Another strong effort from Arnold after 1954’s the creature from the black lagoon
Like many others in the 50’s it’s a cold-war or radiation/bomb sci-fi—it’s sort of the reverse Godzilla and instead of creating something new or enlarging something it makes the protagonist smaller
Wooden acting but not laughable—mainline
Lots of special effects- were on display at Universal studios for a long time—Giant props to make him look small- again, the reverse of a miniature- it’s a very admirable effect and works here
Voice over narration
Special effects battle with cats and spider (this would happen again in Honey I Shrunk the kids) in the late 80’s
The odd mixed upbeat ending (pontificating about the infinite with intelligent perspective) isn’t as bleak as it should be but also isn’t a tacked on (and would be so wrong formally) happy ending which is great as well
[…] The Incredible Shrinking Man – J. Arnold […]