Villain(s)  Giant spider

Actor(s):  John Agar, Mara Corday, Leo G. Carroll, Nestor Paiva

Brief Description  Released on December 23, 1955, Tarantula! is a classic black-and-white Universal Pictures science-fiction monster film directed by Jack Arnold. It follows an isolated Arizona desert laboratory where a scientist's experimental nutrient creates a terrifying, building-sized arachnid.

Plot:
In the isolated desert town of Desert Rock, Arizona, Dr. Matt Hastings investigates the corpse of a man afflicted with an advanced, rapid-onset form of acromegaly (gigantism). The deceased is identified as an associate of Professor Gerald Deemer, a reclusive local scientist. Hastings visits Deemer's laboratory, where he learns the professor is creating an artificial, highly concentrated nutrient to combat future world hunger. Though well-intentioned, the experimental isotope formulation is unstable, causing test animals—including a caged tarantula—to grow exponentially.

Another deformed assistant attacks Professor Deemer and injects him with the mutation-causing serum. A fire erupts during the struggle, destroying the lab and allowing the irradiated tarantula to slip away into the desert unnoticed. Over several days, the escaped spider grows to the size of a building. It terrorizes the countryside, devouring cattle, horses, and eventually humans. Concurrently, Deemer's physical health rapidly deteriorates as the injected nutrient brutally deforms his body.

After the giant arachnid crushes Deemer's home, the local sheriff and Dr. Hastings corral the beast on a desert highway. Conventional firearms prove completely useless against its thick exoskeleton. In a frantic move, the authorities call in the Air Force, which deploys fighter jets to incinerate the tarantula using a precision napalm strike.

Rather than relying entirely on rubber miniatures, director Jack Arnold achieved realism by utilizing forced perspective and optical printer compositing. Live footage of an actual tarantula was filmed over miniature rock setups, then carefully superimposed onto live-action desert backgrounds. Air blowers were subtly directed at the live spider during shooting to make its microscopic body hairs move, enhancing the illusion of a towering, massive beast interacting with wind currents. The horrific, distorted physical transformations suffered by Professor Deemer and his assistants were achieved using highly detailed foam-latex prosthetics.