During the 1950s, movies containing giant monsters were booming. Nothing was untouched when it came to people or animals that literally became giants in cinema. The films were made with an ‘anything goes’ mentality, whether the creatures were giant mutated lizards, prehistoric dinosaurs, or oversized bugs. There were several movies that featured  big bugs during this era.  After the success of Warner Brothers’ Them! featuring giant ants that ravaged the land, eating people and laying eggs, other studios followed suit. Universal studios response to giant ants were a pair of bug thrillers; The Deadly Mantis which was about a giant praying mantis and the even creepier Tarantula, featuring, you guessed it; a big hairy tarantula.

Tarantula is the ‘how scientific experiments can cause a genetic mutation with disastrous results’ type of story. Scientist Professor Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll) is conducting secret (at first) experiments with animals. They are being injected with growth hormones that contain radiation which in turn will produce a super-nutrient. In theory this nutrient would eventually lead to an unlimited food supply for humanity.  His test animals include rabbits, rats, a pig and a tarantula, all of which are the size of your average size or larger dog. We later learn that Dr. Deemers’ lab assistants were testing themselves, injecting the super-nutrient in their own body, which caused a horrific side-effect, a form of acromegaly that occurs at an accelerated rate.

During a fight between Professor Deemer and Paul Lund, one of his now deformed assistants, the glass cage with the tarantula breaks, and proceeds to escape its lair. The large arachnid continues to grow to gigantic, house size proportions, while it roams the countryside eating people and cattle. The entire Arizona desert is in grave danger as the tarantula creeps around devouring everything in sight. Doctor Matt Hastings (John Agar) who had been called in to investigate the death of the first mutated man in the film,  Eric Jacobs, also one of Professor Deemer’s assistants, and Stephanie “Steve” Clayton (Mara Corday), Deemer‘s new assistant have the task to stop the ever growing eight-legged terror. Unfortunately, Dr. Deemer had also been injected with the growth hormone during the fight with Paul Lund, and like his previous assistants, starts to morph into something horrifying. It’s up to Dr. Hastings to find a way to kill the tarantula as it approaches a small town, ready to munch on the townsfolk.  

Tarantula, while undoubtedly a B-movie, is still one of the better monster bug films from that time and is genuinely creepy. The initial appearance of the tarantula is a real chiller and packs a jolt as it drops into the screen in front of Dr. Deemer. Outside of the tarantula, the two mutated people in the film were pretty hideous.

Director Jack Arnold, mainly known for The Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came from Outer Space did another superb job directing a chilling, suspenseful thrill-ride of a monster movie. The special effects were fantastic and convincing, mainly because a real spider was used for the film as opposed to puppets or stop motion animated creatures. The cast for the film does a marvelous job. John Agar, who dominated the 50s as the lead in many low budget but highly entertaining science fiction and horror movies that include The Mole People, The Brain from Planet Arous and Revenge of the Creature, hands in his usual heroic 50s style performance. Screen legend Leo G. Carroll, who was a great supporting actor often found in Alfred Hitchcock films, in particular North by Northwest, Rebecca and Spellbound also does a terrific job as a scientist turned deformed man. Tarantula was actually the first film I saw with Leo G. Carroll. Clint Eastwood has an uncredited cameo in this movie as a jet pilot in charge of dropping bombs on the Tarantula. The excellent cinematography of the desert and other countryside locations were courtesy George Robinson.

Another interesting tidbit about Tarantula is that this is the same spider in this film would later be used as the antagonist in The Incredible Shrinking Man during that films climatic scene. This is the only real bug that I am aware of that was used for more than one movie. 

Scream Factory debuts Tarantula on Blu-ray in the USA and it’s a solid release. Given a new 2K master, the black and white widescreen picture simply looks spectacular. The scenery has great depth, contrast and deep textures. Print damage is minimal.  This is an excellent well-polished visual presentation. Tarantula has never looked better and easily surpasses the previous DVD releases.  The audio, English DTS- HD Master Audio 2.0 was also quite effective with the dialog, action noises, and the sound effects of the tarantula crawling around  coming in strong and clear. The chilling music, which can also be heard in It Came from Outer Space, sounds the most aggressive. Optional English subtitles are also part of the offering.

There aren’t many extras for this release as is the case with most pre-1960 films. Shout Factory has included new audio commentary with film historians Tom Weaver, Dr. Robert J. Kiss, and David Schecter. The commentary is what you would expect with Weaver as enthusiastic as ever, sharing a vast amount of background information about the film, the cast and crew, ranging from Jack Arnold to stuntman Eddie Parker, who had more than one role in Tarantula. Parker and his multiple roles appear in the first 12 minutes of the film! There is also a wealth of information about the music used in Tarantula. Rounding out the extras are a trailer and a still gallery.

Tarantula arguably can be considered to be one of the best big bug movies made from the 50s, even surpassing Them! with its stark realism of using an actual creeping, crawling spider. Encountering a spider in real life for many people as is nerve-racking as it gets. Given a new 2K scan with a couple of cool extras make Tarantula a recommended release!