Review of The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) by Terri H — 14 Mar 2009

Despite its wonky scientific premise (very much of its time), this is a relentlessly downbeat movie that combines angst with action, happy to portray the inevitable mental and physical decline of the title character with scenes of him using pins to fight cats and spiders.

The physical effects (forced perspective shots and oversized props and sets) are still impressive today, but the optical effects have dated badly. All of these though are second fiddle to the story, which is efficiently told, despite its cold and offhand protagonist. The existential ending is still wonderful, and lifts this movie up a few notches from its B-movie origins.