Rating: 
Summary: Good Family Movie, but...
Review: If you are looking for a good family movie that will keep on the edge of your seat, this one would be a good choice. BUT, if you are a fan of special effects and you want to take full advantage of your Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound System, this is NOT a movie for you. (Especially if you own the Matrix, or Terminator 2...) You could watch this in 3 Channel Stereo, which is essentially what I did. The plot drags a bit at the beginning...overall, not bad. The video is pretty good...You'd probably be better off watching this in VHS and save your money.
Rating: 
Summary: just plain fun
Review: Maybe I'm being pedantic, but I feel compelled to point out that the review mentioning the spiders "killing almost everyone" in the town is potentially quite misleading as to the true nature of this film.Without giving too much away, only a handful of people actually get bitten (from memory), and this is indicative of what I remember most about this movie: namely, the subtle building of suspense throughout the film, occasionally leavened with some very funny moments (John Goodman), until the admittedly more in-your-face finale. As for the somewhat 'confused' reviewer who ranted against the spider-killing in this movie, well, if you're still out there, do a search in AltaVista on "Entomologist Supplies Creepy Crawlies for Film" (URL not allowed here). Anyone else might be interested to read this too. I'm actually a pretty bad arachnophobe myself. I saw Arachnophobia in the cinema, hoping for some therapeutic effect. Well, the therapy didn't work, but DAMN it was fun!
Rating: 
Summary: The best horror comedy movie in years
Review: Out of all the movies that have been re-released out on DVD, this has to be one of the ones I'm most grateful for. It's been years since I saw this movie last, but when I saw it for sale, I could not resisit the urge to buy it. This film is fantastic. Jeff Daniels is surprisingly good, and helps to carry the movie along well. The entire cast is rather zany, and that really makes it a great movie to watch. The plot revolves around incredibly venomous spiders from Argentina who have cross-breeded with a common house spider here in America. Jeff Daniels plays a doctor who suffers from arachnophobia. Hence you can see where this is going. Daniels ineviatbly has to face his fear and the results are funny, tense, and frightening. If you are afraid of spiders, I wouldn't watch this movie, it seriously can frighten you. But, John Goodman appears as Delbert to liven things up and make the atmosphere more humerous. Topped off with a very good soundtrack, this movie is far beyond your average horror flick. Sit back and enjoy this one, it's excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Generally unwatchable
Review: Promising story becomes rediculous after the first half-hour. The directing by Frank Marshall could have been a bit more thoughtful.Let's not forget the man made Congo. If that doesn't give away the film's quality I don't know what does. Only redeeming Quality is John Goodman.
Rating:
Summary: One of the scariest movies ever made!
Review: There stands Jeff Daniels, holding a shovel, ready to strike at the predators that would do his family harm. Only minutes before, his family is running up the stairs, as if trying to escape something massive and deadly. What's ironic about the situation in "Arachnophobia" is that there are no gruesome monsters or devilish people running amuck in the small town setting, but instead, a simple fear is given a whole new name as innumerable tiny spiders begin a rampage that makes for one of the best movies of 1990. "Arachnophobia," which, appropriately defines a fear of spiders, presents us with a plotline that pits man again nature, calling attention to the horror movies of the old days while taking its title and creating an immense amount of tension and suspense with unique story twists and some nicely added comic relief. I did find the movie to be predictable in places, but that didn't stop me from having an enormous amount of fun with it. The movie begins in Venezuela, where an expedition into the tropical forests leads to the discovery of a previously unknown species of arachnid. A photographer along for the ride is bitten by the spider and dies of convulsions, yet the cause of death remains unknown to everyone else, and so the body, along with the stowaway spider, is shipped back to his hometown of Canaima, where a new doctor is also moving in. Having moved from San Francisco to begin a practice in the small town, Dr. Ross Jennings, with his wife and two children, is dismayed when he learns that the previous doctor has decided not to retire. Beginning a practice of his own, he starts out with one patient, who is bitten by a deadly spider which was spawned in the barn in the backyard of Jennings' house. This, along with many other deaths, raise questions about the circumstances of the deaths, and as the facts are slowly revealed, the tension becomes increasingly delicious as the arachnids begin taking over the town. The mark of a truly good film is its ability to stay in touch with a certain message in its title in order for it to make sense. "Arachnophobia" is magnificent in its achievement of this goal, taking the minute fear of spiders and turning it into something quite suspenseful. This is done by placing a spider in almost every scene, and centering that specific part of the story around something that has to do with it, or them. One minute we see a lone creature, and the next there are thousands of them crawling across dry grass, up walls, and sometimes, on people. And these aren't the textbook spiders who merely hunt their prey from their spun webs and await some unsuspecting insect to fly into their trap. These arachnids are hunters, out for a taste of any kind of blood they can lay their fangs on. They are fast and unrelenting, vicious and brutal, and altogether extremely scary. The story is a well-spun (pardon the pun) piece of work which presents its elements well. The beginning takes things in stride by introducing us to the characters fluidly, and then slowly builds up to a heightened amount of suspense by placing those characters into extreme situations. We can care for what happens to the characters because we know who they are: Jennings' fear of spiders is presented, which comes into play with his confrontation with the spider. The spider makes a truly marvelous enemy, and Ross Jennings is an equally engrossing hero in the final act. Played by Jeff Daniels, his stand-off with the queen spider is just as good as any modern-day action sequence you'll see. We have a slight idea of what is going to happen, but Daniels' acting not only brings out the immense fear in his character, but keeps us at bay, wanting more until the climax reaches its peak. And to allay some of the tension comes John Goodman as an extremely hilarious exterminator who jumps in to save the day in his own little way. "Arachnophobia" does many different things for me: it certainly makes me think twice before reaching into my popcorn bowl, putting on my shoes or a football helmet. But, it also is a great ride, with lots of thrills and even more chills to please all. Fear will never be the same again!
Rating:
Summary: Seriously creepy if you are an arachnophobe
Review: This is a solid piece of quality filmaking and i believe it presses all the right buttons, if not being exactly spectacular.
The plot: an expedition team to the deepest jungles of South America discover what they believe to be a new species of spider. On the way back to camp, a gargantuan tarantula hitches a ride on the team's equipment housing, and promptly bites a member of the crew, killing him on the spot with it's deadly poison. Unknown to the team, the same spider stows away in the man's coffin. The exact same coffin is shipped back to a small sleepy little wilderness town, where by coincidence an arachnophobic doctor played by Jeff Daniels has just moved in. The large spider escapes from the coffin and mates with a local spider, creating hundreds of deadly-poisonous baby spiders and mayhem ensues all over the town.
Contrary to the image this all may conjure up, this is actually a well constructed and clever little fim, which instead of the recently avaliable on video and DVD 'Eight-Legged Freaks', uses suspense instead of action as it's main weapon. And it uses it well. Obviously, comparisions between arachnophobia and ELF will be, of course, made, and if i had to make one i would say this is the marginally better film. It is not a spectacular film, and contains little big set-pices or FX, but is heavy on dialogue, suspense and does produce shocks a-plenty. The spiders in question are not huge as in ELF, but tiny and deadly poisonous. There are only a handful of deaths in the film, which may seem low, but a suspenseful film like this does not need gore or action to be scary. As in most horror-type films, it's what you can't see that is the most scary, rather than what you can. This is a film that will have you checking all your dark corners of the house with a long broom handle to make sure they are free of spiders totally, and frightened me when i first saw it, being a sort of low-case arachnophobe myself.
This film is actually hugely different to most of it's competitors in the genre, not FX laden or gore-splattered, but finely set up and crafted. Although it is somewhat wasted on DVD, due to the type of film it is, it is a great addition to any collection and i would highly recommend this to most people, particularly horror buffs or people who, indeed, like this sort of thing. I think arachnophobia is one of the best horror-comedies ever made, being as it is, a scary yet tongue-in-cheek film. Arachnphobia is definately a fine film, and is not too scary to be a family film either, making it a versatile piece of cinema. A word of warning though: do NOT show this to any pople who are very highly arachnphobic, as the end sequence will have them sleepless nights for a long time afterwards.
Rating:
Summary: Good, creepy entertainment
Review: This was a good movie. Creepy in the right way. Doesn't quite do to spiders what Jaws did with sharks, but worth the viewing. On a side note, I can't believe the moron who complained about the killing of spiders in this movie. Pal, life must be pretty boring for you.
Rating:
Summary: A great spider movie
Review: This was a great movie. Everything about the movie was great. Very good acting throughout the movie. It's about these killer spiders who invade a small town killing almost everyone in it. As always, the ending was the best. The ending was filled with suspence. Even people who hate spiders should see this movie. I am not a spider lover but still loved this movie. Jeff Daniels is wonderful in this movie. Buy this movie, it is great for the whole family.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining comic thriller.
Review: When a Doctor (Jeff Daniels), his wife (Harley Jane Kozak) and thier childern move to a small town. When a deadly south american Spider has come to the small town and the Spider relase a passel of deadly offspring. The film is both funny and scary at the same time, a delightful roller-coaster ride of Guffaws and Gasps. Directed by Frank Marshall (Alive & Congo) brings engetic film, which is part Horror, part Comedy and part Thriller. This film has the Jaws formula. Actor:Jeff Daniels did have a real fear about Spiders. This is a entertaining crackerjack thriller. Exective Produced by Steven Spielberg. Grade:A-.
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