TARANTULA (1955) d. Jack Arnold (USA)
IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955) d. Robert Gordon (USA)
KING DINOSAUR (1955) d. Bert I. Gordon (USA)

Tonight, we step back seventy years to 1955—the cusp of the golden age for giant monster cinema, as atomic anxiety crept from the headlines onto the silver screen, mutating into monstrous metaphors that stomped, crawled, and slithered into our collective imagination.

In this episode, we’ll look at three emblematic 1955 films—Tarantula, It Came from Beneath the Sea, and King Dinosaur—and explore how their monsters weren’t just fanciful products of science fiction, but also reflections of Cold War fears, rapid technological advancement, and the uneasy relationship between scientific progress and military might.

Tarantula, directed by Jack Arnold, featured a titular monster, born of unchecked experimentation, that symbolized the dangers of science without restraint—a warning that progress could turn predatory. Arnold’s tight direction gives the film a creeping tension and spooky haunting atmosphere that still resonates.

In It Came from Beneath the Sea, directed by Robert Gordon, special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen brought a radioactive giant octopus to life in unforgettable stop-motion detail. The film dramatized fears of the deep—both literal and metaphorical—linking nuclear testing with uncontrollable natural retaliation.

On the other end of the spectrum, Bert I. Gordon’s King Dinosaur is a textbook example of low-budget outrageousness that entertains in spite of (or perhaps because of) its ludicrous plot, stiff acting, oodles of stock footage, and clumsy rear-projected lizards masquerading as prehistoric beasts.

Grab your flamethrowers and portable atomic bombs and join AC and his supersized panel of guests (Joyce Boss, Barry Kaufman, Mark Matzke, Joseph Wycoff) as we celebrate a trio of black-and-white sci-fi classics filled with messages, metaphors, and monsters!!
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JOYCE MIHARA BOSS teaches world literature and cinema, myth, and Japanese popular culture at Wartburg College. Her academic publications and presentations have focused on various topics related to Godzilla, yōkai, global fandom, and Japanese religion and folklore.

BARRY KAUFMAN has been committed to spreading the gospel of obscure horror and science-fiction cinema since writing the fanzines Monsters of Japan and Demonique in the 1970s and 80s. He ran All-Horror Video out of a house in the woods in Homewood, Illinois through the 1980s, followed by his shop The House of Monsters in Chicago from 1996 to 2007. He now vends at genre related shows and programs festivals in the Chicago area featuring his inconspicuous film favorites.

MARK MATZKE is the narrative voice of numerous Small Town Monsters documentaries such as “Sasquatch Unearthed.” He's featured on STM's YouTube series "UFOs Revisited,” and has written for Stephen Bissette’s upcoming “Cryptid Cinema 2,” Nostalgia Digest and G-FAN.

JOSEPH WYCOFF is a veteran Chicago actor now based in New Zealand, with onscreen credits ranging from “Ash vs Evil Dead” to the Power Rangers to Josh Ruben’s Heart Eyes (2025).
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