313 - EARTH VS. THE SPIDER
(re-release; 1958; NR; 73m)

a.k.a. THE SPIDER (original)
a.k.a. EARTH VS. THE GIANT SPIDER
a.k.a. THE VAMPIRE SPIDER (Belgium)

originally co-billed with Bruno VeSota's THE BRAIN EATERS

Shown with Short: 313S-Speech: Using Your Voice

Ad: "BULLETS Won't Kill It!
FLAMES Can't Hurt It! NOTHING Can Stop It!"

Ad: "50 Tons of Creeping Black Horror! It Must Eat You to Live!"

Plot: Teen discovers that her father has been a meal for a giant spider, which then attacks the town.

Exec: Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson
(both/*309-The Amazing Colossal Man; 313-It Conquered the World; 315-Teenage Caveman; 317-Viking Women and the Sea Serpent;
319-War of the Colossal Beast; 701-Night of the Blood Beast;
806-The Undead; 807-Terror from the Year 5000;
808-The She-Creature; 809-I Was A Teenage Werewolf;
912-The Screaming Skull; H01-The Day the World Ended)
Prod/Dir: Bert I. Gordon
(309/319; *210-King Dinosaur; 411-Magic Sword; 414-Tormented; 517-Beginning of the End; 523-Village of the Giants)
Scr: Laszlo Gorog (803-Mole People; Oscar nom/Affairs of Susan)
Scr: George Worthing Yates (319/414)
Sto: Bert I. Gordon (210/414)
Cin: Jack Marta (319/517; Cat Ballou; Plaza Suite; Man or Gun)
Ed: Ronald Sinclair (309/317/319/808/H01; 503-Swamp Diamonds)
SFX: Bert and Flora Gordon (309/313/319/414/517/523)
SFX/Props: Paul Blaisdell (309/311/315/808/H01)
SFX/Props: Jackie Blaisdell (Attack of the Puppet People)
SFX: Thol Simonson (TV's The Adventures of Superman)
Cos: Marge Corso (315/414/808; 607-Bloodlust!)
M/U: Allen Snyder (Darling Lili)
PDes: Walter Keller (adir/319/517; Bedlam)
Set: William F. Calvert (Elmer Gantry; Night of the Lepus)
Prod Asst: Henry Schrage (309/319; Attack of the Puppet People)
Asst Dir/PSup: Marty Moss (asst dir/Gog)
Asst Dir: John W. Rogers (319; pmgr/Blade Runner)
Spider-Handler: Jim Dannaldson (The Cyclops; Snakes)
Sound: Al Overton
(912; 406-Attack of the Giant Leeches; 902-The Phantom Planet)
Sound FX Ed: Bruce Schoengarth (ed/107-Robot Monster)
Score: Albert Glasser (*309/315/317/319/414/517; 409-The Indestructible Man; 602-Invasion USA; 611-Last of the Wild Horses)

Mr. Kingman / Edward Kemmer
(The Giant from the Unknown; TV's Space Patrol)
Carol Flynn / June Kenney*
Mike Simpson / Gene Persson (607; Ma and Pa Kettle)
Sheriff Cagle / Gene Roth*
Helen Kingman / Sally Fraser (*311/319; Giant from the Unknown)
Mr. Simpson / Hal Torey (319; Invisible Invaders; Cat Burglar)
Pete Flynn / Merritt Stone*
Hugo the janitor / Hank Patterson (*309/517; TV's Green Acres)
Fraser / Jack Kosslyn*
Mrs. Flynn / June Jocelyn (*315/309/319)
Sam Haskall / Mickey Finn (The Tin Star; The Boy and the Pirates)
Joe / Troy Patterson (607; Attack of the Puppet People)
Sam / Skip Young (TV's Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet)
Jake / Howard Wright (319; Lousiana Hussy)
Dep. Sheriff Sanders / Bill Giorgio (319; Attack of the Puppet People)
pest control man / Bob Garnett (319)
Deputy Dave / Bob Tetrick (319; Suicide Battalion)
switchboard operator / Shirley Falls (Motorcycle Gang)
dancer / Nancy Kilgas (Athena; High School Hellcats; Funny Face)
man in cave / George Stanley (414)
line foreman / David Tomack (Imitation of Life)

Classic Line: "Spider?! Bah!"

Trivia: On the phone inside the movie theater, character Mike mentions wanting to see Gordon's ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE. You can see the lobbycards for it in the background, and a poster appears outside the theater. Lobbycards and posters for 309-THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN also appear not-so-subtly.

THE SPIDER was retitled as EARTH VS. THE SPIDER to cash in on the name of another successful movie with a similar title, EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956).

Tall, dark and gaunt, actor MERRITT STONE was in four B.I.G. MSTed movies: Carol's dad in 313-EARTH VS. THE SPIDER; a consoling cop in 319-WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST; a king in 411-THE MAGIC SWORD; and the minister in 414-TORMENTED. He made three films in 1953: Port Sinister; Problem Girls; and Sword of Venus.

Born Gene Stuttenroth, GENE ROTH (1903-1976) is easy to locate because he looks like Gary Busey's father with a craggy face with baggy eyes. He was the sheriff in both 313-EARTH VS. THE SPIDER and 406-ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES. He was the lunch counter guy in 414-TORMENTED and a railroad conductor in 419-THE REBEL SET. His other films include: 1952-Red Planet Mars; 1957-Zombies of Mora Tau; 1958-She Demons; and 1961-The Cat Burglar. Roth also frequently played the heavy in the Three Stooges shorts with Shemp and later Joe as the third Stooge.

And not to be confused with the two previous actors, B.I.G. bit player JACK KOSSLYN portrayed Fraser in 313-EARTH VS. THE SPIDER; a lieutenant in 309-THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN; the KTLA newscaster in 319-WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST; and the ogre in 411-THE MAGIC SWORD. His other films include: 1957-The Devil's Hairpin; 1958-Attack of the Puppet People; 1973-Breezy; and 1977-Empire of the Ants. Kosslyn also made some films with Clint Eastwood: Play Misty for Me; The Eiger Sanction; and High Plains Drifter.

Pert JUNE KENNEY, who plays Mike's girlfriend Carol here, can also be seen as Asmild in 317-VIKING WOMEN and as Betty in 607-BLOODLUST. She was also in Mr. B.I.G.'s Attack of the Puppet People; The Cat Burglar; and Corman's Sorority Girl.

Last Updated: 6/21/1999