Director
Frank Marshall
Cast
Jeff Daniels - Dr. Ross Jennings
Harley Jane Kozak - Molly Jennings
Julian Sands - Dr. James Atherton
John Goodman - Delbert McClintock
Brian McNamara - Chris Collins
Henry Jones - Dr, Sam Metcalf
Stuart Pankin - Sheriff Parsons
In his stand-up comedy special, I'm Telling You for the Last Time, Jerry Seinfeld says "I know I will never be able to understand how a woman can take boiling hot wax, pour it on her upper thigh, and rip the hair out by the roots...and still be afraid of a spider."
From now until the end of time, millions of people will just never be able to comfortably share this world with spiders. And so spiders have been, and continue to be, the subject of a lot of horror. Hollywood has certainly harnessed their fear factor in movies such as Tarantula (1955), Earth vs. The Spider (1958), Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), Ice Spiders (2007) and Itsy Bitsy (2019).
For me, the one spider-horror movie that seems to stand out above the rest is Arachnophobia.
It was released through Disney-owned Hollywood Pictures back in 1990.
The last time I saw Arachnophobia was back in the early nineties sometime.
It hit theaters towards the end of the classical slasher era which makes it a bit of a unique picture.
According to Sotiris Petridis's book Anatomy of the Slasher Film: A Theoretical Analysis, this particular subgenre stretches from 1974 to 1993. It's followed by the self-referential slasher era (1994 to 2000) and then the neoslasher cycle (2001 to 2013). But that's all another topic for another post.
Horror movie franchises were stretching themselves thin by the the start of the nineties as producers were attempting to attract audiences with the same old monsters for the fifth or sixth time. Friday the 13th part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers were all released the previous year. Child's Play 2 was one slasher flick that came out the same year as Arachnophobia.
So, at the time of its release, Arachnophobia was certainly something practical and much less outlandish in the horror genre. In other words, it's a creature feature in the truest meaning of the term that doesn't rely on blood, guts, and homicidal maniacs in hockey masks or dream demons to freak out audiences.
Arachnophobia begins in a South American jungle as entomologist James Atherton (Julian Sands, Warlock) is leading a small team to search for a species of spider that has remained undisturbed by humans for centuries.
He finds two huge spiders that he identifies as being a prehistoric species. And they're both very aggressive.
Atherton believes they belong to a hive of spiders acting as soldiers for a queen spider.
Nature photographer, Jerry Manley (Mark L. Taylor), is on the exploration with Atherton. When they get back to their camp, Manley goes to rest in his tent as he has a fever. Little does he know that a male spider found its way into his backpack. The spider crawls out into his tent, and makes its way under his sheets as he rests.
It sinks its fangs deep into Manley's leg, sending him immediately into a seizure which kills him.
Atherton sees to it that Manley's remains are sent back to his hometown of Canaima, California.
Little does anybody know that one of these spiders hitches a ride inside his coffin.
By the time Manley's body gets to the local mortuary, it's completely desiccated. The spider had plenty to feed on during the trip.
The hitchhiking spider escapes the mortuary undetected, makes its way outdoors, and is picked up by a hungry crow.
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| Jeff Daniels searching for the spider's nest in Arachnophobia. |
The spider bites the bird in mid-flight causing it to fall out of the air and onto the property of the town's soon-to-be new physician, Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels).
Jennings just moved his family to Canaima from San Francisco to take over the medical practice of the town's retiring doctor.
The spider takes up shelter in Jennings's barn, mates with a house spider, and spins one hell of a web much to the displeasure of Jennings who suffers from a severe fear of spiders.
Soon, it lays a ton of eggs as spiders tend to do. And like those Atherton found in South America, the newly hatched spiders spread out from their nest in a web formation to dominate the area.
Soon, residents around town begin dying, one by one, after encountering these spiders.
At first, Jennings and others are clueless as to the circumstances behind these deaths. But after an autopsy of the victims, which local old local doctor and the sheriff protest to, Jennings finds bite marks on the deceased bodies. He remembers that Manley had been part of an expedition in South America, connects the dots, leading him to Atherton.
Jennings contacts Atherton for assistance, and soon, a group of locals including the town's exterminator, Delbert McClintock (John Goodman) are out to fight these deadly arachnids.
The presence of John Goodman really kicks the movie up several notches. He plays a fun character who refers to himself as "infestation management." His business-as-usual persona amidst the community's deadly infestation really makes his supporting role superb comic relief. He fits perfectly into the setting.
His lines of expertise in the field of pest control and annihilation made me laugh.
In one scene where he's discussing the spider situation with Jennings, he tells the doc that spiders would find his barn "a tad breezy this time of year. In that respect, spiders are a bit like you and me. No, I frankly doubt there are any spiders in your barn."
"Well, I frankly know there is, Delbert, I saw a web! There is a web in my barn," Jennings replies.
Delbert pauses a moment.
"...a web would indicate an arachnid presence."
Later, when he's introduced to the sophisticated Atherton, Delbert introduces himself and says "always nice to meet a colleague."
Otherwise, he's a guy who collects beer cans, including "a rare '74 Miller Lite with a misprint on the label. Only a hundred or so cans in circulation."
Julian Sands' character is semi-pompous but not a bad character. His role is crucial as he knows what he's getting into. Usually, the common horror trope is the mean guy will get what's coming to him. Atherton isn't cruel to his collection of rare spiders. He treats them with the respect such poisonous spiders deserve. I wasn't expecting his fate towards the end. Oh...oops. Um... spoiler
Sometimes less is more. All it takes to make Arachnophobia creepy and unforgettable is its simplicity of being a movie about spiders. They don't need to be oversized mutated spiders. Sure, they kill a few people. But they terrify much more because, as we all can attest to, those damn spiders hide anywhere and everywhere. I've seen spiders crawl out of sink and bathtub drains. I also saw a huge wasp crawl out of my bathroom sink drain once, oddly enough. That sucker was long and huge. 
What Arachnophobia has is a very plausible story. That's what makes it chilling. Realism. This is the kind of movie that leaves lasting images in the minds of audiences, like clusters of spiders covering the walls of a house. This movie is what a creature feature ought to be.
I'm nitpicking when I mention the film's obvious use of mechanical spiders, but real spiders are used alongside those fake ones. The way those real arachnids are used is truly impressive.
One thing I don't like is the way the spiders hiss when they jump or throw their front legs in self defense. That aspect is unintentionally funny, cliché, and a completely unnecessary.
The ending of the film felt rather uncharacteristic of the spiders after its explained that the species will spread out like soldiers on order from their general. But I don't want to lambast it too much as a movie like this needs an unsettling climax that encompasses the entire feel of the film. So, in that regard, it definitely succeeds.
The fear factor of this story is segmented in two parts which is common among classic creature features.
The first half delivers fear of the unknown. People are dropping dead around town, and nobody knows why. The audience is in on it, but the characters are clueless at first. That much is gripping. How will anyone know what's really going on?
The second half comes when someone finally finds the scary monster (the spiders, in this case). Now the fear shifts as the characters face off against the deadly threat. How are they going to deal with it? How can the possibly attack all these small but deadly spiders that are spread all over the town? They can be anywhere!
On top of that, Jennings suffers from an acute fear of spiders. The audience can really put themselves in his shoes as he finds himself surrounded (quite literally in the end) by what he fears most. The audience doesn't have to be afraid of spiders to feel what Jennings is feeling, but they have to be afraid of something. For me, it would be wasps, especially a swarm of them.
Director Frank Marshall, who has produced and directed some truly memorable films, kicked off his motion picture directorial debut fantastically with Arachnophobia. He makes sure the audience gets plenty of up-close looks at those creepy spiders, with their fangs, multiple eyes, and all.
In some instances, all we're treated to are spider silhouettes. We know where the spiders are. One is in the lamp shade. One is behind the toilet. Another is hiding in the somebody's slipper. What we don't know is what they're going to do. There's a few surprises in these creepy crawly tropes.
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| John Goodman as Delbert McClintock in Arachnophobia. |
Though the movie has lots and lots of spiders, it doesn't feel over done.
The squirms will come. Those that are squeamish will certainly bury their eyes. All it takes is some brown, hairy spiders to do so. The movie's poster depicts the premise perfectly - one tiny spider dangling predominately over a wide open town. Again, sometimes less is more. I was actually going to watch another movie for my 99th review - the 1980 mystery horror The Changeling with George C. Scott. But that fell through. I'll have to review it later.
Oh, and the trailer for Arachnophobia calls it a "thrill-omedy." Thankfully that's a word that died as soon as it was coined.
I believe good horror movies can act as a way for someone to face their fears. They can act as a sort of how-to guide for confronting what frightens someone most. Arachnophobia is a perfect example.
So, I'll throw this into my pile of favorites.
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