Ah, Roger Corman, Ray Harryhausen; these are the special-effects monster movie makers of yesteryear and, yes, this movie is so reminiscent of those. In the movie, a bin of toxic waste is accidentally dumped in the small town of Prosperity, Arizona, and super large crickets are fed to spiders which turn the spiders into the size of Buicks. Eventually, the spiders break loose and decide to feast on the town, but not without divine intervention by Chris McCormack (David Arquette Scream, 2, 3, and 4… just kidding), who left town years ago after getting into a tiff and is back now to take on the spiders.
    I loved this film a lot; first off, the spider effects are so good with the constant noises they make after being killed and all. Admitted, I was scared a little when I saw Dean Devlin’s (Special efx artist for Independence Day, Godzilla) name in the credits; I mean, this guy is the king of big-budget pieces of trash, but, once again, I digress. One of the aspects that made this movie likable to me was David Arquette’s character. He could be a wife beating drug-dealing pimp and I’d still think he was a stand-up guy. He added great to the comedic undertone and heroic overtone of his character and was a perfect mix into the movie. Warning to all, don’t take this movie seriously; if you want to see a serious creature feature, watch Deep Blue Sea. This isn’t meant to be a serious flick, it’s a homage to the fifties features and a rather great one at that. There are spiders galore and lots of cool death scenes which instantly caught my attention, especially one where a small cat gets smashed into drywall by a spider. Ooh, now I’ve got your attention.

First off, this is a PG-13 flick, which really made me feel uneasy for the simple fact that some kids might find the spiders frightening at times. Parents may be cautioned that this movie barely has any blood in it and the makers of the film attempt to make this a fun flick, but I was just uneasy at times. We never get much emphasis on any of the characters whatsoever, plus we have the clichéd characters; the goofy black guy, the mother with her oldest disgruntled whiney daughter who bullies her younger smarter brother. I’ve seen it all before and wasn’t too keen on them. The main human villain, again, is barely emphasized so most of the time we don’t care what happens to him. The spiders are too goofy at times of the movie where they scream and yell “Help” whenever they’re getting killed or something.

Spiders, tarantulas, and Arac attacks, oh my! This is a fun homage to the films of the fifties and real movie-goers will appreciate this funfest. My spidey sense is tingling!