GIANT SPIDER movies

[Jeffbert]

I just watched BIG ASS SPIDER last night (via NF streaming), & this one was really both great & silly. Great, because the spider had what seemed like very realistic movement (after having watched MONSTER BUG WARS some time ago), & silly, because the thing grew so very fast. It also ate rather than drank its victims, but that was nothing compared to the growth rate. Compared to other GIANT SPIDER movies, I rate this one 4/5; it had drama, humor, & unintentionally funny (at least by my standards) scenes. If there were a 5/5 GIANT SPIDER movie, it would lack the implausible elements that are in the others.

The GIANT SPIDER was a Black Widow, unlike most others being tarantulas, its origin

Spoiler

was that a scientist combined alien DNA with some type of fruit, unaware that the spider had nested within; so it compares to THE FLY IN that regard. At 1st, it seemed that the military had made the thing intentionally, & for some time, circumstances seemed to confirm it, so, it compares to the remake of THE BLOB.

I would not compare it to the 1950s-1960s type of GIANT SPIDER movies, because they focused on drama/horror, while having very little spider action. TARANTULA used the shadow of the spider as much as, if not more than an actual or prop spider. Most others of that time did likewise. Eight-Legged Freaks, being more contemporary, used special effects, & rates similarly to this current one. ARACHNIA was likewise, & the DVD had a really nice feature about the GIANT SPIDER movie genre.

 

[J Riff]

Missile to the Moon has a great cheesy sawdust-filled spiddler.... and Gumby rock men! There is a 12 min. version of The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) on YouTube.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Earth vs the Spider is . . . not good.

 

[BAYLOR]

Tarantula 1955 film had Clint Eastwood in an uncredited role as a fighter pilot.

 

[BAYLOR]

Earth vs the Spider is . . . not good.

I loved this film , thought it quite good. and besides it had Fred Ziffle from Green Acres was in it .

 

[Jeffbert]

Missile to the Moon was unintentionally hilarious! The Giant Spider Invasion, I thought I saw a truck underneath that spider!
I love that type of film, just too funny to even think of stifling the laughter.

Earth vs the Spider is . . . not good.

I disagree, the plot (as I recall) was at least o.k.; though there was at least one really stupid element, & the spider was rather realistic.

 

[BAYLOR]

There was a Giant Spider in Journey to 7th Planet.

 

[Jeffbert]

Journey to 7th Planet? I know I saw that one, but do not recall any giant spider. There was an implied giant spider in AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON, but as it had other [ahem] elements to my liking, I will not complain about its lacking an actual giant spider.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Mention might be made of "A Fear of Spiders" on the Night Gallery television series. Small as these things go -- the size of a large dog -- but worth watching for the interplay between the two main characters.

 

[BAYLOR]

Mention might be made of "A Fear of Spiders" on the Night Gallery television series. Small as these things go -- the size of a large dog -- but worth watching for the interplay between the two main characters.

Yes I remember that one.

 

[dask]

If Cine-Town ever decides to faithfully film Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, we'd be treated to fairly large mechanical spiders running around. It was cool in print.

 

[J Riff]

Tarantula, Clint's 1st flick, I think, he appears for ten seconds at the end. He says 'Roger. Target destroyed' or something equally brilliant.
The Land Unknown had some giant arachnidism i think... and there's one just called The Spider. The classic Incredible Shrinking Man.

a lovely montage.
Up next, monster Centipedes. I just saw some nice ones in a new flik - Dinosaur Island.
What was it that you found ungood about Earth vs. The Spider Victoria? i can't remember mulch about it.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Well, maybe I just have a thing against the films of Bert I. Gordon. Poor special effects and just plain boring stories, in my opinion.

I'll give him a few points for a couple of his movies.

The Amazing Colossal Man isn't too bad.

Tormented isn't too bad a ghost story, if nothing terribly creative.

The Magic Sword is fun, if silly, and it doesn't take itself too seriously.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

As an arachnophobe I will now avoid this thread....

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I can't remember, does LOTR movie have the spider in the book?
also The Hobbit.

 

[Dave]

In The Incredible Shrinking Man the spider was normal size but the man was shrinking. At the end you don't know if a spider would eventually get him or if he just grew so small nothing could see him anymore.

You do know that physics prevents animals from having exoskeletons that large don't you? But then it also prevents having shrinking men too.

I thought that the mechanical beasts that caught criminals in Fahrenheit 451 were dog-like, but I may be confusing that with Snow Crash.

 

[dask]

I thought that the mechanical beasts that caught criminals in Fahrenheit 451 were dog-like, but I may be confusing that with Snow Crash.

Sorry, my mistake. I guess it having eight legs like a spider confused me.

 

[Dave]

It's okay, my memory is terrible. On further investigation, it was called The Hound and had a great sense of smell, but it did have eight legs, so how you imagine them to be is up for grabs. Films rarely depict things exactly as I read them.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

You do know that physics prevents animals from having exoskeletons that large don't you?

Unless they have lungs, circulatory system etc. Certainly small insects can't scale up. Crabs are another story. So some sort of giant spider like creature related to crabs and spiders is possible (both phylum Arthropoda). Coconut crabs can't really even swim, they have a sort of lung and vestigial gills so drown easily! Spiders are not insects. Insects won't scale up, they would suffocate and probably don't have an advanced enough circulation system anyway. Insects are of course also Arthropods, but quite different to Spiders, crabs, scorpions and lobsters. Horseshoe crabs may be closer to Spiders than regular crabs. They are pretty weird. Like slugs, snails and octopus they have copper based instead of iron based blood.

Horseshoe crabs resemble crustaceans, but belong to a separate subphylum, Chelicerata, and are closely related to arachnids
... L. polyphemus can be up to 60 cm (24 in) long (including tail).

Most spiders do bleed to death easily.

So while ordinary insects can't scale up and be large, there are a variety of exoskeleton species that in theory could have a giant relative.

EDIT
Which GIANT version would be worst or scarier? (Not same thing!)

1. Spider
2. Scorpion
3. Coconut crab (terrestrial, only lays eggs in water)
4. Horseshoe crab (Aquatic, but does leave the water).

 

[Dave]

I completely agree they don't have any of the huge problems that Insects have in scaling up, and yes, you could have giant versions, but there are still some problems - using lungs inside a solid exoskeleton (try breathing with someone sitting on your chest) - also the strength of an exoskeleton is poorer when scaled up (tower blocks are built with a central core rather than outer walls like houses.)