Rent The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Classic and Fantastic SciFi/Horror - The Incredible Shrinking Man review by GI

The fear of radiation and/or nuclear holocaust that led to a cycle of science fiction and horror films made in the 1950s are ripe for rediscovery by a modern audience, many are now considered classics of the genre and of American Cinema in general; films such as Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1956) and Them (1954) being two superb examples. The Incredible Shrinking Man is also one of the best, a remarkably well structured and photographed film considering its age. Essentially it's a 'Robinson Crusoe' narrative where a happily married man (Grant Williams) is exposed to a strange radioactive mist and begins to gradually shrink. First he has to deal with the fear and emotions of the change and the effect on his marriage and then the social stigma of being different. Then the story moves into a survival narrative and the horrors of battling to live. Williams performance is very good when you consider that he had to act against nothing at all to achieve the effect of being very small as this all before green screen and CGI. The resulting film is exciting, very scary and tense. Film fans I urge you to seek this out it's simply fantastic and its fully restored for DVD and BluRay.

Brilliant, Imaginative, Classic late-1950s Fantasy - Watchable, Fun and Highly Entertaining - The Incredible Shrinking Man review by PV

This film is old but still works. It is wonderfully imaginative with the special effects as the main character shrinks. Very clever use of clothes and household items to show that and not tell it.

It's all great fun too, with dramatic music and jaw-dropping (for the time) special effects. It is way better than the modern Mat Damon movie DOWNSIZED too which went on and on. No flab on or in The Incredible Shrinking Man!

I actually turned off a modern film which was boring me to watch this one. I had seen clips before but never the whole thing. I am so glad I did.

It's very 1950s with the nuclear threat and cold war hanging over it like a cloud - literally.

They get the media circus just right - it would be the same but worse today.

And how refreshing to watch a great entertaining film with no agenda to push, no boxtick casting, no yawnsome CGI effects.

But what happened to the cat? That's what I want to know.

The ending is of its time, I suppose. Based on a novel by the man who wrote the screenplay, apparently.

Classic stuff anyway. I could watch it all again now. 5 stars

Honey, I Shrunk the Existential Crisis - The Incredible Shrinking Man review by griggs

A man exposed to radiation begins to shrink — a daft idea on paper, but The Incredible Shrinking Man turns it into genuine horror. Under Jack Arnold’s sharp direction, the film makes fear itself the monster. No aliens, no mad scientists — just an ordinary man disappearing while the world around him grows hostile.

Arnold’s craftsmanship is remarkable. The 1950s effects still look convincing: clever angles, oversized sets, and pure invention make every room feel like a trap. The cat attack is domestic horror at its finest — absurd, tense, and oddly tragic. You believe every second of it.

What lingers is the psychology. This is a man shrinking in every sense — pride, power, purpose. Seventy years later, it still stings. And that final monologue — calm, cosmic, quietly devastating — turns pulp into poetry, ending on a note that’s small, infinite, and unforgettable.