Earth vs. the Spider (1958)

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writers:

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

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

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
Shirley Falls	...	Switchboard Operator
Bob Tetrick	...	Deputy Sheriff Dave
Nancy Kilgas	...	Dancer
George Stanley	...	Man in Cavern
David Tomack	...	Power Line Foreman
Merritt Stone	...	Jack Flynn, Carol's Dad
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dick D'Agostin	...	Pianist (uncredited)

Directed by
Bert I. Gordon

Writing credits
László Görög		(screenplay) (as Laszlo Gorog) and
George Worthing Yates		(screenplay)
Bert I. Gordon		(story)

Produced by
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	executive producer
Bert I. Gordon	....	producer
James H. Nicholson	....	executive producer
Henry Schrage	....	assistant producer

Original Music by
Albert Glasser

Cinematography by
Jack A. Marta		(as Jack Marta)

Set Decoration by
William F. Calvert		(as Bill Calvert)

Makeup Department
Kay Shea	....	hair stylist
Allan Snyder	....	makeup artist (as Allen Snyder)

Production Management
Marty Moss	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marty Moss	....	assistant director
John W. Rogers	....	assistant director

Art Department
James Harris	....	property master (as Jim Harris)
Walter E. Keller	....	set designer (as Walter Keller)

Sound Department
Al Overton	....	sound recordist
Bruce Schoengarth	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Bert I. Gordon	....	special technical effects
Flora M. Gordon	....	assistant technical effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Calvin A. Maehl	....	chief set electrician (as Cal Maehl)
Del Nodine	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marjorie Corso	....	costumer (as Marge Corso)

Editorial Department
Ronald Sinclair	....	editorial supervisor
Paul Wittenberg	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Albert Glasser	....	conductor
Samuel Hoffman	....	musician: theremin (uncredited)

Other crew
Jackie Blaisdell	....	special designer
Paul Blaisdell	....	special designer
Jim Dannaldson	....	spider handler
Elayne Garnet	....	script supervisor
Thol Simonson	....	special devices

Production Companies

• American International Pictures (AIP)

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Film Express (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• The United States Department of Interior, National Park Service  settings of the world famous Carlsbad Caverns, Carlsbad, New Mexico courtesy of (as The Department of the Interior National Park Service)
• Ryder Sound Services  sound

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:

Revealing mistakes: When the spider is walking down Maple Street to the Kingman's house, you can tell that the set is a miniature. The houses are all tilted to the right and there is a big shadow in the foreground, which is out of focus. In the shot of the real street seconds before, all of the houses are straight, the foreground is in focus, and there is no shadow.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bees (1998)

Tarantula-"Lite"

With the exception of a few A titles Sci-fi was mostly considered kids stuff especially in the 50's. The studios had such low expectations that even a gem like Forbidden Planet was used as a premium for cornflakes boxtops.

That being the case it was profitable to crank out as many as possible as cheap as possible with as much action as the budget would allow and that was the only criteria. It worked because kids hungry for any kind of monster and teens needing a good background for the drive-in flocked to these B pictures so much that you could expect one to open a couple of weeks or so.

It's not like anybody got suckered into these things as well.I don't know how many previews I saw at the drive-in or matinée even if the monster looked fake or stinky in the trailer I still wanted to go see it. For the most part I had a good time and I still love these B creature Features from the fifties. This one in particular is highly re-watchable.

Unfortunately I can't say much for their current counterparts it seems like the bad bug movies of today are mostly just bad and not fun like these were. Recently I watched Ice Spider,Lord Of The Spiders and Scorpius Giganticus on the sci-fi channel and they all blew so bad I could barely finish them.

The special effects here are bad but they're fun because they're bad plus they fit right in with the naiveté and unsophistication of the times and Bert I Gordon didn't skimp on them either. Once the monster showed up you got tons of bad special effects right up until the climax . Today we know so much more about effects and budgeting and story structure and science and credible actions that it seem a shame that so many sci-flicks are blatantly disregarding this without giving us the fun of old school. It's a lose lose situation.

Currently this is on DVD with War Of The Colossal Beast and I recommend it highly as a cheap disc worthy of a rainy night filled with cherry Cokes and Sloppy Joes