EARTH VS. THE SPIDER (1958). Director: Bert I. Gordon.
A gigantic spider who's been snacking on luckless folk who wander into his cavern or environs is apparently killed, but revives in the high school auditorium when the band starts rehearsing. The spider appears to suffer from gastritis, as it is always squealing like a pig. The movie has many unintentionally funny scenes and cheesy effects, but much of it plays perfectly well and, like most of Mr. BIG's [Bert I. Gordon] films it's entertaining for fans of creature features. Gene Persson and June Kenney are perfectly swell as the teen couple who get trapped in the cavern with the spider at the climax; Ed Kemmer is only adequate as their teacher. Gene Roth as Sheriff Cagle nearly steals the movie away from the spider. Gordon also directed The Cyclops, The Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People and many others. To read more about this film see Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies.
I mentioned in another post how this movie scared the hooie out of me when I was 6, but even for its low budgetness it's still a pretty entertaining picture.
ReplyDeleteCompared to Tarantula, no, it didn't have the budget and so you have a big spider walking on a postcard of a city, but at least you have a definite ending with a dramatic climax. For all its Universal money and star power behind it, Tarantula leaves you hanging, not by a spider's thread, but in wanting to see maybe a minute or two more with a proper conclusion. Or at least to take another look at Mara Corday.
Wil be posting review of another Mara Corday, Black Scorpion, in the near future.
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