Tarantula poster

Tarantula

More terrifying than any horror known to man comes a creeping crawling monster whose towering fury no one can escape!

6.5(315)19551h 20m3

A rogue scientist near a small desert town arouses the suspicion of the town's doctor when his lab assistant is found dead from a case of acromegaly, which took only four days to develop. As the doctor investigates, aided by the scientist's new female assistant, they discover that something is devouring local cattle and humans in increasingly large quantities.

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Status
Released
Budget
—
Box office
—
Language
English
  • small town
  • monster
  • experiment
  • giant monster
  • giant spider
  • deformation
  • laboratory
  • black and white
  • scientist
  • desert
  • heroine
  • mortuary

Top billed cast

Behind the camera

Director

Jack Arnold

Produced in

United States of America

Where to watch

All options

Availability for India. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.

Gallery

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Videos

Release dates

  • United StatesUS

    • Theatrical29 Oct 1955
    • Theatrical14 Dec 1955
  • United KingdomGB

    • PhysicalPGDVD6 Feb 2006
  • GermanyDE

    • Theatrical1223 Mar 1956
  • ItalyIT

    • TheatricalT29 May 1956

Frequently asked questions

Tarantula was released on 29 October 1955.

Audience reviews

4
  • J

    John Chard

    9/6/2014

    8/10

    Can all mankind escape the terror of its dread embrace... Professor Gerald Deemer has been working on a special nutrient that will help offset a predicted food shortage, the serum he has created escalates growth in his lab animals at an alarmingly quick rate. Deemer quickly loses control of the experiment and during a fight at his lab a fire breaks out and a Tarantula that is already 50 sizes bigger than it should…

  • R

    r96sk

    1/6/2022

    8/10

    Boy, does this show its age!* But, you know what, I really enjoyed it. <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/eight-legged-freaks/">Eight Legged Freaks</a>'</em>, eat your heart out! I seem to have found a new go-to Spider Rampage Flick™. To be serious, <em>'Tarantula'</em> achieves what it intends to - it is relatively creepy in parts. The special effects, as alluded to, have aged averagely, but there are s…

  • C

    CinemaSerf

    11/14/2022

    6/10

    Allowing for the fact that the special effects are getting on for 65 years old, this is a cracking little sci-fi/horror feature. John Agar is the scientist on the trail of an industrial-sized spider that is wreaking havoc on a local Arizona community. Leo G. Carroll (in increasingly "Elephant Man" style make up) and Mara Corday help keep this Jack Arnold film moving along well. Herman Stein's music is a little deriva…

  • W

    Wuchak

    3/12/2026

    5/10

    **_A big axx spider threatens a desert town in the Southwest_** This debuted almost three years before the similar “Earth vs the Spider.” It’s adult-oriented and scientifically based compared to the later flick, which involves teens and 50s’ rock ‘n’ roll waking the (supposedly) dead spider. It’s worth watching just to go back in time to the mid-50s and observe how life was back then, including the styles and d…

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