Honey I Shrunk Myself
Whilst out on their boat Scott Carey (Grant Williams) finds himself briefly engulfed in a strange rolling mist whilst his wife Louise (Randy Stuart) had gone below to get some drinks. Thinking nothing more of it they go about their business until one day Robert notices his clothes are starting to hang off of him and his trousers become too long. Concerned he and Louise head to the doctors who are unable to work out what is going on as Scott continues to shrink and becomes a national curiosity as they are forced to let the press in on the story in order to cover their bills. Eventually Scott shrinks so far he ends up living in a dolls house but comes under threat from their cat and is forced down in to the cellar where other dangers exist.
"The Incredible Shrinking Man" is another one of those movies which I plump into the had to be there pile, as in being a child or teenager back in the late 1950s when you first watched it. For one there are the special effects with not just the plethora of over sized props and sets to make Scott seem smaller than he is but also the effects of combining Scott's world with the real world and of course the dangers such as the cat. But there is also the less than subtle storyline as Scott begins to realise that whilst he may have shrunk he has gained in fortitude and has a new inner strength when it comes to surviving the dangers he encounters when small.
The thing is that whilst understandably dated in certain ways the actual storyline which not just focuses on Scott's physical battles but also emotional as getting smaller takes its toll on him is good. It is the same with a series of events which leave Louise emotional as she believes the cast has eaten Scott. It is very much a case that whilst "The Incredible Shrinking Man" still entertains it doesn't have the same sort of pull which it would have back then even if the sight of a tarantula in the cellar is the stuff of nightmares.
On the subject of Scott, well Grant Williams certainly has a boyish charm about him but for me he over acts his way through out the entire movie especially when he tries to emote the exhaustion he feels as he tries to scavenge food in the cellar. In fairness everyone in the movie be it Randy Stuart as his wife or April Kent who plays the diminutive Clarice all plays things a little too large.
What this all boils down to is that "The Incredible Shrinking Man" is still entertaining and I can see why those who watched it back in the late 1950s would have powerful memories of it. But watched now it suffers not only because of the special effects but also because of an over acting style which spoils things ever so slightly.
