Arachnophobia (1990)

Arachnophobia is the fear of arachnids, spiders, but there's really nothing for anyone out there to fear, because these sweet little guys are oh so cute, oh look at him, and oh so sweet, they have lots of eyes, but they're all still so adorable and completely and utterly harmless. The big furry ones, like tarantulas, cannot hurt you and they're way more scared of you then you of them, but fortunately for this forever classic, Arachnophobia, there's a new breed of deadly South American spider that's been isolated and unchanged for millions of years, and is quite toxic, and quite sneaky, so game on, BUT, real life tarantulas are sweet and harmless. They cannot seriously hurt you, unless they like bite you in the eye or something that would probably suck but they wouldn't even want to do that because they're all really so smart and so sweet.(Great Cast --> Jeff Daniels, I really love stunning Harley Jane Kozak, and John Goodman's really memorable as the exterminator --> Great Movie --> Great Villain --> Great Spider Shots)

There seemed to be an interest in infectious diseases and dangerous insects at this time in the movies. I think there was a killer bee scare at the time. Anyway, some people in Venezuela are killed by a spider which then hitchhiker with the body returning to California. People start to die and Jeff Daniels has the job of figuring things out. When he realizes it's spiders, he is terrified, being an arachnophobe. Of course, there is no shortage of stupid people who get themselves killed because they think it's something else. An elderly doctor tries to get autopsies done on the bodies but there is resistance---until he, himself, is killed. The spiders have the ability, through breeding with other arachnids, to set off a plague. It's a pretty good story. Better than most. Jeff Daniels is good as the suffering investigator.

Released in 1990 and directed by Frank Marshall, "Arachnophobia" is a horror film about a killer South American spider that hitches a ride in a coffin to a small town on the central Californian coast where it breeds and causes wholesale havoc. Jeff Daniel is a new doctor in town with Harley Jane Kozak as his wife. John Goodman is on hand as a redneck exterminator while Julian Sands plays the spider expert with Brian McNamara as his protégé. "Arachnophobia" plays like any number of Syfy creature features, but with a blockbuster budget and a somewhat Disney-esque vibe. It's horror, but its more polished and family friendly than the typical horror flick, plus there's a comedic edge, particularly with Delbert the exterminator (Goodman). I'm not afraid of spiders, but there are several genuine jump scares and Marshall effectively makes the critters creepy with the clever use of shadow, camera angle,etc. Moreover, Daniels makes for a great protagonist. Unfortunately, the movie fumbles the ball in the female department. Beyond Kozak, whose role is relatively peripheral as the protagonist's wife, where are the babes? Cori Wellins as Becky Beechwood could've worked, but her part is limited to a brief shower scene, which is competent as far as arachnid creepiness goes. To be clear, I'm not talking about female nudity or sex scenes; I'm just talking about one or two prominent good-lookin' women in the cast, like Kari Wuhrer and Scar-Jo in 2002's "Eight Legged Freaks."Speaking of which, how does "Arachnophobia" compare to other spider-oriented horror flicks, like "Eight Legged Freaks," 1958's "The Spider" (aka "Earth vs. the Spider") and 1977's "Kingdom of the Spiders"? I think it's the best of the lot, babes or no babes. The movie takes its time, but is compelling from a dramatic viewpoint, as it slowly builds suspense; and the awesome Venezuelan scenes in the prologue don't hurt. The movie runs 103 minutes and was shot in Angel Falls, Canaima National Park, Venezuela; Cambria, Pasadena, Venice & Burbank Studios, California. GRADE: B+

Arachnophobia like a reviewer once said is a 'rollercoaster ride from start to finish'. Which it basically is to the viewer. A bungling photographer Jerry Manley is a part of an expedition lead by Atherton Julian Sands(Warlock). The party flies by helicopter over mountainous terrain that has a dip thousands of feet below. Down below is amazon like rain forests. The latter has an agenda to collect unknown butterflies and spiders. After collecting a assortment of insects they get a rare find and more. A place they had entered was probably better off untouched considering what trouble awaits.A bunch of isolated deaths occur in a small town of Canima. A doctor Ross Jennings just recently arrived gets a bad rep. He also loses his only patient Margaret. It's not long that he is against time to stop a deadly spider infestation. He gets a spider expert Collins' who works for Dr. Atherton to check out some so-called spider bites in the morgue. Atherton is studying a new spider species that has workers' or drones' like Bees and ants. Atherton finds out the new spiders are related to the ones responsible for the deaths. Nice scares. As someone who has seen spider movies before Kingdom of the Spiders 1977 starring William Shatner, Eight Legged Freaks well some of it. I recommend it to people who like suspenseful plots with spiders as the prime antagonists.