It follows the formula as if in a Marine boot camp. Strictly lockstep. A nice young doctor, his beautiful wife, and two lovely kiddies move out of the city and buy a ranch house in a small town. The house seems to have everything they want. It even has a large, well-stocked wine cellar. The cellar is always dark, cluttered, and musty.
One after another, townspeople begin to die mysteriously. The young doctor, Jeff Daniels, an arachnophobe, thinks something is going on and asks for autopsies. The old doctor, Henry Jones, the one who refuses to retire, disagrees vehemently. Nobody believes Daniels. The people of the village scorn him and tease his children. The local infestation controller ("exterminator" to you) is matter-of-fact about the affair. Then the old doctor himself becomes a victim and Daniels finally gets his autopsies.
Spiders did it.
An forensic arachnologist, or whatever he is, Julian Sands, is called in on the case. He identifies the culprit as a deadly Venezuelan species that is organized like the social insects -- termites, bees, ants, and so forth. They have drones, workers, scullery maids, boot blacks, queens, and all that.
Then, more or less suddenly, the little creatures are all over the place, dropping from the ceilings, crawling into the shower to spy on Daniel's teen aged daughter, proving that they're not entirely evil. A final confrontation involves the wine cellar, Daniels, and the queen of spiders, now grown to the size of an elephant seal.
The direction isn't bad, given the idiocy of the plot. What can you do with a thousand spiders except have them crawl all over the place and leap at people from hidden places? What else can you have them do? A toe dance to the incidental music from "Rosamunde"? Form a twenty-foot pyramid like tiny circus acrobats? In case you're in any doubt about what you're supposed to be thinking and feeling, the musical score stuffs innumerable cues down your throat. Yes, when Daniels explores the wine cellar or the barn with a flashlight, it's a spooky scene. You can tell because the violins are going orgasmic with tremolo.
Jeff Daniels, by the way, is the perfect actor for a role like this. His instrument only has one note. Not that that's necessarily bad, because Gary Cooper only had one and a half. That marmoreal aspect fits precisely. If he were more expressive he'd have become screaming mad by the movie's end.
The film is bound to leave its mark on the history of cinematic mediocrity.
One after another, townspeople begin to die mysteriously. The young doctor, Jeff Daniels, an arachnophobe, thinks something is going on and asks for autopsies. The old doctor, Henry Jones, the one who refuses to retire, disagrees vehemently. Nobody believes Daniels. The people of the village scorn him and tease his children. The local infestation controller ("exterminator" to you) is matter-of-fact about the affair. Then the old doctor himself becomes a victim and Daniels finally gets his autopsies.
Spiders did it.
An forensic arachnologist, or whatever he is, Julian Sands, is called in on the case. He identifies the culprit as a deadly Venezuelan species that is organized like the social insects -- termites, bees, ants, and so forth. They have drones, workers, scullery maids, boot blacks, queens, and all that.
Then, more or less suddenly, the little creatures are all over the place, dropping from the ceilings, crawling into the shower to spy on Daniel's teen aged daughter, proving that they're not entirely evil. A final confrontation involves the wine cellar, Daniels, and the queen of spiders, now grown to the size of an elephant seal.
The direction isn't bad, given the idiocy of the plot. What can you do with a thousand spiders except have them crawl all over the place and leap at people from hidden places? What else can you have them do? A toe dance to the incidental music from "Rosamunde"? Form a twenty-foot pyramid like tiny circus acrobats? In case you're in any doubt about what you're supposed to be thinking and feeling, the musical score stuffs innumerable cues down your throat. Yes, when Daniels explores the wine cellar or the barn with a flashlight, it's a spooky scene. You can tell because the violins are going orgasmic with tremolo.
Jeff Daniels, by the way, is the perfect actor for a role like this. His instrument only has one note. Not that that's necessarily bad, because Gary Cooper only had one and a half. That marmoreal aspect fits precisely. If he were more expressive he'd have become screaming mad by the movie's end.
The film is bound to leave its mark on the history of cinematic mediocrity.