A rogue scientist near a small desert town arouses the suspicion of the town's doctor when his lab assistant is found dead from a case of acromegaly, which took only four days to develop. As the doctor investigates, aided by the scientist's new female assistant, they discover that something is devouring local cattle and humans in increasingly large quantities.
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John Agar
Dr. Matt Hastings
Mara Corday
Stephanie 'Steve' Clayton
Leo G. Carroll
Prof. Gerald Deemer
Nestor Paiva
Sheriff Jack Andrews
Ross Elliott
Joe Burch
Hank Patterson
Josh
Eddie Parker
Paul Lund / Eric Jacobs / Airport Workman
Bert Holland
Barney Russell
Raymond Bailey
Dr. Townsend
Steve Darrell
Andy Andersen
Director
Jack Arnold
Screenplay
Martin Berkeley
Tagline
"More terrifying than any horror known to man comes a creeping crawling monster whose towering fury no one can escape!"
Status
Released
Original Language
EN
Production
Universal Pictures
John Chard
September 6, 2014
Can all mankind escape the terror of its dread embrace... Professor Gerald Deemer has been working on a special nutrient that will help offset a predicted food shortage, the serum he has created escalates growth in his lab animals at an alarmingly quick rate. Deemer quickly loses control of the experiment and during a fight at his lab a fire breaks out and a Tarantula that is already 50 sizes b...
r96sk
January 6, 2022
Boy, does this show its age!* But, you know what, I really enjoyed it. <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/eight-legged-freaks/">Eight Legged Freaks</a>'</em>, eat your heart out! I seem to have found a new go-to Spider Rampage Flick™. To be serious, <em>'Tarantula'</em> achieves what it intends to - it is relatively creepy in parts. The special effects, as alluded to, have aged averag...
CinemaSerf
November 14, 2022
Allowing for the fact that the special effects are getting on for 65 years old, this is a cracking little sci-fi/horror feature. John Agar is the scientist on the trail of an industrial-sized spider that is wreaking havoc on a local Arizona community. Leo G. Carroll (in increasingly "Elephant Man" style make up) and Mara Corday help keep this Jack Arnold film moving along well. Herman Stein's musi...
Wuchak
March 12, 2026
**_A big axx spider threatens a desert town in the Southwest_** This debuted almost three years before the similar “Earth vs the Spider.” It’s adult-oriented and scientifically based compared to the later flick, which involves teens and 50s’ rock ‘n’ roll waking the (supposedly) dead spider. It’s worth watching just to go back in time to the mid-50s and observe how life was back then, includ...
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