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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
319:. 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
393:
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
389:
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.
366:, 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
385:. 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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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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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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532:(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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281:$ 1.1 million (US and Canadian rentals)
628:The film was first released on DVD by
341:release, and reissued in 1962 through
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1399:The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West
1060:Films of Science Fiction and Fantasy
1047:. New York: Ballantine Books, 2001.
962:"Tarantula (1955) - Rotten Tomatoes"
922:Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide
1062:. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988.
1012:Sokol, Tony (September 26, 2019).
14:
95:"No Food for Thought" (teleplay,
1043:Martin, Mick and Marsha Porter.
987:"Tarantula (1955) - Jack Arnold"
813:Martin and Potter 2001, p. 1074.
770:. McFarland. pp. 738–741.
584:The film was often paired with
1460:American science fiction films
1450:American black-and-white films
1223:Creature from the Black Lagoon
951:. Retrieved: January 30, 2015.
874:. Retrieved: January 30, 2015.
713:List of American films of 1955
681:Science Fiction/Double Feature
1:
1485:Films scored by Henry Mancini
1480:Films directed by Jack Arnold
896:. January 11, 1956. p. 7
800:. January 2, 1957. p. 1.
794:"Top Film Grossers of 1956".
634:The Classic Sci-Fi Collection
1465:1950s English-language films
1271:The Incredible Shrinking Man
1088:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
752:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
703:List of natural horror films
639:The Incredible Shrinking Man
570:The Incredible Shrinking Man
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236:December 23, 1955
225:November 23, 1955
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856:Searles 1988, pp. 165–167.
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1303:High School Confidential!
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539:Although set in Arizona,
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511:Advertisement from 1955
449:as Sheriff Jack Andrews
339:Universal-International
330:Science Fiction Theatre
211:Universal-International
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1295:The Lady Takes a Flyer
1045:Video Movie Guide 2002
925:. Plume. p. 655.
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443:as Prof. Gerald Deemer
1335:The Mouse That Roared
1327:No Name on the Bullet
1319:Monster on the Campus
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686:The Rocky Horror Show
651:The Monolith Monsters
645:Monster on the Campus
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1505:1950s American films
1490:Films set in Arizona
1435:1950s monster movies
1391:The Swiss Conspiracy
1343:Bachelor in Paradise
946:"Review: Tarantula."
691:1975 film adaptation
437:as Stephanie Clayton
431:as Dr. Matt Hastings
343:Sherman S. Krellberg
244: (United States)
1495:Giant monster films
1475:Films about spiders
966:Rotten Tomatoes.com
719:Eight Legged Freaks
292:is a 1955 American
103:by Robert M. Fresco
1311:The Space Children
1279:The Tattered Dress
1199:Girls in the Night
1177:Films directed by
1111:TCM Movie Database
824:"Tarantula (1955)"
672:In popular culture
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335:Universal Pictures
233: (Los Angeles)
201:Universal Pictures
1445:1955 horror films
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1287:Man in the Shadow
1053:978-0-3454-2100-5
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838:on 15 August 2011
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459:Ross Elliott
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447:Nestor Paiva
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1383:Boss Nigger
1255:Red Sundown
1179:Jack Arnold
1019:Den of Geek
906:Archive.org
435:Mara Corday
313:Mara Corday
307:. It stars
305:Jack Arnold
130:Mara Corday
108:Produced by
81:Jack Arnold
48:Jack Arnold
44:Directed by
1430:1955 films
1424:Categories
1247:Tarantula!
1142:soundtrack
993:. AllMovie
900:August 25,
729:References
624:Home media
503:Production
471:Edwin Rand
371:white rats
364:acromegaly
278:Box office
257:80 minutes
240:1955-12-23
229:1955-11-23
194:Production
1375:Black Eye
1140:Tarantula
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677:Tarantula
614:Tarantula
580:Reception
560:Tarantula
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534:Tarantula
516:Tarantula
429:John Agar
412:Air Force
379:tarantula
309:John Agar
289:Tarantula
154:Edited by
125:John Agar
22:Tarantula
1122:AllMovie
997:25 April
842:29 March
697:See also
689:and its
377:, and a
375:hamsters
270:Language
162:Music by
118:Starring
92:Based on
75:Story by
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893:Variety
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797:Variety
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604:Variety
467:as Josh
404:Phoenix
359:Arizona
273:English
262:Country
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529:Them!
526:film
337:as a
1100:IMDb
1064:ISBN
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