- "Our town is being attacked by giant spiders! We need military intervention!"
- ―Chris McCormick
| Eight Legged Freaks | |
|---|---|
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| Credits | |
| Title: | Eight Legged Freaks |
| Directed by: | Ellory Elkayem |
| Written by: | Ellory Elkayem; Randy Kornfield; Jesse Alexander |
| Produced by: | Bruce Berman; Dean Devlin; Roland Emmerich; William Fay; Kelly Van Horn; Peter Winther |
| Music by: | John Ottman |
| Cinematography: | John S. Bartley |
| Edited by: | David Siegel |
| Production | |
| Distributed by: | Village Roadshow Pictures Warner Bros. Centropolis Entertainment |
| Released: | July 17th, 2002 |
| Rating: | PG-13 |
| Running time: | 99 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $30,000,000 |
| Gross: | $17,322,606 (US) $45,867,333 (Worldwide) |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | — |
Eight Legged Freaks is an American feature film blending elements of horror, science fiction and comedy. It was intended as a humorous send-up to the classic "creature features" of the 1950s and 1960s. The movie was written and directed by Ellory Elkayem and co-written by Randy Kornfield and Jesse Alexander. It was produced by Centropolis Entertainment and Village Roadshow Pictures and distributed through Warner Bros. Pictures. The premise of the film centers around the small mining community of Prosperity, Arizona, who suddenly find themselves victims of a horde of giant, mutated spiders. Actor David Arquette plays Chris McCormick, who returns to Prosperity after having been away for ten years. He reunites with the town's sheriff, Samantha Parker, played by Kari Wuhrer, who not only struggles with raising a teenage daughter and a disobedient son, but now must also defend her town against the rising tide of "eight legged freaks". Other stars in the film include Scott Terra as Mike Parker, Scarlett Johansson as Ashley Parker, Doug E. Doug as conspiracy theorist Harlan Griffith and Rick Overton as Deputy Pete Willis.
Plot[]
Rise of the Spiders[]
- "They're not aliens they're spiders mutated by contaminated waste!"
- ―Deputy Pete Willis
In the quiet mining town of Prosperity, Arizona, an accident involving a rabbit causes a barrel of toxic waste to land in a reservoir. An exotic spider farmer named Joshua Taft has been making regular visits to the site, where he collects crickets for his spiders. Although the spiders have ingested the toxins, he is oblivious since the arachnids seem unaffected. Joshua shows Mike Parker, a local boy, his collection, which include jumping spiders, trapdoor spiders, tarantulas, and orb-weavers, including a female orb-weaver named Consuela. After Mike leaves, Joshua is bitten by an escaped tarantula and accidentally knocks down the spider cages. He is killed by the spiders and, after devouring him, the spiders grow to even huger proportions.
On his way home, Mike is accosted by his mother, Sheriff Samantha Parker and Deputy Pete Willis pulling the toxic barrel out of the pond. At this point, Sam also berates her teenage daughter Ashley for cavorting about with a reckless motorcycle-riding boy named Bret. She later gives Ashley a stun gun for protection.
Wade, the Mayor of Prosperity, is holding a town meeting in the mall about whether they should sell the mines and relocate. He tells them that the Vironanol Corporation is offering a lot of money to help facilitate the relocation efforts so they can gobble up the land. Chris McCormick, whose father owned the mines before he died ten years earlier, shows up at the meeting and stands against Wade's proposition. Chris reunites with Samantha, with whom he has always harbored unrequited feelings towards.
Meanwhile, Harlan Griffith, an eccentric extraterrestrial enthusiast, is broadcasting his theory that various missing pets around town have been abducted by extraterrestrials. Inevitably his theory is dismissed as the product of a deranged imagination.
Mike sneaks out on foot to find Joshua but finds the spiders missing, the farm covered in webbing, and the dead body of Joshua. Although he sees an enormous spider shadow in the mines and tells Chris that the spiders have grown to enormous sizes, based on a giant spider leg he found at the mine entrance, Chris disbelieves his story. Meanwhile, the mines have reopened with the miners searching for a famous gold lode.
Attack on Prosperity[]
- "Don't make any movements or noises. There's a giant tarantula headed your way."
- ―Mike Parker
Spiders are on the move.
One miner named Leon is eaten by a gigantic spider, whose clan has made the mines their home. Seeing as the entire town is connected in some way to the mines, spiders show up in many different places. Pete's cat has a fight with one of the spiders in the air vents before being eaten, and some of the ostriches on Wade's farm are devoured by trapdoor Spiders.
Sam's daughter Ashley goes on a date with Bret, but when Bret gets a little too frisky, she zaps him in the crotch with a stun gun, causing him to urinate himself. She takes off in the truck, leaving Bret alone with bike.
Bret and his motorcyclist friends are chased by jumping spiders, with him being the only survivor. During this harrowing incident, a truck driver veers off the road, slamming into a power pole, accidentally cutting off the telephone lines in the town.
Watch out, Bob!
Chris finds out that his Aunt Gladys and her dog Bruiser are abducted by a male orb weaver in their basement. The only thing left of Bruiser is his collar. He finds a hole in the floor that leads down into the mines.
Sam is convinced Chris and Mike are delusional. However, her skepticism fades and she realizes that Chris and Mike were right all along when she witnesses a giant male orb-weaver attempting to abduct Ashley and Chris; The huge spider breaks into Ashley's room and webs her to the wall. Chris tries to save her, but the spider webs him as well. Sam bursts in with a shotgun and shoots the spider dead, to which Chris meekly replies, "Thank you".
Meanwhile Bret, still wandering the mines, gets a good peek at the giant Consuela during her feeding.
Sam contacts Pete and tells him to bring all of the guns in the police station's possession and they escape to Harlan's trailer, knowing he has a radio station and will be able to broadcast a signal since the phones are inoperative. Harlan is convinced that these creatures are actually alien invaders, and Chris is surprised that the conspiracy theorist can so readily accept the idea of alien, but has difficulty believing in giant spiders. To allay Harlan's concerns, Chris tells him that they are "spiders from Mars".
Samantha makes a city-wide broadcast, warning the citizens of Prosperity that they are being attacked by giant spiders. She instructs everyone to arm themselves and to go to the Prosperity Mall, where she believes the concrete walls and steel doors will afford them safe protection. While making the broadcast, a giant tarantula assaults the trailer, but the group manages to escape. The town is besieged by vicious spider hordes, many of which pop up from concealed bolt holes that connect to the mines. The main street area is overrun by spiders and dozens of people are either killed, or taken to be cocooned.
Showdown at the mall[]
- "Get back, you eight-legged freaks!"
- ―Chris McCormick
Preparing for a fight.
Chris, Samantha, Mike, Ashley, Harlan, Wade and many other townspeople all escape and barricade themselves in the mall. Wade sneaks away into an area that leads into the mines and locks the gate before the spiders converge on the mall. The tarantula tears at the steel gates with his leg, ripping a hole into the mall big enough for the smaller spiders to climb through. The townsfolk arm themselves with the weapons that Deputy Willis brought as well as various items found in the mall itself including a crossbows, pitchforks and sporting goods.
"They're here! They're here!"
Harlan and Chris climb onto the roof and ascend the radio mast and try to get a signal to call the United States Army as they are being attacked by the spiders. While Chris frantically tells the 911 operator that they require military intervention, but she believes him to be making a prank call. Harlan jumps from the roof, after the tarantula breaks open the gates and lets the spiders enter the mall, and lands in some bushes, where he meets up with Pete. The two run from spiders as Chris meets up with the remaining townsfolk and goes down to the basement. Meanwhile Bret, still wandering the mines, encounters the cowardly Wade before his abduction.
Chris meets Consuela.
While the townsfolk are in the basement, Bret arrives on a forklift that brings down the locked gate, and they all head to through the mines straight to the front entrance, discovering the methane-filled tunnels. After losing Norman the janitor, and freeing Wade, Chris goes to look for his Aunt Gladys in the mines and finds her still alive, as well as the gold his father was searching for. Moments later, the gigantic Consuela appears before him. He uses perfume to distract the spider and then escapes using Bret's motorcycle. Chris then blows up the spiders and the mines utilizing Gladys's smoking addiction and the high concentrations of methane gas.
The police finally arrive. They had not believed the reports of the spiders, but believed Harlan's theory that the assailants were extraterrestrial in nature, until Pete tells them that the assailants were "just spiders, that had ingested extremely high levels of toxic waste." He attempts to prove this by removing his hat, showing us that he is bald. He runs his hand back and forth over his head saying; "All new growth, just look at this, all new growth!"
A short time later, Harlan is heard making a radio report about the spiders. He concludes that the town has decided to cover up the whole incident, but have let Harlan continue broadcasting the incident, knowing nobody will believe him. He also mentions Chris reopening the gold mines and putting everyone back to work. Harlan smiles revealing three glistening gold teeth.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| David Arquette | Chris McCormick |
| Kari Wuhrer | Sheriff Samantha Parker |
| Scott Terra | Mike Parker |
| Scarlett Johansson | Ashley Parker |
| Doug E. Doug | Harlan Griffith |
| Rick Overton | Deputy Pete Willis |
| Leon Rippy | Mayor Wade |
| Matt Czuchry | Bret |
Supporting cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jay Arlen Jones | Leon |
| Eileen Ryan | Gladys |
| Riley Smith | Randy |
| Matt Holwick | Larry |
| Jane Edith Wilson | Emma |
| Jack Moore | Amos |
| Roy Gainter | Floyd |
| Don Champlin | Leroy |
| John Storey | Mark |
| David Earl Waterman | Norman |
| Randi J. Klein | Waitress #1 |
| Terey Summers | Waitress #2 |
| John Ennis | Cop #1 |
| Ryan C. Benson | Cop #2 |
| Bruiser | Himself |
| Tom Noonan | Joshua Taft |
Characters[]
- Chris McCormick: Owner of the McCormick Mines; returned after 10 years abroad.
- Samantha Parker: Sheriff of Prosperity. Mother of Ashley and Mike Parker.
- Mike Parker: Child genius, spider enthusiast and son of Samantha Parker.
- Pete Willis: Town Deputy under Sheriff Samanta Parker.
- Ashley Parker: Rebellious teenage daughter of Samantha Parker.
- Harlan Griffith: Radio DJ and conspiracy theorist.
- Joshua Taft: Owner of Taft's Exotic Spider Farm.
- Wade: Ponytailed Mayor of Prosperity and owner of an ostrich farm.
- Bob Miller: Floyd's best customer; found hanging from the ceiling during the spider attack.
- Brian Parker: Sam Parker's ex-husband; punched in the face by Chris when he found out he was cheating on Sam.
- Floyd: Baber Shop
- Leroy: Floyd's best friend
- Mark:
- Amos: Truck driver
- Randy: Bret's best friend; was present when Sheriff Parker stopped them for racing their motorcycles on the highway.
- Bret: A teenage motorcycle rider and boyfriend of Ashley Parker; Stepson of Mayor Wade.
- Carol: Waitress at a restaurant who served Wade an ostrich burger.
- Gladys: The chain-smoking aunt of Chris McCormick.
- Emma Willis: Emma was the wife of Pete Willis. She left him after the incident with the cat.
- Larry: Bret's best friend; was present when Sheriff Parker stopped them for racing their motorcycles on the highway.
- Leon: Foreman at McCormick Mines. Was killed by giant spiders after re-opening the mines.
- Norman: Norman was at the Prosperity diner and later survived the attack at the mall. He was killed by a giant spider when the group moved down into the mines.
- Tammy: Tammy was Larry's girlfriend. According to Bret, the two "did it" every night.
Notes[]
- Eight Legged Freaks redirects here.
- This is the second feature film directed by Ellory Elkayem. He previously directed the sci-fi/horror movie They Nest. As a writer, this is his first film work.
- This is an early teen-era appearance by actress Scarlett Johansson. She will go on to play Jordan Two Delta in Michael Bay's The Island as well as Natahsa Romanoff, aka, the Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Actor David Arquette will go on to play bumbling town deputy Dewey Riley in Wes Craven's Scream film series.
- Production on Eight Legged Freaks began on January 8th, 2001. This is the same day that production began on Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. Ironically, both films deal with the subject of spiders.
- Eight Legged Freaks was released on DVD in Region 1 format by Warner Home Video (widescreen and fullscreen) on October 29th, 2002. It was re-released on November 3rd, 2009.
- The term "eight legged freaks" is actually used by Chris McCormick while he is on the antenna on the roof of the mall.
- Harlan Griffith makes references to Mother Teresa, Gandhi and L. Ron Hubbard in this film.
- One of the Prosperity Mall survivors dons a hockey mask and chainsaw, invoking the imagery of Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th film series.
- The line that Joshua Taft's parrot keeps intoning, "I see dead people", is a famous line of dialogue spoken by Haley Joel Osment's Cole Sear in the 1999 supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense.
- Chris McCormick tells Harlan Griffith that these are "spiders from Mars". Spiders from Mars was the name of David Bowie's backup band in the 1970s during his "Ziggy Stardust" era.
- The character of Joshua Taft uses the phrase "Arach-Attack" when describing the accelerated growth of the orb-weaver spiders. This was also one of the working titles of the film.
External Links[]
References[]
2000s; 2002; Arachnology; Arizona; Ashley Parker; Birds; Cats; Chris McCormick; Cochise County; Crickets; Deputy; Eaten alive; Entomology; Florida; Giant animal; Harlan Griffith; Insects; Joshua Taft; KFRD; Ostrich; Mars; Mike Parker; Mutant; Parrots; Pete Willis; Phoenix; Pitchfork; Police officer; Prosperity; Prosperity Mall; Rabbits; Rifle; Samantha Parker; Scientist; Sheriff; Shopping mall; Shotgun; Smoking; Spiders; Stabbings; Tarantulas; Taft's Exotic Spider Farm; Truck driver; Vironanol Corporation; Waitress