Arachnophobia (1990)
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A small California town faces an ecological crisis when a deadly, prehistoric spider species begins to infest the residents.
The story
In a remote Venezuelan tepui, a photographer is bitten and dies from a previously undiscovered, highly venomous spider of prehistoric origin. His body is sent back to his hometown of Canaima, California, with the spider still inside the coffin. The spider escapes and begins to mate with local house spiders, producing hundreds of infertile, drone offspring with lethal bites. A family physician, Ross Jennings, who has just moved to town, begins to notice a string of mysterious deaths. Suspecting an infestation of deadly arachnids, he seeks help from an entomologist to investigate the growing threat to the community.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After the death of the town's elderly doctor, Ross Jennings becomes the new physician in Canaima, California. He discovers that several residents, including a high school football player and the previous doctor, have died from mysterious bites. He enlists the help of entomologist Dr. James Atherton and his assistant, Chris Collins. They discover that the spiders are a new species from Venezuela that have crossbred with local spiders, producing lethal offspring. Atherton explains that the spiders are 'soldiers' sent to eliminate threats for a male 'general' who is attempting to produce a queen to ensure the species' worldwide dispersal. Ross discovers a nest in his own barn and another in his wine cellar guarded by the queen and the general. After destroying one nest, Atherton is killed by the general. Ross eventually faces the general in his cellar, overcoming his arachnophobia to burn the egg sac and kill the spider with a nail gun. With the threat neutralized, the Jennings family returns to San Francisco, where they prefer an earthquake over spiders.
- First release year
- 1990
- Runtime (minutes)
- 110
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Frank Marshall
- Writers
- Don Jakoby · screenplay; Wesley Strick · screenplay; Don Jakoby · story; Al Williams · story
- Cast and characters
- Jeff Daniels · Ross Jennings; John Goodman · Delbert McClintock; Julian Sands; Harley Jane Kozak
- Genres
- horror; comedy
- Themes
- fear; evolution; man vs. nature
- Tone and mood
- thrill-omedy; scary; laughing
- Premise and plot tags
- natural horror; creature feature; medical drama
- Reception
- The film received positive critical reviews, being described as a 'slick comic thriller' and an 'affectionate, solidly built tribute to Hollywood's classic creature features.' It was a financial success, grossing over $53 million on a $22 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 92% · review count: 48; Metacritic · score: 67 · review count: 22; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film used over 300 Avondale spiders from New Zealand.; The sound of spiders being crushed was created by Foley artists stepping on mustard packages or potato chips.; A newly discovered worm species, Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi, was named after Jeff Daniels' role.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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