Arachnophobia (1990) is a movie in my DVD collection and is also available on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a city doctor who moves out into the country to become a small town doctor. Unfortunately for him this small town has a local man who recently died in Valenzuela and is sent back home to be buried; and within the coffin is a rare breed of spider that is very territorial. This movie is directed by Frank Marshall (Congo) and stars Jeff Daniels (Dumb & Dumber),Julian Sands (Warlock),John Goodman (Roseanne) and Harley Jane Kozak (Parenthood). The opening of this movie in Valenzuela really sets the mood and intensity of the film. They do a great job of using lighting and shadows in this film to create the looks and attacks. They also do a great job of creating the look, feel and characters of the small town. I always think an aspect of this storyline that's interesting is how much people hate the opinions of the educated and how that still plagues our society (COVID as an example). John Goodman is outstanding in this movie and this is one of my favorite performances of his. The horror elements in this start very subtle and build as as the number of spiders increase and gets more and more intense as the movie unfolds. This is an absolute classic horror gem with a few outdated special effects but the characters and elements are so good it remains a masterpiece. This is a 9/10 that I'd strongly recommend.

Sort of a cross between horror and comedy, "Arachnophobia" is sure to make you afraid to stick any body part into an unknown space. In the grand scheme of things, the movie serves as a good warning about the dangers of bringing non-native species into a new region. Obviously, the whole thing is basically entertainment, but how can you not like it? Jeff Daniels as the spider-fearing star and John Goodman as the ultra-tough exterminator are reason enough to watch the movie. I would like to learn more about spiders, but I don't have time, so this movie plus "Spider-Man" are the main exposures that I have to arachnids. Definitely a flick that you gotta love. Also starring Harley Jane Kozak.

That one scientist should have known better than to go into the barn without protection.

This popular, family-orientated monster movie is just one of the wave of "nature's rampage" films which have been churned out in the past thirty years. ARACHNOPHOBIA builds upon the clichés already set up by previous offerings into creating a crowd-pleasing template which has been copied by every such movie since. You should know the routine by now: after the initial set-up, there's a slow beginning, then a string of deaths culminating in an all out, widespread invasion at the end. Unfortunately, ARACHNOPHOBIA tends to be cheesy or clichéd when it should be frightening, but there are still a couple of effective scares to look out for, so spider-haters beware.

With Steven Spielberg as producer, you know things will never get too nasty, although this film thankfully lacks the stultifying sentimentalising which Spielberg sometimes crowbars into his films. Frank Marshall's direction is slick and enterprising, and the film's high budget shows in the elaborate sets, vivid photography and the realistic special effects - a mixture of real spiders and partially-convincing animatronics.

Jeff Daniels takes the lead as the boring doctor, and I'll be frank: I don't like his performance here, and I don't like Daniels as an actor. Something about him just makes me want to switch off. But, I stuck with it, and Daniels is at least passable here. John Goodman, however, steals the show as the frequently-hilarious exterminator who seems to think that he's John Wayne. Also appearing are Julian Sands (BOXING HELENA) as an amusing feminine doctor and Harley Jane Kozak, who's okay in a supporting turn as Daniels' wife. The supporting cast are unfamiliar but all play their (mostly clichéd) characters well.

The initial opening, set in a studio-bound South America, is quite fun and promises a lot. Sadly after this the film goes down a gear and is quite slow-paced for an hour, where nothing much happens apart from characterisation. Fortunately this is a movie that gets better as it goes along and things are soon picking up with the various spider attacks which are amusing to watch. However, my favourite part is the unbelievably cheesy yet enjoyable finale which sees Daniels going one-on-one with the spider queen and her male, who have taken up residence in his wine cellar! You won't believe it as Daniels shoots the spiders with a nailgun and sets fire to him, and a big suspension of disbelief is indeed required, but this is still well-executed. Despite being made as a crowdpleaser, ARACHNOPHOBIA has some genuinely creepy moments in the spider's nests and is worth a look for undemanding monster movie fans.