Rent Arachnophobia (1990)

Along Came A Spider - Arachnophobia review by Spoons

While I enjoyed Arachnophobia, I have to say that surprisingly for a film that comes from the Steven Spielberg Amblin stable, the film lacks a certain magic that you'd expect from this company. Entertaining enough but if you are an arachnophobe then stay away.

Spider Attack - Arachnophobia review by Steve

Cheerful comedy-horror aimed at a family audience. Debut director Frank Marshall says he was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) and that's apparent in the coastal California location, but this is much lighter in mood and milder in shocks- and not as good. Though there is one big scare.

This is mostly for children. But it's still decent entertainment with a funny script and extremely good effects/make up. Jeff Daniel stars as an arachnophobic doctor who arrives in a picturesque small town with his nice family in the middle of an invasion of poisonous Amazonian spiders.

If this sounds like formula, maybe that's because it was produced by Steven Spielberg after he re-wrote the rules of the Hollywood family film. This is unremarkable in that context, but still fun. Daniels is a comfortable comedy dad, though Harley Jane Kozak is stuck in a duff role as his perky wife.

John Goodman as the idiot from pest control is surely there for the younger kids. Then there's an excellent support cast of familiar character actors playing the provincial eccentrics. There are few surprises- and an excess of of comic relief- but still plenty of creepy shivers.