Eight Legged Freaks

Locations
Call Number: DVD Horror Eight
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD Horror Eight	1-week checkout	On Shelf

Originally released as a motion picture in 2002.
Bonuses: feature-length audio commentary by co-stars David Arquette and Rick Overton, director/co-writer Ellory Elkayem and producer Dean Devlin; eight additional scenes of spiders in action; Elkayem's award-winning short film, "Larger than life," which earned him the attention of the producers for the "Eight legged freaks" assignment; "Creepy crawly giants" essay; theatrical trailer.
David Arquette, Kari Wuhrer, Scott Terra, Doug E. Doug, Scarlett Johansson, Leon Rippy, Matt Czuchry, Rick Overton, Eileen Ryan.
Residents of a mining town discover an unfortunate chemical spill that has caused hundreds of spiders to mutate overnight to the size of SUV's. It is up to the townspeople to rid the small town of these giant spiders.
DVD, region 1, widescreen; Dolby digital surround 5.1.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Beware Spoilers submitted by jaegerla on June 2, 2010, 1:59pm This 2003 Saturn Award Nominee for best horror movie is well worth its weight in golden eight legged spiders, which according to goldcalculator.com would weigh an estimated ten tons.

There are, in the movies, few places creepier to spend time than in the mind of Ellory Elkayem. Who other than Elkayem could fathom a town named Prosperity to be the epicenter of a battle between nihilism and altruism?

The embodiment of hope of this southwestern wasteland is Chris McCormick (performed exuberantly by David Arquette). McCormick has been absent for a decade, where he has been is not made clear. One can only assume he has been on The Hero’s Journey. If you are unaware of the Hero’s Journey I suggest you read the writings of Joseph Campbell.

His return to town is reminiscent of the Return of the Prodigal Son.

The metamorphosis of McCormick into the protective force presiding over Prosperity occurred as described in the following explanation:

Initially McCormick is not interested in preserving the town of Prosperity; it is not his cross to bear. Only when made aware of their various economic failures (the mall, the ostrich farm, and the mining system) and the reality that Propserity may cease to exist does he become concerned with the towns’ plight. At this point the infestation of massive spiders becomes obvious. This, as we all know, is known as The Refusal of the Return.

Although he previously fled the town and its minor concerns, after experiencing the larger world McCormick understands that it is the little things that matter most of all, and it is his responsibility to apply a solution to the dilemma before it grows in power. The swarm of scandalous spiders surely should be stopped. He now has no need to flee to bigger adventures, as he understands that the greatest adventure of all is right before him in his hometown. In this way he has fulfilled The Magic Flight.

Although the heroic character may have developed a plan he is still in need of assistants and/or guides. In this case it is mainly Sheriff Parker, her daughter Ashley, and to a lesser extent the rest of the remaining inhabitants of Prosperity. Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, often times he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life. Here McCormick has been Rescued From Without.

The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world. This is usually extremely difficult. He must discover the secret to defeat the slathering spiders in order to accomplish The Crossing of the Threshold. In this way, he will become a permanent fixture in the town’s development and survival in the modern world.

Now McCormick has attained wisdom. Wisdom of the world before the spiders, wisdom of the world with the spiders, and wisdom of the world without the spiders. He is Master of the Two Worlds through his achievement of knowledge of both. Knowledge is power.

Now that the town’s economic situation has been stabilized by the thriving mining system and the lack of spiders, they have achieved the Freedom to Live due to his heroic sacrifice.

Eight Legged Freaks effectively reconstructed the traditional hero myth for today’s audiences.

In addition to creating a masterfully done monster vs. hero storyline, this movie is full of cinematic nods to its predecessors. From the final showdown at the mall (lifted from Ric Romero’s Dawn of the Dead), to enormous monsters (ala the drive in theater horror movie tradition), to the noble sheriff character (as has been featured in the Halloween movie franchise), the genius of Elkem is evident.

pop corn submitted by lekendrick on January 3, 2011, 1:22am happy to say quite fine movie tin, but puzzled by five star given previous reviewer. It's easy light pop corn fare after all! Not, quite so involved! Even upon commentary secondary review it breezes by little of concern.