Bug Watch: Tarantula (1955)

Watched:  09/25/2026

Format:  YouTube

Viewing:  First

Director:  Jack Arnold

The only issue with this movie is John Agar.  

I mean, there's the general issue of John Agar being John Agar and I'm still mad about how he was to Shirley Temple.  But he's also a terrible actor.  He has  exactly one line delivery, whether he's inappropriately abandoning his medical practice to hit on Mara Corday or a tarantula the size of a battleship is walking toward him.

And it's a shame, because the movie has a few other actors - Leo G. Carroll who is dialing it in, and is still acting circles around him - and Mara Corday, who is doing her best to get Agar to do something other than just stare straight ahead and speak in a clipped, 1950's manly voice.

The plot:  a guy suffering from a horrendous disease (acromegaly) is found in the desert outside a small Arizona town.  He's traced back to being the science-pal of Leo G. Carroll.  The two are performing experiments in a McMansion on the edge of town.  Agar is suspicious as the town doctor.  And rightfully so, as it turns out Leo G. Carroll is using atomic power to...  well, he has a guinea pig the size of a rottweiler and a tarantula the size of a beach umbrella (why?  Just...  why?).  

Anyway, there's a third fellow in the house, and he also has acromegaly and fights Carroll, which causes a fire and the tarantula escapes.

About this time, Mara Corday shows up, way overdressed for all the science she's about to do.

Honestly, the tarantula looks amazing for the 1950's.  It's almost all done with post-production compositing, dropping a real tarantula over the top of other real film.  Simple enough, but effective.  And there is a big puppet tarantula for a few key scenes, but unlike The Black Scorpion, it's used sparingly (and borrowing heavily from King Kong).  

I actually recommend this one, with the caveat that I recommend it within the framework of what it is.  Them! is still the best one of the "atomic mutant animal" movies to me, narratively.  But it feels *pure* in what it is, a mad scientist movie with a big 'ol monster and a dullard of a lead with a knockout playing "woman".  I mean, it checks all the boxes.  And knows to get out as soon as the threat is neutralized.

I will admit, I lost a bit in the end looking up what kind of jets they were showing and was right, they showed two separate jets.  (always check the Internet Movie Plane Database).  I will take partial credit for recognizing one as The Shooting Star, but failing to remember it's "the Lockheed P-80".  

But, look, this is a 1950's sci-fi feature with a horror bent.  You're not here for Academy award-winning acting or scripts.  But it is fun.  Especially when Agar isn't on screen.

I dunno.  It's a movie about a tarantula that keeps changing sizes because scape is hard, but it's very large.

And I have now seen every movie mentioned in "Science Fiction / Double Feature" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Please clap.