Arachnophobia (1990)

A species of South American killer spider hitches a lift to the U.S. in a coffin and starts to breed and kill.

Director:

Frank Marshall

Writers:

Don Jakoby (story), Al Williams (story)

Stars:

Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, John Goodman

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Daniels	...	Ross Jennings
Harley Jane Kozak	...	Molly Jennings
John Goodman	...	Delbert McClintock
Julian Sands	...	Dr. James Atherton
Stuart Pankin	...	Sheriff Parsons
Brian McNamara	...	Chris Collins
Mark L. Taylor	...	Jerry Manley
Henry Jones	...	Dr. Sam Metcalf
Peter Jason	...	Henry Beechwood
James Handy	...	Milton Briggs
Roy Brocksmith	...	Irv Kendall
Kathy Kinney	...	Blaire Kendall
Mary Carver	...	Margaret Hollins
Garette Ratliff Henson	...	Tommy Jennings (as Garette Patrick Ratliff)
Marlene Katz	...	Shelley Jennings

Storyline

A large spider from the jungles of South America is accidently transported in a crate with a dead body to America where it mates with a local spider. Soon after, the residents of a small California town disappear as the result of spider bites from the deadly spider offspring. It's up to a couple of doctors with the help of an insect exterminator to annihilate these eight legged freaks before they take over the entire town.

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Plot Keywords:

spider | arachnophobia | doctor | small town | spider bite | 

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Taglines:

Eight legs, two fangs and an attitude.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

18 July 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aracnofobia

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$53,208,180

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Tangled Web Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The production reached out to a Hollywood prop shop to build The General, a 15-inch mechanical Big Bob double; it was created by none other than future MythBuster Jamie Hyneman.

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Goofs

After the photographer has been bitten by a spider, he lies down on his bunk and dies. He is lying on his left-hand side, dead, when a little blood dribbles out of the left corner of his mouth and runs down an inch or more onto his left cheek. When he is shown in his coffin a few moments later, he still has blood in the left corner of his mouth, but the bloodstain is much smaller and, instead of running across his cheek, it is pointing down - towards his chin.

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Quotes

[Flicks ant off of Manley's knee]
Doctor James Atherton: 24 hour ant.
Jerry Manley: They bite?
Doctor James Atherton: They kill, Mr. Manley, in sufficient numbers.

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Connections

Spoofed in Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

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Soundtracks

Don't Bug Me
Written by Jimmy Buffett, Mike Utley and Jay Oliver
Performed by Jimmy Buffett
Music: Trevor Jones
Courtesy of Reprise Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Courtesy of Hollywood Records
Through special arrangement with Elektra Entertainment
An ECM Production
Courtesy of CBS Records, Music Licensing Department
Jimmy Buffett appears courtesy of MCA Records

User Reviews

It made my Skin Crawl

As a movie this isn't really all that great. The cast, the script and the direction are all adequate, and there's nothing really special about it as a movie. Yet i have scored it 7/10, seems weird; but let me tell you why.

If the bugs had been something other than spiders then i would have given this a 5 or 6, that is about the score it deserves as a movie, but if your like me, and your an arachnophobe then this movie surpasses this score significantly, it makes your skin crawl and has you thinking every shadow is a spider for weeks afterwards. Aside from scaring the s**t out of me it also made me laugh a lot.

For arachnophobes, who enjoy a fright this is the film for you

7/10