The trailer for this movie was one of many that I saw on that classic video compilation, Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies. The trailer for Earth vs. The Spider (which was just called The Spider in the trailer) was also on that compilation and of the two, I took to Tarantula more simply because it looked cooler and the tarantula wasn't constantly screeching like the giant spider in that other trailer. I finally saw the movie when I was twelve when I bought many classic monster movies on VHS. When I watched it, I did enjoy it but it wasn't quite what I was expecting. While I do consider this film to be one of the best giant bug movies that was made in the 1950's, it's obvious that Jack Arnold wasn't content with just doing that type of film.
A horribly deformed man is found dead outside the small desert town of Desert Rock and when he's brought in, he's identified as Eric Jacobs, a scientist working with Prof. Gerald Deemer in a house outside of town. He seems to have died from acromegaly but Dr. Matt Hastings, the town's local physician, isn't so sure because of how quickly he became deformed. Unbeknown to him and the rest of the townspeople, Deemer and his assistants have been working on a powerful nutrient to end the world's food shortage problem and have tested it on several lab animals, causing them to grow to enormous sizes. When Deemer's other assistant, who has also become afflicted with acromegaly, goes crazy and attacks him, an enormous tarantula is set free from the lab and begins stalking the countryside, eventually growing to be as big as a house. The tarantula begins eating livestock and humans, and now Hastings must find a way to help destroy the monster before it destroys the town.
This movie doesn't start at all as you would expect it to. When the Universal-International logo comes up, you hear a slightly sped up version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon main title and then you see the desert. The deformed Eric Jacobs then appears and eventually dies in the hot sun. Until the title Tarantula came up, I thought I'd gotten the wrong movie and thought it was like The Creature Walks Among Us! Like I said, I don't think Arnold was satisfied with just doing a typical giant bug movie. The first half of the movie involves Dr. Hastings and the local sheriff trying to solve the mystery of how Jacobs' acromegaly came up so quickly and what Deemer is working on at his laboratory. Hastings then becomes involved Stephanie "Steve" Clayton, a lab student who's aiming to work with the professor and he learns through her more of what Deemer is doing. There's also a subplot with Deemer having been injected with the nutrient by Paul, his other deformed assistant, while he was unconscious and slowly begins to develop acromegaly as well. With all of this, if it weren't for the constant glimpses of the ever-growing tarantula, you'd forget that it was even part of the movie. The tarantula doesn't even begin to make an impact on the plot until the second half of the film, when it grows big enough to kill livestock and people. Even then, it's kind of superfluous to the overall story. The main plot is about Deemer's experiments and the tarantula is just one part of it that's gotten out of hand. The main characters don't even see it until the movie's almost over.
If you're thinking that I was complaining about the film, you're wrong. I was just noting how odd it was for a giant bug movie to render the actual monster secondary to the plot. I actually think that's kind of smart, to be honest. Since the movie's called Tarantula, you know you're going to see a giant spider but the movie slowly builds up to when you finally see it in all its glory and by that point, you're ready for it and it doesn't disappoint. You might think the movie might be boring since you don't see the tarantula actually cause destruction until fairly late in the movie but Arnold's direction is good enough to keep you interested the whole time.
John Agar returns from Revenge of the Creature to play the lead in this film, Dr. Matt Hastings. As I said in my review of that film, I don't think Agar was the best actor in the world but in this movie, he's actually quite good. As Hastings, he's a charming, likable physician who's dedicated to his work and is determined to solve something that he knows doesn't add up. He does seem to become a bit distracted with courting Steve, the lovely assistant to Prof. Deemer, but he's always on call whenever he's needed. He's also good enough to warn the sheriff when he discovers that there's a giant spider loose in the countryside and tells him to get the state police as well. It's also his idea to get the local air force to drop napalm on the tarantula, which ultimately kills it.
Stephanie "Steve" Clayton, the assistant to Prof. Deemer, is played by the incredibly beautiful Mara Corday. She's different than most women in sci-fi movies around this time because she's an educated science student who's come out to the professor's lab to earn her master's degree. There's even a bit of commentary on the women rights issue that was going at that time, with Hastings jokingly saying, "I knew it. Give women the vote and what do you get? Lady scientists." There's also a statement made because her nickname is a man's name. Other than that, there's not much to say about Steve. She's kind and very curious about the professor's work but by the end of the movie, she is running and screaming from the tarantula, albeit briefly.
The most interesting character in the film, and the best acting job by far, is Prof. Deemer, played by Leo G. Carroll, who also appeared in many Alfred Hitchcock movies. Deemer is a mysterious person, charming but has an aura about him that makes people realize there's something he doesn't want them to know. Although he's conducting dangerous experiments, he's not a mad scientist at all. He intends to help people by finding an end to world hunger. He's well aware of how dangerous his experiments have become but he hides it from the authorities so he can eventually overcome the problem. Unfortunately for him, one of his crazed, acromegaly-stricken assistants injects him with the nutrient, causing him to slowly develop the disease as well. He eventually confesses to Hastings and Steve that the isotope he used to bond the nutrient caused the acromegaly in his assistants when they injected themselves (and is what caused the animals, including the tarantula, to grow to enormous size). Deemer eventually becomes horrifically deformed by the disease but is killed by the tarantula.
Good old Nestor Paiva plays Sheriff Jack Andrews, who enlists Hastings to help him when Jacobs' deformed body is discovered at the beginning of the movie. He's not quite as jokey and is a bit more serious than Lucas in Creature from the Black Lagoon but he does have a sense of humor about him. Even though he asks Hastings to help him, he doesn't like all the inferences he makes toward Deemer lying about what happened and becomes more than a little peeved when Hastings performs an autopsy on Jacobs' body and finds that it was simply acromegaly. However, he's good enough not to hold a grudge and enlists his help again when livestock and people start turning up dead. The only other noteworthy cast member is Ross Elliot as Joe Burch, the high-strung head of the local newspaper. He's not too happy when the sheriff forgets to tell him about Jacobs' death, although he doesn't come across as an asshole. He's actually kind of funny, especially when he hears Hastings suggest that there's a giant spider roaming the countryside (until he sees it for himself, of course). And as he did in Revenge of the Creature the same year, Clint Eastwood has an early, uncredited role as the leader of the jet squadron that ultimately brings the tarantula down. He's wearing a pilot mask so you can't see his face but trust me, it's him.
After dealing with water environments for his two Creature movies, Arnold decided to go back to the desert setting he'd used in It Came from Outer Space. I find the desert used in this movie to be much more spectacular and well-photographed than the one in that film. The atmosphere may not be quite as creepy as that film but there are some great moments. In one scene, Hastings and Steve are enjoying the scenery by a large rock formation when a rockslide suddenly occurs. After they leave, it's revealed that the slide was caused by the tarantula but later, Hastings come back to find out what caused it. As brief as that scene is, the music does help give it an air of mystery as he searches for something strange around the formation. Before that when he and Steve are driving away, he tells her that there are many times in the desert where rocks just move for no reason. (I can vouch for that. I've been in the wilderness in areas where things just move for no reason.) There's another great moment at night when this rancher's horses are in their corral when they suddenly sense the tarantula and become panicked when it appears on a nearby hill.
The special effects used to create the tarantula are actually very well done. Even though it's obvious how it was done, with a real tarantula being matted into the shots to make it look gigantic, it's done with skill and there are only a few instances where you can see a mistake. They also use some well designed models for closeups of the tarantula's face and they even have it let out a loud growl when it attacks. (Honestly, even though I think Them! is a better film overall, I think the actual monster here is pulled off much better than the giant ants in that film.) My favorite scene involving the tarantula is near the end of the film where it slowly approaches the Deemer house and Steve continues working in her bedroom, unaware of what's going on. The music starts off simple enough and builds and builds as the tarantula gets closer to the house, becoming very frantic when its head appears right outside the window. Steve doesn't see it until it's practically on top of the house and it tears it to pieces. Steve manages to get out but Deemer, who's become hideously deformed by this point, is devoured by the tarantula and you actually see its huge fang get him. I also have to mention the makeup effects used to create the acromegaly deformities. They're quite impressive, especially the way Deemer looks before he gets killed. The same guy plays both Eric Jacobs and Paul Lund when they appear deformed at the beginning of the film, which made me think it was the same character the first couple of times I saw the movie. Like Deemer, really good makeup jobs on both of those.
The music by Herman Stein also adds a lot to the movie. I'm not sure how much of it was composed specifically for this movie and how much of it is previously recorded but either way, it all fits together very well. The opening credits music is one of my favorites as well as the ending music (both of which were used again for Arnold's final monster flick, Monster on the Campus), and the music used for the action scenes, including the attacks by the tarantula, all work very well. I already described how suspenseful and tense the music made that scene with the tarantula getting closer and closer to Deemer's house. I'll even say it: this music in this movie is some of my favorites ever used in a 50's sci-fi movie. Very skillfully composed and orchestrated.
From what I can gather, the general opinion on Tarantula is split: some like it, others don't. While it may be one of the most unusual 1950's monster movies and not Arnold's best film, I do think it's one of his finest. The acting is good, the effects are well done, the setting is utilized very well, and the music, especially, is superb. If you like these kinds of movies and haven't seen this one, I'd advise checking it out; just be prepared for a not so typical monster movie.
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