Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo

Some animals just lend themselves to horror movies, and as movies such as Tarantula, Kingdom of the Spiders and Arachnophobia have proved; big spiders are one of them. Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo was made for television, so it's probably unfair to expect great things from it; and while the film does have its moments, I really wouldn't add it to the list of films that prove spiders are prime candidates for having horror films made about them. The plot is pretty simplistic, which isn't really surprising considering the television origins and basically focuses on a bunch of tarantulas from South America being released in a town in California. We focus on a small airplane carrying coffee beans that have spent a lot of time in storage. Unbeknown to the crew, these particular beans have become infested with huge spiders that kill some of the crew and cause the plane to crash in the aforementioned Californian town. It's not long before the spiders have got off the plane and begin killing local residents; causing the authorities to take action.

Most horror films about spiders have the antagonists with something about them - perhaps they're genetically modified, a new type of spider, absolutely huge or maybe there's just thousands of them - this film doesn't bother with all that, all we get is just a bunch of pretty average looking spiders, and it's really not all that menacing - I constantly wondered why the lead characters didn't just put on a big pair of boots and go round stomping on them all. The film was obviously a pretty cheap production as there is no special effects and the sets are very minimal. Unfortunately it would seem that they couldn't afford to hire someone to write an imaginative screenplay either, as despite some standout moments - there aren't a lot of them, and the main sequence in a warehouse, while well done, is really too silly to take seriously if you take a minute to think about it. The conclusion to the film includes an interesting method of getting rid of the spiders - I have no idea whether or not it would work in real life, but one thing is for sure - a big pair of boots would have worked better and wouldn't have involved so much messing about. If only I were there to lend a hand

A plane carrying a payload of Ecuadorian coffee beans bound for the US, plunges into a field in the struggling town of Finleyville. When rescuers discover that two survivors appear to be afflicted by a deadly plague-like condition, the townspeople are quick to respond to the threat. It takes the tenacity of local GP (Hingle) and occupation unknown jack-of-all trades (Frank) and his girlfriend (Winters) to determine that the mysterious deaths are attributed to a particularly toxic breed of Tarantulas that have stowed away on the doomed flight. Director Haggman applies a very matter-of-fact treatment to this above average thriller, with great attention to detail and a well paced continuity that builds to a satisfying climax.

A capable cast of familiar faces portray likable characters, who band together to solve their own problems and save the town from socioeconomic devastation, proving that necessity is the mother of all invention. Frank is an affable leading man well supported by durable character actors like Akins, Hingle and Remsen in sizeable supporting roles. John Harkins also has a key cameo identifying the aggressive arachnids as the most venomous of their species, sending the town into a virtual state of emergency. Mature, intelligent dialogue is sometimes too functional, but realistic and well delivered. It's just a pity that the rather vapid climax wasn't more rousing, as the impetus was there throughout the movie for a satisfying resolution.

There's an absence of smoke and mirrors to this small screen production that rejects the temptation to sensationalise the subject matter, focusing instead on the logical and convincing storytelling that saw this minor matinée nominated for two Emmy awards. Overall, while there's the obvious constraints of a television scale, and a curiously inapt jazz soundtrack bookends, this remains a taut, mature, well conceived little critter of a spider movie, and well worth a look.

Released to TV 1977 and directed by Stuart Hagmann, "Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo" stars Deborah Winters, Charles Frank (her fiancé) and Claude Akins as citizens of a small orange-producing town in Southern California who have to deal with an invasion of deadly banana spiders, which are unleashed when a cargo plane from Ecuador crash lands in the fields. Pat Hingle plays the doctor, Bert Remsen the mayor and Sandy McPeak the police chief. Howard Hesseman & Tom Atkins appear in the opening act as pilots of the doomed plane. Cutie Noelle North is also on hand.

I'm sure the filmmakers used tarantulas in replace of the similar-looking banana Spider (aka phoneutria or armed spiders), but they're close enough and, besides, this was the pre-CGI era and the producers had no other choice.

In any case, the first hour or so is surprisingly good, considering this is a TV-budgeted nature-runs-amok flick. The cinematography features numerous aerial shots of the shooting area, which is in the semi-arid sticks 20-25 miles NW of Los Angeles. Claude Akins is surprisingly effective as one of the protagonists while Deborah Winters and Noelle North shine on the female front, both in form-fitting jeans from beginning to end. While Noelle's character may seem to be around 16 she was actually 27 during filming. The movie works as a 70's period piece, showcasing a nice cross-selection of the demographics & styles of any Southern California town of that era. Also, there's a nigh-shocking death scene considering this was made in the mid-70s, which I wasn't expecting in a TV flick.

Unfortunately, the last act that revolves around extinguishing the spiders at an orange factory is decidedly dull compared to the first two acts. This portion is packed with filler to complete the overlong runtime. But at least Winters & North are there to somewhat hold the male viewer's attention, lol.

The film runs 95 minutes and was shot in Piru & Moorpark, California. WRITERS: Guerdon Trueblood & John Groves.

GRADE: C+ (5.5/10)

The JAWS craze went beyond hungry fish as the TV-Movie TARANTULAS: THE DEADLY CARGO winds up with a town torn between business and people's safety, with cranky Bert Remsen in the Murray Hamilton mayoral position, running an orange mill where the furry-legged-critters wind up...

That's after what seems like two separate short films, especially the intro where grungy maverick pilot/smugglers Howard Hessmann and Tom Atkins sneak coffee beans away from the local crooked government, and they wind up as Janet Leigh-from-PSYCHO characters in that they only seem permanent...

After crash-landing in the orange crop town, inadvertently bringing the titular CARGO along with them, this otherwise title-oriented creature-feature builds mystery/thriller tension as random deaths are initially enigmatic, disconnected with the tarantulas and, before computers, fearless crews known as spider wranglers provided the genuine article, making for more bonafide viewer-cringe moments...

Although. Visually, they're a very beautiful black and yellow color, and are actually known as Banana Spiders, shown a lot in the finale when buried lead Deborah Winters, older sister of LITTLE HOUSE child actor Matthew Labyorteaux and owner of a local airfield, is eventually teamed with Charles Frank as her boyfriend/partner, Pat Hingle the town doctor and Claude Akins the stalwart fire chief, who, although capable enough as a banded group, were more intriguing on their own before everything got figured out, far too soon.

I saw this thing when I was eleven, so I related most to Matthew Laborteaux who was not yet on Little House on the Prairie. I rooted for him when he was teasing the spider with a stick and was dismayed when he met his fate. My sister, who hates spiders, jumped constantly during this thing. I had to argue with my brother, who wanted to watch 'Charlies Angels in Hawaii' or something. I eventually saw this movie tho. Like some bad influence from Irwin Allen, the spiders, which were all over the small town, end up in the warehouse with the produce, the town's main source of income and major export. A truly strange plan for killing the spiders is hampered by a bad, bad man, which endangers those within the warehouse with the spiders. It's not one you would want to watch twice, but once would leave it stuck in your mind. Check out 'Kingdom of the Spiders' with William Shatner tho. It's better.