Film: Tarantula (1955)

Alias: None

Type: Man-Made

Location: Desert/Small Town

Height/Weight: At first, as big as a dog. Later, as big as a house. MUCH later, big as a cul-de-sac.

Affiliation: Neutral

Summary:Spiders are often considered to be the most feared animals on the planet, second only to snakes and mice. Now consider that there are spiders out there as big as dinner plates, and a scientist in Arizona decided to grow it into an even bigger spider. In this case, the red-kneed tarantula that Dr. Gerald Deemer really should have put a leash on at some point.

History:Dr. Deemer was a visionary among biological scientists, believing he could use the power of the atom to grow animals to massive size in order to stave off world hunger. He tested his formula on mice, guinea pigs, humans, monkeys, and a tarantula. Because when people think of delicacy meals, they think of tarantula legs. However, Deemer's previous assistant wasn't too happy with what the formula did to him, as it rendered him terminally deformed, so he assaulted the doctor and destroyed most of his lab. Unfortunately, the sole non-human survivor, aside from a monkey, was the tarantula. It escaped into the wild to find greener, sorry, browner pastures. As it grew, it began to feast on livestock and humans alike.

Notable Kills:None are shown, though it manages to throw a truck several feet into the air. How? We don't know.

Final Fate:Right before it can destroy a small town after growing to an absolutely gargantuan size, the tarantula is ambushed by several U.S. Air Force jets under the command of none other than Clint Eastwood! After the napalm is dropped, the beast is reduced to a fiery pile of dead arachnid. Sadly, the movie seems to leave out the fact that the town will smell like burnt fur for months.

Powers/Abilities: The tarantula is constantly growing, but that's it.

Weakness: Despite being able to take bullets and dynamite, the heavier artillery will get the job done.

Scariness Factor:4-Tarantulas are scary, but bigger ones are worse. Not only are the effects pretty decent, as a real tarantula is super-imposed into most of the shots, but it constantly emits a haunting rapid cricket-like hiss as it corners prey with the occasional roar.

Trivia:-It may seem hard to believe, but many exotic cultures and places, like Cambodia, consider tarantulas to be rather tasty, mainly when fried.

-The cricket-like noise might be justified, as a tarantula noise is achieved by rubbing its pedipalps ("arms" for grabbing prey) together to make a sort of hissing noise. Try magnifying that sound and see what happens.