Spiders

This movie begins with astronauts on the space shuttle conducting experiments on spiders while in space. Suddenly, a solar flare hits the space shuttle, causing an emergency that prompts an immediate return to Earth. However, since the experiments they were conducting were highly classified, the space shuttle is reported to have burned up upon reentry, when, in actuality, it crash-landed in the California desert. Then, as luck would have it, a college reporter named "Marci Eyre" (Lana Parrilla) and two of her friends by the names of "Jake" (Nick Swarts) and "Slick" (Oliver Macready) happen to be at the same location investigating possible aliens when they observe the space shuttle's descent. Rushing to the site, they see three dead astronauts with injuries incompatible with the crash and another astronaut who is clearly suffering from some kind of severe illness and on the verge of death. All of a sudden, some government agents arrive accompanied by military personnel, and the three reporters subsequently hide in a truck to avoid detection. They are then transported to a secret government facility located underground. Upon quietly exiting the truck, they investigate the facility and discover a range of evidence pointing to some truly horrific experiments. But the worst is yet to come. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I had hoped for a film containing some good suspense and horror. A key component of that would also include some good CGI. Unfortunately, although the suspense was adequate, the horror and special effects were not very sharp. Additionally, the attempts at humor weren't very effective either and only served to give the movie a relatively cheap quality. In short, I was somewhat disappointed in this film, and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

Is it aliens? Is it space spiders? Is it government experimentation? Well this college student reporter is going to find out! Was this on Syfy? Was this rejected by Syfy? Were the producers strung up in a web and given 40 lashes? Do you really want to find out? No.

I think most people who have commented on this movie have watched it with the wrong attitude. Get real; What do you expect from a flick blatantly named "Spiders", apparently featuring some generic monstrous arachnid creatures wreaking havoc on people? Unless you're an easily amused teenager with poor judgment, you instinctively steer clear from these kinds of pictures when looking for chills and thrills. There are quality films that offer just that.

I thought I was about to watch a really bad movie, with unintentionally comedic elements and worthless cast, storyline and directing. I was wrong. This movie quickly reveals it's true nature for the perceptive. Taking for granted that the movie was "bad" on purpose, I could actually appreciate the cheesy dialog and all the self-irony that it displays. The characters make illogical decisions, use stupid reasoning and don't try to take themselves seriously. The way in which the plot unfolds and how the main characters figure it out is an obvious parody of the genre, and there are so many details which contribute to that feeling in the dialog and some of the scenes; a guy holding the spider's teeth like bull's horns, making DNA-enhanced mutant spiders from hell seem like a an ordinary casual case of lively struggle, quotes like "This is so creepy. Its like a bad sci-fi movie." and "I mean what the hell is this place?" -"I don't care what this place is, what the f-ck are *we* doing here?" etc. made me at least chuckle at times, because they often raise valid points regarding the absurd setting of the film, and do it with subtlety.

The CGI was decent at times, yet laughable in some parts (especially when the spider was running around walls etc). The spider looks gory enough in close shots. The physical webs are composed of thin rope and you can see the knots tying together the intersections, which to me was a funny detail (c'mon, they could have easily avoided that, would they had cared for realism).

The pacing is fine; There is enough action to keep the viewer at least semi-entertained, assuming they can appreciate other aspects of the film also (I'm not a big fan of "irrational abominable creature vs. bunch of dumb people" films).

All in all, this is definitely not a serious movie, so you should not watch it as one. If you are in a humourless mood looking for some horror, then this movie will probably only make you angry. As a compensation for all the bad ratings this movie has received on IMDb, I have to give it 8/10. I'd dare to say it is more self-aware and intelligent than most people realize.

This movie is so fake. I mean, if this movie was produced in 1975, it would've been a great movie. But with the current (or back in 2000) computer-animated special effects, they could've done it better! Already in the beginning at the part where the space-shuttle exploded, I could clearly see it was fake. Not to mention the spider 'Mother in law' itself... almost hilarious to see. It moved on like it was guided by strings and looked like it was made of plastic. This can be clearly seen in the part where 'mother-in-law' crawls out of the astronaut's body and flees along the walls. The story itself isn't so thrilling either. A spider being injected by an alien DNA in space. God knows where that alien DNA came from. As far as I can tell, it wasn't told in the movie (maybe I fell asleep of boredom). No, next time it appears on television, I'll pass.

i popped this in without really knowing what i was getting into. well, i'm glad i had no expectations whatsoever. this is a truly awful film. i loved it! yes, i'm one of those freaks that like B films and classic 50's sci-fi flicks, and with spiders i got both. 10 years from now, this'll be at a midnight showing with tarantula. laced with nominal acting, kitchy lines, and "killer tomato" f/x, this little ditty was a laugh a minute. i just hope that the makers of this wonderful schlock were in on the joke.