Okay, so this classic horror movie from 1958 has been sitting in my TiVo “now playing” queue for a few months now and I’m finally watching it. Well I’m not completely watching it as I’m writing in some blogs and doing some other website work, but it’s at least playing while I work. By today’s standards, it’s pretty much a terrible movie. It was probably pretty bad even back in 1958. But it’s kind of fun to watch.

Right now, 39 minutes into it, they have the giant spider on display in what looks like a school gym. Oh, the apparently dead spider just kicked a guy. I’ve got to watch that again. Okay, I did. Here’s a quote right before the kick. “Usually, if nature produces a freak it dies immediately. Because it can’t adapt itself to life. It’s what we ordinarily call a bird spider.” I guess this science teacher sees a lot of 30-foot spiders, that’s why they “ordinarily” call it something. Geez. But the kick was cool.

I guess 1950s rock music revives giant dead spiders as that’s what happens next. It escapes killing the janitor who is played by Hank Patterson who some of you may recognize as Fred Ziffel on Green Acres or Hank Miller from Gunsmoke. I love recognizing actors from old obscure movies and then looking up to see from what TV Land or Nick-at-Night show I recognize them from.

Moving on now- the spider terrorizes the town. Then the sheriff tries to kill it with some DDT and dynamite. They end up electrocuting it and all is well in the end. Overall, a pretty cheesy movie but kind of fun to watch.