Possibly the best 50s SF of all time, and director Jack Arnold's masterpiece--though I have an emotional attachment to his "Creature from the Black Lagoon." The story is absorbing and well acted, the special effects are simple but stunning, and once Grant Williams ends up in the basement, it's all about grim survival.

The screenplay is by Richard Matheson, and based on his novel The Shrinking Man. The ending is both obvious (after the fact) and mind-blowing as the hero transcends his limitations and himself--there really wasn't another movie ending like this until" 2001: A Space Odyssey."

Most of Jack Arnold's SF films are worth watching--he is a genuine auteur with a distinctive style and characteristic elements that populate his work. He went on to do quite a lot of different kinds of film and tv work, but his 50s SF and Horror movies put him in a league of his own.

It took forever for this to be available in DVD, and this Bluray is a Spanish import--the packaging and menu are in Espanol, and you have to manually adjust it for the original English version, but once you do that it's fine, ( )

A man shrinks, incredibly.

It changes tone, and quality, drastically in a few places. At first, it's a corny, B-movie attempt at suspense, which is amusing. Then it turns into a drama, briefly but tediously. Finally, he shrinks to a few inches tall, and it becomes an adventure. That part is great - clever and exciting - but they sure take a long time getting there. Oh, and then there's the ending. What the hell is that ending?

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 1.8/4 ( )