The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)

Giant spiders from another dimension invade Wisconsin.

Director:

Bill Rebane

Writers:

Richard L. Huff (screenplay), Robert Easton (screenplay),

Stars:

Steve Brodie, Barbara Hale, Robert Easton

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Steve Brodie	...	Dr. Vance
Barbara Hale	...	Dr. Jenny Langer
Robert Easton	...	Kester
Leslie Parrish	...	Ev
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Sheriff (as Alan Hale)
Bill Williams	...	Dutch
Kevin Brodie	...	Perkins
Diane Lee Hart	...	Terry
Tain Bodkin	...	Preacher
Paul Bentzen	...	Billy
J. Stewart Taylor	...	Deputy
Christiane Schmidtmer	...	Helga (as Christiana Schmidtmer)
William W. Gillett Jr.	...	Rider
David B. Hoff	...	Helicopter Pilot (voice)

Storyline

A black hole hits North Wisconsin and opens a door to other dimensions. Giant 15 meter spiders emerge from it, who have an appetite for human flesh! Dr. Jenny Langer and Dr. Vance from the NASA try to save the world.

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Plot Keywords:

spider | giant spider | black hole | preacher | cobwebs | 

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Taglines:

Group 1's amazing new super sensation!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Invasion of the Giant Spiders

Filming Locations:

Gleason, Wisconsin, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Group 75, Transcentury Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Bill Rebane the two writers on the film each approached the story from different directions. Richard L. Huff wrote the original story and kept a very serious tone to the first draft of the script. Robert Easton on the other hand lent the film a comical tone, writing most of the colorful dialog for his character and the other locals. The films rather infamous jokes are credited to him as well. Combining both writers material resulted in an odd-ball tone for the script.

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Goofs

When Terry uses a steam iron to kill a tarantula, she is shown wearing a sleeveless yellow tank top. However, in the close up of the spider being killed, someone else is obviously wielding the iron. The arm shown is much longer than Terry's, the shirt is a different color than the one she was shown wearing, and it has a sleeve which has been rolled up. After the spider is killed, Terry is once again shown wearing a sleeveless yellow tank top.

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Quotes

Dan Kester: You're so dumb you wouldn't know rabbit turds from Rice Krispies.

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Connections

References Gilligan's Island (1964)

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Soundtracks

"Maniac Pursuit"
(uncredited)
Music by Trevor Duncan

User Reviews

It's impossible to keep a straight face, but it's entertaining cheese.

Meteor lands on Wisconsin farm, opening up a black hole that unleashes giant spiders into a hick community!!

Oh boy. Legendary horror cheese filmed in Wisconsin by B movie director Bill Rebane is the perfect example of a film that's so bad it's good! The Giant Spider Invasion is best remembered as the movie in which a VW Beetle was used for the monster spiders! The special FX consists of live tarantulas, unconvincing puppets, and of course those VW's complete with long furry legs. Between those amusing FX, a ridiculous premise, and some funny dialog this cheap horror film never has a dull moment.

Yet as poor as the quality of the film is the cast (which has a number of veteran actors) isn't that bad. In a way it's their serious, well semi-serious, performances that make the occurrences even more humorous.

The Giant Spider Invasion is one of the most unintentionally hilarious horror films ever made and whether you like it or not, you can't deny that it's entertaining! A definite must-see for fans of campy B horror.

** 1/2 out of ****