Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageEarth vs the Spider (1958)
Director: Bert I Gordon
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Routine creature feature in which a small town teenage couple, looking for the girl's missing father, stumble on a giant spider lurking in a network of caves and narrowly escape its trampoline-style web (dad, of course, is already a victim). A sheriff's posse manages to knock the creature out with DDT; and supposedly dead, it is parked in the school gym to await shipment for scientific study. Cue for teenagers to break in for some rock'n'roll larks, while the monster revives and goes on the rampage before being finally electrocuted. The special effects are nothing to write home about, with the spider fitting comfortably into the gym, but once outside, towering over two- and three-storey buildings. The Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico provide a spectacular setting used to remarkably little effect. Altogether inferior to its obvious model, Jack Arnold's Tarantula.Author: TM
Cast & crew
Director: Bert I Gordon
Producer: Bert I Gordon
Cast: Ed Kemmer, June Kenney, Gene Persson, Gene Roth, Hal Torey, June Jocelyn, Mickey Finn full cast
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Duration: 73 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now