Earth vs. the Spider (1958)

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writers:

László Görög (screenplay) and
George Worthing Yates (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

September 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It Must Eat You to Live!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

High School | Cave | Night | Ddt | Giant Spider

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Dec. 26

4:15 AM

AMC

Cast

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, Road Foreman
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 River Falls H.S. Janitor
Jack Kosslyn	...	Mr. Fraser, Camera Club Teacher
Bob Garnet	...	Springdale Pest Control Man

Also Known As:

Earth vs. the Giant Spider
The Spider (USA) (promotional title)

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (Certificate #19120) | USA:Not Rated (DVD) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

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 (1958) 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.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The spider expert repeatedly refers to them as insects.

Quotes:

Sheriff Cagle: [to a deputy after finding a desiccated body in a cave] Uh, you get back to town and make up a coroner's report. Just put down Jack Flynn as the name and the cause of death... uh...
Mr. Kingman: It was a spider drained all the liquid out of his body.
Sheriff Cagle: [Officiously] Just put down "cause unknown" and let the coroner worry about the rest. That's the trouble with you eggheads - you jump to conclusions! I know what I see and I see a dead man, but, uh, I don't see any spider.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood's Scariest Insect (2000) (TV)

Saying it's fighting against the entire world is like saying that the Colossal Beast is at war.

I guess Bert needed a catchier title than just The Spider, which was what this was originally titled. Following in the wakes of TARANTULA, Bert I. Gordon bestows upon us this, um, epic of medium proportions. The story deals with two teens in a small midwestern town (one of whom works at a theater which so blatantly displays a poster of Gordon's AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN) go looking for the girl's father, who was killed, it turns out, by a web belonging to the titular beast, which, coincidentally, is never explained how it grew so big or survived for so long, even if Ed Kemmer from SPACE PATROL tries to explain. But egghead Ed manages to kill the spider and bring it back to the school gym where it is locked up. But wouldn't you know it - the evils of rock and roll bring it to life and it kills Mr. Ziffel from GREEN ACRES. How can they kill it? Electricity, anyone?

Lord, you have to admire a man like Bert who directed, produced, wrote, and created the special effects. Sure, the effects suck, but think about it. He saved money and became an auteur at the same time! And while we're on the effects . . . let's just say Plan 9 has some serious competition, as it deals with the spider attacking photos of buildings or walking along as a rear projection which the audience can clearly see through. And please, the spider could fit in the gym, how could it tower over a three story building? But an added advantage this has is that the spider in this one has a web, even if no one sticks to it. And truth be told, it's actually quite entertaining, in a perverse sort of way. At least it doesn't have the long, dull stretches that most Gordon films do. Thank you, Mr. Gordon.