Tarantula

A scientist working in an isolated laboratory near a small desert town has developed a nutrient intended to address the coming problem of feeding a growing population. His experiments have produced oversized animals, and after an accidental fire, a tarantula that received the same treatment escapes and begins to grow steadily larger. As the creature preys first on local cattle and then on people, a country doctor grows suspicious of the scientist after a lab assistant dies of a rapid, unnatural illness. With help from the scientist's new assistant, the doctor investigates the deaths and tries to stop the creature before it reaches the surrounding towns.

Jack Arnold directed the film, his third feature after It Came from Outer Space and Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the same year saw the release of Revenge of the Creature and This Island Earth. Robert M. Fresco and Martin Berkeley wrote the screenplay, and William Alland produced for Universal Pictures. John Agar plays Dr. Matt Hastings, Mara Corday is Stephanie Clayton, and Leo G. Carroll is Professor Gerald Deemer, with Nestor Paiva, Ross Elliott and Hank Patterson in supporting roles.

The film runs eighty minutes and was released in October 1955. On IMDb it holds a 6.4 rating from around 12,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.5 from a much smaller pool of 313 votes. A critics' rating of 6.6 from fifteen reviews places it slightly above both audience scores, suggesting a similar level of regard across all three.