Arachnophobia Review

Written by: Ash's missing hand   

Spiders can make some really geometrically beautiful webs but to see one means to stomp on it as fast as you can. Would you rather be trapped in a room full of spiders or cockroaches?

The movie begins in South America, where a new species of spider is discovered. It is about the size of a large hand, and its bite is deadly. It kills an expedition member and then hitches a ride back to California in his coffin. It breeds with a domestic spider and then starts targeting the locals.

Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels) has a overwhelming fear of spiders. He moves with his wife (Harley Jane Kozak) and his kids into a really nice house. It has a barn which is a perfect place for the spiders to hang out. Then bad things start to happen. An old widow and a high school football player both drop dead. The old doctor refuses to do an autopsy, but things happen to prove him wrong. A spider expert (Julian Sands) arrives from the university and gives them some really unwelcome news.

The movies never goes over the edge into horror but your mind takes over and it has you squirming in your seat. It maintains a sense of humor (especially when John Goodman shows up as the local exterminator). The movie will stand the test of time because it is human nature to fear the dark corners, which is the last place anyone wants to stick their hand into.