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Arachnid

2001
Dir. Jack Sholder

A man with mysterious bite marks on him is taken to a hospital in Guam. This sparks a search for what could have caused such wounds. A small group of doctors and scientists are flown to the island where he lived to investigate. Needing to make an emergency landing due to technical difficulties, the group become stranded and a brief exploration reveals the island is strangely deserted. Before long the group realise, to their horror, what caused the bites… Strange new breeds of killer arachnids! From outer space! Or something. 

On the surface, Arachnid has everything a great B-movie should have (checklist includes CGI aliens, giant spiders from outer space, cheesy dialogue, and loads of macho posturing with big guns), and one could be forgiven for expecting a tongue-in-cheek irreverent romp. What becomes apparent though is that Arachnid  takes itself quite seriously. Which, of course, is fine, except director Sholder never manages to muster much suspense. As a result, Arachnid is merely mildly entertaining. 


The eclectic group stranded on the island consists of doctors, scientists, soldiers, a pilot and the gung-ho expedition leader. None of them are even remotely fleshed out or developed. It goes without saying that as the pilot, Mercer, Alex Reid (The Descent) is one of Arachnid’s saving graces. She plays her role with wry gusto; it's just a shame she’s not really given much to do. Once our gang get to the island they just sort of wonder around and get picked off one by one by various mutated giant insects. The arachnid of the title scuttles around menacingly in the background before coming out into the open for a not very thrilling climax. One pretty effective scene comes, however, when the last few survivors hide out in a storage shed. Thinking they are safe, they bed down for the night. Ever alert Mercer thinks she hears something though and goes to investigate. Little does she know that above her head, in the darkness, the giant spider has begun its stealthy entrance into the shed. The moment is genuinely arresting, and for a brief moment, things get a little tense.


The film is pretty low budget, and while the animatronics SFX are actually a welcome sight – particularly the titular spider, which gives the film a nice, old-school vibe - a number of really bad CGI effects are quite distracting. They, together with cheesy dialogue, provide much of the films unintentional humour. Some impressive gross-out effects feature throughout and the film relishes in icky, creepy-crawly moments, like the sight of giant ticks scurrying around beneath an underdeveloped character’s skin. 

The film straddles a sort of bland middle ground, it isn't particularly tense or scary, nor is it particularly camp or goofy. It’s just kind of unremarkable, though in its favour, it, like other Fantastic Factory productions, has an oddball, quirky charm and eccentricity that ensures there is never a dull moment, and while it isn’t entirely successful, it is still quite an interesting and enjoyable creature-feature. Best served with alcohol, and lots of it.

The Arrow Video boxset was released on 18th April 2011. It includes Arachnid, Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt, Beyond Re-Animator and Faust: Love of the Damned.

Special features on the Arachnid include:

- “King of the Spiders” – Brian Yuzna remembers Arachnid
- “Creature Comforts: The Monster Mayhem Of Steve Johnson”
- Original trailer
- Collectors’ booklet “Spider Man” and interview with director Jack Sholder by author and critic Calum Waddell
- English Stereo, English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 audio options.
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