When you are producing movies by the most successful director of all time, sometimes the influence and talent rubs off on you.
Frank Marshall’s producing pedigree is unrivalled, with the likes of THE WARRIORS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK amongst others, but in 1990 he was given the chance to helm his own feature, the spider horror flick ARACHNOPHOBIA.
In the Amazon rainforest, Dr. James Atherton (Julian Sands) and photographer Jerry Manley (Mark L. Taylor) are part of a team who are exploring an as yet uncharted area of the territory when they use fumigation techniques to smoke some potential new species out.
Amongst these is a brand-new form of spider, who kills Manley in revenge when one of its’ number is crushed by him. The body of Manley is placed in a wooden casket – and the spider tags along.
In a small coastal town of Canaima, the box is opened – and the spider crawls out into the open, where a bird grabs it, but is stung and dies near a house where Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels, DUMB AND DUMBER, SPEED) has brought his family to where he is going to work. The spider crawls into the barn on the property and promptly mates with a local domestic spider, where it creates a fusion of both.
The new-born crawl out and head out into the town, where they start to make a few creepy call-ies on the citizens…..
Your appreciation and level of terror of ARACHNOPHOBIA is based purely on whether or not you feel comfortable around them. I don’t and therefore the film is even more terrifying, but it is a fun adventure all the same and builds to a very suspenseful climax. The humour element is provided thanks to John Goodman’s cuddly and playful performance as a local exterminator.