Tarantula!

On the landscape of 1950s American sci-fi, Jack Arnold’s “Tarantula!” deserves its prominent position as an eternal classic of the genre.

The film reflects the concerns and anxieties of its era (the threat posed by nuclear radiation, the dangers inherent in scientific knowledge operating from an arrogance of omniscience) and also anticipates those of future decades (worries about the “population explosion” will gain traction during the ’60s). It was also one of the most influential and successful pioneers of the prolific sub-genre featuring colossal arthropods, a wave of films with titles such as “The Black Scorpion” (1957), “The Deadly Mantis” (1957), “Earth Vs. the Spider” (1958), etc.

Eternally fascinated by the immensity of the desert (“Like something from another life. Serene, quiet, yet strangely evil, as if it were hiding its secret from man“), which symbolizes the mysterious primal forces surrounding a contemporary society enthralled by the lure of progress, the director sets the story in the fictional town of Desert Rock, and to propel that story, he relies on the prototypical figures of such a setting – sheriff, doctor, reporter – figures which also represent various aspects of local power.

Two narrative threads basically unfold in parallel (Deemer’s research on one hand, the spider’s lethal forays on the other), supported by professional performances from a top-notch cast. The film also avails itself of pretty decent makeup and special effects for the time – the effects mainly consist of basic but effective superimposed images. Most memorable scene: the assault on the professor’s home.

Produced by “Universal Pictures”.