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I saw this film as a child and recall it being moderately
frightening, but as an adult the scare-factor is zilch. This is
a result of the unconvincing special effects and script dynamics;
for example, the spider attack scenes appear too late in the film
and are totally lame - at the end of each attack scene, the camera
angle switches to the tarantula's perspective as the creature descends
with pincher-jaws upon it�s victims. Unfortunately, the jaws are
never shown to touch the victims, much less anything like multilation
or devouring.
Contrast this with the classic attack scene in �The Black
Scorpion�(1957), where a giant scorpion stings a telephone pole lineman to death with it�s deadly tail. The special effects in this
scene are so artfully crafted that one can rapidly and deeply focus
in and suspend disbelief for a quick thrill. Not so with �Tarantula�,
nothing thrilling at all, even the climatic battle scene was a big
letdown.
This lack of any thrilling experience left a bland taste after
a recent viewing, although I did enjoy Leo G. Carroll�s performance
as The Professor, the only redeeming feature of the film.
I wasn�t nearly as impressed as movie critic, Leonard Maltin,
who gave the film 3 stars. I give it 2 stars, just fair entertainment. In the final analysis, �Tarantula�lacks spunk. - AH

Films/DVD Asylum

Tarantula (1955): A Review.