Oftentimes, the difference between a good film and a bad film has very little to do with quality, but rather the viewer’s individual relationship with a particular piece. It’s undeniable that there are some truly abhorrent works out there, as well as many mediocre films that just don’t meet any real standard. However, there are genres that are written off as cheaply-made or unworthy of consideration at their peak, but grow to be appreciated much later on, as audiences come to realize that there is more than one definition of a great piece of fiction. Personally, I have a fondness for the many cheaply-made science fiction films that came about in the 1950s (mainly driven by the fact that Ed Wood was one of my earliest idols when I started exploring the history of independent filmmaking). Not always the epitome of elegance or the most substantial works, they were instead gritty works that may seem to be cliched in comparison to the more impressive work being done by major studios, but behind the veneer of artifice were teams of hardworking filmmakers, doing their best to bring these unique stories to life, knowing that having a camera, a cast and (most importantly), a healthy dose of ingenuity, was more than enough to craft a masterpiece. In considering the many films produced under this artistic manifesto, very few come close to defining its merits more than Jack Arnold’s The Incredible Shrinking Man, a film that overcomes some of the flaws associated with this era of science fiction, and emerging as a poignant character-study that is far more complex than most are willing to give it credit for, which is a great disservice to one of the most impactful, and quite frankly thoroughly moving, works of the 1950s, and a true trailblazer of a film.

Based on the novel The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson, the premise of this film is extremely simple – an ordinary suburban man finds himself caught in a mysterious fog that causes him to gradually shrink, going from a formidable height of six feet, to only a few inches tall by the end of the film. The Incredible Shrinking Man is not a film that promises to be anything than it appears to be at a cursory glance (which doesn’t preclude it from surprising us with a few complex deviations that most wouldn’t expect from a film of this nature), and instead only claims to be 80 minutes of entertaining, rivetting speculative fiction. Arnold was a maestro when it came to capturing the zeitgeist that surrounded science fiction in the 1950s, where audiences were growing curious with the stories set in far-off universes (or those that presented our own world in a starkly different way), and the technological prowess of the industry was gradually starting to become strong enough to justify some more audacious productions. The Incredible Shrinking Man is possibly his crowning achievement – not only is it his most forward-thinking film on both a creative and philosophical level (there are some conversations embedded in this film that lend themselves to deep and insightful analysis), it was also the one that seems to have been embraced the most, by virtue of its impeccable quality and willingness to venture down some risky paths. As we’ve seen with films like this, where the resources are low but the ambitions are monumental, there is very little to lose when it comes to deciding whether or not to take a leap of faith.

Despite being made at a time when the film industry was growing more confident in its skills, The Incredible Shrinking Man is still a relatively low-budget science fiction thriller, so studios weren’t aiming to throw their full support behind it, which meant Arnold and his collaborators needed to do what all of their contemporaries were doing at the time, and employ a kind of artistic ingenuity that could overcome the shortage of resources they undoubtedly encountered along the way. In fact, part of what makes The Incredible Shrinking Man such a valuable work is how fun it is to watch it and figure out all the tricks that Arnold had to employ to tell this story. After all, the plot centres on a man that is gradually shrinking, so some of the methods used to demonstrate his transformation were more impressive than even the most cutting-edge techniques afforded by the use of computer-generated imagery in later decades. There is something so endearing about practical effects being used in the creation of a film in absolutely any instance, since the creativity that goes into building these worlds and forcing us to believe the most absurd or ridiculous of situations, is always worth the time and effort. So for a film to actually manage to employ them successfully, to the point where we have no choice but to sit in awe and marvel at how they constructed this world, is absolutely impressive and warrants heaping nothing but praise on a film that took many risks, each one of them paying off splendidly.

The Incredible Shrinking Man is a film that lives to defy expectations, which is inextricably linked to how these films were perceived from within the industry. At the time, studios were still mostly under the impression that audiences wanted to see films that they could relate to – human stories set in recognizable situations, whether in the past or present. Little did they anticipate that a film like The Incredible Shrinking Man would be more human than nearly anything else they were producing at the time, simply because it conceals a very potent message under the veneer of a twisted science fiction satire. There are some metaphysical questions being asked throughout this film that are worth unravelling, since it is about far more than just a man finding himself growing smaller as the days go on – Arnold is questioning the very nature of existence, and over the course of the film manages to actually make some profound statements towards the volatility of life, provoking some existential quandaries that are way ahead of its time for a film produced in the midst of cheaply-made science fiction thrillers, where the intention was mainly to entertain, not incite a crisis of identity in the viewer. Logically, The Incredible Shrinking Man is an extremely fun film, and it’s hardly as difficult as I’ve made it out to be – but the undercurrent of complexity that persists throughout the film demonstrates a keen set of observations about human nature that many may not have anticipated going into it. It results in an entertaining film that has sincere emotions at the core, and by the time we get to the final moments of the story, we’re enveloped in this world, and privy to some of the harrowing existential discussions that serve as its foundation.

I wasn’t expecting to love The Incredible Shrinking Man as much as I did, and I’m already very fond of this era of science fiction, since its candour and scrappy resilience has always been appealing. The reason isn’t necessarily one relating to fears that it may not meet the standards that science fiction would come to be defined by in subsequent decades (even the most horrifically-made, cheesy 1950s science fiction film is worth seeking out, since they offer an abundance of entertainment value at the very least), but rather because there’s a seriousness contained within this film that feels unexpected, but still makes perfect sense, considering what this film is really about. Not the cut-and-dry thriller that it appears to be (and attempts to reignite this story with several failed sequels and reinterpretations, normally from a more comedic perspective, aims to strip it of the grave subject matter that makes it so special), but rather an enticing and complex film about survival and the inner machinations of the human condition, The Incredible Shrinking Man is an absolute triumph, going above and beyond expectations to become one of the most exemplary pieces of science fiction produced at a time when they were a dime-a-dozen – but like any great bargain, they’re always worth our time, and it’s always possible that we’ll find a true gem hidden somewhere in there, waiting to surprise us with its value and brilliance, which is a perfect description of how Arnold transforms The Incredible Shrinking Man into a vitally important work, and a film everyone should make time to experience for themselves.