SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Morten_5 This directorial feature film debut from legendary producer Frank Marshall was surprisingly enjoyable to me. I loved Daniels and Goodman, the atmosphere, the great creature design and the screenplay's "respect for structure" (Roger Ebert).

TheFilmFreak1 The directorial debut of Frank Marshall, otherwise known as the producer of everything you ever loved from the 1980's, Arachnophobia is a creature-feature that was heavily marketed as both a comedy and a horror film. It is one of the better regarded disaster films from the 1990's, the decade that saw a dramatic resurgence of the genre, with a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. At best, it deserves a low 60.Strangely for a 90's disaster movie, Arachnophobia's acting and screen writing are both quite sturdy. The reliable Jeff Daniels plays a dry-witted but rather pleasant urbanite GP called Dr. Ross Jennings, who has arrived from San Francisco with his family (all of whom are played reasonably well). Jennings, who (big surprise here) suffers from arachnophobia, clashes with the colourful locals before having to confront a sodality of aesthetically displeasing arthropods from the rainforests of the Amazon. The plot is largely logical and believable in its progression, bar a few inexplicabilities here and there. While it is all rather run-of-the- mill, it is competent, enjoyable, and at times even clever.But where the film thrives on writing and performance, it falls pathetically short of the mark on matters of tone and technical ingenuity. For being an individual with the titular phobia, I found this film profoundly flat and pedestrian. You'd think that if Alfred Hitchcock was able to instil blind terror with the mere sight of a flock of disgruntled birds, then Frank Marshall would be able to at least quietly unsettle with the image of spiders invading a living room. It would be unfair to say he did not manage to extract any terror from those scenes, but where Marshall could have spent a nice chunk of his 103 minute runtime building a pronounced aura of menace, he instead tries to crack jokes so tepid a late 80's sitcom wouldn't dare touch them with a ten-foot pole.The film, quite simply, should not have been a comedy. Besides the Sam Raimi-esque camp of the climatic showdown between Jennings and the boss spiders, the jokes just do not work. Some of them are even downright grating. Halfway through the film, the arach-attacks start taking centre stage, and the narrative is given a sudden surge of suspense. What does the film do then? Why, it devotes an inordinate amount of our time to a stupid comic relief character called Delbert, because that makes sense. It's not as though there's infinitely more interesting material to be followed up about extremely venomous spiders; no, what we all need – nay, what the 90's needed – was an insect exterminator (played by John Goodman) whose entire humorous conceit is that he's fat, has a weirdly effeminate voice, and may or may not be very good at his job.Worse still, the production values have a television film vibe about them, particularly the music. Composer Trevor Jones gets some nice strings and brass involved in the climax, but otherwise the whole thing sounds more dated than the incidental music for 'The X-Files'. Delbert's leitmotif is the undoubtedly the worst offender. You could overlay it on the 'Too Many Cooks' video and it would be a perfect fit.The film's best moments are its scenes of rather understated horror. There's no grey-blue style Platinum Dunes lighting, few grating musical stings, and the actors never play fear as some grotesque pantomime of terror. It's subtle and it's sincere. In conclusion, Arachnophobia is an enjoyable but forgettable creature feature that might serve as appropriate viewing for a rainy Sunday afternoon, but little else.

Scott LeBrun Longtime Steven Spielberg associate Frank Marshall made his directorial debut with this slick film, a thriller with comic overtones that capitalizes on the inherent dislike many human beings take towards spiders. Marshall does succeed at making this an engaging bit of business that's exciting and suspenseful when it needs to be, in addition to being funny. It's well paced, with lots of well orchestrated animal action enhanced by some terrific effects work by Chris Walas. The story is well cast right down the line, from the leads to the supporting players to the character parts.During a scientific expedition in the mountains of Venezuela, a tropical arachnid sinks its teeth into a photographer, then hitches a ride back to America inside the mans' coffin. It ends up in the small town California town of Canaima, where it soon mates with a local spider and produces legions of lethal offspring, which attack the local citizens. Forced to become the unlikely hero is the new doctor in town, Ross Jennings (ever likable Jeff Daniels), who just so happens to have a debilitating fear of spiders.Co-starring are Julian Sands as an authority on arachnids, Harley Jane Kozak as Ross's patient wife, and a priceless John Goodman as a goofy exterminator who comes complete with his own comic musical theme. Other familiar faces include Stuart Pankin, Brian McNamara, Mark L. Taylor, Henry Jones, Peter Jason, James Handy, Roy Brocksmith, Kathy Kinney, Mary Carver, Juan Fernandez, and Frances Bay. The excellent score is by Trevor Jones.The movie isn't without silly and unbelievable moments, but in general it's solidly entertaining, with a particularly intense finale in a cellar.Recommended to those who are always up for a fun "creepy-crawlie" tale.Eight out of 10.

BringBackFear Are you afraid of spiders? We believe everyone is afraid of the furry eight legged spiders.If you are afraid, then force yourself to watch this incredible movie! South American killer spider hitches a lift to the US in a coffin and starts to breed and kill. This is one of the scariest spider films of all times.A great cast with Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, John Goodman, Julian Sands and more.We'd recommend this movie to anyone who has not seen it. Check it out and you won't be disappointed especially if you have Arachnophobia.....