Lavalantula

Lavalantula (2015)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

90's action star Colton West (Steve Guttenburg) is having a pretty bad day. It starts off with a bar fight bringing him bad publicity and then it goes to him walking off a movie set, which was a cheap part in a cheap movie. After getting stuck in traffic and being late to pick up his son, his real trouble stars when an earthquake unleashes giant spiders who spit lava. Now the action star must try to rescue his family before it's too late.

LAVALANTULA works on a number of levels. For starters, it's a pretty fun monster that manages to stick out among the countless monsters that appear in SyFy movies. I thought the CGI effects, while very cheap and obvious, were actually pretty good and made for a fun villain. Their burnt design was a major plus and the fact that they could spit at lava was another fun aspect. I will say that these monsters needed to be in even more of the film but I'm sure the eventual sequel will work on that.

The second thing this succeeds at is reuniting four members of the POLICE ACADEMY series. If you weren't a fan of that series then you're obviously not going to care but as someone who grew up watching these movies it was pretty cool getting to see members reunited. In fact, I'd say it was excellent to see Guttenberg leading up a movie again and he manages to be quite fun here as he's sense of humor really works well with the material. Marion Ramsey, Michael Winslow and Leslie Easterbrook also appear as does another cameo from a SyFy series that I won't ruin. Nia Peeples was also fun as the wife. Patrick Reena (THE SANDLOT) is also on hand and adds some fun.

LAVALANTULA features a number of fun but gory deaths and overall it's a nice entertainment. For a monster feature it works and if you're a fan of POLICE ACADEMY then you're going to get an added bonus.

Lavalantula with Steve Guttenberg. I was fearing the worst with this SyFy channel film and surprisingly ended up enjoying it.

A cheesy B film with decent enough special effects as Guttenberg plays a down on his luck actor who finds that there are a series of tremors in LA and then a volcanic eruption that spews up giant fire breathing spiders. Guttenberg needs to get to warn his wife and teenage son. Along the way he commandeers a Hollywood tour bus, gets help from a one armed former stunt man and gets exposition from a scientist in the museum at the La Brea Tarpits.

In the meantime Guttenberg is joined by his former co stars from the Police Academy films, there are in jokes such as the Blue Oyster bar being destroyed and a rip roaring speech by Guttenberg which owes a little to Independence Day.

Fun, action packed, cheap, cheesy and even a little scary. A real improvement from the usual SyFy output.

This hilariously idiotic sci-fi horror TV movie from the SyFy channel, in which giant lava-breathing tarantulas are released upon Los Angeles by violent volcanic eruptions, is as completely ludicrous as it sounds.

Despite the obvious plot holes, errors, bad CGI and its lack of scientific accuracy, Lavalantula's typical separated family gets reunited in time to save the day style story, is both extremely entertaining and exceedingly scary for all those suffering from arachnophobia.

The film stars Steve Guttenberg from Police Academy and Short Circuit, as well as Nia Peeples from Pretty Little Liars.

For more reviews like this please visit: www.scifikingdom.co.uk

The first thing that comes into mind when you see a creature feature with big lava spiders and Steve Guttenberg is of course B-movie. And right you are, but it should be said that the 2015 "Lavalantula" is actually one of the better creature features out there and one of the more enjoyable of spider movies in a long time.

Sure, the concept is far fetched. But hey, an earthquake hits Los Angeles, unleashing erupting fissures and starts volcanic activity, and midst the chaos lava-spewing giant spiders scurry from the depths of the earth to wreak havoc on Los Angeles. Sure, it doesn't get any more generic and B-movie concept than this. But wait, "Lavalantula" is very, very enjoyable and is a fun watch.

I have seen many a creature features, most of which have questionable or laughable special effects. However, it should be said that the effects in "Lavalantula" were actually surprisingly good. The spiders looked quite cool and realistic, well as realistic as giant lava-breathing spiders can be. And that is one of the major things that really made the movie watchable and enjoyable.

Steve Guttenberg actually surprised me with his performance in this movie, as this is the first time I have seen him in a role that wasn't solely based on comedy elements. And for longtime movie lovers, then it was of course a treat to have "Police Academy" stars Michael Winslow, Leslie Easterbrook and Marion Ramsey join in alongside with Steve Guttenberg. But there was another "Police Academy" reference in the movie, and it was when Pirate Jack (played by Ralph Garman) said "Oh, they took out the Blue Oyster. I loved that place."

I nearly tipped over when Ian Ziering made a short cameo in "Lavalantula" as Fin Shepard from the "Sharknado" movies, and he dropped a very lovely single line here. That was just candy for us lovers of the B-movie creature features.

The dialogue is as to be expected from a movie such as this. A lot of outrageous one-liners and dialogue to be heard and witnessed here, alongside with some equally colorful characters. But hey, we all love that in these kind of movies, right?

If you are looking for a serious movie, then "Lavalantula" is not the best of choices, because it is a creature feature after all. But if you enjoy a good laugh and a good action-packed ride in a city ravaged by lava-spewing giant spiders, then "Lavalantula" is definitely worth watching.

"Lavalantula" was a nice surprise of an entertaining movie, and it more than delivered beyond my expectations to it. It is a movie that you can watch more than once.

I am rating this 2015 movie a solid six out of ten stars rating, no doubt about it.

So the success of Sharknado (why again?), has made things like this possible. This goes Meta too, with Steve Guttenberg playing a formerly successful celebrity ... sounds familiar? I guess you've seen Police Academy then. And he's not alone from that movie, also there are some other "stars" who do have their moment.

And while this is far from perfect, it does work overall, with some bumps and holes along the way. If you can dig the humor that is really setting a low bar, you will be entertained while watching this. It's made for TV and the effects are therefor ... well you actually have seen way better effects on TV shows. Then again, this has probably a lower budget. You'll either make excuses for it, because you love it, or you'll be annoyed by it to say the least. Make up your mind and enjoy or stay away ..