Tarantula (Blu-ray), Shout Factory, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Shout Factory is usually pretty reliable with restoring older movies. The quality is improved, sound, etc. shipping was quick through Wal-Mart and the package arrived in good condition.

Tarantula (1955) is a "response movie" to the craze that was born just a year prior: the big bug movie sub-genre. The movie being responded to? THEM (1954), produced by WB, and featuring giant irradiated ants the size of pickup trucks. Despite it's genre reputation, it was actually well made, and is a classic of the genre. Universal responded to the movie with the titular "Tarantula", and their creepy-crawly towered over powerlines! (A bit of one-upmanship, if I'm not mistaken) In a sense, this movie makes a more logical choice as a horror/thriller monster movie, because as far as I know, there are far more people legitimately terrified of spiders (regardless of size) than there are people frightened by ants (unless being a nuisance is synonymous with evoking fear). It's a decent creature movie that would probably be held in higher regard, had it only been the first of it's kind, rather than the second.

Waited for this movie to come out in blu-ray, but I can't see much difference from the old DVD. The original version is very clear and I really didn't expect to see much improvement, but it would have been nice if they had added color.