This movie packs a lot of over-the-top, giant spiders jumping on people. It really doesn't disappoint when it comes to that. I remember seeing posters for this movie at the theater and really looking forward to it back in '02. It stars the lovely Kari Wuhrer, from my favorite movie of all time, Anaconda, so that's partly why. Oh and David Arquette's there at the end of his career and Scarlett Johansson at the beginning of hers.For a lower budget (presumed) this movie does a good job blending the CGI with the puppet spiders (good, not great). It's the actual context of some scenes which can be absurd at times (spiders chasing and jumping on a group of dirt bike riders for instance). But the special effects alone never ruined a scene IMO. In a movie like this the believability of the spiders is more important than the human storylines and acting. So there's not much competition there.
The movie begins with a chemical accident and we instantly realize where things are headed. Farm animals turn up dead or missing and the town is worried. Next thing you know there are giant, jumping spiders everywhere! Eventually they corner Sheriff Kari and Arquette in a shopping mall and later a mine where the movie climaxes in an all-out war. While in most monster movies there may be 2-5 good scenes of monster carnage, this one has too many to count. I had a hard time picking just one scene to use in the monster movie montage i'm working on.
Eight Legged Freaks reminds me so much of well done 80's monster movie, despite being made during the crappy computer generated horror era. I award it that, but it's personally not one of my favorites. I would say it's only mildly scary, mildly funny, and mildly freaky.
Survivors do not include Joshua, the spider specialist, some ostriches, some miners, some dirt biker guys, some truck drivers, some senior citizens and most of the other townspeople for that matter. Survivors do include nearly everyone likeable and given a name for their character.
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