13 Nights of Shocktober: Arachnophobia (1990)

by A.J.

Night 10 Creature Feature Night/Julian Sands Memorial Night II

“A web would indicate an arachnoid presence.”

Arachnophobia (1990)

Arachnophobia is both fun and frightening, finding just the right balance between humor and horror. The premise is B-grade material, but in the hands of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment company, with longtime Spielberg producer Frank Marshall in the director’s chair, the result is a creepy, crawly, but not too scary or too gross film about killer spiders that invade a small country town. If you indeed suffer from the titular affliction, it might be a lot to handle, as much for the close ups of spiders as for the spider facts about how many live in a house at any given time. 

Jeff Daniels plays a doctor who has recently moved his family from the big city to the small rural community of Canaima, an idyllic small town if there ever was one. Dr. Jennings (Daniels) made the decision to move reluctantly, he much prefers city life and has arachnophobia from an encounter with a spider when he was a toddler. His wife (Harley Jane Kozak) takes a picture of a large, impressive spider web in the old barn on their property. Of course, neither knows that living in their barn and cellar is a rare ultra deadly spider that killed a photographer on an expedition in South America and hitched a ride in the photographer’s coffin to their town. That spider crossbred with a local spider and the killer offspring are spreading throughout the town. The bodies of healthy people start piling up and Dr. Jennings’s calls for autopsies and an investigation are ignored by the lazy sheriff and established old doctor. Eventually an arachnid specialist, Professor Atherton (Julian Sands), his assistant (Brian McNamara), and a slyly goofy exterminator (John Goodman), join in the battle to save the town and stop the killer spiders from spreading. Yes, this is JAWS but with spiders. 

On the human side, the trio of Daniels, Sands, and Goodman are what make the film work. Daniels grounds the film as an everyman out of his element in a new town and forced to confront the thing he fears the most. Julian Sands is not in the movie a lot but his scenes leave an impression and serve an important purpose. Sands grounds the film on a scientific level, bringing spider facts and plausibility to the whole scenario. His Professor Atherton character is a take on the “mad scientist” archetype; he doesn’t go over the top or come to side with the monster like a typical mad scientist, but his obsession proves to be his undoing. Also, the scenes with Jeff Daniels and Julian Sands together have a lot of feathery blonde hair going on. John Goodman as Delbert the exterminator maybe took a note or two from Bill Murray’s groundskeeper character in Caddyshack, but Goodman of course makes the performance his own. He doesn’t ground the movie so much as provide important comic relief. The rest of the performers play everything straight, but Goodman’s character lets you know that it is okay to laugh. He also gets to be a hero in addition to being comic relief, which is very cool.  I remember seeing Arachnophobia in theaters when I was 5 years old and being so scared that I was crying and hiding my face in my mom’s shoulder. Then I remember her telling me to look at the screen when Goodman showed up at the end with “private stock” of extra poisonous pesticide to kill the spiders. My 5-year-old self was very relieved. 

On the spider side, the movie works because director Marshall and cinematographer Mikael Salomon find a way to shoot the spiders that makes them menacing instead of puny and squishable. The close-ups of the spiders, both real and prosthetic, are creepy and gross. The shots of people narrowly avoiding the spiders as the score builds then stops abruptly are cliched but also work because, for most, the thought of coming that close to any kind of spider is enough to enhance the horror. Even the less effective shots of fake spiders dangling from strings—I mean webs—still work because of most people’s natural aversion to spiders. The practical effects of the giant “general” spider and the pulsating egg sac hold up very well. 

Arachnophobia is aware of the paradoxical legitimacy of a fear of spiders (because some are poisonous and potentially deadly) and its absurdity (because they are so small and we are so big) and leans into that. Characters reach into corners or are frustratingly unaware of the deadly spider in the foreground while they wander about unaware in the background. These scenes simultaneously create tension and humor and then the movie lets you know it is okay to feel both. Despite the close ups of fake and real spiders, the movie never gets gross or goes for easy schlock sensation. This is a not-so-scary movie that viewers of most ages can enjoy, but scary enough to be an effective horror. Most of all it is still entertaining after more than 30 years.

Arachnophobia is available to stream on Tubi and is available on DVD.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Matinee

by A. J.

Happy Halloween! The countdown is over and Halloween is finally upon us. Tonight, hopefully, you'll be relaxing, eating some candy, and watching a scary, or not-so-scary, movie. There are a lot of options for tonight and I hope I've been of some help. Here is my final recommendation to help bring an end to Shocktober:

Night 13: Matinee
Theater Manager: “The country is on red alert. People are already scared.”

Lawrence Woolsey: “Exactly! What a perfect time to open a new horror movie.”

Matinee, directed by Joe Dante begins with real images of actual horrors: stock footage of nuclear blasts annihilating a house, bending and breaking trees. This is what was on the minds of Americans in October of 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis, especially those in Key West, Florida where Matinee takes place. Film producer and showman Lawrence Woolsey comes into town to test screen his latest movie, MANT, a cheesy B-horror movie about a man turning into a radioactive ant monster. Woolsey thinks the atmosphere of nuclear hysteria that the town is feeling is perfect for the premiere of his film. He needs it to be a big success to impress a big time theater owner and get nationwide bookings. Luckily, Woolsey has a few tricks up his sleeve.

The other main character is a young teenager named Gene Loomis. His family just moved to Key West because his father is in the Navy and is serving on one of ships surrounding Cuba. Gene and his little brother, Dennis, spend their free time at the local movie theater watching low budget horror movies. When another boy that lives on naval base asks if they want to shoot frogs with an air gun, Dennis is excited until Gene politely tells the boy no and whispers to Dennis, “that’s disgusting.” Dennis immediately agrees. These boys only like horror and death when it is fake and on a screen.

The boys are both big fans of Woolsey and get to meet him outside of the movie theater when Woolsey shows up to address some men protesting his upcoming movie. Gene recognizes one of the protesters from Woolsey’s previous movie and realizes the protest is staged. When he brings it up to Woolsey in a later scene, Woolsey is impressed and befriends Gene. As they walk around town Woolsey talks to Gene about the appeal of horror and monster movies. He tells him that people that put their hands over their eyes for the scary parts aren’t getting the full experience of the movie. When the scare is over you feel safe and alive, you know you are alive. That’s what horror movies are all about.

Matinee is inspired by horror movie producer/director/promoter William Castle and the kitschy, but loveable, movies he made in the 1950s and 60s. John Goodman is great as the kid-at-heart Lawrence Woolsey, who is based directly on Castle. The first time we see Woolsey is in a trailer for his upcoming movie. He is in a pose recreating William Castle's famous silhouette (the second most famous silhouette in movies): sitting in a director’s chair with a cigar and looking up. Castle’s films succeeded largely because of the gimmicks he used to enhance the viewing experience and scare the audience. Perhaps his most famous gimmick is from The Tingler starring Vincent Price. Certain theater seats were rigged with buzzers to give the moviegoers in those seats a jolt, at just the right moment, and scare them out of their seats. Woolsey uses the same effect for MANT, along with a few others. He also hires someone to run out into the audience in an ant suit during certain scenes and requires everyone seeing MANT to sign a waiver in case they are scared to death (another gimmick Castle used for one of his movies).

The screening for MANT is the climax of Matinee and is over the top, to say the least. It’s the kind of showing that William Castle would’ve dreamed of having. However, the real heart of the climax is what is happening between Gene, his friend Stan, and their respective dates. Matinee does a great job of showing us the romanticized version of life in the early 1960s, but also the real fears and dangers of the era. The kids are just as worried about nuclear war as the adults, but they also have average teenage worries that keep them from slipping into hysteria.

Matinee is not just a movie about movies, a genre I happen to love, it is about moviegoers and storytellers. It is about how movies can be a type of catharsis and help us escape from reality, even if that reality is impending nuclear war. It is a rare love letter to horror movies and why we go to them, even bad ones. It does its best to try to show us the intangible experience of going to the movies. William Castle did his best to give his audiences a true and memorable experience and Matinee is a fitting and loving tribute to him and his movies.