Memorable, crazy movie

Good movie but grossly overrated

best movie i've ever seen.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

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 wants to be old fashioned B movie with broad acting, some comedy and scares, gooey effects and hopefully remind you of the early 1990s horror comedy Tremors.A barrel of toxic waste leaks into a lake in Arizona which causes spiders to grow at an alarming rate who get hungry and set about attacking the local town. Just be grateful that the toxic waste did not give rise to Zombeavers.The female local sheriff (Kari Wuhrer) and Chris McCormack (David Arquette) a bad boy who has returned home after some years lead the town's fight back. Arquette does well as the goofy hero like the type he played in the Scream films, just about likable enough and gets a romance subplot with the sheriff. Scarlett Johansson plays the sheriff's headstrong teenage daughter. Doug E Doug plays the local conspiracy nut. The wealthy town mayor is the bad guy.The finale at the mall goes on for too long as the entire town throws everything at the giant spiders. The film is fun and goofy enough, not really scary but also not memorable. A fast food snack that you will forget about the next day. Maybe because it cynically was a corporate attempt to be a monster B movie and lacked heart.

As the name would indicate, "Eight Legged Freaks" shouldn't be taken too seriously. It's a horror comedy about a variety of arachnids growing huge due to -- what else? -- accidentally spilled toxic waste. They terrorize the citizens of Prosperity, Arizona, where Kari Wuhrer plays the Sheriff, Scarlett Johansson her teen daughter, and David Arquette the Sheriff's love interest.The plot of terrorizing arachnids in an Arizona town automatically brings to mind 1977's "Kingdom of the Spiders" with William Shatner, but that movie took the topic serious and the tarantulas were normal size.The Arizona locations are great and the movie is consistently amusing as "Eight Legged Freaks" is just a fun flick, but the main highlight is the mother/daughter combo of Kari Wuhrer and Scar-Jo. Kari has a strikingly attractive face and personality and Scar-Jo was 17 years-old during filming and looks great in tight pants.On the downside the film seems too long at 99 minutes because there isn't enough depth to the characters and their story to warrant going over like 85 minutes. As such, the final act in the mall, mines, etc. seems to go on forever. Another criticism is that the spider F/X appear too cartoony (I'm sure they looked better in 2002), but this is hardly a flaw in that the movie itself is cartoony. My main beef is that Scar-Jo isn't prominent enough, but that's likely because she was only 17 and wouldn't become a "star" until her next film, 2003' excellent "Lost in Translation." On the other hand, Wuhrer is very prominent.GRADE: B-

This is going to date me. "Eight Legged Freaks" is the first time I can remember being excited about a movie no one else cared about. It was my first year of high school, I think. I was just far enough into my teens that my love of black and white creature features were confirmed. Someone was attempting to revive the big bug picture in 2002? Hell yeah, I was up for me. No one else was. It bombed domestically (though broke even internationally) and reviews were middling. The movie isn't quite old or endearing enough to have a cult following. If the "Eight Legged Freaks" fandom has to start somewhere, let it start with me.The story is basically "Gremlins" by way of "Tarantula." This is most obvious in how the film treats its threats. The giant spiders of "Eight Legged Freaks" are arachnid goof balls. The CGI is clearly dated but the animators and special effect guys made sure the spiders had personality. They mumble, shriek, and grumble like Killer Tomatoes. Their vocalizations are intentionally exaggerated and cartoonish. On two separate occasions, giant spiders get dragged behind moving cars. One grumbles in frustration after taking a bite out of a stuffed moose. Another jumps flat into a closed window. One spider out-boxes a boxer. Another cheers on his brothers as they rush the mall. One slides down on a rope, screaming the whole way. A shot spider swings on a thread, dousing his pals with green spider goop. One of the best spider gags involves a sneaky tent. Even a die-hard arachnophobe is more likely to laugh then scream. "Eight Legged Freaks" is less a modern reinvention of the classic big bug flick then a Mel Brooks parody on the subgenre. I guess some might find that to be a one-note joke but, I don't know guys, wacky giant spiders? Count me in.The film also nails the small town setting. Prosperity, Arizona is nicely isolated at times. The ensemble cast quickly gives you a sense of community. You believe that this small time is fighting for their mutual survival. The crusty old barber and near-sided janitor are equally amusing, each assign simple, entertaining personalities. Doug E. Doug finds a great home for his overtaxed comedic style as the local conspiracy radio host. His beleaguered shouts of frustration prove consistently funny. Rick Overton is also great as Deputy Pete. His reactions to the spiders are, at first, shocked confusion, later transitioning to dead-pan fear. Leon Rippy's talents are also well-suited to the conniving town mayor. Tom Noonan, uncredited and with minutes of screen time, makes an impression too. The strong character actor cast is another reason to love "Eight Legged Freaks." The supporting cast proves far more memorable then the leads. I'm willing to give David Arquette more slack then others. But there's no mistaking the guy for leading man material. His attempts at one-liners are especially groan-inducing. His performance works best when playing up his nervous qualities. Kari Wuhrer is never convincing as a mom or action heroine. Yeah, she looks fantastic in tight jeans and t-shirts but can hardly carry the film. She has zero chemistry with Arquette. Even Scarlett Johansson, hardly a great actress in her right, outshines the leads. (And also looks fantastic in tight t-shirts and jeans.) You can actually see elements of a more serious horror film under "Eight Legged Freaks" goofy exterior. A mouthful of spiders, regardless of size, is likely to make some squirm. The trapdoor spiders snatching people running across a parking lot could have been mined for real scares. Probably the biggest action set-piece in the film is the jumping spiders going after the kids on dirt bikes. This is the closest the film comes to real tension and, even then, it's awash in silly special effects. I'm not complaining, simply noting. It wouldn't surprise me if this started life as a more serious screenplay.The script is decently constructed. You can tell that the cigarettes, stun gun, and underground gas veins will be important later. I still appreciate the effort to set them up. I also appreciate the horror in-jokes, "Them" on TV, the mall invasion finale, the Hockey Mask/Chainsaw combo. The Micky-Mousing score is probably the only thing about the movie I don't like. That's the only overly jokey element. Even then, incorporating a low-pitched version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" was clever. An early scene where a spider and a cat wrestle inside a wall probably goes on too long and reaches too hard for the kind of silly laughs the rest of the movie has no problem with. "Eight Legged Freaks" is still underrated and underseen. This surprises me. I can think of many horror fans who would love its goofy charms.