Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)

In rural Arizona, countless killer tarantulas are migrating through a farm town, killing every living thing in their path. The town's veterinarian will do everything in his power to survive the onslaught.

Director:

John 'Bud' Cardos

Writers:

Richard Robinson (screenplay), Alan Caillou (screenplay)

Stars:

William Shatner, Tiffany Bolling, Woody Strode

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Shatner	...	Rack Hansen
Tiffany Bolling	...	Diane Ashley
Woody Strode	...	Walter Colby
Lieux Dressler	...	Emma Washburn
David McLean	...	Gene Smith
Natasha Ryan	...	Linda Hansen
Altovise Davis	...	Birch Colby
Joe Ross	...	Vern Johnson
Marcy Lafferty	...	Terry Hansen
Adele Malis-Morey	...	Betty Johnson (as Adele Malis)
Roy Engel	...	Mayor Connors
Hoke Howell	...	Earl Forbes
Bill Coontz	...	Clyde (as Bill Foster)
Whitey Hughes	...	The Baron
Jay Lawrence	...	Deputy

Storyline

Investigating the mysterious deaths of a number of farm animals, vet Rack Hansen discovers that his town lies in the path of hoards of migrating tarantulas. Before he can take action, the streets are overrun by killer spiders, trapping a small group of towns folk in a remote hotel.

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Plot Keywords:

girl in very short dress or skirt | girl in a notably short outfit | arizona | aviation | tragic event | 

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Taglines:

You could be the next Victim!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The large amount of tarantulas kept on-hand led to some unusual production difficulties. Not only did each spider have to be kept warm, but because of the creatures' cannibalistic tendencies, all 5,000 spiders had to be kept in separate containers. Additionally, tarantulas are usually shy around people, so fans and air tubes often had to be used to get the spiders to move toward their "victims". Indeed, in a number of the scenes where the tarantulas are "attacking" people, it is obvious to the viewer that the spiders are merely moving around, usually away from their intended victims.

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Goofs

The stunt driver who hits Mayor Conner misjudged his speed and hit the brakes just as he made contact. Instead of the car taking out the mayor and then careening into the water tower, you can see it stop briefly and then accelerate again to get enough speed to take out the water tower.

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Quotes

Terry Hansen: Hey I'm sorry about what happened the other day.
Dr. Robert 'Rack' Hansen: I don't know what you're talking about lady.
[Terry Giggles]
Terry Hansen: Rack, your a funny man, You want be with your brother's wife, but you take care of her like you were. Isn't that like buying the cow and giving the milk away?
Dr. Robert 'Rack' Hansen: You don't quit pestering me, one of these mornings I'm gonna show up and start milking that cow.
Terry Hansen: Well, make sure your hands are warm.
[Rack giggles and holds his hands up in a clawing manner]

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Connections

Spoofed in The Epic of Detective Mandy: Book Two - Spoof of the Living Dead (1991)

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Soundtracks

XKE
Written and Sung by Dorsey Burnette

User Reviews

Spiders, Man!

When I was a kid, I remember vividly seeing all of the movie Kingdom of the Spiders, but to date, I only remember certain scenes. Also, I remember as a whole, it freaked me completely out.

Sure, I had and still have arachnophobia, so since most horror movies, especially the haunted house/ghost stories of late, don't scare me, I'll always turn to these (Eight Legged Freaks, for example) no matter how preposterous just to get a little (or a lot) frightened. The producers/writers/directors aren't stupid; they know what audience (ME) would be freaked out.

Yes, Kingdom of the Spiders is an absolute B-movie, but honestly, it wasn't all that bad. Of course we're given the typical corny explanation: insecticides have killed off all of the tarantulas normal meals, so they've mutated, tolerated each other (which apparently, they're quite anti-social) and now are moving on to larger prey. To me, a non-scientist/biologist/spider-doctor, that doesn't really make much sense: all prey is gone, so the population multiples a thousand fold? Get past that, and the fairly slow opening hour with Shatner doing his typical womanizing and you're in for a treat. I can see what scared me as a kid, when they finally revealed the little killers in masses.

Picture it: Camp Verde, AZ. Small (in this movie pintsize) western town. A prize cow dies somehow and owner is worried just about being "quarantined" by the town's vet doctor, Shatner. In comes a potential love interest all the way from Tempe (in reality, it would take probably 2-3 hours max to make the trip, but they make it seem like it's a trek (yeah, I had to toss a Shatner-term in) from NYC.) She's concerned about the 5x lethal venom from spiders.

Throw in some anti-pesticide speeches, and more animals die. I guess the tarantulas were too timid for humans, or they simply ran out of animals as they started with the livestock/pets first. Soon, the people are attacked and like all of the "When-Animals-Attack" films, a group of diverse survivors hold up in a cabin to wait out the onslaught.

Now, I've been to Camp Verde, not in 1977, per se. I actually arrived in AZ in 1981, but nevertheless, I've visited it, and it didn't look anything like the movie's version. In fact, I recall, in the early 80s that they had actual working phones, not 1920 phone props. Nevertheless, this obvious Jaws/The Birds-rip-off does have its effectiveness. And a seriously disturbing, open-ended finale. I loved the final shot.

Not for everyone, Kingdom of the Spiders is still recommended for those wanting a B-Movie scare out of those eight legged freaks. In reality, it's a helluva lot better than most spider-ambush movies made since.

(Side Note: I love the Stolen-Star Wars poster's tagline above a tortured man with a torch: "A Wild Science Fiction Nightmare." Let's dissect all that. It doesn't take place in space, nor is there any real war (the humans were no match for the tarantulas.) No one had a torch, though someone seriously tries to get away by shooting a gun. It's never really wild – if you see the town, the wildest thing that could happen some actually driving from Colorado for their annual fair. Science Fiction? OK, that one is where someone should draw the line and actually sue for false advertising, though George Lucas probably was prepped for the look of the poster. And finally, nightmare. OK, that one I would agree. You get even one of the 50,000 tarantulas used on me…Freddy would have enough ammo for my next three nightmares.)

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kingdom of the Spiders

Filming Locations:

Camp Verde, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arachnid Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1