EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2002 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Ellory Elkayem's EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS is a silly and fun B-movie that's best when
it's the most ridiculous.
Here's an original idea for a motion picture. What if insects ingested toxic
waste? What if those insects were a tasty bunch of crickets, the favorite food
of spiders? Think those spiders might grow really big, really fast? Well,
that's exactly what happens in the ironically named town of Prosperity, Arizona.
Soon the spiders are munching on the locals, eating them like, well, flies.
The insects are so big that the mayor has to ask what they are exactly. One of
the citizens replies, "A spider, man." The movie never takes itself, or other
movies ten times its box office size, seriously.
Although they aren't exactly all A-list stars, the cast does themselves proud
and aren't afraid of looking stupid in the service of their comedy. Young Scott
Terra, a Harry Potter look-alike, plays Mike Parker, the local brainiac who
knows all there is to know about arachnids. Kari Wuhrer plays his single mom
and the town's sheriff. Scarlett Johansson (GHOST WORLD) plays his sister, a
slightly rebellious but still virginal teen. David Arquette plays Chris
McCormack, the son of the owner of an inactive gold mine. Chris is a painfully
shy guy who has always had a crush on Mike's mom. And Doug E. Doug plays a
rebel radio operator. His outlaw station features non-stop warnings about
government conspiracies and alien attacks.
Once the spiders get into their nocturnal feeding frenzy, it's "Arac Attack!"
time, which was the working title for the picture. Although not as much fun or
as exhilarating as REIGN OF FIRE, EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS is a treat. But too much
of it can go a long way. Trimmed down by ten or fifteen minutes the length
would have been just about right. If you have any fear of spiders, however,
don't even think about checking out this film. The special effects are crude
but quite memorable.
EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS runs 1:39. It is rated PG-13 for "sci-fi violence, brief
sexuality and language" and would be acceptable for kids around 11 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 13, gave it ***, saying that it was "hokey fun." He
commented that the special effects were good but not too good, which was perfect
for a parody.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Wednesday, July 17, 2002. In
the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
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