Tarantula

This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of Tarantula released by Kino-Lorber released in April, 2019. If you are familiar with this movie and only interested in the picture quality and extra's then just look right below in the next section. *****NOTE***** I know that I am calling this movie a 'Big Bug' movie in the headline and review as well. Of course, calling a tarantula a 'bug' is false. It is not. It is an arachnid. Nevertheless, it just sort of goes with the sub-genre. BLU-RAY: The picture is very nice. I am quite pleased with it and anybody purchasing this release should be happy with the picture. I'm giving it an 8.5/10. There are some imperfections. You do see some scratches and dust and things in the picture if you look for it but it's not obvious. I thought the picture for most of the movie was sharp and the contrast seemed to be turned up a bit. This picture looks very similar to the picture that was released in previous European editions of this movie. The movie is shown in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. EXTRA'S: -There is poster art on the inside of the cover. -Audio Commentary by historian Tom Weaver - Weaver does his usual excellent job with his commentary. He calls this movie his favorite of the 50's Universal science fiction movies and his enthusiasm shows. He brings in several guest speakers to recreate interviews with people involved with the production of this movie. He uses Joe Dante for real. This is worth listening to if you are a fan of this movie. -Theatrical Trailer - This is not restored and is in standard definition -Still Gallery -Poster Gallery -Subtitles *****THERE ARE LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT***** PLOT/SUMMARY...: At the open, we see a man with a disfigured face stumbling and collapsing in the Arizona desert. Dr. Matt Hastings (John Agar) has just flown in to town where he has an office. He is called to examine the body of the man who collapsed in the desert. Also, called in is Dr. Deemer. Deemer has set up a research laboratory in his home 20 miles outside of town. Supposedly the body is that of Eric Jacobs who was working for Dr. Deemer. The body is identified as Eric Jacobs but Matt has a hard time believing it. Jacobs had been seen recently and looked normal. Dr. Deemer says he has died of acromegaly. The problem is that acromegaly takes years to develop. Dr. Deemer says Jacobs was normal as of 4 days ago but insists he had acromegaly which caused his heart to stop. Matt wants to perform an autopsy but the Sheriff does not allow it. Later, Matt drives to Dr. Deemer's laboratory where he has a talk with him. He tells Matt to go ahead and do an autopsy to put his mind at ease but that Jacobs definitely had acromegaly. Matt leaves and we see Deemer in his lab where has regular animals that are much larger than they should be including a large tarantula in a glass cage. Another man with facial deformities enters the lab and attacks Deemer and knocks him out. He does damage to the lab and the large tarantula escapes. He then injects Deemer with an unknow substance. Deemer regains consciousness in time to put out the fire. Back in town, Matt meets Deemer's new lab assistant who has just arrived. Her name is Stephanie Clayton but prefers Steve. Matt drives her to the lab. Steve is staying at the lab and Hastings takes off. A few days later cattle start being eaten. Then a rancher is killed and a truck is found well off the road. All of these sites have a pool of spider venom. Deemer is starting to show signs of acromegaly and Steve tells Matt about it. Eventually Deemer collapses and Matt comes to see him. Deemer tells the truth about what has been going on. Later that evening the tarantula, now a giant, attacks the house and Matt comes to the rescue. Matt tells the Sheriff and they plan to stop the giant Tarantula. $$$ PRODUCTION $$$: -This movie was made in 1955 and released by Universal. The final cost of the movie was $334,000. -'Tarantula' was directed by a 50's science fiction movie legend, Jack Arnold. He may have been the best of all the science fiction directors of the era. -"Acromegaly" is mispronounced throughout the movie as "acromegalia". It's spelled as "acromegalia" in the subtitles also. The writer admitted there is no reason for this and that it was just an error. -There were 5 tarantula's used in the making of this movie. There has been a rumor that the tarantula used in this movie was the same one used in 'The Incredible Shrinking Man'. This is not true. -The basis of this movie was a story called "No Food for Thought". This was an episode of Science Fiction Theater. I LIKED THIS MOVIE, WHAT OTHER MOVIES DID JACK ARNOLD DIRECT?: Since I pronounced him the best of the 50's science fiction directors I decided to list his other achievements in that genre. He also directed sci-fi classics 'It Came From Outer Space', 'Creature From The Black Lagoon' and 'The Incredible Shrinking Man'. He also directed other 50's Sci-Fi movies such as 'Revenge of the Creature', 'The Space Children' and 'Monster on Campus'. He went on to an extensive career in television. -Tom Weaver notes that Jack Arnold is well known as being a terrific liar. This is why he never bothered to interview him. He didn't want to have to be critical and tell him that he knew he was making stuff up. Arnold gets a writing credit in 'Tarantula' along with other movies and he contributed nothing to the story. Arnold was a great science fiction director but he apparently wasn't a stand-up guy. WAS JOHN AGAR THE BIGGEST STAR IN THE MOVIE?: Obviously I wouldn't have created this category for this review if the answer was "Yes". If you don't know I'll give you a hint...it was the fighter pilot at the end who kills the Tarantula. He would become very famous for having no name in the 60's and then later on in the 70's he became known for being a dirty actor. For the answer, just read on.... WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN?: I'm talking about the fighter pilot of whom you can only see part of his face. Well the biggest star of this movie is in fact, Clint Eastwood. Yes, he is in this movie and he is the hero of the movie. Clint is the fighter pilot who destroys the Tarantula at the end. You can't see most of his face but that is indeed Clint Eastwood. Eastwood's first acting jobs came as a contract actor for Universal. You can also see him as a lab assistant in 'Revenge of the Creature'. In that one you know right away it is him. He looks the same as he does in all his movies. His dialogue was recorded days after his scene and dubbed in. -Tom Weaver notes in the commentary that Eastwood filmed another scene in which he is asked to go on the mission to destroy the Tarantula. This scene ended up on the cutting room floor. HOW GOOD ARE THE SPECIAL EFFECTS AND HOW REALISTIC DOES THE SPIDER LOOK?: The spider looks very real because it is in fact real! Yes of course it is blown up but I think what makes this movie so good is that the spider looks very realistic, even enlarged. If they had modern Hollywood integration techniques they wouldn't even need CGI. Just go and look at The Spider from Christopher Mihm. He made that movie on an ultra low budget and it still looks real good. The tarantula used in both 'Earth vs. The Spider' and 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' both looked real good. Bottom line is that a Tarantula is an excellent choice for enlargement in a monster movie. The other special effects aren't too shabby either. COMMENTS: WHY DID DR. DEEMER INJECT HUMANS?: This question is not answered in the movie but is answered in the original screenplay. You might wonder why the doctor would inject a human when the only two possibilities were death or massive growth. Those are the only two outcomes given in the movie. However, the original screenplay tells you that there was a 90% possibility of increased strength and a 10% chance of death or massive growth. So the doctor wasn't entirely nuts, he thought he had a 90% chance of a positive outcome. DON'T TELL ANYONE!: Is it me or is it dumb to net let the public in on secrets that can be dangerous to their health. I just hate the way the public is treated like idiot's. How many movies do we watch in which there is some law officer or some other official telling the press to keep it quiet. I think if there was something or someone dangerous out there that I'd want to know so I can protect myself. What is all this nonsense with, "We don't want to start a panic". Since when is there mass chaos when there is a serial killer on the loose? How many times in these movies does 'not telling the public' lead to death's that could have been avoided? OTHER COMMENTS/THOUGHTS: -Universal's 'Them' led to this movie along with the whole "big bug craze". 'Them' did big numbers and everyone wanted to get in on the success. Among others, we saw giant grasshoppers, praying mantis', scorpion's, wasps, etc. -I can't believe they had John Agar taste the venom which looked like white... well you know what I mean. -This movie terrified me as a child. This movie along with 'The Monster That Challenged The World' are the two most memorable movies that I saw as a young boy on Chiller Theater late night movies. Those two movies gave me nightmares for a long time. I thought that the Tarantula looked very real and scared the $%*# out of me. The memory of that creepy spider has stuck with me my whole life and it still gives me chills when I watch it with the lights out. CONCLUSIONS: It's my opinion that this is one of the best 'big bug' movies or any movie for that matter that has radiation causing some sort of problem. I always thought this was an excellent movie and after watching it again, my opinion hasn't changed. If you don't like this movie then you are most likely not a fan of 1950's science fiction. In my headline, I call this movie "THE BEST" but of course that is a matter of opinion. There are many who might call 'Them' the best one or perhaps some other movie. I would have no argument with someone who said that 'Them' is better because movie because "ants are actually bugs". RATINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS: Picture: 8.5/10 or 4 1/2 stars - See comments above under 'BLU-RAY' Plot: 7.5/10 or 4 stars - Nothing special, but good enough. SFX: 9/10 or 5 stars - The effects are excellent when you take into account the very small budget and the very real looking Tarantula. Extra's: 5/10 or 2 1/2 stars - The extra's are nothing special but you do get a good audio commentary. Overall I'm giving this release 5 stars. This is my favorite of the 50's 'big bug' movies. Recommended for anybody who likes classic science fiction movies. Recommended for fans of 'big bug' movies. Recommended for fans of John Agar and Director Jack Arnold and oh yeah....fans of Clint Eastwood!

I couldn't be happier with this purchase. I've been a fan of "Tarantula" since I first saw it at the "Chino Theater" in Chino , California back in the late 1950's. I already had "Tarantula" in the "Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection" released by Universal several years ago on DVD. Since Universal had passed it over to "Shout Factory" I was afraid it might not get the first class treatment that I would hope to get from Universal. But I needn't worry, because I doubt that Universal would have done a better job. Image quality is great for a 64 year old movie! Although it looked very good on the Universal release on DVD, this looks even better. And it great to see it in the theatrical widescreen aspect ratio! The DVD was in 4:3 which looked great on the old standard televisions before widescreen flat sets came out, but this widescreen version looks so much better on todays sets. If I had anything at all negative to say, it would be that the beautiful new transfer by Shout Factory reveals some of the less than perfect cinematography in a few parts of the movie. Several times the focus was a bit off, and probably wasn't that noticeable back in the days of television matinees on standard resolution televisions, and on VHS prints or even DVD. But the Blu-ray doesn't let those few imperfections hide. Also, in some of the brighter scenes, film grain can be a little distracting, a bit grainier than I prefer, but that may be due to over-sharpening. But those are minor flaws, and due to the original filming, not the Blu-ray. All in all, I couldn't be happier. A lot of us have waited for years to get a great Blu-ray version of "Tarantula"! As far as image quality, the black levels are near perfect. It also reveals what a great job was done with the rear-projection scenes. Usually the difference in contrast between the foreground and background make the rear projection scenes glaringly obvious. But this rear projection blended in seamlessly as far as contrast was concerned. I never realized how spot-on they did it until now. Great movie all around. So good that I'm tempted to order a second "back-up" Blu-ray just in case anything ever happens to it and it goes out of print as some sci-fi titles do. I recommend this Blu-ray edition to anyone who is a fan of this movie, or anyone who is a fan of good 1950's science fiction. This is classic. And the clarity of this Blu-ray really spotlights Mara Corday's beautiful face and figure!

Very entertaining 50’s sci fi. Good visuals for it’s time

Of course, the movie is a great classic. The actual dvd quality is great. I love the subtitles, which I need in order to understand what people are saying. If you’re a horror movie fan, buy this one for your collection!

Looked for this film for years great film. Movies along at a fast pace. The blu-ray audio and video are excellent. Well worth the money for sci-fi buffs. Glad to be able to see it again in unedited and great print. One of the best giant 'bug' movies (yeah, I know it is not actually a bug).

Very good quality.

Edward G Robinson is great in this and the effects are pretty amazing for a 50's movie.