Earth vs. the Spider (1958)

Teenagers from a rural community and their high school science teacher join forces to battle a giant mutant spider.

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writers:

László Görög (screenplay), George Worthing Yates (screenplay),

Stars:

Ed Kemmer, June Kenney, Eugene Persson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ed Kemmer	...	Professor Art Kingman
June Kenney	...	Carol Flynn
Eugene Persson	...	Mike Simpson (as Gene Persson)
Gene Roth	...	Sheriff Cagle
Hal Torey	...	Mr. Simpson
June Jocelyn	...	Mrs. Jack Flynn
Mickey Finn	...	Sam Haskel
Sally Fraser	...	Mrs. Helen Kingman
Troy Patterson	...	Joe
Skip Young	...	Sam the Bass Player
Howard Wright	...	Jake
Bill Giorgio	...	Deputy Sheriff Pete Sanders
Hank Patterson	...	Hugo the Janitor
Jack Kosslyn	...	Mr. Fraser
Bob Garnet	...	Pest Control Man

Storyline

When a man doesn't come home one night his daughter and her boyfriend go out searching and encounter a giant spider in a cave near the man's wrecked car. Coming back with the Sheriff, the spider is seemingly killed by DDT spraying, and the body then hauled for storage in the high school gymnasium. However, a loud dose of rock music by a teenage garage band revives the arachnid and sends it rampaging through the town.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | cave | ddt | teacher | giant spider | 

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Taglines:

It Must Eat You to Live!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Spider

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was filmed as "The Spider". Prior to completion, the title was changed to "Earth vs. The Spider" and that was used for the main title on the film itself. When The Fly became a blockbuster for 20th Century Fox, American International decided to ride on their success by changing the title back to simply "The Spider" on all advertising material. The main title on the film itself was never changed.

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Goofs

The word "starring" is misspelled (as "starrring") in the opening credits.

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Quotes

Mr. Kingman: If you want to be on the safe side, call the pest control people in Springdale and have 'em send out all the DDT they can find.

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Connections

Featured in Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962)

User Reviews

Some modern directors could take a leaf out of Bert Gordon's book.

OK, so the special effects are not always that special, though better than many of the period, the story line is routine, though again no worse than that of similar films, and the acting is as one would expect for a film of this type. But, ask yourself, were you bored by it? At least Bert Gordon kept the action going and there were very few dull spots in his films. A lot of modern directors could learn how to pace their films from some of the old B movie directors.

Compare that to the overblown, overlong, CGI laden sci-fi "epics" to which we are currently subjected - and I know which I would prefer.

At the end of the day which is the better film - one made on a shoestring which entertains, or one costing a hundred million dollars which has you looking forward to the end credits?