By CONNOR KEATING
Tiger Media Network
Well folks, this will be my final review. Originally, this film was supposed to be an Off The Shelf Review; however, I wanted my last review to be part of the Monster Movie Mayhem series. Fortunately this film could be part of either. A fitting way to end off both series, I think.
“The Incredible Shrinking Man” tells the story of a man named Scott Carey who one day, while vacationing with his wife, gets covered in a strange mist. The two don’t think much of it, but a while later, Carey begins to notice that his clothes aren’t fitting like they used to, he discovers that he’s losing weight and that he may have shrunk a few inches. While Carey begins to grow nervous, his wife and his doctor try to assure him that nothing’s wrong, but eventually, it becomes too noticeable to deny. Scott Carey is shrinking!
While doctors race to find a cure, Carey has to deal with the fame this blight has brought him. Eventually, though, he becomes so small that his house cat becomes a threat to him, and he ends up trapped in the basement, where he must fight to survive.
The film can be split into two halves. The first half is a body horror drama, where we watch Carey slowly descend into madness as he tries to figure out what’s happening to him and then how to cope with it. Then the second half is like “Cast Away,” but in a basement. The first half becomes the more interesting part of the film as we watch Carey turn from a normal guy into a nervous mess, and then later into a bitter tyrant. As far as I know, this is one of the few 50s sci-fi movies where our protagonist has an actual character arc. The body horror elements, while certainly not graphic, are still frightening in their own way. Though, maybe that’s just me, as someone who worries over every little asymmetrical lump or pain I have.
Still though, the horror is effective and the build-up to it is what really sells it, starting off slow, hardly noticeable, until suddenly it becomes too obvious to deny and there seems to be no end in sight. There’s also a certain sense of dread as the doctors struggle to find a cure, and just when they think they’ve done it, they find that it had no effect. This part of the film is also where we get some great character moments, particularly between Scott Carey and his wife, Louise Carey, who’s trying to do her best, but Scott is so paranoid and anxious that it becomes difficult for her. Honestly, I’m surprised they were able to get away with this unhappy marriage in the 50s film industry. Sure, they don’t get a divorce or anything like that, but there’s a lot of back and forth between the two, and much like the shrinking, it’s a gradual spiral that builds over the course of the first half.
Of course, though, the second half of the film is what people are here for. While Louise is out, their cat sneaks into the house and begins going after Scott, leading to an exciting fight for survival between him and his pet. This then leads him to getting trapped in the basement, and what a unique setting – everyday objects are now grand environmental fixtures. An empty box of matches is now a shelter, a shelf acts as a mighty mountain to be scaled, mouse traps can spell death, string becomes rope, needles become swords, and a water leak becomes a flood. However, the greatest threat lurking within the basement is a deadly spider.
This spider becomes the main antagonist for this half of the film, especially since a large bread crumble lies at the base of its web, forcing Carey to defeat it in combat. As exciting as this part of the film can be, it’s unfortunately quite slow most of the time. The film will linger for a great deal of time, watching as Carey finds an object and tries to do something with it.
Sometimes, it’s effective, like the scene where he tries to get cheese from a mouse trap; it’s a pretty suspenseful moment, but other times, it’s just a lengthy scene of him jacking with a nail he found as he tries to turn it into a hook to climb up a ledge. There are a number of scenes like this which could easily be trimmed down quite a bit. Of course though, when something exciting does happen, it’s pretty great. Particularly the fight between Carey and the spider.
The effects are pretty solid overall. There are a few shots that can look a bit dated and some of the oversized props can look goofy, but generally, it’s pretty effective. And for the time, I’m sure these effects were groundbreaking. The set work in the film is one of the highlights as the filmmakers have to build various objects in extra large proportions at various scales, as Carey shrinks over the course of the film. These oversized props are fun to see, and while some can look a bit silly, from a filmmaking perspective, they’re one of the highlights of the film.
While the second half of the movie may drag at times, the first half is fantastic and does a great job of making you care for what happens to Carey, and when something exciting does happen in that second half, it’s an absolute blast. The film is also bolstered by some fun set design and effects that, for the time, were impressive. Of the many 50s sci-fi movies out there, “The Incredible Shrinking Man” is one of the best. I give this film eight “Radioactive Clouds of glitter” out of ten!
Connor Keating is a senior at Fort Hays State University, studying Natural Resources. Connor is an old-school movie fan, particularly Japanese monster movies, and is an avid DVD collector.
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