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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Information Exchange  |  Reader Comments  |  Tarantula « previous next »
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Author Topic: Tarantula  (Read 64752 times)
Brandon
Guest
« on: September 19, 1999, 11:28:32 PM »

I can't believe you went through the whole review
with out mentioning that this movie features a
young Clint Eastwood in one of his earliest film
appearences(Return Of The Creature being his first  
film apperance eve
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Dave of MonsterIsland
Guest
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 1999, 02:33:06 PM »

Oh man...what a great cheesy 50's movie....I love this and the Deadly Mantis....oh and not to mention the Giant Gila Monster...all those great giant bug/monster movies from the 50's ruled!!!
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jimbo
Guest
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 1999, 03:17:10 PM »

I know a Tarantula walking over a blue-screen when I see one!
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Dave of MonsterIsland
Guest
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 1999, 04:47:26 PM »

Here's the review I have posted on my cheesy movies site.

Tarantula

Dir: Jack Arnold

Yet another nifty fifties big bug extravaganza in glorious black and white!!! Loretta must admit a fondness for insects of almost
infinite kind--she often finds herself cheering for the bug, as in Deadly Mantis, that deadly dull b&w fifties delight reviewed not
too long ago. She thinks tarantulas most elegant and a little more deadly than the stunningly beautiful mantis. She kept hoping
her graphics sidekick would find a fiendishly delightful tarantula graphic, but . . . . She still worried about the fact that the
scriptwriters thought ONE big bug was enough in yet another fifties discussion of the insidious effect of the A-bomb unleashed.

In Tarantula, Leo G. Carroll poses as the mad-ish scientist running amok with one simple isotope. Loretta couldn't get enough
of the lab rats and guinea pigs as they filled their cages! Actually, the special effects are a class act here, almost rivaling those in
Them! . . . but Them! writers have the good sense to threaten the WORLD with an army of ants instead of one giant bug.

Loretta hooted any number of times as the one female star, Mara Corday--a statuesque Mamie Van Doren type, was given the
role of a scientist only to serve as handmaiden to our tall, dark, handsome country doctor of a hero, played by the
inesteemable John Agar. But . . . the special effects were stellar, given 1950's technology, and the action kept the narrative
moving.

Loretta thought it overkill that the entire ordnance of a squadron of bombers had to be dumped before our tarantula bit the
dust. She wonders if Clint Eastwood felt he had taken a giant step in bit parts from his earlier outing in Francis in the Navy!!

Loretta sez . . . "Give 'em the vote & see what ya git, a lady scientist!? Oh my!!!

Dave sez. . . . .Did I distinictly hear that tarantula roaring like a lion!?!?
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stavner
Guest
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 1999, 05:12:12 PM »

This was based on an episode of an old '50s TV show called "Tales of Tomorrow."
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Paul westbrook
Guest
« Reply #5 on: November 09, 1999, 12:46:45 PM »

I love movie about giant bugs. Who does not? This is one of the all time greats. Giant spider invades small town suburbia, terrizes everyone, heroes try their darndest to kill the thing, to no avail. The doctor due to radiation sickness becomes deformed, as a result. Finally, a simple solution is employed, and the beast dies. Dont you just love it. Get this gem, along with The Deadly Mantis. That is a great double bill for a late night moviethon.
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Chris K.
Guest
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2000, 07:40:31 AM »

Special effects are the highlight(better than watching a boring STAR WARS flick) of this impressive 50's sci-fi film from Jack Arnold. This would be the insperation for EARTH VS. THE SPIDER(1958) and THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION(1975). Watch for Clint Eastwood as a jet piolt. Acting, cinematography, settings, and script are A+ standards, but the special effects cannot be beat.
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Paul H.
Guest
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM »

This is absolutely my favorite big bug movie of all time. I grew up with this film back in the 60's, first owning it as a 5 minute quickie in the old 8mm home movie format, then taping the movie to listen to on a reel-to-reel tape recorder from The Late Late Show, and then finally buying it in VHS format a couple years back. What a classic flick. Who can forget the impressive special effects they accomplished on a meager budget. And the fantastic musical score still knocks me out. The scene where the horses sense something wrong just beyond the hill is truly creepy. Still gives me chills every time. I also dig The Deadly Mantis. Saw it at a Drive-In around 1961 when I was 6. I loved it, but didn't know what a mantis was then, so I thought it was a giant grasshopper!
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BigGeek
Guest
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM »

Amazingly enough, it took the 'Hollywood Magic Makers" 45 years to come up with a spider-like contraption to marvel the macro-photography of _Tarantula_.

I'm speaking of the mechanical spider in the absolutely horrible 1999 Will Smith vehicle _Wild Wild West_.

Between _Tarantula_ and _Wild Wild West_...I don't think I remember any more impressive spider-type machines in movies. (And if anyone mentions any iteration of _Robot Jocks_...You will meet with certain doom! I said "impressive," people!)

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Chadzilla
Guest
« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2000, 09:25:43 PM »

As far as my six year old son is concerned, the pesky star of this monster mash sucked out all the color (thus making the movie black and white).  Although more than a bit dated in its lingo and look that only makes it more endearing to me, a fun monster movie.  Jack Arnold knew how to make them good.
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LW
Guest
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2001, 12:01:57 AM »

I love this movie! My 4 year old son loves watching them too. One of my favorite parts is the tasting of the venom! I also liked how the filled the syringe with the growth serum in an isolation chamber and then open the lid to take out the syringe. Then the doctor squirts the air bubbles out of the syringe as he walks across the room. It is a classic!
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Bill
Guest
« Reply #11 on: June 21, 2001, 12:20:52 PM »

I like this film a lot.  The coolest thing is that it was based in part on an actual scientific experiment where they fed chickens growth hormones and the chickens got, naturally, meatier.  This was known as the Superchicken Experiment, but the creators of this film thought a Tarantula would be scarier than a giant chicken no doubt.
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lostmissy
Guest
« Reply #12 on: November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM »

I like the 50's b/w ..I admit it up front. this movie is a good quality film for the time ..special effects were as good as that time allowed..and the acting was at least reasonable. I would argue plot and character development in these films were better then the 70's and 80's when the special effects became the main thrust of the movies..the best comment I can make is that I would love to see this film on the big screen.  
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clint
Guest
« Reply #13 on: November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM »

Look for a young Clint Eastwood in his movie debut as the (uncredited) leader of the jet squadron that attacks the tarantula in the film's climax.
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BoyScoutKevin
Guest
« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM »

For a film set in southern Arizona, it looks alot like a film shot in southern California.
Leo G. Carroll. Everybody's favorite mad scientist. Probably best known for playing Mr. Waverly in "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E."
He was as good of a statistician, as he was a scientist. When he said the population of the world was going to be 3,625,000,000, in 2000, he was only off by 2,375,000,000, give or take a few million.
Acromegaly. There is at least one man who made a career out of that rare disease. Rondo "The Creeper" Hatton. Voted the handsomest boy in his high school. Apparently, contracting the disease, when he was gassed in WWI, he went to Hollywood and made many films there, usually as the villain, before he died there of a heart attack.
Someone once said the small spider was scarier then the larger spider, because you could see the larger spider coming for miles and run like heck in the opposite direction. While, you would be checking behind every rock for the smaller spider, waiting for it to jump out at you.
There may be some truth to this. I found the spiders in "Arachnophobia" alot scarier then the spider in "Tarantula." Though, that may be a product of age. I remember being scared by the spider in "Have Rocket Will Travel," when I was a child. Enjoy!
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