In the Spider's Web (2007)

Without a doubt one of the dumbest horror films to have been released in recent years, IN THE SPIDER'S WEB is a bad movie through-and-through. Blighted by a low budget and talentless cast, an appalling director and a story that apparently runs out around 30 minutes in, this is a good example of the kind of Z-movie that gets made for television in the modern era. Although it was supposedly shot in Thailand, you couldn't tell because this is an unconvincing, set-bound jungle extravaganza all the way. What little story exists concerns some backpacking tourists falling foul of a local madman. There's some mixed-up stuff in here about tribal rituals and organ donation but to be honest by the time this stuff comes about you couldn't care less. It's all so unbelievable and every character so unappealing that the only thing you'll be doing is watching for the film to end.As with most Z-grade flicks like this, they manage to pull in one popular and recognisable actor, typically a Hollywood star back in the day, who's now down on his luck doing anything for a dollar. Lance Henriksen is the actor here, looking old and tired, saddled with a Halloween horror hand for no discernible reason and playing the brother of a web-masked weirdo who enjoys slicing up visiting tourists (well, who wouldn't?). The eventual unmasking of this wacko is one of a couple of decent horrible moments, the other being the bit where a girl is besieged by eight-legged insects. Suffice to say, the effects are appalling bad, ranging from cardboard and rubber spiders to awful CGI animations, whereas the spider webs look like bits of cast-off rag.Stupidity is the order of the day, along with minor titillation as the leading character spends a lot of time dressed in Lara Croft-style shorts and top. Low lights include the characters using a spider's web as a rope bridge (?) and bad acting by almost the entire cast. Aside from Henriksen, the only halfway decent performance comes from Sohrab Ardeshir, who does quite well in a comic relief turn as an intrepid police sergeant. Otherwise, IN THE SPIDER'S WEB is bargain bin stuff, a godawful attempt at a horror flick that stalls from the very beginning. This one stinks!

In the Spider's Web (2007) * 1/2 (out of 4) A group of American friends are backpacking through a jungle in India when one of them are bitten by a spider. They rush her to a village where an American doctor (Lance Henriksen) tries to save her but it turns out that the doc might have more devilish plans. Soon the Americans are dying one by one due to what appears to be a spider cult as well as the strange brother of the doctor who just happens to be wearing a bag over his face. Wonder what's wrong with him? This made-for-TV flick isn't the worst creature feature out there but at the same time it's pretty poor on so many levels. I will at least give the filmmakers credit for at least trying to mix up various genres but in the end all of the story lines are a mess and one can't help but become bored and frustrated with the film before we even hit the half-way mark. I think the biggest problem are the characters. I found each and everyone of them to be extremely annoying as each of them just seemed to be trying to be the dumbest of the bunch. There's one who demands going into a creepy lair where the spiders are and yet she seems shocked when she discovers that there are spiders in this cave. Hearing her scream every few seconds just got on my nerves and I'd be willing to bet that many will be hitting their mute buttons. Another problem is an incredibly bad, flirtatious thing going on between a couple of the characters. Things aren't any better with mad scientist Henrikson who I had a hard time understanding in several of the scenes. I'm not sure if it was just poor recording or the actors voice but at times I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Perhaps the actor was doing this on purpose so we wouldn't have to hear poor dialogue? Either way, the actor is easily just cashing a paycheck and delivering very little energy. None of the other actors really stand out either but you somewhat expect that from a film like this. The special effects aren't too bad and the majority of the CGI spiders look OK, if nothing overly great. Fans of the genre might want to check this out if they desire to see every film of its type but others should just save time and stay clear.

This film was OK for a film of its type if you do not expect to much. The Film has some good CGI of the Spiders and they look OK. Lance is a good choice for the doctor so he can do his made man thing again and is a good star name for the film. The rest of the cast are good for mostly young teen actors. The locations are good some island some ware but it looks good and makes a change from a lab or boring warehouse that you normally get in these kind of films. The Direction was OK if a bit slow moving. The sound is also good for Small movie and really helped the film along. The film is good for a small just don't expect to much from a small TV movie.

This is possibly the best TV sci-Fi/horror movie i have ever seen. The essence of the classic spider movies (kingdom of the spiders, arachnophobia e.t.c to name a few) is inside this creepy and chilling tale about a village thats attacked by the arachnids and a sinister doctor who has more than the usual liking to these eight legged killers. I saw this on Sky two the other night. Scared the hell out of me and gave me a case of the squirms. The spiders are real and mostly shown in close up detail just to make your skin crawl and they were terrifying. I screamed a couple of times when they did attack. Checked my bed several times to make sure none were in my room. Yes i know that sounds silly but this film does that to you. You see so many close-ups of spiders that you start to feel the paranoia that the characters face and you eyes start to play tricks on you. Another good thing about this film is that the spiders do descend from the ceiling or roof and drop on their victims. If the view of a big hairy and deadly tarantula doesn't scare you, then you must have steel for blood and be warned there are lots of spiders in this, and i mean lots. Crawling on walls, webs and even humans, its an arachnophobics nightmare. Towards the end some of the spiders become CGI and that does slightly kill the mood but then you come face to face with a real one and the fear returns.Lance Henriksen is good for the role of the Doctor as the other cast work well together with the spiders, making you believe in the terror that they are facing. The director work this clever web of horror round you and instills the real fear that the characters have faced and some have not lived from.All in all a good skin crawling horror movie that i'd love to see again and hope that someone releases it on DVD.