Tarantula: The Deadly Cargo is a pretty dull movie and has most of the feels of a made-for-tv flick from the 1970s. I do think this one in a group setting you might find some entertainment but watching it alone it wasn’t scary or suspenseful.
Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo
(1977)
Genre(s): Thriller, Horror
Kino Lorber| NR – 95 min. – $24.95 | July 5, 2022
Date Published: 07/08/2022 | Author: The Movieman
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Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2¾/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Two Americans (TOM ATKINS, HOWARD HESSERMAN) fly down to Ecuador to pick up a load of premium coffee beans. Unbeknownst to them, the cargo contains hundreds of lethal stowaways: gigantic, venomous tarantulas. When the plane crashes in a small California town, the furry fiends escape and wreak havoc on the unsuspecting inhabitants.
Quick Hit Review: Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo was one of many creature-attack thrillers borne out of the 1970s, and this one feels like a throwback to 1950s-era creature-features. This one aired on CBS back in 1977 (according to the commentary, December 28th to be exact) when networks were desperate to fill timeslots I assume. As it is, outside of one scene – the killing of a child – this one is pretty mundane and even at times a tad boring, and lacked the cheesiness to make this entertaining and even as someone who hates spiders with a passion, I never once found myself in very much suspense. That said, I suppose this is watchable. The film was aptly directed by Stuart Hagmann who helmed a few episodes of Mannix and Mission: Impossible before disappearing as this was his last movie. This features Claude Atkins (Rawhide, Gunsmoke), Pat Hingle (Batman ’89) and the great Tom Atkins (Halloween III) who unfortunately is not in this for the long haul, bowing out maybe 25-minutes in. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover with a newly commissioned artwork. The only feature is an Audio Commentary with “The Made for TV Mayhem Show” Podcast hosts Amanda Reyes, Dan Budnik and Nate Johnson. |
VIDEO – 4/5 |
| Kino Lorber releases the Tarantulas onto the populace presented in the originally televised 1.33 full frame and given a new 1080p high-definition transfer taken from the 2K Master. What a time to be alive that,. Along with MVD’s Monday Morning, we are getting these obscure movies in glorious high-definition. I found this to be a good looking picture, not overly sharp but that’s probably due to how it was filmed and on a tight budget. That said, detail is good while colors are balanced and in keeping with the 1970s era. |
AUDIO – 3¾/5 |
| The included DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is about what I would expect from a made-for-tv movie with clear enough dialogue alongside the jazzy score and some ambient noises including the constant buzzing of wasps used to combat the band of tarantulas. |
OVERALL – 3/5 |
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Overall, Tarantula: The Deadly Cargo is a pretty dull movie and has most of the feels of a made-for-tv flick from the 1970s. I do think this one in a group setting you might find some entertainment but watching it alone it wasn’t scary or suspenseful. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.