The Incredible Shrinking Man/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Adaptation Distillation: In the novel, Scott had a daughter.
    • Also in the novel Scott has shrunken to about three feet tall when he encounters a group of boys. When they realize he's that "Shrinking Man" they want to take his pants off to see if EVERY part of him had shrunk.
  • Freud Was Right: Scott is terrorized by a giant cat. And what's slang for a cat and female genitals? Could be seen as women threatening manhood, especially because this is post-WWII/Rosie the Riveter.
  • High Octane Nightmare Fuel: Scott's battle with the spider. Even though the film was made on a shoestring budget, the scenes with the spider are very, very creepy and undoubtedly were intended to be scary. It is indeed very scary even over fifty years later.
  • Jerkass Woobie : Scott in the later part of the film. He pretty much admits that he's becoming a jerk the smaller he gets. However, considering what he's going through, it's hard to be but so angry at him.
  • Special Effects Failure : Surprisingly averted. Even though it was on a shoestring budget, the effects (especially for a film from 1957 and in black and white) are fairly impressive. There's an occasional "scale" problem, but most of the time, it's done very well. In fact, the fight with the spider is done a little too well!