Giant monster movies are a dime a dozen, which is fine, because so many of them are so entertaining. Here's the thing, though... It's a formula. A lot of these films can be boiled down to some version of the following:

Nuclear fallout mutates some creature, creating a giant kaiju monster. 

Especially in the 1950s, the atomic threat was a prevalent theme in nearly every giant monster movie. Even before those, science was framed in horror as a thing to be distrusted, as mad scientists create havoc and bring about destruction.

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But not Tarantula. Instead, here's a movie with a benevolent core. The scientists are trying to solve a problem, namely, world hunger. They strive to better their world and accidentally create a monster. 

Joe Dante, director of classics like Tarantula and The Howling, is no stranger to subversion in his movies, and Tarantula was an early influence. He discussed the film in a 2025 interview with Rue Morgue Magazine.

"Tarantula is based on a Science Fiction Theater episode called 'No Food for Thought,' which is about the creation of artificial food, which is exactly the basic plot of Tarantula. [A scientist] is trying to grow all this big stuff. Even in Beginning of the End, they’re trying to grow giant vegetables. They’re always trying to grow something big, and then the wrong things get big. That’s what happens in science fiction movies."

The filmmaker also relates the tale of going to see Tarantula in theaters, and mentions just how much it affected him as a kid.

"Unfortunately, Tarantula was only playing on Wednesday and Thursday, which meant that the only way I could see it was if I could get my father to take me to see it on Wednesday or Thursday night, which meant that he would have to come home from his hard day at the golf course and then take me to see a giant spider movie— which is like the last thing that he was interested in seeing. But he was a great dad, and he indulged me whenever he could, and he was nice enough to accompany me to the double feature of Tarantula and Running Wild, which was at least a crime picture, so that he got to see something that he could relate to.

I was so embarrassed because I was so scared by the movie that I spent most of my time in the lobby pacing, and he was sitting there watching a giant spider movie by himself."