Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula (1998)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
If you're familiar with the movies that Spanish director Jess Franco made with One Shot Productions then you should know that they were ultra cheap productions (even by Franco standards) and that they really weren't all that good. They were basically "good" for the fact that they managed to keep Franco working but very few of them had much merit.
The "plot" involves a cop (Michelle Bauer) trying to figure out why so many men and women are going missing. She believes that a stripper (Lina Romay) might have something to do with it. Again, if you're familiar with Franco's One Shot movies then you know plot isn't always the main focus.
MARI-COOKIE AND THE KILLER TARANTULA isn't the worst Jess Franco movie that you'll ever see but I very seriously doubt too many people are going to become fans of the director by watching this. As someone who has seen over a hundred Franco titles, the One Shot period is my least favorite but this film here is a prime example of why I'm not really a fan. These movies were shot with low-budgets and more times than not they're just an excuse to show off a lot of nudity and bizarre sex scenes.
This movie features that nudity and sex but it's all rather boring. The one good thing is that we're given a pretty good cast that includes Romay being her charming self, Bauer in a rather tough-girl role and even Linnea Quigley shows up in a few scenes. There are all sorts of strange visuals, poor cinematography and various other things that really doesn't add up to much. Fans of Franco debate these One Shot pictures but for my money they're only to be seen after you've watched dozens of other films from the director's filmography.
