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Burch, who is asking questions about Jacobs's death, but getting the runaround from Deemer. Deemer tells
Hastings and Clayton that the fire was caused by an equipment malfunction, all the test animals were killed, and Lund has left his employment. Deemer explains his work - the use of a radioactive element to produce an artificial super-nutrient, which once perfected, could provide an unlimited food supply for humanity.
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Hastings drives back to the mansion, where he finds Deemer near death, suffering from severe acromegalic deformities. Deemer divulges all that he knows about the nutrient and says that Lund and Jacobs tested it on themselves against his advice. Hastings flies the samples of white liquid to the
Arizona Agricultural Institute in
330:. The film is about a scientist developing a miracle nutrient to feed a rapidly growing human population. In its unperfected state, the nutrient causes extraordinarily rapid growth, creating a deadly problem when a tarantula test subject escapes and continues to grow larger and larger. The screenplay by
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Hastings flies back to Desert Rock. As night falls, the tarantula, now larger than a house, attacks the mansion. Deemer is killed, but
Clayton escapes. Hastings returns for her in his car. The tarantula pursues them down the highway toward the town. The sheriff's men intercept, but their guns have no
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Days later, the sheriff asks
Hastings to accompany him to Andy Anderson's ranch as he investigates picked-clean cattle skeletons and large pools of a thick, white liquid. The tarantula, now grown to the size of a tank, is the cause. That night, Anderson and two men inside a pickup truck are killed by
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The film's special effects, which depict giant animals and insects, were advanced for the mid-1950s. Real animals, including a rabbit and a guinea pig in
Professor Deemer's lab, were used to represent their giant on-screen counterparts. A live tarantula was used whenever the gigantic spider is seen
404:
A newcomer to town, Stephanie
Clayton, nicknamed "Steve", has signed on to assist in Deemer's lab. Told by the hotel clerk that she will have to wait until the only taxi returns, she accepts a ride from Hastings, who is also going to Deemer's lab. At the mansion, they encounter local journalist Joe
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makes atmospheric use of its desert locations. While a radioactive isotope does make an appearance, it differs from most other 1950s big-bug features in having the mutation caused by the peaceful research of a well-intentioned scientist, rather than by nuclear weapons and/or a mad genius. Director
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The next day, at the scene of the wrecked truck, Hastings looks around at the request of the sheriff, and once again finds pools of the white liquid, of which he takes samples. He calls Deemer to ask him to analyze the liquid, and
Clayton answers. Deemer ambushes her, and the phone call is cut.
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desert. Dr. Matt
Hastings, a doctor from the nearby town of Desert Rock, Arizona, is called in by the sheriff to examine the body. It appears to be that of biological research scientist Eric Jacobs, an acquaintance of Hastings'. Jacobs' colleague, Dr. Gerald Deemer, says Jacobs died of
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moving. Shooting of miniatures was reserved for close-ups of its face and fangs and for the final scenes of the giant spider being set ablaze by the jet squadron's napalm attack. The resulting scenes proved more convincing in some ways, than the giant prop ants used in the earlier
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that Deemer was using on the lab specimens and injects him with the contents. As flames engulf the lab, the tarantula leaves and Lund collapses and dies. Deemer regains consciousness, grabs a fire extinguisher, and puts out the fire. That night, Deemer buries Lund in the desert.
377:, but Hastings is unconvinced, since acromegaly takes years to reach the level Jacobs was at. Deemer acknowledges that Jacobs's development of acromegaly was rapid, over just four days, but insists that such anomalies are to be expected on occasion.
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indicated "A tarantula as big as a barn puts the horror into this well-made program science-fictioner, and it is quite credibly staged and played, bringing off the far-fetched premise with a maximum of believability". In
396:. Deemer's assistant, doctoral student Paul Lund, is now deformed like Jacobs, and attacks Deemer, smashing the glass covering a tarantula's cage and setting the lab aflame in his rampage. Lund grabs the
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awarded the film 3 out of 4 stars, praising the film's fast pacing, special effects, and intriguing subplot. He called it, "One of the best giant-insect films". The contemporary review in
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The film's theatrical release poster, featuring a spider with two eyes instead of the normal eight, and carrying a woman in its fangs, does not represent any scene in the final film.
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effect. Dynamite is gathered from town, but a blast large enough to blow up the highway does not faze the tarantula. As they evacuate the town, an
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released a region A Blu-ray April 30, 2019. It features audio commentary by Tom Weaver, Dr. Robert J. Kiss, and David
Schecter.
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605:. It was the fourth-biggest film at the U.S. box office in December 1955 and earned rentals of $ 1.1 million.
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as "(a) pretty good entry in the giant bug subgenre of 1950s horror and science fiction movies". On
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Keep
Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, The 21st Century Edition
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899:"'Guys and Dolls' Jingly Pre-Xmas; December Pretty Downbeat; 'Trap,' 'Tarantula,' 'Rebel' 3-4-5"
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was based on a story by Arnold, which was in turn inspired by Fresco's teleplay for the 1955
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In his home and research laboratory in an isolated desert mansion, Deemer keeps rabbits,
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it has an approval rating of 92% based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 6.3/10.
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effects once again two years later to show miniaturization, rather than gigantism, in
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episode "No Food for Thought", also directed by Arnold. The film was distributed by
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on April 3, 2006. Universal later re-released the film as a part of its boxed set
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was filmed entirely in California, with the desert scenes being shot in
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and lead actor Leo G. Carroll are referenced in the lyrics of "
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appears uncredited in a minor role as the jet squadron leader.
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543:(1954). Of this and the entire film, Jack Arnold said about
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Leonard Maltin; Spencer Green; Rob Edelman (January 2010).
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takes place in the fictional town of Desert Rock, Arizona.
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fighter jet squadron, summoned by the sheriff, launches a
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attack, incinerating the tarantula at the town's edge.
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1955 US science-fiction monster film by Jack Arnold
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292:$ 1.1 million (US and Canadian rentals)
639:The film was first released on DVD by
352:release, and reissued in 1962 through
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1410:The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West
1071:Films of Science Fiction and Fantasy
1058:. New York: Ballantine Books, 2001.
973:"Tarantula (1955) - Rotten Tomatoes"
933:Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide
1073:. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988.
1023:Sokol, Tony (September 26, 2019).
25:
106:"No Food for Thought" (teleplay,
1054:Martin, Mick and Marsha Porter.
998:"Tarantula (1955) - Jack Arnold"
824:Martin and Potter 2001, p. 1074.
781:. McFarland. pp. 738–741.
595:The film was often paired with
1471:American science fiction films
1461:American black-and-white films
1234:Creature from the Black Lagoon
962:. Retrieved: January 30, 2015.
885:. Retrieved: January 30, 2015.
724:List of American films of 1955
692:Science Fiction/Double Feature
1:
1496:Films scored by Henry Mancini
1491:Films directed by Jack Arnold
907:. January 11, 1956. p. 7
811:. January 2, 1957. p. 1.
805:"Top Film Grossers of 1956".
645:The Classic Sci-Fi Collection
1476:1950s English-language films
1282:The Incredible Shrinking Man
1099:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
763:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
714:List of natural horror films
650:The Incredible Shrinking Man
581:The Incredible Shrinking Man
1451:1950s science fiction films
247:December 23, 1955
236:November 23, 1955
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867:Searles 1988, pp. 165–167.
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1314:High School Confidential!
1242:The Man from Bitter Ridge
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550:Although set in Arizona,
44:Theatrical release poster
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1511:Universal Pictures films
1218:It Came from Outer Space
878:"Articles: 'Tarantula'."
1481:Films about size change
1466:American monster movies
1250:Revenge of the Creature
522:Advertisement from 1955
460:as Sheriff Jack Andrews
350:Universal-International
341:Science Fiction Theatre
222:Universal-International
109:Science Fiction Theatre
1306:The Lady Takes a Flyer
1056:Video Movie Guide 2002
936:. Plume. p. 655.
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454:as Prof. Gerald Deemer
1346:The Mouse That Roared
1338:No Name on the Bullet
1330:Monster on the Campus
876:Thompson, Nathaniel.
697:The Rocky Horror Show
662:The Monolith Monsters
656:Monster on the Campus
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1516:1950s American films
1501:Films set in Arizona
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1402:The Swiss Conspiracy
1354:Bachelor in Paradise
957:"Review: Tarantula."
702:1975 film adaptation
448:as Stephanie Clayton
442:as Dr. Matt Hastings
354:Sherman S. Krellberg
255: (United States)
1506:Giant monster films
1486:Films about spiders
977:Rotten Tomatoes.com
730:Eight Legged Freaks
303:is a 1955 American
114:by Robert M. Fresco
1322:The Space Children
1290:The Tattered Dress
1210:Girls in the Night
1188:Films directed by
1122:TCM Movie Database
835:"Tarantula (1955)"
683:In popular culture
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346:Universal Pictures
244: (Los Angeles)
212:Universal Pictures
1456:1955 horror films
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1298:Man in the Shadow
1064:978-0-3454-2100-5
943:978-0-452-29577-3
849:on 15 August 2011
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917:Archive.org
446:Mara Corday
324:Mara Corday
318:. It stars
316:Jack Arnold
141:Mara Corday
119:Produced by
92:Jack Arnold
59:Jack Arnold
55:Directed by
1441:1955 films
1435:Categories
1258:Tarantula!
1153:soundtrack
1004:. AllMovie
911:August 25,
740:References
635:Home media
514:Production
482:Edwin Rand
382:white rats
375:acromegaly
289:Box office
268:80 minutes
251:1955-12-23
240:1955-11-23
205:Production
18:Tarantula!
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757:Tarantula
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552:Tarantula
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527:Tarantula
440:John Agar
423:Air Force
390:tarantula
320:John Agar
300:Tarantula
165:Edited by
136:John Agar
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1008:25 April
853:29 March
708:See also
700:and its
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386:hamsters
281:Language
173:Music by
129:Starring
103:Based on
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