TARANTULA
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| Not Rated
| | Copyright 1955 Universal-International
| | Reviewed by Andrew Borntreger on 'a long time ago'
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- Dr. Matt Hastings - Dashing young medical practitioner.
- Stephanie Clayton - Attractive woman who has arrived to study under Professor Deemer. Everybody calls her "Steve."
- Professor Deemer - Scientist, he has almost perfected a growth serum. It works really well on tarantulas, not so good on people. Eaten by the spider.
- Sheriff Andrews - Garrulous county lawman, but can he ever make a fashion statement...
- Joe Burch - In an old b-movie the reporter is either the hero, or just along for the ride. I listed him fifth out of seven characters, which do you think he is?
- Professor Jacobs - Research partner to Deemer, injects himself with the growth serum and dies after complications.
- The Tarantula - Originally a cute little guy about the size of a sheep, it escapes during a fracas in the lab. Grows into a genuine monster before saying hello to napalm.
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Not for people with Arachnophobia, though you honestly spend around half the film on other subjects. Like a group of men calling the only breeding female within sixty miles "Steve." Her name is Stephanie for crying out loud, not Steve. Steve is some guy you go drinking with, he's probably got hair in weird places, he's not a woman named Stephanie. (Well he might be, it's the nineties after all, but that's another subject.)
Time for a quick overview of the plot. Professors Deemer and Jacobs have been experimenting with a growth serum, when the latter becomes impatient he injects himself and the assistant with it. Unfortunately the experimental drug doesn't work quite right with humans, both men develop Acromegaly (a disease caused by overproduction of growth hormones) and die in a few days. Not before the assistant goes mad and injects Deemer with the serum though, in the ruckus a fire destroys much of the lab and we see the arachnid in question escape from it's cage into the desert.
This is what Stephanie finds upon arriving, the research team she wanted to join is either dead or mutating. Plus the Sheriff and Matt are trying to figure out what is killing cattle, people, heck - anything it wants. (You try telling a three-story tarantula no.) The amusing thing is nobody ever notices it wandering around, you'd think out in the wide open desert people would notice something like that... ...regardless, pretty soon it gets their attention. Not difficult to do after eating a house and then proceeding down the highway toward town.
After bullets and explosives fail to stop it the character's last hope is the U.S. Air Force. You'll be surprised at times by the effects in this movie, one or two of the scenes where it's walking along the landscape are quite good. Shortly after this it'll do something goofy, like seeming to walk on air. |
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| Things I Learned From This Movie: | |
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- Sheriffs are very fashion oriented when buying kerchiefs.
- In a convertible going fifty miles an hour your hair doesn't move.
- Steve is short for Stephanie.
- Guys love rabbits.
- Spiders constantly make a chirping noise.
- If you find a puddle of thick yellow liquid you should taste it.
- The number one cause of blackouts in Arizona is giant arachnids.
- Most homeowner's policies do not include a "destroyed by enormous tarantula" clause.
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- 3 mins - Why is this movie starting off with what appears to be a Neanderthal?
- 7 mins - You mean insinuating... ...I think.
- 13 mins - Now that's a Guinea Pig.
- 26 mins - Matt and, er, Steve didn't notice the thirty foot spider on the road?
- 50 mins - Oops, the spider was walking on air for a minute.
- 54 mins - Dude, you just ate spider spooge.
- 80 mins - It's the tarantula versus the U.S. Air Force!
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| | Audio clips in wav format | SOUNDS | Starving actors speak out | |
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| File | Dialog |  | tarantula1.wav
| Matt: "Freaks of any kind give me the willies."
| | tarantula2.wav
| Matt: "You still trust my judgment after the Jacobs business."
Sheriff: "I ain't looking for medical advice doc, just company."
(Both laugh.)
| | tarantula3.wav
| Sheriff: "I can't figure it; there isn't a skid mark. We plowed through the wreck and found the brakes still work. Just like something grabbed the pickup and threw it thirty feet off the road."
| | tarantula4.wav
| Stephanie: "Do you think it'll work?"
Matt: "Dynamite's tricky stuff."
Sheriff: "It may blow it up, may just blow the highway up, dog gone I wish we had some nitro."
Joe: "I'll have to see that tarantula before I believe it."
Matt: "You'll see it Joe and you'll wish you hadn't."
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| | Click for a larger image | IMAGES | Scenes from the movie | |
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| | Watch a scene | VIDEO | MPEG video files | |
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 | tarantula1.mpg
- 2.8m
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| I think they have dynamite mixed up with Dursban, but does anyone know the concentration required for a tarantula this big? One million parts per million?
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| | Leave a comment | EXTRAS | Buy the movie | |
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Re: Tarantula
Reply #33. Posted on December 19, 2007, 05:30:20 AM by RCMerchant
Is this the same Jack Arnold who produced and directed the giant-spider episode of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND? If so, was the movie parody intentional?
YES!!!!  I have to visit the Reader comments and reviews section more often...lotsa interesting stuff going on here...!  |
Re: Tarantula
Reply #34. Posted on December 19, 2007, 11:22:46 AM by Flangepart
My second favorite giant insect movie next to THEM.The scene where the TARANTULA destroys the house trying to eat the leading lady scared the hell out of me as a kid.AT LEAST he ate the scientist he was far more scarier then the spider.A GREAT MOVIE.
Good film.
Ya ever think the spider must have been starving? How much nutrition does one human give a bug that big? No wonder its on an eating spree! |
| Re: Tarantula
Reply #35. Posted on February 23, 2009, 02:34:12 AM by Titus
I'm surprised you didn't mention the big one...
... watch the ending of the movie, and listen to the jet pilots voice ("alright. fire two rockets...")
let's just say, the actor could've told the spider "Do you feel lucky? Well, do you , punk?"
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| Re: Tarantula
Reply #36. Posted on February 23, 2009, 02:35:08 AM by Titus
I'm surprised you didn't mention the big one...
... watch the ending of the movie, and listen to the jet pilots voice ("alright. fire two rockets...")
let's just say, the actor could've told the spider "Do you feel lucky? Well, do you , punk?"
the did mention classic |
| Re: Tarantula
Reply #37. Posted on June 24, 2009, 11:35:11 PM by Flu-Bird
The part where those two farmers are driving their pick-up you can hear sheep or goats but the back of their truck is empty save for some cages
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| Re: Tarantula
Reply #38. Posted on November 18, 2009, 02:37:18 AM by Flu-Bird
They reused this big spider in the THREE STOOGES movie HAVE ROCKET WILL TRAVEL but this time its on VENUS and its breathen fire
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Re: Tarantula
Reply #39. Posted on November 20, 2009, 09:43:10 AM by Silverlady
I must have been about six or so when I saw this movie. I just remember being terrified and coming home and hiding under a telephone table in my parents living room. Remember telephone tables? Real fifties!
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Re: Tarantula
Reply #40. Posted on April 15, 2011, 02:41:04 PM by HorrorofBob
:hot:I'll say because that damned tarantula comes awfully close to the Mayberry of Arizona before Clint and his flyboys of the Air Farce crisp it into spider fries. If that wind is not blowing in the right direction, the practice of Doc will be toast. Some of the scenes, especially at night are creepy to say the least and while the makeup job on Deemer when he is last seen is not good by today's standards, when I first looked upon his severely deformed countenance, I was mighty shocked. Steve is rather sexy for a man woman. You would think that Matt Hastings would call her Steffie. No, he has to call her Steve. And boy, does she catch it from Prof. Deemer after she brings Matt back to the lab at the end of her little shopping spree. Well, for Deemer it is all down hill from here. Did I forget one little thing? You bet, the Tarantula is scootin' feet around the desert chewing up cows, pickup trucks, horsies, and farmers. After a big meal, it drops bits of excess digestive fluid in the large economy size. When Matt takes a sample to the experts and says that there are mass quantities of the stuff, he is called a liar or on an LSD trip. Well, all ends well but I still wonder how long it took the giant inferno to reach little ole Mayberry, Arizona.  | | Pages: 1 ... 3 4 [5] 6 | |
