Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Spider Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf July 3, 2020

Keeping up his interest in large things destroying little things, director Bert I. Gordon tries to top his work on “The Amazing Colossal Man” with 1958’s “The Spider” (“Earth vs. The Spider” is the title on the print), chasing moviemaking trends for giant terrors with his offering of a massive arachnid making a mess of a mountain community. It’s not a slick special effects display, but the crudeness of Gordon’s vision is nearly enough to keep the viewing experience engaging, watching the actors do battle with oversized props and spider photography as they try to get a monsterpalooza going. It’s the filler that isn’t nearly as welcome, as Gordon has difficulty reaching a paltry 73-minute run time, throttling enjoyable nonsense as the feature wheezes to a close.

Peace in the small town of River Falls is disrupted when teenager Carol (June Kenney) notices that her father didn’t come home after a night away, missing her birthday. Her boyfriend, Mike (Eugene Persson), is sure nothing’s happened to the old man, but he follows when she wants to investigate his normal driving route through the mountains. Coming across a forbidden cave, Mike and Carol decide to explore the darkness, soon coming into contact with a giant spider and its collection of human remains, including Carol’s dad. Trying to warn the community, Mike and Carol are mocked by Sheriff Cagle (Gene Roth), who doesn’t believe a monstrous spider exists in the wild. More receptive to such a possibility is science teacher Kingman (Ed Kemmer), who treats the threat as a reality, entering the cave system with plans to destroy and collect the creature, taking the corpse back into town for research opportunities.

Gordon does manage to get “The Spider” moving with his opening sequence, which details the surprisingly gruesome demise of Carol’s father, who encounters the massive creature while driving home late at night, eager to present a special bracelet to his daughter. When Carol realizes her dad never arrived, she shares her fears with Mike, who, in the first of the feature’s many unintentional laughs, rejects such feelings, showing alarming callousness to his love’s darkest thoughts. Mike’s a jerk, but he’s all Carol’s got, with the pair soon marching into the desert to find answers, leading them to a cave that’s clearly marked as dangerous, but that doesn’t stop the juveniles (casting kids isn’t a priority for Gordon, who brings in a bunch of clearly aged adults to portray adolescents), who venture into the darkness, hoping to retrieve Carol’s missing father.

What the couple finds is the titular threat, with Gordon using crude photography effects to bring a tiny tarantula to life as a building-sized monster. Amazingly, the helmer doesn’t save the reveal for the finale, confidently sharing spider-related carnage throughout the first half of the feature, trying to give viewers a jolt with the sight of a colossal beast. Of course, the price of admission here appears to be endless scenes of characters stumbling around the caves looking for evidence of death or the spider itself, giving Gordon a chance to pad the effort like a maniac. It’s a shame such dullness is permitted to go on a long as it does, but “The Spider” doesn’t really have much in the way of a story, basically following Mike and Carol as they make contact, while Kingman confidently returns to the scene of the crime, this timed armed with a tanker full of sweet, sweet DDT to make sure the inexplicably screeching enemy is fully dead, finally putting all worries to rest as men of science and law enforcement return the carcass to the local high school auditorium for study.

As one might expect, such finality is short-lived, with Gordon eventually finding a way to bring the spider’s deadly rampage to River Falls, gifting the movie a disaster film scope that’s fun to watch. The town is terrorized in the midsection of the picture, giving “The Spider” a defined highlight of the endeavor. What’s weird about the effort is how it still has far to go before a resolution is reached. Gordon peaks too soon, permitting the feature to wind down prematurely, eventually offering a final act that returns to the tedious touring of caves. More spider mayhem is in order, as Gordon gets a little too cautious when it comes to the unleashing of more arach attacks.

There’s plenty of goofiness in “The Spider,” including the saga of Joe, Mark’s good friend and classmate, and a man who freely permits others to borrow his car. Joe looks to be in his late thirties, and Gordon assigns him the rebel part, revealing the character to be some sort of band leader for a rock and roll group that needs time in the school auditorium for practice, soon awakening the seemingly dead spider. The picture needs more Joe, but it gets by on Kingman’s heroism and Mike and Carol’s stupidity, while Sheriff Cagle learns a powerful lesson on deputy expendability.

The Spider Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "The Spider" delivers a passable level of detail for the feature's HD offering. While softness remains, clarity is acceptable, dealing with hairy monster props and perspiring actors forced to play frightened in the desert heat. Facial particulars register comfortably but not remarkably, along with town tours and special effects. Delineation is agreeable, preserving exploratory scenes with limited lighting. Source is in good condition, with some speckling and mild scratches detected.

The Spider Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix comes through with comfortable force, finding scoring selections the most powerful element of the track. Instrumentation is on the blunt side, but moods are appreciable, helped along by the otherworldly sounds of a theremin. Dialogue exchanges are satisfactory, with only a few shrill highs when panic sets in. Sound effects register as intended. Hiss carries throughout the listening experience, along with scattered pops.

The Spider Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features film historian Ted Newsom.

• "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (97:41, SD) is a 1991 episode of the classic television show, with Joel and the Bots riffing on "Earth vs. The Spider."

• 8mm Version (9:01, SD) offers a condensed, subtitled version of "Earth vs. The Spider," complete with projector motor sound.

• Still Gallery (21:20) is an impressive collection of film stills, publicity shots, and BTS snaps, with a few color pictures in the mix.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:49, SD) is included.

The Spider Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gordon isn't an action craftsman, getting by on the central visual of a spider stomping around town, causing utter terror wherever it goes. The helmer maintains weird discoveries and throws in a lot of props, giving the actors something to play with as they encounter a giant spiderweb and get slapped around by hairy legs. "The Spider" is no classic, but when it settles into a groove of chaos involving the titular enemy and its presence around townsfolk, it comes alive, joining the decade's quest to make audiences squirm in their seats as "big bug" entertainment took over theaters during the nuclear age. Gordon doesn't fill pacing requirements, but he doesn't hold back when it comes to a clear viewing of the titular nightmare.