, of course, a giant tarantula. This serum works at increasing animals size, but has negative and fatal effects on humans, like causing rapid cases of, you guessed it, acromegaly. We also discover that Deemer has an assistant named Lund (Eddie Parker), who also has signs of acromegaly, and in a fit of rage, injects the professor with his serum. In the ensuing battle, Lund dies, a fire starts, and naturally the tarantula escapes.
We’re also going to need a love interest. This comes in the form of Stephanie “Steve” Clayton (Mara Corday). She arrives in the area as the new research assistant for Eric Jacobs, who you may remember, died at the start of the film. Professor Deemer decides to take her on despite the fact that everything is pretty much his fault, including the giant tarantula that no one knows about. However, they are aware of the bones of cattle suddenly littering the desert, as well as the sudden rash of missing people.
The giant tarantula doesn’t actually show up much until the third act, and then it’s there all the time. We also get a little educational film about tarantulas in the middle, mainly to set up what it would be like to have a giant one (and it’s Godzilla-sized huge) attacking us. It’s very clear that the tarantula is more or less projected over the characters—it’s fuzzy and out of focus most of the time, but this was also made in 1955, so you can’t really expect a lot in terms of visual effects.
Honestly, it’s not a terrible creature feature. A giant spider is a pretty good scary monster, and as someone who is at least mildly arachnophobic, it’s a very good monster despite how cheesy the movie is and how cheesy John Agar is in front of the camera. It’s about what you expect, including the ending that comes thanks to the U.S. military.
It's also worth noting that the cast is filled with Jack Arnold regulars like Agar and Nestor Paiva, who plays the sheriff. This is not close to Arnold’s best work, considering the man did Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Incredible Shrinking Man. That said, this is at least fun and watchable.
Why to watch Tarantula: Because SCIENCE!
Why not to watch: As dumb as it is, if you’re an arachnophobe, it’s upsetting.
