EARTH VS. THE SPIDER (1958) – Episode 193 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“Bring your bug juice and let’s go!” Wait. Are spiders bugs? Shouldn’t they be using spider juice? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Doc Rotten, and Jeff Mohr – as they figure out which juice should be used against the giant creature in Earth vs. the Spider (1958)!

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 193 – Earth vs. the Spider (1958)

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ANNOUNCEMENT
Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL
Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era!
Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website.
Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.
https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

Teenagers from a rural community and their high school science teacher join forces to battle a giant mutant spider.

• Directed by: Bert I. Gordon
• Writing Credits: (screenplay by) László Görög (as Laszlo Gorog) and George Worthing Yates; (story by) Bert I. Gordon
• Produced by: Samuel Z. Arkoff (executive producer), James H. Nicholson (executive producer), Bert I. Gordon (producer), Henry Schrage (assistant producer)
• Music by: Albert Glasser
• Cinematography by: Jack A. Marta (director of photography) (as Jack Marta)
• Selected Cast:
  • Ed Kemmer as Professor Art Kingman
  • June Kenney as Carol Flynn
  • Eugene Persson as Mike Simpson (as Gene Persson)
  • Gene Roth as Sheriff Cagle
  • Hal Torey as Mr. Simpson
  • June Jocelyn as Mrs. Jack Flynn
  • Mickey Finn as Sam Haskel
  • Sally Fraser as Mrs. Helen Kingman
  • Troy Patterson as Joe
  • Skip Young as Sam the Bass Player
  • Howard Wright as Jake
  • Bill Giorgio as Deputy Sheriff Pete Sanders
  • Hank Patterson as Hugo the Janitor
  • Jack Kosslyn as Mr. Fraser
  • Bob Garnet as Pest Control Man
  • Shirley Falls as Switchboard Operator
  • Robert Tetrick as Deputy Sheriff Dave (as Bob Tetrick)
  • Nancy Kilgas as Dancer
  • George Stanley as Man in Cavern
  • David Tomack as Power Line Foreman
  • Merritt Stone as Jack Flynn
  • James Burton as Teenager in Band (uncredited)
  • Dick D’Agostin as Pianist (uncredited)

The Classic Era Grue Crew go B-I-G for this episode! Yes, it’s time for some Bert I. Gordon! For the Decades of Horror’s fourth excursion into BIG territory, the crew crawls all over Earth vs. the Spider (1958), also known as The Spider. Gordon uses his usual visual effects techniques to achieve the “50 tons of creeping black horror” as advertised, and, as usual, scales may vary. Gordon gets an assist from Paul Blaisdell with a hairy spider leg and a desiccated body. Throw in a fearless high school girl and her dumb boyfriend, their 35-year-old classmate, their science teacher, a goofy sheriff, and a brawny construction foreman, and viewers get exactly what they expect in a B.I.G. extravaganza. What a fun talkabout!

At the time of this writing, Earth vs. the Spider (1958) is available to stream from the Classic Sci-Fi Movie Channel, the Classic Horror Movie Channel, Wicked Horror TV, Shudder, AMC+, Prime, Tubi, and Crackle. The film is available on physical media as a Blu-ray disc from Shout Factory. 

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Next in their very flexible schedule – this one chosen by Chad – is Them! (1954). The Classic Era Grue Crew is on a big-bug-roll and this might be the granddaddy of them all!

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel, the site, or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at [email protected]

To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!”