In a remote, quiet mining town a barrel of toxic waste falls off a truck and lands in a creek. Naturally, it comes in contact with crickets, which are used to feed a collector's exotic spider collection and over a short matter of time these spiders have vastly grown. Arriving in town is a old resident, Chris McCormack who has return home after 10 years to look for the supposed gold that his deceased father claim was in their mine and also hopefully to clear up a certain matter with the lady he secretly loves; Samantha Parker, the town's sheriff. He discovers that the town is in ruin, but he wants to help it back from its economical ruin by finding that gold. But he didn't plan on the town soon being overrun by giant spiders! Now it's up to Chris, Sam and a small group of folks to team up and settle this "massive" problem.
"Eight Legged Freaks" is a lively B-grade, Sci-fi parody on the giant monster features from the Cold War era, where it combines nuclear matter with the disgusting fear of creepy crawlies. But this project adds some campy charm to proceedings, which does share a common interest with the even better "Tremors (1990)". This is a enjoyable, no-brainer of a film that doesn't waste any time by giving what the audience wants! There's nothing overly clever about it, but it delivers the excitement and occasion laugh when needed. While, the story might seem heavily cartoonish, the director is capable enough to provide good timing with the goofy humour and that of some thrilling set pieces that can raise some tense energy. What you'll notice would be the constant homage's cropping up and it goes out of its way to poke fun of the usual clichés that make headway in these films. The script is mostly in tongue-in-cheek and doesn't go into sort of mumbo-jumbo, but there are some self-knowing winks about too. The performances are all played with a straight-face, which definitely works in its favour and the combine cast turn in fine performances (yep, even David Arquette!). David Arquette is surprisingly good in a tone down way as the awkward Chris McCormack and his babelicious co-star Kari Wuhrer (who mostly makes appearances in shoddy b-grades) is equally impressive as Sheriff Samantha Parker. Other recognizable faces offered solid support included the always wonderful Scarlett Johansson, the humorous deputy sheriff played by Rick Overton and Doug E. Doug is the paranoid disc jockey, the usual comic relief guy. Now the film's main talking point has got to be well-presented CGI arachnids who come in many different shapes, sizes and personalities. Which, would create a spine tingling thought with anyone who suffers arachnophobia with the giant infestation of spiders who have a growing appetite. Though, one thing against the creative effects was that it was probably, terribly overused. The versatile score works out greatly too, by sticking with and drumming out the right tone to what's eventuating on screen. Also the closing gimmick song in the ending credits; "Itsy bitsy spider" by Joey Deluxe is rather a nice touch. Just expect some happy, feel good entertainment.
Sure it's forgettable, but I found it a delightful B-grade spoof that achieves what it was sets out to do. This throwback is nothing more than some good, lazy fun.
Side-note: Definitely check out Ellory Elkayem's suspenseful, experimental short film "Larger than Life" to see the inspiration for this piece.
"Eight Legged Freaks" is a lively B-grade, Sci-fi parody on the giant monster features from the Cold War era, where it combines nuclear matter with the disgusting fear of creepy crawlies. But this project adds some campy charm to proceedings, which does share a common interest with the even better "Tremors (1990)". This is a enjoyable, no-brainer of a film that doesn't waste any time by giving what the audience wants! There's nothing overly clever about it, but it delivers the excitement and occasion laugh when needed. While, the story might seem heavily cartoonish, the director is capable enough to provide good timing with the goofy humour and that of some thrilling set pieces that can raise some tense energy. What you'll notice would be the constant homage's cropping up and it goes out of its way to poke fun of the usual clichés that make headway in these films. The script is mostly in tongue-in-cheek and doesn't go into sort of mumbo-jumbo, but there are some self-knowing winks about too. The performances are all played with a straight-face, which definitely works in its favour and the combine cast turn in fine performances (yep, even David Arquette!). David Arquette is surprisingly good in a tone down way as the awkward Chris McCormack and his babelicious co-star Kari Wuhrer (who mostly makes appearances in shoddy b-grades) is equally impressive as Sheriff Samantha Parker. Other recognizable faces offered solid support included the always wonderful Scarlett Johansson, the humorous deputy sheriff played by Rick Overton and Doug E. Doug is the paranoid disc jockey, the usual comic relief guy. Now the film's main talking point has got to be well-presented CGI arachnids who come in many different shapes, sizes and personalities. Which, would create a spine tingling thought with anyone who suffers arachnophobia with the giant infestation of spiders who have a growing appetite. Though, one thing against the creative effects was that it was probably, terribly overused. The versatile score works out greatly too, by sticking with and drumming out the right tone to what's eventuating on screen. Also the closing gimmick song in the ending credits; "Itsy bitsy spider" by Joey Deluxe is rather a nice touch. Just expect some happy, feel good entertainment.
Sure it's forgettable, but I found it a delightful B-grade spoof that achieves what it was sets out to do. This throwback is nothing more than some good, lazy fun.
Side-note: Definitely check out Ellory Elkayem's suspenseful, experimental short film "Larger than Life" to see the inspiration for this piece.