Horror in the 90s Arachnophobia

Arachnophobia (1990) 

Directed by Frank Marshall

Written by Don Jakoby, Wesley Strick 

Starring Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, Julian Sands, John Goodman 

Release Date July 18th, 1990 

Box Office Gross $53.2 million 

Arachnophobia exists in two popular horror sub-genre: Man vs Nature and the Monster Movie. A new breed of spider is located by an arrogant scientist who believes he can control this uncontrollable element of nature that he hubristically believes that he has mastered. The monster movie then comes into play when the scientists creation gets away from him and begins to wreak havoc in a small time while working to perpetuate its species to take over the planet, essentially, the Americas at the very least. 

If you are skeptical that spiders could be considered monsters in a monster movie, you underestimate the talent of director Frank Marshall and his cast. Indeed, Arachnophobia functions as a movie that could induce a lifelong phobia of spiders, arachnophobia of the title. It's so effective at making spiders a horror movie monster that I honestly would not recommend showing this movie to children. I would especially not recommend this movie for anyone who already harbors a fear of spiders as this movie will only exacerbate that condition. 

Arachnophobia stars Jeff Daniels as a doctor who has moved his family, including his wife, played by Harley Jane Kozak, and their two kids, to a small town in California. Dr. Ross Jennings (Daniels) has been promised the role of the only doctor in this small town but things do not go as planned from the start. The elderly doctor he was supposed to replace has now refused to retire and Dr. Jennings' new home in the country is a money pit with termites and a crumbling infrastructure. 

Unbeknownst to everyone in this otherwise idyllic small town, a dangerously poisonous Brazilian spider has hitched a ride with a corpse to the local funeral home. Having killed a photographer working with Dr. James Atherton (Julian Sands) in Brazil, the spider, that Dr. Atherton had assured us was dead, arrives in this small town and finds its way to the barn owned by Dr. Jennings where it cross-breeds with a local spider and begins to create a mutated version of itself that is so deadly its population could wipe out North America in a period of months. 

Thus it falls to Dr. Jennings to first discover that we are indeed dealing with a killer Spider and then, in the final act, to have a face to face fight with the Spider Queen over the massive egg sack the Queen has laid in Dr. Jennings' new wine cellar. Did you know that wine is not flammable? Neither did this movie which seems to think Wine is an accelerant. Anyway, that aside, Arachnophobia has some silly elements but one thing the film gets right is the staging of spider attacks that kill character actors. 

Characters actors James Handy, Kathy Kinney, Henry Jones and Mary Carver each appear in remarkably well-staged scenes where they are menaced by little spiders. These scenes are filled with genuine tension via simple, classic, filmic technique. Good choices in the editing bay and in the staging of each scene create a genuine tension while the familiar and kind faces of these character actors, people you've seen even if you don't recognize their name, add tension because we don't want to see them be killed by spiders. 

Find my full length review at Horror.Media 

Movie Review: Eight Below

Eight Below (2006) 

Directed by Frank Marshall 

Written by David Digillio 

Starring Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, Jason Biggs, Moon Bloodgood

Release Date February 17th, 2006 

Published February 16th, 2006

Disney has a formula for every kind of film. That is how we end up with such junk as Glory Road or the wretched talking dog flick Snow Dogs. That also, however, is how we end up with such surprises as the monster hit Pirates of The Caribbean and the new animal adventure flick Eight Below. We know these two otherwise diverse films are of a particular brand name formula but both are so well accomplished we not only forgive the formula we like the film more for overcoming that formula.

Eight Below is 'inspired by' a true story of doggie survival in Antarctica in the 1950's. The story was first adapted by Japanese filmmakers in 1980 for a film called Nankoyoku Monogatari, unseen by me and well, unseen by most. In Eight Below the story of eight sled dogs abandoned in the arctic winter is directed by Frank Marshall and stars Paul "Sleep" Walker.

A science team in Antarctica sometime in the early nineties is welcoming a visiting UCLA science professor (Bruce Greenwood) who is on an expedition to find a meteorite he believes may be from Mars. With his hefty check in hand, and unbeknownst to the teams lead field explorer Gerry (Paul Walker), the teams boss has agreed to a dangerous excursion over the most treacherous sheets of ice in the arctic.

This means that instead of a simple snowmobile trip, Gerry and the professor will have to travel with the teams elite group of sled dogs. This is the human adventure portion of the film as Gerry and the professor make their way out to the most remote and dangerous mountain ranges in the arctic. Along the way they see dangerous leopard seals, and avoid treacherous thin ice. Of course it wouldn't be dramatic if the  the novice professor didn't fall through some thin ice and had to be rescued. On the plus side it's a chance for those amazing dogs to show off their talent.

From there a giant storm hits forcing the human inhabitants to flee. Gerry promises to return for the dogs but with the storm growing worse and the dangerous arctic winter setting in his imminent return seems unlikely. The dogs will have to fend for themselves for several months, that is if they can even escape their chains.

Frank Marshall is a director who works infrequently. In fact Eight Below is Marshall's first big screen effort since 1994's Congo. Still his work, including that aforementioned angry monkey movie, the plane crash horror film Alive and 1990's spider comedy Arachnophobia, has an indelible quality that has managed to become part of pop culture and cult phenomena. Eight Below is sadly very likely to be his least remembered film, in terms of pop culture cache, but it may in fact be his best. The films story of cross-species friendship, love and adventure is a terrific piece of work.

Especially strong are the scenes featuring the dogs. Alone in the arctic wilderness foraging for food, fighting for survival and remaining a family. The dogs become real characters with their own personalities. The rooting interest that Frank Marshall and screenwriter David Digillio instill in the dogs is remarkable and works even for those who may not consider themselves dog lovers.

Any film starring Paul 'Sleep' Walker that manages to be as exciting as Eight Below deserves some kind of award. Perhaps I am being a little hard on Walker, he rarely actually sleeps on screen. He's just a little slow is all. In Eight Below Walker is more than effective as the conscientious adventurer whose love of his sled dog team is as strong as any familial bond imaginable. Forget the sparkless romantic subplot with co-star Moon Bloodgood, Walker's love affair with the dogs works, giving him more than enough emotional depth for us to accept him.... no matter how slow he may be.

With all of the horrendous product aimed at kids at the movies, Eight Below is a revelation. The film never condescends to being a family drama. Frank Marshall simply tells his story to the best of his abilities and that it happens to be a family friendly adventure with strong values -friendship, family, love-  is really a bonus.

Unlike other Disney branded non-animation tripe -Shaggy Dog, Glory Road, Remember The Titans- Eight Below never gives you the sense you are being preached to or being sold something. This is a film of great integrity and in no way feels compromised like much of the product Disney shovels into theaters.

Yes the film is working from a particular formula and within genre strictures. The key to the film is how Frank Marshall and his team take the established formula and improve upon it with great skill and savvy. Eight Below defies formula by improving upon it.

From looking at Eight Below and Frank Marshall's resume of pop culture home runs, I wish he would work more frequently. However, if his long delays between projects means we can have more films of the quality and exciting nature of Eight Below, Frank Marshall should take as much time as he needs for his next picture.

Eight Below is a terrific film.