Carol Flynn is heading to school one day with her boyfriend Mike when she tells him she is worried about her father as he never returned home the night before. Mike blows her off saying she should not worry but after a little investigation later on that day, they find his truck broken down off the road with everything pointing to some kind of accident. Heading into a nearby cave to see if he may still be alive, Carol and Mike come across a giant spider’s web and even worse, the spider itself. They manage to get away and inform the authorities who all come back to the very same cave to see if they can find her father and whatever it is that might have done him in, should he be dead. The worst comes to pass and the remainder of the movie finds some of the townspeople, Carol and Mike all trying to make it out of the cave and away from the certain death that the spider represents.

Primarily known as The Spider, though sometimes referred to as Earth vs. The Spider, the title is somewhat of a misnomer, the spider of the picture not actually facing off against the entire earth. One could say that the townspeople within are standing up for the rest of the planet should the spider escape, whether that be causing carnage, propagating or whatever it is that giant spiders do. Directed by Bert I. Gordon, the master of things big and small, he delivers like he always does and it is great seeing a giant spider on the screen contrasted against the tiny humans who are encroaching on its hunting ground. As for the story itself, it is a simple one much like many of his other movies and there is nothing wrong with that. Why overcomplicate things when one does not have to. There is a giant spider, that is going to kill people if it is not killed first. Sometimes simple is better and when it comes to giant monster movies, they do not need to have Oscar-calibre scripts to deliver enjoyment to the audience.

Running along at a good pace, the film never lacked for excitement and with the short running time, it never outstayed its welcome. When it came to those who starred within, there would be no big names but June Kenney who portrayed Carol Flynn and Ed Kemmer as Mr. Kingman were the best of the lot. If there was an award for the worst performance, it would go to Gene Persson who phoned it in for the most part. The boyfriend, Mike, seemed disinterested for the bulk of the movie and even more so, to the problems that his beautiful girlfriend was asking him for help with. It is quite possible that with a better actor in the role, it would have hidden any other problems one might have had when viewing the film.

Sadly, when it came to colossal men or giant insects, this would be the last outing for Gordon in this particular genre so it was good to see him move into familiar territory even if it would be just a wee bit repetitive. The effects were decent given the tight budgets the man usually ran on and as a whole, The Spider is worthy of standing alongside any of the decade’s other giant creature flicks like THEM! or Tarantula.

3.5 out of 5