The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

My first entry this Criterion Month is very steeped in the sci-fi of a very particular era – the 1950s, which was influenced by American paranoia over nuclear destruction and saw the rise of aliens from another world, giant insects, and creatures from black lagoons. 1957’s The Incredible Shrinking Man, focuses on something not quite as spectacular: a man who, as you might guess, can’t stop shrinking. It’s a fairly straightforward premise, but in the hands of B-movie maverick Jack Arnold and writer Richard Matheson, it becomes something as unsettling (and entertaining) as anything the era produced. Continue reading →