Sparse direction allows the tension to build naturally so that the terror and poignancy of the story work their way into the audience's brain without being forced. A total classic.
Comment
05/24/03
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
88
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:16
Fresh:14
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.5/10
Runtime: 81 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis: When an ordinary businessman encounters a mysterious radioactive mist during a boating trip, his life takes a bizarre and frightening twist. Soon he finds he is shrinking and within weeks he's just... [More]
Starring: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Raymond Bailey
Director: Jack Arnold, Albert Zugsmith
Reviews for The Incredible Shrinking Man
1 - 17 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Top CriticA moving, strangely pantheist assertion of what it really means to be alive. A pulp masterpiece.
06/24/06
Top CriticNotable for its relatively intelligent script, for some imaginatively amusing special effects, and for an existential streak which finally has our (tiny) hero pondering the meaning of existence.
06/06/07
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/26/09
Top CriticOne of the best s-f flicks of the 1950s. A tragic story that is exciting and touching.
06/26/03
Unless a viewer is addicted to freakish ironies, the unlikely spectacle of Mr. Williams losing an inch of height each week will become tiresome before Universal has emptied its lab of science-fiction clichés.
03/25/06
Top CriticA pulp gem.
05/04/06
No review available.
07/22/05
The special effects and trick photography are cleverly done (for its time). Also, the story is intelligently handled.
01/01/00
Surprisingly provocative 50's sci-fi that goes beyond the thrilling spider battle
04/06/07
One of the landmark sci-fi efforts of the 1950s
10/01/04
The surreal intensity of outsize objects that loom as the hero shrinks is handled effectively, and the mystical happy ending is a better payoff than one would expect of the genre.
01/01/00
Clever, but pretentious
07/30/02
No review available.
09/23/05
No review available.
01/07/03
No review available.
02/03/05
All-time sci-fi classic.
07/25/02
1 - 17 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Latest News for The Incredible Shrinking Man
April 18, 2008:
Brett Ratner, Incredible Shrinking Director 
Brett Ratner is in talks to direct an Eddie Murphy-led remake of The Incredible Shrinking Man. More...
April 26, 2006:
"I Am Legend" -- Finally!
Forgive me if this sounds like a broken record (er, corrupted MP3, sorry) but you know that big-screen adaptation of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" that's been... More...
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