Okay I guess I need to touch on this, but as I wrote an essay about this not too long ago, this particular review will be on the brief side.

Tarantula may be the weakest movie on the themed movie list. While the giant bug movie are a fixture of the 1950s, most them, Tarantula included, are woefully short of anything approaching a decent story. John Agar plays the nominal protagonist of the story, but he is principally a reactionary character, driven by events around him and rarely affecting them. Compared to a tension building in better bug movies such as Them!, Tarantula leaves much to be desired.

Jack Arnold directed a number of monster movies for Universal, including The Creature from the Black Lagoon. When given a good script and decent support Arnold turned our film that withstand the test of time. When he had a decent script but limited support he still managed to produce film that were different and interesting such as the little know The Monolith Monsters, but Tarantula has neither of these advantages and lumbers from one lack luster scene into the next. The whole reason for a giant bug movie, the spectacle of an insect of unusual size rampaging the countryside is restricted to the film’s final act and mainly consists of a normal sized spider super-imposed on a background plate of a desert landscape.

I do own a copy, because when I wanted to see it the movie was not available on any streaming service, nor was the DVD available for rent. It was printed on demand on a simple DVD without bonus features. le sigh