TARANTULA (1955) – Episode 209 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“Never saw anything like it! No footprints! No blood! No sign of a struggle! The bones just stripped clean like peeling a banana!” Well, if it were a giant spider, it would be because they liquefy their food by flooding it with digestive enzymes. Of course, there’s no such thing as giant spiders. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Doc Rotten, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they try to keep up with the giant spider in Tarantula (1955). Wait. There are giant spiders?

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 209 – Tarantula (1955)

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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/

Synopsis: A spider escapes from an isolated Arizona desert laboratory experimenting in gigantism and grows to tremendous size as it wreaks havoc on the local inhabitants.

• Director: Jack Arnold
• Writers: Robert M. Fresco and Martin Berkeley (screenplay); Jack Arnold and Robert M. Fresco (story)
• Producer: William Alland
• Composers: Herman Stein (uncredited); Henry Mancini (uncredited)
• Cinematographer: George Robinson (director of photography)
• Makeup Department: Joan St. Oegger (hair stylist), Bud Westmore (makeup artist)
• Special Effects: Wah Chang (creator: tarantula puppet) (uncredited)
• Visual Effects:
  • Clifford Stine (special photography)
  • David S. Horsley (special photographic effects supervisor) (uncredited)
• Stunts: Eddie Parker (uncredited), Bud Wolfe (uncredited)
• Movie Poster Art: Reynold Brown (uncredited)
• Selected Cast:
  • John Agar as Dr. Matt Hastings
  • Mara Corday as Stephanie ‘Steve’ Clayton
  • Leo G. Carroll as Prof. Gerald Deemer
  • Nestor Paiva as Sheriff Jack Andrews
  • Ross Elliott as Joe Burch
  • Edwin Rand as Lt. John Nolan
  • Raymond Bailey as Townsend
  • Hank Patterson as Josh
  • Bert Holland as Barney Russell
  • Steve Darrell as Andy Andersen
  • Don Dillaway as Jim Bagny (uncredited)
  • Clint Eastwood as Jet Squadron Leader (uncredited)
  • Eddie Parker as Paul Lund/Eric Jacobs/Airport Attendant (uncredited)
  • Bing Russell as Deputized Townsman (uncredited)
  • Tom London as Jeb – First Tramp (uncredited)
  • Edgar Dearing as Second Tramp (uncredited)

A giant arachnid is the order of the day in Jack Arnold’s Tarantula (1955), and according to the posters, this spider is 100 feet tall! Exaggeration aside, it’s a big ‘un. As usual, Mr. Arnold crafts a fine, suspense-filled picture. This one stars John Agar, Mara Corday (Jeff’s new crush), and Leo G. Carroll, who are supported by character actors par excellence Nestor Paiva, Hank Patterson, Ross Elliott, Steve Darrell, and Bing Russell. Even Clint Eastwood makes an uncredited appearance. The titular creature is achieved via forced perspective combined with matte paintings and a live tarantula, accompanied by key appearances from Wah Chang’s “fang puppets.” And there’s plenty of taglines for Chad and Grue-Believer feedback! Enjoy our talkabout!

At the time of this writing, Tarantula (1955) is available to stream from Classic Sci-FI Movie Channel, Classic Horror Movie Channel, Wicked Horror TV, and multiple PPV options. The film is also available on physical media as a standard Blu-ray formatted 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 Daphne – is Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast (1946, La Belle et la Bête), the classic film based on a classic fairy tale. Yay!

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