Don't Open That Door! #17: Tarantula

Hey, remember that great giant-spider movie from the '50s where there's this huge hairy tarantula on the prowl in the desert and these guys are watching it next to a truck, and when the spider comes their way they get all panicky and try to start the truck but the truck won't start and they keep trying and trying as the spider gets closer and closer and everybody's freaking out and you're watching all this trying not to piss your pants? Well, that's this movie.

It's also the latest in my PopMatters column, Don't Open That Door!

And it's also the first screen appearance of noted actor-director-guy-who-talks-to-empty-chairs-at-political-conventions, Clint Eastwood. Really! (Though you won't see him, because he's wearing a fighter pilot's mask, but he's under there, promise.)

Here's the opening paragraph:

"Small-town Arizona mainstay Doctor Matt is concerned when a horribly disfigured body turns up in the desert, bearing the signs of an obscure disease that takes years to develop. The body’s former employer, reclusive hermit and crackpot Professor Deemer, declares that the man did indeed die of acromigalia, despite having no symptoms only days ago. Doctor Matt argues that the disease, whose Latin name means “death due to a really atrocious makeup job,” couldn’t have developed so fast, but Professor Deemer—you can tell he’s a scientist by his British accent, and besides he’s got a lab rat the size of a golden retriever—remains adamant. Doctor Matt gives in. Local lawman Sheriff Jack takes the opportunity to rub Doc’s face in it, too, and that’s that."

There's a lot more laughs and chills, so please, mosey on over to PopMatters and read the whole article. And if you're so inclined, give it a Like on Facebook, or a Tweet or a G+. The more the merrier!