IT'S SPIDER...MAN! (Eight Legged Freaks (DVD))

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Eight Legged Freaks (DVD)
Date:	01/03/03 (516 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's just a whole load of fun, Great effects and stunts

Disadvantages: Some kiddies may not like it, You may hate spiders!

My brother sends us videos every week. Well, he used to now its DVDs. Well, actually they're for my kids. Thing is, he's very generous and keeps sending the latest DVDs ever since he gave us a DVD player at Christmas. Sooooo...if you want to borrow just about any cartoon type kiddies film then I'm yer man. Hmmmmm...well, not on this occasion. It was with a wee bit of consternation that this week's brown paper wrapper contained Eight-Legged Freaks. Actually, 'twas ma wifey that was a bit worried as it's a 12 rating but ma bro' was a little put out at the inference that it wouldn't be suitable. So like all good responsible parents, we gave it a viewing before letting the kids at it!

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Main Cast:

David Arquette .... Chris McCormick
Kari Wuhrer .... Sheriff Samantha 'Sam' Parker
Scott Terra .... Mike Parker
Scarlett Johansson .... Ashley Parker
Doug E. Doug .... Harlan Griffith
Rick Overton .... Deputy Pete Willis
Leon Rippy .... Wade
Matt Czuchry .... Bret
Jay Arlen Jones .... Leon
Eileen Ryan .... Gladys
Riley Smith .... Randy
Matt Holwick .... Larry
Jane Edith Wilson .... Emma

Director: Ellory Alkayem
Cert 12
Running Time: 99 mins

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---Story/plot---

Set in a rural mining town, somewhere in the US mid-west, a tanker veers off the road allowing toxic chemicals to spill into a river. Downstream is the local spider farm just teeming with hundreds of varieties of exotic spiders. As you'd expect, the spiders get infected by the chemicals turning them into mutant arachnids intent on..erm...you gueesd it....eating the town population!

Cue the hero or heroine in our case i.e. the brooding love match that is David
Arquette as
Chris McCormack and Kari Wuhrer as sexy Sheriff Sam Parker. Both get to work to avert the biggest crisis the town of Prosperity has faced since the spectre of bankruptcy and poverty raised it's ugly head due to the fact that natural resources are running out.

The initial scenes are played out with Mike, the sheriff's son, making his customary trip to the local spider farm. As he leaves, the infected spiders break out of their respective glass tanks and disappear ready to transform into giant versions but only after having bumped off the farm's owner (well, what else did you expect?).

Their initial encounter with the unsuspecting town's people is out in the desert as Jumping spiders chase teenagers on bikes across the terrain. The attacks quickly turn into a full size invasion with the beleaguered population eventually seeking sanctuary at the new mall.

There are a number of sub-plots built in including the corrupt conduct of the man behind the building of the new mall, the mutual attraction between Chris McCormick and Sam Parker and the parallels drawn between an obsession with visiting aliens and a full on spider invasion as played out in the mind of Harlan Griffith....and so the viewer is left to ponder whether the spiders will win and eat everybody or whether the massed ranks of Prosperity will prevail.

---Does this film work?---

Well, it's definitely a pastiche of movies from another era. There's even some subtle references to days gone by in the form of the black and white, giant spider B-movies showing on TV in one particular scene. I can still remember the seminal "Tarantula" even now which takes the viewer all the way back to the 50s as well as the more recent Arachnophobia. Make no mistake, this film is pure hokum and intended as such throughout.

You won't get far in a film like this without great special effects. The giant spiders are pretty belie
vable courtesy of the obligatory CGI techniques that dominate movie making these days. There were times when I had to suspend belief with the larger creations but with so many scenes involving the rampaging spiders, it would have been unrealistic to expect the creations to be entirely seamless. John Bartley's cinematography is well delivered considering the size of the task at hand, co-ordinating numerous stunts along with a story flow that brings together acting and blue screen/CGI and animatronics.

Fresh from the horror, "Thy Nest", Ellory Elkayem directs the cast with a wry smile as the underlying comedy is never far away from the series of in-jokes and fast paced action (I loved the lock-in scene at the mall where one of the spiders throws itself at the steel shutters. Wade turns to the Deputy Sheriff to ask "What was that?" and gets the reply "A Spider..man!). The cast really do appear to be enjoying themselves without ever having to reach too deeply into their serious acting back catalogue. I thought the lighting employed contributed to the tension in the film with the initial scenes played out in daylight but as the invasion gained momentum, the scenes were played out in the dark adding to the crawling effect of so many spiders out there on the doorstep.

As a reluctant hero and innocuous love interest, both Arquette and Wuhrer ham it up enough to carry off the intended humorous assault aided and abetted by the crazy radio broadcaster based in his lonely caravan - Doug E Doug as Harlan Griffiths. Armed with some goofy lines, the black paranoid steals several of the scenes including one where he's given perfume as a deterrent to ward off any spiders. Looking cynically at Mike, the knowledgeable lad who knows all things arachnid, spits out the line "Great if we die we die smelling nice"

There are no really graphic scenes involved despite the spiders' obvious intentions. As something of a
distraction, they actually prefer to cocoon their victims ready for the Queen spider to consume in her own time. Therein lies the only borderline scene for kids where you do see her puncture one of the victims with a view to sucking the contents from the inside out (ewww).

For me, the sound track was deceptively good including "Itsy Bitsy Spider" written and performed by Joey DeLuxe, "Dim Memory" written by Todd Jeremias, Sean Cannon, performed by Soul Circle, "Diablo" written by DJ Kta, Bobby Darwin, Steed Najera, Eddy Garcia, Haroun Serang, Dennis Morehouse, performed by Triple Seven and "Strangers in the Night" written by Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder, performed by Fantastic Strings. In particular, Itsy Bitsy Spider seemed to sum up the mood perfectly in later scenes.



---Scene stealers---

There are lots of cool scenes in the movie but some of my favourites included:

 The cat and spider fight that takes place inside a wall with some interesting impressions left on the plaster from the inside!

 The jumping spiders assault on the bikers with a memorable chase scene across the desert

 Most of the scenes involving the crazy Harlan Griffiths

 The scenes involving the old boys at the barbers

 The trap door spiders contributions especially the sequences in the middle of the town high street!

---Who should watch this movie?---

Well it is a 12 and I did sit down and watch it with my 7-year-old lad. He did enjoy although he did find the final scenes a bit much preferring to cuddle up to my good lady rather than sit with me. My 10-year-old daughter refused point blank to watch it. On the whole, this movie is aimed at older children and adults looking for a special effects laden laughter fest. I certainly enjoyed it with something of a severe aversion to the creepy crawlies meself
. I'd have to give this 4-stars and say give it a go.


The Video/DVD is available through the usual outlets e.g. Amazon.co.uk. The DVD will set you back £11.99 whilst the video costs £10.39 through Amazon.

Well worth a watch!

Thanks for reading

Marandina

*This review is based on the movie as the DVD cat isn't there just now but if you want the DVD it has the following extras:

 Feature-length audio commentary by co-stars David Arquette and Rick Overton, Director/Co-writer Ellory Elkayem and Producer Dean Devlin

 Additional scenes of spiders in action

 An award winning film from Elkayem called ?Larger than Life?

 Interactive menus

 Scene access

 Trailer

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