The Incredible Shrinking Man

Scott Carey was a typical man, living out the 1950s equivalent of the American Dream. But after a chance encounter with a mysterious fog bank, he begins to shrink. At first, no one believes him. Before long, his diminishing size becomes undeniable. Scientists struggle to understand his condition, working feverishly to find a cure. Scott's dwindling size begins to put stress on his marriage. No longer able to work, his attempts to cash in on his infamy only lead to intense public and media scrutiny. He withdraws further and further into himself as he shrinks, taking out his frustration on his wife. Then one day she accidentally leaves the front door open and Butch, the family cat, gets into the house and begins to hunt Scott like it would a mouse. Barely escaping the cat, Scott is then trapped in his cellar, where his life and death struggles truly begin. Even though I don't think Scott is a particularly sympathetic character (he's a chauvinist who comes really close to cheating on his wife at one point in the movie) he has the pathos of a film noir character. He narrates the film, mythologizing his journey along the way. The Incredible Shrinking Man actually has a surprising amount of depth. I can see how the themes of the movie could be interpreted in a number of ways. It can be enjoyed easily enough on a surface level, but I'm also willing to bet that there are some Men's Rights Activists out there praising the movie and using it to justify all sorts of repugnant shit.

Rating: 70%

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Spider

aka Earth vs the Spider

As far as giant insect movies from the 50s go, The Spider is average at best. It's really only notable because it was produced, directed and featured special effects created by Bert I. Gordon. Gordon was one of the many B-movie auteurs of the 50s and 60s. His gimmick was big stuff. Big monsters, big people, big bugs. You get the idea. He used a lot of process shots, rear projection and forced perspective tricks. He wasn't known for his screenplays, if you hear what I'm saying. It's fitting that The Spider was one of several Bert I. Gordon films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was practically tailor-made for the MST3K format.

Rating: 59%

(Image from IMDB)

Planet of the Spiders

On a tip from Mike Yates, Sarah Jane Smith sets out for the countryside to investigate the goings on at a Tibetan meditation centre. Meanwhile back at UNIT HQ, the Doctor's experiments with ESP and telekinesis take a strange turn after his test subject comes into contact with a blue crystal from Metebelis Three. The serial that follows ends up being an excellent send-off for the Third Doctor. It's practically a highlight reel of his era with gadgets, cars, appearances from UNIT, mentions of past companions, displays of Venusian aikido, and on and on. Planet of the Spiders really brings the Third Doctor era to a nice, tidy conclusion.

Rating: I would appreciate it if you'd shut up for a moment%

The Beyond

Lucio Fulci is a great Italian horror director who prefers to assault the reader with surreal moments of intense violence or beauty rather than create any sort of narrative. In The Beyond, one of his most beloved (?) films, there's, like, a house in Louisiana with a door to the titular the beyond? I'm not entirely sure and I've seen it a few times. Well, some spiders eat an eyeball out of somebody's face and there's some zombies and etc, what more do you want?

RATING: 79%

Ice Spiders

I don’t like to ski but for some reason I’m a sucker for movies based around skiing and ski resorts (Ski School, Better Off Dead, Hot Tub Time Machine, etc.), which explains, for the most part, why I ended up watching Ice Spiders. The movie, directed by Tibor Takács (The Gate), finds a sleepy ski resort preyed upon by giant, genetically engineered spiders. The CGI spider effects in this movie are pretty terrible, but that probably comes as no surprise. Stephen J. Cannell, who created dozens of TV shows including The A-Team, has a small part in the movie as the owner of the resort. As far as poorly made, low budget, made for TV horror/sci-fi movies go, Ice Spiders is definitely one of them.

Rating: Web of Death%

(Image from freecodesource.com)