Just bought this flick tonight while perusing the shelves at my local
Mediaplay. I hadn't watched it in years. I forgot how good it was.
I remembered (vaguely) the scenes where the good guys discover the
pools of acid/venom left by the monster. I forgot about John Agar
sticking his finger in the goo, then sniffing and LICKING the stuff!
Ugh!!! Man, if you found a strange pool of gooey gunk next to a
couple of completely eaten cow carcases, would you be sticking your
fingers in it and, for chrissakes, TASTING it!?!? Gawd!

There are some very nice composite shots of the title beastie roaming
the countryside. The scene where it causes a rockslide that almost
takes out the hero & heroine is pretty cool. There are some
genuinely creepy shots too. Really nice camera work. The shot of
the tarantula as it just stands there, looking down at the police
before coming down the hillside towards them is great. The final
shot of the burning tarantula in the distance, with the city and the
heroes in the forground is flawless, especially as the camera zooms
in for "THE END" fadeout. The composite is wonderfully done, and
even thought the camera appears to be moving, neither element in the
composite moves or jumps, keeping the illusion 100% intact. Just
awesome. Plus it was cool to see a 20-something Clint Eastwood
leading the napalm run with the Air Force jets. Go Clint!

Good flick. Well worth the $12.

-J