Brian Yuzna and Julio Fernández had something going there for a while, via the offspring of Filmax: Fantastic Factory. Big plans was introduced, movies was made - but everything just fizzled out to nothing and the last few films produced was disasters. But you know me, I kinda like disasters and had some fun watching them - except the snoozefest Rottweiler and the more or less unwatchable Beneath Still Waters. Fun concepts, incompetent execution. On the other hand, there was also excellent films like Dagon and... well, yeah, that's it.
Oh, sorry. I forgot Arachnid, a very generic creature feature I think few realised was a part of Fantastic Factory. The more logical guess would be Nu Image, UFO or even The Asylum (at least how The Asylum is today, at 2001 they where still a bit primitive). I remember I watched Arachnid when it came and forgot about it instantly. A year ago I found it on a new DVD release, under a new title: 8 Legs (maybe to reminds us of Ellory Elkayem's Eight Legged Freaks, also about giant spiders - quite fun movie by the way).
A guy dies of a nasty bite and a team of experts (always those darn experts!) is sent out by airplane to the little island where the guy got bitten. They crash the plane and soon they find out that the whole island is filled with very lethal spiders, and of course all of them have a big, nasty mother! Follow our beloved stereotypes through love, drama and rubber spiders!
To my surprise it's not bad at all. It offers absolutely nothing new to the genre and the cast is quite bland, but it's very professional and slick, nice locations and directed by the one and only Jack Sholder. He directed the original and somewhat controversial (for different reasons - from breaking the rules of the saga to be a gay fantasy disgused as a horror sequel) A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge, the interesting but uneven Alone in the Dark + the really cool The Hidden. He knows to tell a story and understands what the audience want in genre cinema: monsters and gore.
He gives us a lot of it. There is some wonderfully gooey and gory make-up effects and lots of cool animatronics. For those who consider that important, I don't actually think he uses CGI at all. But that doesn't matter anyway, film is about storytelling, not effects. While the gore can be a bit unrealistic, the animatronic spiders is extremely well-made without being ultra-real. Sholder knows this is a popcorn movie, a dream to rest your brain on. It's not there to win awards or get great reviews, it's there to deliver ninety minutes of stupidity. And I'm all there to grab it, to watch it, to write about it.
And now I've did it again. Written about a movie no one cares about.
Yess! Arachnid,baby! I have a lot of love and respect for Jack Sholder, his Wishmaster-2 is a favourite. The main bad guy from Octopus plays a scientist in Arachnid. Nice to see you reviewing films from that era, there was definitely something intertsting going on.
Posted by: Alex Bakshaev | March 09, 2013 at 20:38
"But you know me, I kinda like disasters and had some fun watching them - except the snoozefest Rottweiler and the more or less unwatchable Beneath Still Waters."
You didn´t like those two...?
Well, I want to see them, I like Brian Yuznas stuff.
"(maybe to reminds us of Ellory Elkayem's Eight Legged Freaks, also about giant spiders - quite fun movie by the way)."
Yeah, lots of fun scenes in Eight Legged Freaks (2002).
"A guy dies of a nasty bite and a team of experts (always those darn experts!)"
Hey now, Fred, a creature feature without its experts......the genre has lot of clichés, this is just one of them, goes with the territory.
"the really cool The Hidden."
Yeah...very odd sci fi action entry I think.
But nice entertainment, with Claudia Christian in a small role.
"He gives us a lot of it. There is some wonderfully gooey and gory make-up effects and lots of cool animatronics. For those who consider that important, I don't actually think he uses CGI at all. But that doesn't matter anyway, film is about storytelling, not effects."
No, it doesn´t matter.....like you said, it is about storytelling.
"Sholder knows this is a popcorn movie, a dream to rest your brain on. It's not there to win awards or get great reviews, it's there to deliver ninety minutes of stupidity. And I'm all there to grab it, to watch it, to write about it.
And now I've did it again. Written about a movie no one cares about."
Well, Sholder delivered.....that´s important.
No, I care....I love those creature feature reviews you write from time to time.
Good review and thanks.
Will I see a review of Arena(1989) soon..?
Posted by: Megatron | March 10, 2013 at 00:15