Arachnids in Film Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lon Chaney

This movie was an early horror movie, featuring murder and revenge. It was directed by Joseph de Grasse. Sadly, there are no known prints left although there may just be a copy out there somewhere lost in an attic or shed... Lon Chaney was one of the greatest stars of the early days of black and white cinema.

He was known as "The Man of A Thousand Faces" for his ability to portray so many characters, in particular grotesque monsters and villains. He was also a pioneer of stage makeup techniques for film, in a time when most actors would do their own face, and special effects were barely more than false spectacles or a stuck on mustache.

Answer: DDT

This movie was first released in 1958 and DDT was considered the "wonder pesticide" of the time.
The gallons of DDT are pumped into the cave where the spider has made its lair, and at first the townsfolk think it is dead, and take the body back to the high school gym. Unfortunately, the creature is still alive, and awakes to rampage through the town.

Answer: Mesa of Lost Women

The movie was released in 1953, and featured an evil doctor who kidnapped beautiful young women and injected them with spider venom in the hopes of creating a race of superwomen to do his evil bidding.

Answer: To cure arachnophobia

This film was one of the first documentaries to be made. The maker, Percy Smith, wanted to cure people who suffered from arachnophobia by getting them to confront their fear and see how interesting spiders are. It is also a very early example of an animated model being used in a film.
There are video clips of the film available to view online.

Answer: Leo G. Carroll

The song goes "I know Leo G. Carroll, was over a barrel, when Tarantula! took to the hills".
The movie was directed by Jack Arnold, and co-starred Mara Corday and John Agar.
Leo G. Carroll was a British actor who made his stage debut on Broadway in the 1920s and 30s, after serving in the armed forces during WWI.
He appeared in six Alfred Hitchcock films, and is well loved in Britain for his appearances in "The Man From UNCLE" tv series in the 1960s.

Answer: Mexico

The movie was set in Mexico and directed by Edward Ludwig for Warner Brothers.
The scorpions, giant spiders, and giant worms featured in it were filmed using stop motion animation techniques created by Willis O'Brien, who also worked on the original "King Kong" - it is thought that some of the models used in this film also appear in that.
Mara Corday, who appeared in "Tarantula!", was also in this movie.

Answer: Scott's Basement

This movie was based on a 1956 novel by Richard Matheson (who also wrote "I Am Legend" (1954) Directed by Jack Arnold, it was one of the highest grossing sci-fi movies of the 1950s.
The character of Scott is played by Grant Williams, although the director originally wanted Dan O'Herlihy.
The scenes set in a dollhouse, where Scott encounters the family cat, were originally meant to be spiders, but unfortunately the studio lights caused the death of over twenty tarantulas, so the story was changed slightly. The spider in the basement scene stayed though.

Answer: Giving steroids to his marijuana plants

Drug dealer Jarvis, played by Clint Howard, is trying to make his marijuana crop grow bigger and stronger. Unfortunately the run off from his efforts causes the local ticks to mutate into vicious man eating horrors.
The movie was directed by Tony Randel.

Answer: William Shatner

The movie was directed by John Cardos.
Shatner is of course best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk in the original series of "Star Trek". His film career spans over sixty years, with appearances in such diverse projects as "The Brothers Karamazov" (1958), "Miss Congeniality" (2000), and "Batman vs Two-Face" (2017).

Answer: Dr. Aranya

The movie, released in 1953, was directed by Ron Ormond and Herbert Tevos.
Dr. Aranya is attempting to make an army of superwomen by injecting them with spider venom. He also creates human sized spiders. The name Aranya comes from the Spanish for spider.
According to John Johnson, in his book "Low Budget Filming and Convenient Sites" (1996), the outdoor scenes were filmed in Red Rock Canyon State Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains.