Eight Legged Freaks MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: -2

This is apparently the year of the spider, from the Marvel Comics hero to Australian bird eating ones to giant monsters. In this horror comedy, the town of Prosperity, Arizona is anything but prosperous. The once thriving McCormick gold mines have been laying off workers since the death of the owner. Sheriff Sam Parker (Kari Wuhrer) police activity is mainly concerned with her teenage daughter Ashley (Scarlett Johansson) and son Mike (Scott Terra). While Ashley dates the fun-time jock son of the wealthy mall owner, science-loving Mike makes frequent visits to the local tourist attraction, an exotic spider farm. Hes memorized all the facts and figures about the arachnids. But a toxic waste spill into a nearby pond makes the spiders cricket food into insect steroids and theyre getting bigger every day. After ten years, Chris McCormick (David Arquette) returns to Prosperity to help find the gold vein his father missed and re-open the mines. He also hopes to re-kindle his relationship with Sam. But first, they have to save the town from the huge EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS. Fans of 50s horror movies like THEM, featuring giant ants, will enjoy this humorously updated thiller.

Perhaps its their eight legs, the way they leave webs hanging everywhere or stories about the poisonous varieties, but people seem to have an ingrained dislike, if not fear, of spiders. And squeamish viewers will definitely squirm as various spider species are shown in gigantic form. Hairy jumping spiders chase and attack people, trapdoor spiders pop out of the ground to grab ostriches and townspeople, and orb spinners wrap people alive in webbing to feed on later. In fact, one scene shows a spiders mouth probe stabbing a cocoon while screams are heard. But spiders are also dispatched in various ways, with green gooey results. One particularly gross scene has several spiders crawling from a mans mouth. Harland (Doug E. Doug), a local radio DJ, talks about government conspiracies and alien kidnappings and invasions, with a particular fear of being probed. To her credit, Ashley refuses to have sex with her boyfriend and reluctantly admits her mother was right about the guy. But she also makes a disparaging reference to her mothers teen pregnancy and current job. Although often done in a humorous manner, the frequent, gross violence along with several crude sexual comments and vulgar language gives EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS a bad spin.

Preview Reviewer: Paul Bicking
Distributor: Warner Bros., 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91522