History Film / Tarantula

** Also, a famous publicity still shows what looks to be Deemer menacing Steve. The scene does take place, but Deemer is actually gravely ill when it happens and needs Steve's help, neither intending to menace her nor capable of it.
** CoversAlwaysLie: There is no scene of the tarantula holding a woman in its jaws in the film.

* KarmicTransformation: Deemer gets turned into the same kind of malformed mutant as one of the men he kills early on.

->"''Leo G. Carroll was over a barrel\\
When Tarantula took to the hills''"

* {{Kaiju}}
* MadScientist: Deemer. He's nice enough, but making a serum to make animals grow to huge sizes is definitely [[WeirdScience Mad Science]].

Near a small Arizonan town, Professor Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll), suspecting burgeoning global food shortage problems due to an increasing world population, has been attempting to develop a serum which people can feed off exclusively. Alas, when trying it on rats, rabbits and a tarantula, all it does is cause them to grow to enormous proportions, and when humans take it, it causes them to develop acromegaly, go mad, and die. Deemer's two lab assistants take the serum when he is gone one day, causing one to die, and the other to go mad and attack Deemer, injecting him with the serum himself. During their fight, the cage of the tarantula, which is already about the size of a large dog, is shattered, and it escapes into the desert. Shortly afterwards, local doctor Matt Hastings (John Agar) brings in Deemer's new assistant Stephanie "Steve" Clayton (BMovie scream queen Mara Corday). As Deemer's condition deteriorates due to the serum, Hastings romances Clayton. But then the livestock of local farmers start turning up dead. The escaped tarantula, sure enough, has grown to even bigger proportions; now those of a large building. It is now up to Deemer, Hastings, Clayton and the local sheriff to stop it.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20090604054408Tarantula_1955_5197.jpg]]

When Tarantula ran for the hills''"

* FailedASpotCheck: Steve is apparently unable to see the giant tarantula ''filling her entire window'' whilst wandering around her bedroom.

Among other things, the film is notable for the appearance of a 25-year-old ClintEastwood in an uncredited role as a fighter pilot at the end of the film.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin

-->"''Leo G. Carroll was over a barrel\\
When Tarantula ran for the hills''"
-->--'''"Science Fiction Double Feature"''', ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Mr. Mad Scientist was giving an injection to a monkey when he was attacked by a human guinea pig. The monkey got away. In what shadows does it lurk now?

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Mr. Mad Scientist was giving an injection to a monkey when he's attacked by a human guinea pig. It got away. In what shadows does it lurk now?

Near a small Arizonan town, Professor Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll), suspecting burgeoning global food shortage problems due to an increasing world population, has been attempting to develop a serum which people can feed off exclusively. Alas, when trying it on rats, rabbits and a tarantula, all it does is cause them to grow to enormous proportions, and when humans take it, it causes them to develop acromegaly, go mad, and die. Deemer's two lab assisstants take the serum when he is gone one day, causing one to die, and the other to go mad and attack Deemer, injecting him with the serum himself. During their fight, the cage of the tarantula, which is already about the size of a bear, is shattered, and it escapes into the desert. Shortly afterwards, local doctor Matt Hastings (John Agar) brings in Deemer's new assisstant Stephanie "Steve" Clayton (BMovie scream queen Mara Corday). As Deemer's condition deterioriates due to the serum, Hastings romances Clayton. But then the livestock of local farmers start turning up dead. The escaped tarantula, sure enough, has grown to even bigger proportions; now those of a large building. It is now up to Deemer, Hastings, Clayton and the local sheriff to stop it.

* MadScientist: Deemer. He's nice enough, but making a serum to make animals grow to huge sizes is definatly [[WeirdScience Mad Science]].

* ProfessorGuineaPig: [[spoiler: Revealed to be the fate of Deemer's fellow researchers, who tested the growth nutriant on themselves despite failed animal testings]].

* TouchOfTheMonster: Of the '''Rape of the Sabine Woman''' variety, see above.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20090604054408Tarantula_1955_5197.jpg

The film is honestly one of the better 1950s [[BMovie B]] giant monster movies. While it could potentially have been a {{narm}}-fest characterized by a cheap stop-motion puppet, like ''TheGiantClaw'', instead the special effects, though dated today, were actually pretty fair for their day.

Near a small Arizonan town, Professor Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll), suspecting burgeoning global fooD shortage problems due to an increasing world population, has been attempting to develop a serum which people can feed off exclusively. Alas, when trying it on rats, rabbits and a tarantula, all it does is cause them to grow to enormous proportions, and when humans take it, it causes them to develop acromegaly, go mad, and die. Deemer's two lab assisstants take the serum when he is gone one day, causing one to die, and the other to go mad and attack Deemer, injecting him with the serum himself. During their fight, the cage of the tarantula, which is already about the size of a bear, is shattered, and it escapes into the desert. Shortly afterwards, local doctor Matt Hastings (John Agar) brings in Deemer's new assisstant Stephanie "Steve" Clayton (BMovie scream queen Mara Corday). As Deemer's condition deterioriates due to the serum, Hastings romances Clayton. But then the livestock of local farmers start turning up dead. The escaped tarantula, sure enough, has grown to even bigger proportions; now those of a large building. It is now up to Deemer, Hastings, Clayton and the local sheriff to stop it.

* TwentyMinutesWithJerks: We don't really see the spider in its fully-grown, people-eating, building-destroying glory until about 47 minutes into the film. Until then, there's just a few shots of it escaping the lab and wandering around in the desert.

* HotScientist: Steve

* MadScientist: Deemer. He's nice enough, but making a serum to make animals grow to huge sizes is definatly [[WeirdScience: Mad Science]].