Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

Sounds good doesn't it? I was expecting a black and white masterpiece of the 50's when I first came across this. Alas its actually from the mid 70's which means its in colour and full of dodgy hairstyles and fashion. Still, can't not be intrigued with a title like that huh.So somewhere in rural (always rural) Wisconsin a meteorite crash lands which lights up the sky on impact (literally lights up the sky with some awful colour effects). Now somehow, don't ask me how, but somehow this meteorite contains lots of spiders, all of which look remarkably like spiders here on Earth (don't question it). These spiders seem to vary in size from your regular tarantula size (because they are tarantulas), to dog size, to house size.I'm not too sure how these spiders survived the impact but they do appear to be cocooned within small circular rocks (rocks which also contain diamonds!). So I guess that sorts that (?). But do they spawn in the rocks? Do they use the rocks as shields against the vacuum of space? What do they feed on? Where did they come from? When they emerge on Earth why do they start to grow slowly? Why do they grow to such enormous sizes?The main crux of the movie is of course the spiders, but leading up to that there are various boring subplots surrounding various characters. We are introduced to each individual and shown what type of person they are. Not that that matters much because this was a low-budget affair only intent on showing you spiders eating people. But sure enough, this being the countryside most of the townsfolk are hick types bordering on rednecks. Most of these rather unwashed looking characters are generally either in troubled relationships or simply up to no good such as one character trying to sweet talk an underage female (gulp!).I guess I should point out that a few of the actors in this movie are/were well known stars on American TV shows as well as movies of the time. Director Bill Rebane managed to do what Quentin Tarantino once did which was gather together a bunch of forgotten stars (probably on the cheap) who were happy for the work. Obviously the quality of film and outcome differed slightly.Anyway back to the arachnids (effects). So what are they like, the effects. Well whaddaya think they're gonna be like? Obviously all the effects are pretty much on the cheap and homemade, but with much care and attention. There are plenty of wispy cobwebs hanging about the place and they do use quite a lot of real tarantulas which is quite effective for certain shots. There are also some bigger shock sequences such as a house (room set) being torn apart by the giant spider; and a guy getting mauled by the giant spider in his car which leads to a crash and explosion. I was actually reasonably impressed with the real tarantulas popping out of the ball shaped diamond encrusted space rocks (almost like eggs). Clearly they did put real tarantulas inside these balls and sprung them open to reveal the creepy contents.The larger spiders is where things obviously go down hill somewhat. A large dog sized spider leaps onto one female character at one point which is quite amusing. Its very obvious someone threw this rubber spider at the actress...and its quality stuff. The oversized fangs, wobbly legs, and eyes are especially top quality. But its the giant spider that wreaks havoc on the town that is the big draw. Apparently the effects guys built this thing out of a VW Beetle; simply covering it with black fur, big legs, and using the rear lights as eyes. The crew operated the legs from inside the car. Ingenious if I do say so myself because the bottom half of the spider vehicle is always out of sight, which does actually give the solid illusion of a slow moving giant spider roaming the US countryside. There are quite a few shots showing this thing in the distance and it genuinely does look quite good. Its was also quite gory too. This giant VW spider has big fangs below its (two) big red eyes and doesn't hesitate to slam them into its victims as they are dragged up into its gaping maw. I assume the crew inside are pulling the actor inside the car via the sunroof when the spider eats someone. But this simply action is well edited and accompanied by a good gallon of blood that flows down the victims body. All in all its pretty satisfying to see people getting eaten by this mega arachnid or watch crowds of people flee from it. That and the individually moving legs, overall its a solid effect cleverly thought out.I love how despite everything that occurs you never see any real police, army, or scientific presence. Its like no one outside that town knows whats going on at all and no one thinks to call for any external help. Pretty much all the characters are scummy or too gruff and you don't care about them. Plenty of stock footage, a staple of these cheap crappy movies. Day and night switching between shots in classic Ed Wood style. The movies explanation for the spider invasion is ridiculous, an interdimensional gateway. The solution? A Caltech neutron initiator ('it just might work!'), like yeah...whatever you say bud. Apparently they drop this thing in the meteorite crater and switch it on. This does something that closes the interdimensional gate which in turn causes all the spiders to melt (an admittedly neat little melty effect sequence). Like I said, don't question it.You probably know not to expect too much from a movie like this. A cheap sci-fi B-movie that looks like its been shot on a camcorder. Visually it looks like a shoddy exploitation movie at times. Those 70's styles and especially the violent and panicky street mob sequences. Its a throwback to the corny giant bug movies of the 50's (check that poster), yet they made it to genuinely compete with 'Jaws'! Somehow this went on to make quite a bit of money for Transcentury Pictures and has since become a cult. I can understand why but for me personally I think it would be a lot more enjoyable and effective in black and white (and set in the glorious 50's).'if it doesn't work, then old buddy we've got company for dinner'5.5/10

Yeah, yeah. By now, you should know I'm a die-hard Mysty (MST3K fan for the uninitiated.) Without their comments and riffs, this movie strangely enough holds it own. First off, let me warn you that it is another Bill Rebane flick! Yes, the man who brought us MONSTER A-GO-GO! And yes, we're treated to his usual trademarks: bad acting, long stretches of tedious dialogue, pointless scenes that meander, and humor that falls flat. However, occasionally there will be a gem that shines through. This time around, the budget must've been slightly bigger because we have a few veteran character actors. In the very first scene, we're introduced to Alan Hale as the sheriff and his first line is "Hey little buddy!" How can we not instantly love him? He's the jovial kind of sheriff everyone wants to have. Unfortunately, he's also pretty incompetent. A few moments later, we're treated to the most disgusting character: Mr. Kester, played by the wonderful Robert Easton. Let me pause for a minute and salute him, I think it takes a really brave actor to play someone so reprehensible. Anyway, he's disgusting because not only is he a fat, back brace-laden slob who cheats on his wife, but he also makes a few lecherous passes at Terry, his teenage sister-in-law. Though I admit, that scene is kinda funny with DELIVERANCE-style banjo music playing in the background. Finally, we also get Steve Brodie as a NASA expert of something and Barbara Hale as a stargazer. Oh did, I mention that a large comet/ meteorite lands in Mr. Kestor's backyard that spouts out tarantulas in geodes? By the way, the scene of the comet/ meteorite crashing looks oddly like a similar scene from MEN IN BLACK some twenty years later. Just thought I'd mention that. Anyway, as you can guess, the "giant spiders" crawl around and people randomly scream and/or die. As if to make matters worse, a VW Beetle (haha!) covered in brown fur, pipe cleaner legs and fangs, with giant light bulbs for eyes, begins stalking the quiet countryside. Yes, that's the "giant spider" in the title. I believe everyone involved was treating it half-seriously. It's definitely a curiosity. So I'd highly advise you watch this flick anyway you can, with Mike and the Bots or not. Their comments only help to add to the cult status of this one!

I saw The Giant Spider Invasion on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, like most of the users on this IMDb page. You know the funny thing about this movie is that as weird and stupid as it was, it actually told the story. So at least it had that going for it, but the problem is that the story really doesn't get itself across to where everyone could understand it, but mostly I would say that it was the lousy shooting of the movie, not to mention that the acting was just horrible. But I don't know about think it was totally bad for what it was, I mean it was just a typical low budget horror, despite how ridicules that giant spider looked.Basically in Wisconsin, WOO, GO PACKERS, WOO!, there is a crash from an asteroid. The asteroid contains little rocks that have little spiders in them. The two residents that live right next to where it landed, Ev and Dan, take advantage and try to take the diamonds that are also in the rocks, but it may not be to their liking when the spiders take over the house and the whole town! But don't worry, Dr. Jenny and Dr. J.R. are on the case and are going to save Wisconsin from the giant spider that is attacking young girls in their underwear.The Giant Spider Invasion is your typical low budget horror that reminds you more of those old 50's movies with the sci-fi action. While this is a bad movie, it's a fun like drive in type of film and has a few silly laughs here and there. Not to mention that it did make for a funny episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I loved how Jenny's line of screaming the doctor's name at the end turned out and the whole scene of the giant spider attacking the young girl in her undies in her house, that was just classic how fake the puppet was. But please watch the MSTK3 episode, I guarantee you'll have a lot of fun.2/10

You know that you're in for something totally corny when Alan Hale Jr. greets a man by saying "Hi, little buddy,", just as he did playing the Skipper on "Gilligan's Island". Thus, it's no surprise that "The Giant Spider Invasion" is below a B-movie. Chock-full of lame dialog ("We'll try to trap the spider!") and containing a king-sized arachnid which looks more like a Volkswagen, this flick's a true turkey. Let's not compare it to "Arachnophobia".Any redeeming qualities? Absolutely! Aside from how the film unintentionally elicits a series of laughs, there are some sexy scenes (alas, no full frontal nudity). It appears that the movie is only available on DVD through "Mystery Science Theater 3000". That's probably because no one in his right mind wants to release it as anything serious. As for the "MST3K" episode: Mike, Servo and Crow naturally made a few "GI"-related comments. Among the famous people who get mentioned are k.d. Lang, Bobby Seale and John Malkovich.So, the movie itself gets 2/10 stars, but the "MST3K" version gets 10/10. How cruel of Pearl to make them watch it.