‘They have come from another world… to stay!’
Arachnid is a 2001 Spanish horror film directed by Jack Sholder (Alone in the Dark; A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge; The Hidden; Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies) from a screenplay by Mark Sevi (Ghoulies IV; Scanner Cop 2; Serial Killer; Pterodactyl). The film was made in Spain by Brian Yuzna‘s Fantastic Films production company (Dagon; Beyond Re-Animator).
The film had a limited US release by Lions Gate Films. For its low budget, estimated at $570,000, it did well at the box office, scoring $1.123 million.
In the documentary Behind the Curtain Part II (2012) director Jack Sholder, commented: “I basically did it for the money and it was a stupid script… I got to live in Barcelona for six months and, you know, they paid me well. Everything was good except I had to go to work everyday and shoot a dumb script. I haven’t seen that one since, you know, I made it. And some people say ‘Oh well, it’s actually better than you think’, but I basically tell people to avoid that one.”
Main cast:
Alex Reid, Chris Potter, Rocqueford Allen, Robert Vicencio and José Sancho.
Plot:
A plane crashes on an island, and the pilot comes across a giant spider, which kills both him and an alien.
One year later, Mercer (Alex Reid), the sister of the pilot, accompanies Valentine (Chris Potter) to the same island to locate her brother. On the way to a native village to examine several natives who are dying of spider bites, ticks burrow into Reyes (Luis Lorenzo Crespo). Upon reaching the village, they discover that the village has moved on. Reyes begins to cough up the ticks and Bear (Rocqueford Allen) decides to shoot him to end his suffering.
That night, Mercer wanders off and is attacked by a mutated spider, but is saved by a native, who ends up getting bitten and dying the next morning. The group moves on, and are attacked by a giant spider, which kills Henry (an “arachnologist”) and Samuel (the group’s doctor). A smaller spider attacks Bear, and another native is killed. Valentine, Mercer and Susana (Neus Asensi), Samuel’s assistant, hole up in a military bunker…
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Reviews:
“This film was pretty generic, especially by todays’ standards when these giant bug movies seem to play on SyFy channel pretty frequently, but what sets Arachnid apart is that the creatures WERE NOT, I repeat, NOT CGI and looked pretty damn nice. Especially the giant spider and we have effects master Steve Johnson behind the creatures.” Corey Danna, HorrorNews.net
“Overall Arachnid is a cheap cheesy fun monster film which will probably have you laughing more than screaming unless of course you have a severe phobia of spiders in which case this could be the scariest horror you have ever seen.” Zombie 2, Love Horror
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“Scary? Not enough. Unless the sight of a scientist having his paralysed legs eaten by baby spiders behind a screen of webbing puts you off your greens, there is nothing to lose sleep about.” Angus Wolfe Murray, Eye for Film
“Locations are acceptable; effects less so. Some of the stuff involving webs will generate giggles instead of gasps. The ooky spider juice is better.” Mike Mayo, The Horror Show Guide
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Cast and characters:
- Alex Reid … Mercer
- Chris Potter … Valentine
- Rocqueford Allen … Bear
- Robert Vicencio … Toe Boy (as Robert Gabriel Vicencio)
- José Sancho … Dr. Samuel Leon
- Neus Asensi … Susana Gabriel
- Ravil Isyanov … Henry Capri
- Luis Lorenzo Crespo … Reyes (as Luis Lorenzo)
- Jesús Cabrero … Lightfoot
- Héctor Chiquín … Native 1
- Conejo Wilson … Native 2
- Fausto Gualsaqui … Native 3
Trailer:
Web and death scene:
Wikipedia | IMDb | Related: Arachnophobia: Spiders on the Screen – article by David Flint
