MegaMonsterMonth! #8 - Eight Legged Freaks (2002) - Itsy Bitsy Spoilers.

Spiders...why does it have to be spiders? Okay, I don't like spiders. They have far too many legs and eyes for my taste. Hey, two legs is good enough for me, it should be good enough for them. Or something like that. Anyway, while spiders creep me out, I don't mind movies about giant spiders. And Eight Legged Freaks (which you can buy here) is a pretty good giant spider movie.

Synopsis

A barrel of toxic waste falls into a pond next to a spider farm. Farm owner Josh (Tom Noonan) catches contaminated crickets at the pond to feed his spiders, which causes them to grow. And grow. AND GROW! The over-sized arachnids break out of their cases and overrun the desert town of Prosperity, Arizona. Uber-hot sheriff Samantha (Kari Wuhrer), son Mike (Scott Terra), daughter Ashley (Scarlett Johansson), returning local guy and mine owner Chris (David Arquette), alien-obsessed talk show host Harlan (Doug E. Doug) and a bunch of extras wind up fighting a variety of arachnids of unusual size. In the end, our heroes prevail, the spiders are killed off and Chris finds gold in his family's supposedly played out mine. The end.

Analysis

David Arquette gets an example of spider fu.

A jokey homage to the giant insect and arachnid films of the Fifties, Freaks is a lot of fun. It's played mostly for laughe and, while the humor is hit and miss, it is mostly hit. The cast is game, with Wuhrer standing out as the tough (and hot...did I mention hot) sheriff. While all of the characters are one-dimensional archetypes, they're adequate for the movie and each has a few moments to stand out.

Special effects are key to a movie like this and they are well executed. While some of the spider animation look cartoonish, most of it is sufficiently realistic and creepy. A few scenes stand out, including an exciting sequence in which a group of dirt bikers are chased by jumping spiders and a scene in which the sheriff's family is attacked at home by an orb weaver. Overall, even though the film is 12-years-old, the CGI stands up.

While there is a nice balance between action and humor, there really aren't any deeper themes at work here. The toxic goo that is responsible for the growth of the spiders doesn't lead to an environmental message. The relationship between Wuhrer and Arquette is perfunctory. Because of the lighthearted tone, there is no sense of danger for any of the main characters. This is a lightweight movie.

Notes

Writer-director Ellory Elkayem was able to sell the movie on the strength of a short film with a similar theme, Larger Than Life. The film was made with funding from the New Zealand government, much like Peter Jackson. Of course, Peter Jackson made The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Elkayemm wne ton to make Return of the Living Dead: Rave from the Grave...so not all Kiwis are made equal.

Verdict

Made with tongue firmly in cheek and a good sense of how to mix humor, horror and homage, Eight Legged Freaks is a worth checking out. It won;t change your life; but it will make you laugh and, if you don't like spiders, squirm.

The trailer for Eight Legged Freaks:

Bonus Kari Wuhrer images after the break. Because I care.