Eight Legged Freaks

The only way I gave this a look was that someone loaned it to me for free. I now own it! This looked like it would be a stupid movie, and it some scenes it certainly was, but it was so entertaining that I know I will watch this a number of times.

This is a 1950s-type sci-fi flick with modern-day special effects. In fact, if you liked "Them!" you'll get a big kick of out of this film. The difference is the much- better special-effects but some low-grade attitudes and some profanity. The characters are dumb but they were dumb in the '50s, too.

The story starts off a bit slow but once the overgrown spiders emerge, the film goes full bore and gets extremely entertaining. It's almost too much action. One needs a break! By the end, you're glad it's over. Thus, if they had chopped 5-10 minutes off this, it would have been much better. Nonetheless, it's a fun ride with some genuinely scary parts and some humor, too. Since "entertainment" is the name of the game, this gets 8 stars even though it's lower-grade material.

It flat-out entertains.

Giant spiders attack a sleepy Arizona mining town. Zany hijinks ensue.

This movie is a nod--or a series of nods, really--to the classic B-movie "giant insect run amok" genre in the spirit of "Them!", "The Praying Mantis", and especially "Tarantula". A mixture of weird science gone wrong and shady double-dealing turns a local exotic spider collection into rampaging, man-eating monsters.

Is it scientifically accurate? Hell, no. Is it great drama? Afraid not. Is it Academy Award material? I don't think so. Is it *fun*? You bet! Part of the fun of this movie is that it *isn't* trying to educate anybody about the environment, the ozone layer, global warming, or terrorist attacks. It's beautifully brainless entertainment and if you like to laugh--a *lot*--you'll love this movie. Rent it! Now!

If the movie "Arachnophobia" made you jump, gave you nightmares, or disturbed you enough that you are afraid to feel for a lightswitch in a dark,don't see "Eight Legged Freaks". This one has the feel of late 50's -early 60's horror/sci-fi movies without the phony looking monsters. These spiders looked REAL and their movements were orchestrated in such a way that you felt like you were really watching giant spiders on the screen. I can't say any of the human actors had really stand-out performances, because the spiders were the stars of this one. I will say that this movie and "Spider-Man" have the potential to interest young budding arachnophiles to take a serious look at the scientific side of spiders. Each of these movies gives the scientific names and characteristics of the different spiders involved(before the radiation takes effect),and does a super job of presenting their habits and idiosyncrasies. The only thing that might be questioned in either movie is the aggressiveness of the arachnids portrayed(perhaps this is the fault of the radiation as well). I give this movie "eight digits up" for sheer entertainment value.

This is one of those films that you can see over and over, and finding new things to enjoy. The story is simple, and similar to many other horror films, where insects/spiders for some reason become unnaturally big and prey on man. Great spiders, good acting, not that bad dialog, and a lot of humor.

Many films in this class take themselves totally serious (like the abysmal Alien vs Zombies), which this does not - a big plus in my book. That a Taser should be able to fire up an entire electrical grid (if small), is just about the only total slip-up - the rest is fairly good in both continuity and SFX. Some guy is waving an unloaded crossbow at the spiders, and still he can fire it, and nobody collects any fired bolts (the missiles a crossbow is bolts, not arrows), also quite questionable.

Well worth watching, and great fun!

Certainly there were any number of reasons for me to not like 'Eight Legged Freaks' before I watched it. I'm not a spider guy so I wasn't really interested in the first place. As far as actors go, I can't stand David Arquette. Generally I find him aggravating in the extreme and his characters highly unlikeable -- but more on that in a moment. And to paraphrase Val Lewton about his own RKO films: "It's hard for critics to give positive reviews to films called 'I Walked With a Zombie.'"

At the time of this review's writing, the film has a rating on the IMDb of 5.5/10. I'm actually quite surprised by that because despite my own personal biases, the film proved me wrong. I had no level of expectation for it and really no desire to watch it in the first place. I was wrong and I admit it. It was truly funny with some great sight gags and lines. There are definitely some decent scares and a pretty competent job of raising the level of tension in the film to a steady and consistent level. David Arquette surprised me and this might be the best performance he's ever put in. My personal bias against him was dead wrong in this movie.

'Eight Legged Freaks' is a throw back to creature films of the 50's and, as some other reviewers have alluded, to more contemporary films like 'Gremlins' and 'Tremors.' Horror-comedy is a difficult genre to work within but 'Eight Legged Freaks' manages to pull it off. The acting all around is good. A lot of the film is satirical (Doug E Doug's conspiracy guy) and the cgi is so obvious and over the top that, while it might be aggravating in a movie that took itself more seriously, you can't help but admire and respect the results.

That really is the strength of the movie -- it doesn't take itself as seriously as a lot of its critics did. 'Eight Legged Freaks' does what the best films should do: for two hours you forget you're watching a movie and you just enjoy yourself. I hope that time will be kind and maybe people will come around and give the movie another chance. Had this film taken itself seriously we would have ended up with a spider version of 'Bats.' This version and its self-deprecation are much worthier of your time.