Carroll as a scientist whose experimental, radiationtreated nutritional supplements transform the title. May 16, 2017 you can run and you can hide but there is no escaping the scifi classic tarantula about a science experiment gone horribly wrong. Though set in arizona, tarantula was shot in california with desert scenes in apple valley. Tarantula would, no doubt, help inspire future giant animal movies, but there is solid argument that this film may not have been made if it had not been for the success of the beast from 20,000 fathoms just a year prior. The deadly mantis is a 1957 american sciencefiction monster film produced by william alland for universalinternational.
A south pacific island is the source of a deadly virus and also the new home for a giant spider with a thirst for blood. Audrey ames, an enterprising journalist, tries to get the scoop on giant grasshoppers accidentally created at the illinois state. Set in the fictional desert town of desert rock, az, the film opens on an empty stretch of desert sand. A giant robot from outer space slowly marches across the landscape, attacking power plants and sucking up energy to transmit back to its home planet, in kronos 1957. This film ranks only behind them in the giant radioactive insect category yes i know a spider isnt an insect, but who cares. Global panic ensues when it is revealed that a mysterious ufo is actually a giant bird that flies at supersonic speed and has no regard for life or architecture.
The film is based on an original story treatment by george worthing yates, which was then developed into a screenplay by ted sherdeman and russell hughes. The calving of an arctic iceberg releases a giant praying mantis, trapped in suspended animation since prehistoric times. The film was directed by nathan juran from a screenplay by martin berkeley based on a story by producer william alland. Aside from the supersized critter to menace folks, we have other stereotypical ingredients. The amazing colossal man attack of the crab monsters invasion of the saucermen i was a teenage frankenstein i was a teenage werewolf not of this earth and. The deadly mantis was the first science fiction film made by director nathan juran, who says the opening sequence was his idea. A giant prehistoric praying mantis, recently freed from the arctic ice, voraciously preys on american military at the dew line and works its way south.
Tarantula is a 1955 science fiction film directed by jack arnold, and starring leo g. A paleontologist works together with military units to try to kill it. A giant tarantula escapes the laboratory of an increasingly mad scientist leo g. The spider that portrayed the giant tarantulalater appeared in the incredible shrinking man 1957 as the spider that threatened the shrinking man. When a tarantula which has been injected with a special nutrient formula escapes from a. While tarantula is only the third giant animal film by my count it cant. The deadly mantis 1957 simkl watch and track movies. Sep 4, 2014 the 1950s was the golden age of giant monster movies and big bug movies. With wires barely showing to the naked eye, a gigantic lowbudget bird from outer space swoops down, lays an egg on quebec and threatens to destroy new york city until two romantically involved. The saucer from space, the little ball of light with an alien presence, the doctor taken over by the aliens, the giant, evergrowing robot from hell, the abomb, people getting crushed, etc. This movie was made well, and the actors did a good job. The earliest atomic tests in new mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant maneating monsters that. The giant tarantula effects are impressive, theres only one shot that doesnt work.
The film stars ed kemmer, june kenney and eugene persson. Giant bunnies giant movie monsters pictures cbs news. The deadly mantis 1957 the 1950s brought the monster movie into the atomic age with a roar that hollywood heard all the way from japan, where godzilla 1954 crawled out of the ocean to rampage through tokyo. This fascinating collection will shock, terrify and captivate you with five film favorites from the golden age of hollywood tarantula, the mole people, the incredible shrinking man, the monolith monsters and monster on the campus. With jeff morrow, mara corday, morris ankrum, louis merrill. A lonewolf scientist sequestered in a mansion near a small desert town arouses the suspicion of the towns doctor when his lab assistant is found dead from a case of acromegaly which took only four days to develop. Apr 01, 2018 the movie attempts to be serious, but the effects and inane concept kill any chance of that. Tarantula 1955 was one of many films in universals second phase of monster flicks and has now become a classic of the genre.
This classic scifi film from director jack arnold creature. Tarantula 1955 regarded as the height of the atomic age, the 1950s basked in the warm glow of the possibilities of nuclear power and the conquering of outer space. Tarantula is a wonderful monster film, one that every genre fan should check out, and it ranks among the. The movie posters for the 1950s giant bug giant monster movies were designed with illustrations of horrific creatures terrorizing the general public and frequently a female figure in distress wearing either a bathing suit or revealing dress along with sensational headlines, tag lines, and other text that. Tarantula is a 1955 atomic horror giant monster movie, and is widely considered a fine example of the genre and era. The deadly mantis was released in 1957 as a double feature with the spy film the girl in the kremlin. Can this horrifying creature be stopped or will the world succumb to its giant claws. Video of tarantula the movie of 1957 for fans of horror movies. That films menace, eventually identified as impossibly huge, radiated ants, in turn begat an entire subgenre of big bug movies. But the plot which isnt about the tarantula at all really starts off intriguing then peters out and isnt very engaging to watch. Pictures, produced by david weisbart, directed by gordon douglas, and starring james whitmore, edmund gwenn, joan weldon, and james arness. Nov 29, 2008 the giant claw a giant ugly bird with an antimatter shield comes from space comes to earth to lay its egg. With grant williams, lola albright, les tremayne, trevor bardette.
With craig stevens, william hopper, alix talton, donald randolph. It hooked my interest no matter how many times i watched it. The genre would soon run the gamut of the zoological spectrum from giant octopi it came from beneath the sea 1955, spiders tarantula 1955 and earth vs the spider 1958, crabs attack of the crab monsters 1957, scorpions the black scorpion 1957, mantises the deadly mantis 1957, molluscs the monster that. Carroll, grows larger, and stalks and terrorizes a small town who are at wits end to deal with its predations. Fresco and martin berkeley was based on a story by arnold, which was in turn inspired by frescos. The night the world exploded minerals from deep in the earth rise up. Tarantula is the quintessential giant bug film from the 1950s.
Early eastwood tv and movie bit parts the clint eastwood. Tarantula is very much in the same category as them. Jun 14, 2018 80s horror host shows the beginning of the end on usa network. Gordon, who also wrote the story upon which the screenplay by george worthing yates and laszlo gorog was based.
You can run and you can hide but there is no escaping the scifi classic tarantula about a science experiment gone horribly wrong. Deemer tells the truth about what has been going on. The deadly mantis 1957 combines the two with a prehistoric insect of gargantuan proportions released from its glacier prison in the north pole and travels south to warmer climes and easier foraging. Later that evening the tarantula, now a giant, attacks the house and matt comes to the rescue. The first of four movies in which clint eastwood played a pilot, the others being. Clint appears towards the finale as the jet squadron leader who lead a team of fighter jets to bomb and destroy the giant spider. Sep 26, 2007 theatrical trailer for the universalinternational thriller about a giant preying mantis that is unthawed from the arctic ice. Fresco and martin berkeley was based on a story by arnold, which was in turn inspired by frescos teleplay for the 1955 science fiction theatre. The characters just arent as compelling as in jack arnolds previous creature from the black lagoon. Carroll and eddie parker in tarantula 1955 tarantula 1955.
Theatrical trailer for the universalinternational thriller about a giant preying mantis that is unthawed from the arctic ice. Matt hastings john agar, a bright, handsome and sympathetic doctor. Wearing pajamas, a man with neanderthal features stumbles through the arizona desert. As the doctor investigates, aided by the scientists new, and very female, assistant, they discover that, far worse, something much larger and hungrier than it. Agars female costar, mara corday, had been working her way up from bit parts in the early 50s and went on to appear in two more monster movies, both in 1957. Rocks from a meteor which grow when in contact with water threaten a sleepy southwestern desert community. The giant claw 1957 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. This is an alphabetical list of films featuring giant monsters, known in japan as kaiju. During their struggle, a giant tarantula also injected with the formula escapes its cage, grows ever larger, and starts attacking cattle and horses, as well as men and women. Eventually deemer collapses and matt comes to see him.
The original, using a real live tarantula, has perfect direction and a great script. Sears toiled in the bhive of columbia pictures second features unit for less than ten years but amassed an impressive roster of fiftytwo films bearing his imprimatur the last three of which were released posthumously. Tarantula 1955 a spider escapes from an isolated arizona desert laboratory experimenting in giantism and grows to tremendous size as it wreaks havoc on the local inhabitants. Special effects are excellent and impressive even today, as is the supporting cast, which includes john agar, mara corday and hank patterson. Clint eastwood has a small role as one of the fighter pilots in a jet that were going to send bombs toward the spider to kill it. A scientists experiments to cure hunger create a giant tarantula. The deadly mantis stars craig stevens, william hopper, alix talton and pat conway.
This movie was made in 1955 and released by universal. They used the same tarantula in this film as they did in the movie, the incredible shrinking man 1957. Tarantula the movie of 1957 horror movies video fanpop. One, however, goes mad and injects deemer with the formula. With richard denning, mara corday, carlos rivas, mario navarro. Movie theaters were flooded with science fiction and horror films demonstrating the possible hazards of venturing into the technological unknown, and one of the most popular of. Search, discover and share your favorite tarantula movie gifs.
In todays view, when shows like mst3k have changed the way that some people view these cinematic catastrophes, the giant claw. Volcanic activity frees giant scorpions from the earth who wreak havoc in the rural countryside and eventually threaten mexico city. Theres nowhere to run and nowhere to hide with the classic scifi ultimate collection. The giant tarantula from the 1955 tarantula movie is up against the praying mantis from the deadly mantis 1957 movie. Tv guide awarded the film 14 stars, calling it a lame ripoff of the scifi classic them.
To create special effects for the deadly mantis, a 200foot 61 m by 40foot 12 m long papiermache model of a mantis, with a wingspan of 150 feet 46 m and fitted with a hydraulic system, was built. Matt tells the sheriff and they plan to stop the giant tarantula. Unfortunately, the best of those that followed tarantula 1955 and the black scorpion 1957 were fair at best. One of the first films involving giant monsters was the 1933 classic king kong, as developments in cinema and animation enabled the creation of realistic giant creatures. As for the actual tarantula itself, the monster was created using a combination of live spiders guided by blasts of air with models including cottonconstructed miniature hills, and giant spider leg props covered with hair. Tarantula is a wonderful monster film, one that every genre fan should. It first attacks military outposts to eat their occupants, then makes its way to the warmer latitudes of washington and new york.
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