A runaway barrel of toxic waste lands in a rural body of water, contaminating the local crickets that are used as food for the residents of a nearby spider farm. Naturally, the 200 or so exotic arachnids grow to mammoth proportions and attack the terrified townspeople en masse. A former resident, Chris McCormick (David Arquette, the "Scream" series), has returned home, just in time to help Sheriff Samantha Parker (Kari Wuhrer, "Anaconda"), the romantic idol of his life, and various other citizens combat the eight legged monsters.
"Eight Legged Freaks" turned out about as good as one could hope for, given that it's treading rather familiar ground. But it does do its job, which is both spoofing and paying homage to its influences, namely 1950s "giant creepy-crawly" cinema such as "Tarantula" and "Them!" (The latter is briefly shown playing on TV.) While it's not in the same league as "Tremors", it still serves up an agreeable dose of PG-13 rated horror along with comedy. Also offering up echoes of "Gremlins" and "Aliens", it makes its fearsome CGI beasts pretty funny themselves by giving them cartoonish vocalizations (supplied by the legendary voice-over artist Frank Welker). Yes, the beasts are digitally rendered most of the time, but some of the animation is pretty decent.
Co-writer and debuting director Ellory Elkayem gives his movie great pace and great energy, and keeps things interesting by offing quite a few of the more expendable characters. Pets are also fair game.
The typically amusing Arquette dials down his particular brand of goofy eccentricity a bit in order to play a more conventional sort of hero, and he does an alright job. Wuhrer kicks lots of spider ass, and looks damn fine doing it; she has to be one of the sexiest ever small town sheriffs seen in film. Scott Terra ("Daredevil") is Wuhrers' egghead son, the character whom we know will grasp the situation early on, and Scarlett Johansson ("Don Jon") is her somewhat sassy teenage daughter. Doug E. Doug ("Cool Runnings") has his moments as a paranoid local radio DJ. Comedian Rick Overton ("Groundhog Day") is a hoot as Wuhrers' fumbling, Barney Fyfe-style deputy, Eileen Ryan ("Feast") is endearing as Arquette's aunt, and the great character actor Leon Rippy ('Deadwood') is effectively slimy as the crooked mayor / entrepreneur. Tom Noonan ("Manhunter") appears unbilled as the spider farm owner / operator.
"Eight Legged Freaks" will be too overly silly and juvenile for some tastes, but it's quite endearing overall, and impossible to dislike.
Seven out of 10.
"Eight Legged Freaks" turned out about as good as one could hope for, given that it's treading rather familiar ground. But it does do its job, which is both spoofing and paying homage to its influences, namely 1950s "giant creepy-crawly" cinema such as "Tarantula" and "Them!" (The latter is briefly shown playing on TV.) While it's not in the same league as "Tremors", it still serves up an agreeable dose of PG-13 rated horror along with comedy. Also offering up echoes of "Gremlins" and "Aliens", it makes its fearsome CGI beasts pretty funny themselves by giving them cartoonish vocalizations (supplied by the legendary voice-over artist Frank Welker). Yes, the beasts are digitally rendered most of the time, but some of the animation is pretty decent.
Co-writer and debuting director Ellory Elkayem gives his movie great pace and great energy, and keeps things interesting by offing quite a few of the more expendable characters. Pets are also fair game.
The typically amusing Arquette dials down his particular brand of goofy eccentricity a bit in order to play a more conventional sort of hero, and he does an alright job. Wuhrer kicks lots of spider ass, and looks damn fine doing it; she has to be one of the sexiest ever small town sheriffs seen in film. Scott Terra ("Daredevil") is Wuhrers' egghead son, the character whom we know will grasp the situation early on, and Scarlett Johansson ("Don Jon") is her somewhat sassy teenage daughter. Doug E. Doug ("Cool Runnings") has his moments as a paranoid local radio DJ. Comedian Rick Overton ("Groundhog Day") is a hoot as Wuhrers' fumbling, Barney Fyfe-style deputy, Eileen Ryan ("Feast") is endearing as Arquette's aunt, and the great character actor Leon Rippy ('Deadwood') is effectively slimy as the crooked mayor / entrepreneur. Tom Noonan ("Manhunter") appears unbilled as the spider farm owner / operator.
"Eight Legged Freaks" will be too overly silly and juvenile for some tastes, but it's quite endearing overall, and impossible to dislike.
Seven out of 10.