Tarantula

Jack Arnold – 1955 – USA

People who hate science-fiction, especially ‘old’ 50s-era science-fiction, typically have a list of laughable traits and clichés in mind that justify their contempt for the entire genre.  In response I tend to cite the many ingenious, thoughtful and even artistic sci-fi films the 1950s gave us, such as The Thing from Another World (1951), Invaders from Mars (1953), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), to name just a few of many.  Tarantula, however, is stocked with virtually every embarrassing trope imaginable, and is hard to defend except as a fun target for jeers in the manner of Mystery Science Theater 3000.  That said, it is far from the worst the genre has to offer, but it’s not one of the best either.  Mad scientists, overgrown bugs, comically pathetic special effects, cornball acting and speech-making, bland sets, etc, etc; it’s all here.  There is one elemental aspect of the film that remains effective in spite of its ham-fisted depiction; the thought of being attacked by a gigantic spider.  When the film can force you to imagine the horror of that, it comes close to working.  Eventually, the titular arachnid gets so big that it stops being scary because it seems like you could easily hide from it if it came near you.  At that point, only napalm dropped by an Air Force plane flown by Clint Eastwood can save the day.  The same eight-legged star of this film was used by director Arnold two years later in the far superior Incredible Shrinking Man.