The title did not come from the script, the director or the studio. In one scene, actor David Arquette improvised the phrase "Eight Legged Freaks" and that became the title. The original title was "Arac Attack" (in many European countries the film was released under that title). The scene can be seen in the movie with the phrase intact.
Pre-production started seven months before shooting was due to commence. This was mainly to give the visual effects crews time to render spiders as quickly and as accurately as possible.
In the beginning of the movie at the spider farm, when it shows the jumping spiders feeding, Joshua says, "They call it an Arac-Attack." This is a reference to the original title of the movie.
Shot over a period of 40 days.
The film on the TV when Mike Parker tries to convince his mom that there are giant spiders is Them! (1954), a film about giant irradiated ants.